Go all out, or not at all...

[WolfAir]

Hey all, so I am finally (after 13 years of convincing my dear mother to let me) looking at getting a bike . I have a budget of about £4000 and initially I did think a 600 jap, gsxr, zx cbr you know the drill. But looking at prices would it not make more sense to get a 1000? Insurance is negligble to the point of £100 either way, I am not new to biking and have been riding since I was 12, although I have been off for a year. I love the gsxr 1000 k5, but they seem to be sticking around 4500 and upwards mark, same with r1's and the zx10r 2009 is not in my budget. 10 year old fireblades are seriously strong money, they never seem to come down.
I am not sure if I should wait for around winter and hopefully see some prices drop, or buy now before the wife decided the money is better spent on something she wants.
So to summerise, get 600 or get 1000
cheers

[WolfAir]

Think all the old bikers have fallen asleep...bump

[black-k1]

Get what you want. If you want a 1000 then why buy a 600?

[BobSaunders]

I bought a 600 for my first bike. Regretting it.

However, head says stick it out for another year, insurance costs also agree.

Do what you want.

[rat840771]

Go for a 1000

K5 is great bike, for 4K you will get one but it may be chaved up and high mileage. Or you may be lucky and find one. The other option I would go for is the underseat R1.

[_Deano]

Sometimes a 1000 could be cheaper than a 600 in terms of insurance. My Honda VTR is about £94 to insure for a year fully comp, compared to the Honda CBR600 F4i, which was around £550.

Of course there are other variables to take into consideration, but still, that's a big difference.

[moanthebairns]

675

[neelyp]

Or GSX-R750

[mitzy]

Whichever one gives you the biggest smile when you test ride.
Simples

[gsxr renegade]

What did you have before your break? If it was anything remotely sporty, then just get the litre bike.

If it was a scooter/125, i'd perhaps lean a bit more towards a 600/750, just because of the slightly tamer torque/power. It might be a bit easier to get yourself back into it without scaring yourself.

That said, i'm a firm believer in 'the throttle works both ways' and as long as you don't take the piss with the throttle, you'll eventually get used to it.

[Prof Prolapse]

neelyp said:

Or GSX-R750

You see that would be my thinking too.

Quicker than some of the older litre bikes, and easy to handle.

[WolfAir]

Hey all cheers for the feedback. I will admit the 1000 does give me goosebumps and I find myself between an 08 plate r6 for 3995 or 04 fireblade same price. Going to test the fireblade next week hopefully if its still up for sale.

[civiclegend]

I had an '05 ZX10r in black as my 2nd bike, after 2 months of enjoying an R6 (and then 4 months wishing it went a bit faster). Provided they're fitted with a steering damper, and ideally a can to replace that monstrosity, they're a really exciting bike with a fantastically exciting engine. Won't be as quick as the K5 below 7k, but sounds and looks better. Must surely go for sub 4k these days?

[Tall_Paul]

In my year and 4 months of biking I've done 7k miles each on a 125 and now a 50bhp 400. At the weekend I rode a litre v-twin with loads of low down torque and a 145bhp IL4 (vstrom 1000 and GSX-S1000), neither scared me as the power was progressive - the v-strom had very little sensation of speed, and the gsx-s left a huge smile on my face. I could easily ride something like the GSX-S1000 on the daily commute, and would be 100% happy buying something with 150bhp tomorrow. So long as you respect the power you'll be fine.

[rat840771]

give 2k back to the wife and keep her happy and buy this for 2k, a great bike, comfy and for 2k you will never loose any money

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-GSX-R1000-K1-/181...

I have the K2 version and love it.

[Sushifiend]

WolfAir said:

Hey all, so I am finally (after 13 years of convincing my dear mother to let me) looking at getting a bike .

and

WolfAir said:

I am not new to biking and have been riding since I was 12, although I have been off for a year.

I must be missing something because these seem to be mutually exclusive statements...

[BobSaunders]

Why does it appear that the K1 is more expensive or holds its value better than a K2 on Ebay? Ebay'nomics?

[trickywoo]

The 5VY R1 seems to be a bit of a sweet spot in terms of value for money.

While I've not looked at many in the flesh there seem to be a lot more of these in the low £4k range for sale in decent well maintained condition than the Firebland, K5 / 6 1000. ZX10R seems to be decent value too but aside from the 2004 style one (and new model) they weren't the best looking bikes from 2006 to 2011 which is the main years your budget would be looking at.

I would say 750 from K4 on is a decent choice. Reliable, easy to work on, decent mpg. Plenty fast enough, anyone who says otherwise hasn't held the throttle wide open past 9k.

[sc0tt]

Odd thread.

Buy what you want.

[BobSaunders]

Push that envelope.