What bike..yes another one

[pompousporcup...]

I fancy a change from my gpz900.
It's a great bike but it is old and somewhat fragile..parts are expensive.

What is the most bike I can get for £3000?
Must be fast
Comfort level not relevant as will be a fun bike so 50-100 rides every now and then
Must handle well
Be reasonably reliable

I've been eyeing up v twins like the tl1000 and RSV mille which seem good value

Help.[/quote]

[kgm]

The two you've mentioned plus the earlier Tuonos. For a little over 3k you might get a KTM 990. SV1000 if you like twins. There's another similar thread ongoing at the moment (talks more about exhaust sound but the suggestions mostly fit what you're looking for.

[wr6133]

GSXR1000, On your budget a pristine k1/k2 with change left over, or a very tidy k3/k4. Fast as fuck, handle well and those earlier ones still offer a reasonable level of comfort. Maintenance is pretty easy too no electronic gizmos beyond fuel injection.

If GSXR's are not your flavour the above also applies to R1's & 'blades from a similar (2001-2005) period (but the gixxer is better).

I suggest litre il4's because you are asking the most bike for the price and they put out more power than a litre twin.

[arry]

[pompousporcup...]

R1,blades and the like would be my go to, but they are everywhere it seems. As are gsxrs which I haven't really considered before... People rave about them so I probably should give one a go

One of the reasons I ride a 900r is because you don't see them very often. Turn up to a bike meet and you'd be lucky to see another one. I'm yet to spot one whilst I'm riding.

This factor is why I was considering the tl1000 variants. They're modern enough yet I don't really see them that much.

Had considered the sv1000 but something tells me it's a budget tl..
Zx12 is an epic bike..I would in a heartbeat if I was commuting but otherwise it's a big ol' lump

The tuono ticks the box very well....

[stevo as b4]

If you want big comfy and fairly quick, the Aprilia RSV is possibly the unbeatable sports twin in your budget and an R version or a Factory is a pretty special bike.

The SV1000 is a strange bike in that it got a proper rear suspension that worked, and is probably the best use made of the TL engine. Its not that nicely built though, and is de-tuned so it's no TL or even Firestorm, and like those bikes it's not perfectly sharp out of the box. I think you'll be possibly disappointed with the top end speed after your GPZ900, as it's not 156mph fast.

Have you considered a late Triumph 955i? They are rare to see around, and are a huge bike for a 950cc engine, somewhere between ZX9R and Thunderace in dimensions, but they can be made to handle ok.

The 5PW R1 and K1-3 GSXR 1000's are far far more bike and more capable tho I'd say. I really liked the last of the Baba designed 03 Fireblade I took out once, but if I was after a Blade today I'd probably go for one of the tiny compact 08> ones.

Could 3k stretch to an odd ball twin like the first KTM RC8's?

[pompousporcup...]

[chickenstrip]

[u33db]

[wr6133]

[stevo as b4]

I personally think now's a great time to buy a carb fed R1, 99-2000 model, as ignoring red/white 98 models it is a huge step up in performance and handling to most pre-millenium bikes, and the values of any tidy one are going to rise!

In fact I recently read that bikes with carbs are the new two strokes, in that anything before the EFI era will be the next sought after thing and have a price explosion follow them. In 10years it'll be very hard to find a carbed 90's-00's bike and many of them you do see will be old shitters by then.

The other reason I say R1 is that OP's bike was a revelation in 84 and so much better than anything else in its class. Sure Honda had more cc and power with the VF1000R but the extra weight blunted it's effectiveness.

The R1 was the last fucking huge step in sports bike design. The only real big step change since then was BMW building a 600 size and weight 1000 that broke 200bhp on the show room floor.

[pompousporcup...]

@stevo

I hadn't really considered that of the R1 before. Its certainly one of the reasons i like the 900r so much. Prices are pretty reasonable too for something around the 20k mile mark.


The short list is currently
TL1000R
RSV MILLE R
R1

[stevo as b4]

Well at the end of the day that's still a nice short list to have. I think unless your a Suzuki fanboy or love the split opinion melty aerodynamic styling of the TLR then I'd be looking harder for the other two bikes. Saying that your requirements suggest that you are going to own and treasure your next bike for a long time and enjoy short sunny blasts on it etc. So if I found a local mint example of any of them I'd be right on it, considering how much bike you can get for the budget too.

But all said, while I really like the sound of a sharp big twin, and the Aprilia is very sharp. I'd say you gotta get yourself a carb fed R1 they are the nuts!

One of the best looking Japanese sports bikes of the 90's and while it's not Ducati minimalist and saucy, that pointy front end looks the bollocks to me! A definite classic and it did the same rip up the rule book and chew it to bits that your 900R once did too, so there's no better reason than that!