Test ride time!

Author
Discussion

Klippie

3,096 posts

144 months

Wednesday 15th October 2014
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CBR600 Sport is a great bike I had mine for five years...a pipe, Power Commander and dyno time works wonders on them.

Just don't put Dunlop tyres anywhere near it unless you want a flappy front end.


creampuff

6,511 posts

142 months

Wednesday 15th October 2014
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From your list, seems you like standard road bikes. You can add Honda CBF600 & 1000. The CBF1000 is a de tuned 1000cc with a lot of torque for easy city riding. Also add Yamaha FZ8. Although all of these will push your budget.

You will probably have a low/zero speed carpark drop. Crash bungs are recommended.

The BMW F650 you saw for £1700 seems reasonable, provided the mechanics are ok. Just ride it for 6-12 months, change it if you feel like a change. If you look at this, you should also look at a Honda Transalp- surprisingly fun esp if you happen to live near a lot of speed humps wink

Edited by creampuff on Wednesday 15th October 20:03

Tall_Paul

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

226 months

Wednesday 15th October 2014
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Yeah I'm attracted to the factory heated grips, belt drive, abs etc, and the upright seating position is great for filtering, but I'd have to wear my tinted visor at all times, and I don't think I would be able to turn up to work on it without someone saying "what the fk is that!!!!?? eeklaugh" pisstaking is very much a part of my workplace!

creampuff

6,511 posts

142 months

Wednesday 15th October 2014
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Mate, when I first turned up at my office with a pink iPhone case (plus I often wear pink or lilac shirts) people took the piss there too, but it was soon forgotten and I still have a faggy looking pink iPhone case. Same with that slightly feminine looking F650CS you are thinking of. You could even set the scene buy just buying a pink iPhone case now to get the piss taking out of the way.

Heated grips are really good btw. Just make sure they actually work.

carmadgaz

3,201 posts

182 months

Wednesday 15th October 2014
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Prof Prolapse said:
Tall_Paul said:
morebeanz said:
I'm 6'4" and 110kgs and been riding a Street Triple for the last 3+ years (16k miles). It may not suit all taller folks, but I definitely wouldn't write it off...
fk me, built like a brick sthouse then?
Or a bin bag full of yoghurt.
biglaugh

I'm hoping to be in your position come spring and have already started looking at what sorts to get (I even started a thread around here somewhere).

Someone mentioned the SV650. At 6'2" and 13ish stone I found the pegs a little bit of a squeeze for me when I jumped on a mates one for a sit the other day.

Renn Sport

2,761 posts

208 months

Thursday 16th October 2014
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What about a V-Strom or similar adventure styled 650 bike?


Tall_Paul

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

226 months

Saturday 18th October 2014
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Had a bit of a browse today at a couple of dealers, sat on an SV650 and my legs were a little tight in the tank cut outs, it was OK. Quite a nice semi-sport riding position too. However, it's ridiculous that you can get a brand new, 0 miles SV650 for under £4k when a 8-10 year old one is only a couple of grand less. They're also doing the DL650 V-strom for £5 brand new. Both out of my budget however, but on the plus side my local Ducati dealer were completely fine with doing test rides, just a couple of days notice needed biggrin Can see a test ride of a Monster 821 happening...laugh

That BMW F650CS will be getting looked at/test ridden later this week if it's not been sold, 60+mpg, 200 mile tank range, heated grips, decent screen, ABS, belt drive - it keeps on niggling at me in my mind that it could just be a perfect winter/stty weather commuter. Oh and only £20 a year more to insure than my varadero, TPFT.

Edited by Tall_Paul on Saturday 18th October 21:26

Tall_Paul

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

226 months

Sunday 19th October 2014
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Renn Sport said:
What about a V-Strom or similar adventure styled 650 bike?
You do get a lot of bike for your money with a 650 v-strom.

Having had a rough trade in value on the varadero my budget is around £2500, which opens up the door to a fair few more bikes - not many dealers have used bikes around the £1500 - £2000 mark.

ZesPak

24,420 posts

195 months

Monday 20th October 2014
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Nice list of bikes there. Whatever you get, I don't think you'll be disappointed. But, if you ride it regularly, you might want to swap most of these. The good thing is, all of these are ideal candidates for commuters or new riders, so if you don't drop it, you'll hardly lose any money on them, if any!

Tall_Paul

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

226 months

Monday 20th October 2014
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ZesPak said:
Nice list of bikes there. Whatever you get, I don't think you'll be disappointed. But, if you ride it regularly, you might want to swap most of these. The good thing is, all of these are ideal candidates for commuters or new riders, so if you don't drop it, you'll hardly lose any money on them, if any!
Yeah I can see me trading in again come next April once the winter is done and I've got a years NCD, hopefully for something a little tastier wink

Ellerslie

129 posts

155 months

Monday 20th October 2014
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Hello, regarding height/ weight and bike size.

I'm 6'1" and 14 stone 7. I've owned a 99 SV650, which I did 22,000 miles on in two and a half years, a K1 GSXR 600, a Speed Triple 1050 and now an MT07.

All of the bikes are small bar the Speed Trip and I found that the most uncomfortable. It used to give me cramp in the hips/thighs after 50 miles or so.

Im sure there are some out there who think the speed trip is the most comfortable out there, it's horses for courses I think. Everyone's body shape will suit a different bike.

Apparently I look like I'm riding a mini-moto on the MT 07 but I find it really comfortable and it's my daily commuter.

Try as much as you can, for as long as you can. It's the only way to know for sure.

Tall_Paul

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

226 months

Tuesday 21st October 2014
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So I have a the next 3 days off work, plus the weekend, which means it's test ride time. DVLA are being lazy and I don't have my licence yet (website hasn't been updated either frown) but I'll have a ring around a few places to make sure my MOD 2 cert is good enough.

Got a shortlist of what I want to test ride, all within my budget but I'll look at bikes over just so I can rule them out/in to start with.

In order of wanting to test ride:

BMW F650CS (the one down the road) - would be rude not to have a proper look at this. biggrin
Aprilia Shiver 750 - these are just in my budget, but there ain't many about.
CBR600F - again, not that many about, there's only a couple within an hour of me.
SV650 - loads of them about, should get a test ride no problem.
CBF500 - again, quite a few about

Ruled out:
Thundercat - newest ones are 2003 which is a little old for my liking, would like something newer.
Street triple - out of budget, sadly frown
Hornet - tank range! drink
Fazer 600 - I'd want an S2 version, as I hate the dials on the older model with a passion, and they're street triple/shiver money.

Anything else I've forgotten? £2500ish, pref FI, naked/sports tourer, under 10 years old (roughly), up to 100ish BHP. Dealer only as I need to part ex my varadero.

Rollin

6,076 posts

244 months

Tuesday 21st October 2014
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Just to let you know, Ducati garage wouldn't let me test ride without official licence. Mod 2 cert wasn't enough.

Tall_Paul

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

226 months

Tuesday 21st October 2014
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Rollin said:
Just to let you know, Ducati garage wouldn't let me test ride without official licence. Mod 2 cert wasn't enough.
Yeah my local Ducati dealer (Laguna performance centre, Ashford) need either both parts of licence or to check online - but they did say that with a couple of days notice I could test ride plenty of stuff, monster 821, 1200, hypermotard etc. think the only bike he said they couldn't get me on was an 848 streetfighter. laugh I'll have to have a couple of test rides with them I think, definitely on the monster 821. Just for research purposes y'see. wink

Edited by Tall_Paul on Tuesday 21st October 22:15

powerstans

353 posts

196 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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Local dealer (not main dealer but well known aftermarket dealer) to us has Fazer 2006 plate (newer version I believe) for £2,800 probably get a couple of £100 of that to bring it into budget.

Think what extras you want when you are looking at bikes, the above fazer has top box, heated grips and hugger, if you want these type of extras then be aware it will cost a few hundred to fit on anything you buy (even at Ebay rates).

dapearson

4,252 posts

223 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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Just be aware that the S2 Fazer is VERY peaky. I had one not long after owning the older Fazer (AKA FZS600S).

The newer bike has a version of the R6 engine, whereas the older bike has a version of the thundercat engine (i think). Either way, they're quite different.

The newer bike has a massive gap of torque in the midrange, to the point of making it quite hard work to make progress. It's all at the top end. It makes a lovely noise once up there and really does scream, but it doesn't quite suit the nature of the bike IMO. The suspension is soft and a bit bouncy. The digi rev counter is hard to read.

I got rid of mine quite quickly because i found myself a) riding it hard because the engine felt like that's what it wanted, and b) shouting at it when i went for an overtake and nothing happened until i knocked it down a few gears.

Both of these would be fine and feel quite natural on a sports bike, but on a sit-up-straight bike with boggy suspension it felt unnatural.

Edited by dapearson on Wednesday 22 October 09:49

CaptainSlow

13,179 posts

211 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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Tall_Paul said:
Fazer 600 - I'd want an S2 version, as I hate the dials on the older model with a passion, and they're street triple/shiver money.
No they aren't, you'll easily get on for under £2.5k. The S1 is a much better bike though, also better than the CBF500 you have on the list still...not sure why you're looking at one of those unless you want to get bored pretty quickly or are going to be a courier.


Tall_Paul said:
Dealer only as I need to part ex my varadero.
That will sell privately pretty easily for more than you'll get in a px value from a dealer. You're losing out on both ends if you stick to a dealer for this reasin.


black-k1

11,886 posts

228 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
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Tall_Paul said:
Anything else I've forgotten? £2500ish, pref FI, naked/sports tourer, under 10 years old (roughly), up to 100ish BHP. Dealer only as I need to part ex my varadero.
At that price you might just about scrape a BMW F800S. Not completely naked but only a small fairing.

Tall_Paul

Original Poster:

1,915 posts

226 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
quotequote all
There aren't any 07 onwards fazer 600's under £2500 on either bike trader or mcn, apart from a cheap px to clear and one with no mot.

Most are nearer £3k.


CaptainSlow said:
That will sell privately pretty easily for more than you'll get in a px value from a dealer. You're losing out on both ends if you stick to a dealer for this reasin.
I know you get more for your money selling and buying privately, but that would mean selling my bike (and remember it's nearly November, not the best time to be selling), then taking the train to work (3 trains each way, £150 a month) and having to rely on family to go and look at bikes... obviously if they offer silly money part exchange then I'll walk away, but I should only loose a couple of hundred quid on my bike, and seeing as it'll need an mot in January, plus a new rear tyre in a month or 2, which I'd need get done to get a decent price selling privately, well... it's a hell of a lot of hassle for a few hundred quid difference.

Rollin

6,076 posts

244 months

Wednesday 22nd October 2014
quotequote all
Tall_Paul said:
Anything else I've forgotten? £2500ish, pref FI, naked/sports tourer, under 10 years old (roughly), up to 100ish BHP. Dealer only as I need to part ex my varadero.
I've got an XJ6N. 77bhp and easy to ride. I've seen some at £2500 for 3-4 year old ones recently. Not known as the most exciting bike, but to be honest any 600cc would be exciting for a noob smile