First manual bike?

[MKH9130]

I have a full manual bike licence, but have never ridden a manual bike since my test day!

I had to commute daily, plus a 260 mile round trip once a week so I got myself a Yamaha Tmax (500cc 'super' scooter) which did the job perfectly. I then moved to cars, and my interest in two wheels petered out (but I still kept riding on and off), yet I never got rid of the Tmax.

Now I have a 'sensible' car, I thought about trading it in for something a bit more fun.

I have about 80k 2-wheeled miles under my belt, but only about 300 of them manual bikes. I've been looking around at something suitable and have come up with a few options:-

Yamaha FZ6-N
Kawasaki ER-6F
Suzuki SV650 / S
Suzuki Bandit GSF650 K6
Ducati 695


I'm not a bike newbie due to 80k miles covered, but I am a newbie to manual bikes!!!

Any recommendations?

[vipers]

Please explain what the reference to "Manual" bike means? am I missing the obvious, tks

[sjtscott]

vipers said:

Please explain what the reference to "Manual" bike means? am I missing the obvious, tks

The ability to select the gear yourself, I'm assuming 80k experience is all twist and go i.e. no clutch lever.

[sjtscott]

MKH9130 said:

I have a full manual bike licence, but have never ridden a manual bike since my test day!

I had to commute daily, plus a 260 mile round trip once a week so I got myself a Yamaha Tmax (500cc 'super' scooter) which did the job perfectly. I then moved to cars, and my interest in two wheels petered out (but I still kept riding on and off), yet I never got rid of the Tmax.

Now I have a 'sensible' car, I thought about trading it in for something a bit more fun.

I have about 80k 2-wheeled miles under my belt, but only about 300 of them manual bikes. I've been looking around at something suitable and have come up with a few options:-

Yamaha FZ6-N
Kawasaki ER-6F
Suzuki SV650 / S
Suzuki Bandit GSF650 K6
Ducati 695


I'm not a bike newbie due to 80k miles covered, but I am a newbie to manual bikes!!!

Any recommendations?

Whats the bike for? Commuting? All round town or out of town or combination?
All manually geared bikes work the same.

[vipers]

sjtscott said:

vipers said:

Please explain what the reference to "Manual" bike means? am I missing the obvious, tks

The ability to select the gear yourself, I'm assuming 80k experience is all twist and go i.e. no clutch lever.

Well that did cross my mind, but didnt know you could get auto bikes, maybe you can, learn something every day, thanks for reply.

[rework]

vipers said:

sjtscott said:

vipers said:

Please explain what the reference to "Manual" bike means? am I missing the obvious, tks

The ability to select the gear yourself, I'm assuming 80k experience is all twist and go i.e. no clutch lever.

Well that did cross my mind, but didnt know you could get auto bikes, maybe you can, learn something every day, thanks for reply.

honda did an auto version of the 400/4. oh and i would get a bandit if you are only using for work etc

[BliarOut]

Honda Hornet.

[rework]

BliarOut said:

Honda Hornet.

no the 400/4 was out in the mid to late 70s

[BliarOut]

rework said:

BliarOut said:

Honda Hornet.

no the 400/4 was out in the mid to late 70s

I know that you donut, I was suggesting a suitable modern bike

[biker's nemesis]

rework said:

BliarOut said:

Honda Hornet.

no the 400/4 was out in the mid to late 70s

Think it was called the "Dream", Pre Super Dream.

Edited by biker's nemesis on Saturday 17th February 21:30

[MKH9130]

me said:

I had to commute daily, plus a 260 mile round trip once a week so I got myself a Yamaha Tmax (500cc 'super' scooter) which did the job perfectly

Yes, sorry... I have been riding 80k on twist and go scooters

The bike will be purely for fun, now I have a sensible car to do all the sensible miles in!

Edited by MKH9130 on Saturday 17th February 21:41

[rework]

BliarOut said:

rework said:

BliarOut said:

Honda Hornet.

no the 400/4 was out in the mid to late 70s

I know that you donut, I was suggesting a suitable modern bike

sorry mate !

[BliarOut]

And I'm old enough to remember the automatic dream

[rework]

BliarOut said:

And I'm old enough to remember the automatic dream

me too !!

[Talksteer]

You've got all the sensible options, have a test ride of each of them pick the one you like the best. They're all good bikes with no major vices and unlikely to go mechanically wrong.

[alfa daley]

I think the Hornet could be a contender, really easy to ride in tight traffic and fun when you want and the road allows. The only other one on your list I have ridden is the SV650 which being a twin has good low down grunt and sounded damn good even with a standard can but I'm a shortarse so went for the Hornets nice low seat

Good luck get some test rides

[aeropilot]

MKH9130 said:

The bike will be purely for fun

That's easy then.....Monster 695

[hiccy]

I quite like my Fazer 600, but the other bike I wold consider which you haven't mentioned is the BMW F800.

[black-k1]

rework said:

BliarOut said:

And I'm old enough to remember the automatic dream

me too !!

Me too. Automatic version sold on e-bay last year:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dl

From original post - I would suggest you try a number of different types/styles/sizes of bikes. The gear changing requirements will be pretty much the same on all manual bikes and will not be an issue within a couple of days of ownership. What is much more important is that you get a bike that suits you and your requirements and no one will know better than you which bike that is.

Edited by black-k1 on Monday 19th February 10:29

[wedg1e]

rework said:

BliarOut said:

And I'm old enough to remember the automatic dream

me too !!

My bro' had a (manual) 400 Dream as his first 'big' bike

Then he saw sense and bought a GPz500...