One decade later - coming back to biking. What £5,000 bike?

[Ffffaster]

One decade later - coming back to biking. What £5,000 bike?

I used to ride all the time in my 20s and 30s when a motorcycle was my only mode of transport. I progressed from SV650s’ to Ninjas with a couple of naked bikes in-between.

I live in London and I don’t intend to use the public transport on a regular basis for the next couple of years. I’d rather bike in again, but I am so out of touch with what is available now that I thought I’d ask for help.

My budget is £5,000 as a maximum and my broad criteria are:

1. 500cc minimum and 1000cc – so a “big” bike.
2. As light in weight as possible would be nice as I’m a slim guy of about a 5 foot 9 inches.
3. Call me shallow, but it needs to sound and look good!
4. Only want to consider used bikes and happy to stretch to as old as a 2008 model, because my last bike was a new 2008 Z750 and I loved it.
5. Sporty but comfortable enough - will be used for about 15 miles a day across London, so riding position and suspension needs to be manageable. I had a ZX6R Ninja B1H that was almost un-rideable, because it was quite extreme (for me) and every pothole shot my arse up in the air!
6. Reliable and reasonable to service.

I’ve been feeling drawn to naked bikes at the moment like the Speed Triple, KTM Duke 790 and the Monster, but I saw a 2009 Honda Fireblade in red with a snub nose that left me weak at the knees! I could go any way with this, so would love some direction and thoughts from all of you.

I'm definitely not interested in Harleys and the like, or large touring bikes.

Hyperlinks to bikes on sale and pictures to drool over, would be great!

Edited by Ffffaster on Thursday 14th May 18:49

[Drezza]

I'm in the same boat as you and got my eye firmly on a street triple, waiting for the newer 765's to come into my budget.. 5k should get you one private sale.

[CousinDupree]

Yep, street triple given your height.

Great bikes. The first series were the most fun.

[carinaman]

I'd suggest testing the Street Triple and the Duke 790. There's a few tales of niggles with the KTM on the Internet. The 270 Degree crank on the 790 gives a Vee Twin like sound.

What will London insurance be like?

Edited by carinaman on Thursday 14th May 19:15

[rat840771]

5k would get you a bullet proof GSXR1000.

Or you could get the naked version GSX1000 that has the K5 engine

But as you mentioned a good bet would be a street or speed triple

[Drezza]

Although if you're leaving it in London... I probably wouldn't bother, it won't last two seconds.

[SteveS Cup]

Get a nice GSXR 750 for £5k.

I find it comfortable to do decent miles (8k in 6 months!), power of the earlier 1000’s with the weight of a 600.

[carinaman]

Could you get a pre-just updated Z900 for £5K? How attractive are Z900s to thieves?

I don't think it'd be as easier to move around as a Duke 790.

[podman]

Go for a few test rides perhaps but id 100% go for a supernaked now. still loads of poke, great handling and brakes but all day long comfort.

...or if you fancy a Kawasaki KR1, I know of one thats on budget...

[TheThing]

Why not another sv650s? Sounds perfect for what you want a bike for and spend the change from your 5k on kit. A good alternative to the Street triple would be an MT09.

[Krikkit]

If a fireblade made you weak at the knees then what are you waiting for? Always buy the bike you covet.

[lukeyman]

The Street and MT are very different shapes. The Street handles better and is a nicer position if you like being lent forward a bit. The MT position is bolt upright.

But I ditched both for a Z900RS.

[lukeyman]

Krikkit said:

If a fireblade made you weak at the knees then what are you waiting for? Always buy the bike you covet.

Yep.

[ReverendCounter]

Hypermotard, Brutale? (not that I've ridden either).

[Volant]

If it’s for year round commuting, a bit more weather protection than a naked would be welcome come January time...

700/900 Tracer, Sv650s, Versys, ER6F etc are the sensible options.

I did London commuting on a scooter, an FZ6, Aprilia Pegaso Strada and KTM 990 SMT. Of those the Pegaso was my favourite, by far. Light, flickable, very grunty if not actually powerful.

Fireblade would do it though!

Are you after a bike for fun ride outs as well, or just commuting?

[Unbusy]

As mentioned above, check insurance prices before you buy.
The guys on here in London are being squeezed hard.
Going for an older bike gives you so much choice. Good luck getting a cracking ride.

[black-k1]

You live in London but have not said what your parking situation is either at home or at work. Getting something "desirable", especially a sports bike, if you only have on-street parking is an open invitation to thieves and I would not bet on you keeping the bike for a whole year. If on-street parking is the only option then I'd recommend getting something undesirable, but solid and practical. Riding any Deauville is far more fun than looking at the space where your GSXR750 used to be.

[Volant]

To be fair, the theft game has come on in the last few years. Mainly through the cheap cordless grinders now available, but also thanks to a ‘culture’ that glamourises it. The theft rates a couple of years back we’re going up hundreds of percent per year. As were insurance premiums...

It’s worth considering, deffo get an insurance quote, and also thinking about where you park and how you secure it.

Sadly the ULEZ rules make an older less nickable bike a non starter.

I still think a fairing or at least a bikini fairing/screen will make a big difference if using year round. I know people do it on nakeds, but I’m just speaking from experience. Even with good kit, you’ll appreciate it early morning in winter.

Speaking of which, I’d spend some of that £5000 budget on proper good kit. Between now and autumn you’ll be ok, maybe even wanting to get a mesh jacket for peak summer, but you’ll want some really good kit for those grim winter days.

If it’s commuting only, honestly I’d check my insurance quotes (£1000?), probably get a versys or similar (£3000?) and get some nice Dane/Klim/Halvarssons/Rukka kit that you WILL appreciate (£1000?) Oh, and heated jacket/gloves in 6 months time....

There’s your £5000....

However if you want a nice bike, you want a nice bike, I wouldn’t blame you for doing it on a blade at all. Check that insurance though, it’s a different situation from a decade ago.

It’s liberating. Even in crap weather I looked forward to my commute, quicker, less time and a good de-stress...

[Prof Prolapse]

CousinDupree said:

Yep, street triple given your height.

Great bikes. The first series were the most fun.

His height? I never thought 5'9" would be an issue, unless you've caterpillar like proportions.

I'd never have called a GSXR-750 comfortable personally. It's tiny. If you've a strong core and like the sportsbike position that's one thing, but it's just not an easy riding position over distance or the roads. That's before the suspension, and it being more difficult in tight slow maneuvers.

That said, if I had £5000, with no other considerations I'd have some sort of GSXR as well I suspect.

[NITO]

Left field choice...



https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2019-SUZUKI-GSX-S-1000-...

Bit more than budget but as it's new you could do a monthly thing for peanuts.