Returning to biking after 8 years
Discussion
After an 8 year break finally managed to scrimp & save enough money to get a bike.Sold the last 1 for a deposit on a house, then got married, then had a daughter.Have a budget of £4500,spoilt for choice between these 3 Hondas, SP1,FIREBLADE 954 RR-3 & CBR600RR.Your opinions & comments most appreciated.
Edited by llowen on Sunday 8th October 20:30
Hi there,
What did you ride before your 8-year break? What did you enjoy? What are you looking for in a bike? And what sort of riding are you planning to do?
Those are all great bikes, but there may be something even better suited to you. You never know.
If you're planning on any refresher training, I've just highly recommended Rapid Training in another post:
Incidentally, those who enjoyed Bikesafe would be blown away by a day with the likes of www.rapidtraining.co.uk Rapid Training is like the best of Bikesafe and race school rolled into one
and tailored to your individual pace and requirements. From snails to fast group riders, Rapid offer a highly rewarding day on the road. Recommended.
(Compared to Bikesafe, Suzuki Race School and California Superbike School, a day on the road with Rapid Training has been my most rewarding day out yet.)
What did you ride before your 8-year break? What did you enjoy? What are you looking for in a bike? And what sort of riding are you planning to do?
Those are all great bikes, but there may be something even better suited to you. You never know.
If you're planning on any refresher training, I've just highly recommended Rapid Training in another post:
SVS said:
Incidentally, those who enjoyed Bikesafe would be blown away by a day with the likes of www.rapidtraining.co.uk Rapid Training is like the best of Bikesafe and race school rolled into one
and tailored to your individual pace and requirements. From snails to fast group riders, Rapid offer a highly rewarding day on the road. Recommended. (Compared to Bikesafe, Suzuki Race School and California Superbike School, a day on the road with Rapid Training has been my most rewarding day out yet.)
....600`s are too revvy if your not in the mood... llowen said:
After an 8 year break finally managed to scrimp & save enough money to get a bike.Sold the last 1 for a deposit on a house, then got married, then had a daughter.Have a budget of £4500,spoilt for choice between these 3 Hondas, SP1,FIREBLADE 954 RR-3 & CBR600RR.Your opinions & comments most appreciated.
Edited by llowen on Sunday 8th October 20:30
Try them all and find which best suits your style of riding. All will feel smaller and lighter than you remember with the 600 feeling like it needs more revs than you remember, but will be noticeably quicker.
The 'Blade will feel ballistic at all revs. It will have a lot more low down torque as well as a mega top end. It'll be more expensive to run but will be more relaxed to ride. (That may be good - then again...!)
The SP1 will feel massively torquey (because it is!) and will be even more focused than the other two. I love V-twins so I would choose the SP1 but I know they are not to everyone’s taste.
As I said at the start – try them all. Beg, steal, borrow test rides and don’t rush for the first one you try. I assume from your list your focused on Hondas but also try some of the other options like the VFR (half way between the 600 and the ‘Blade). The more you can try the happier you will be with your final choice.
Ride safe and enjoy
If you're considering an SP1 then try a Mille. Much better front end and can accommodate the taller gentleman.
A friend of mine has done some serious bike changing recently he
Bought current model GSXR1000
Sold it to get SP1 as he always wanted one
Sold that as it was great when pressing on but town work was tedious. Very extreme riding position. He replaced it with older GSXR1000 as SP1 wasn't fast enough!
He's now replacing that with CBR1000RR as the old GSXR doesn't turn quick enough
All within the space of a year and a half. I dread to think how much money he's lost!
If it were my money, I'd get the Blade or the 600RR
A friend of mine has done some serious bike changing recently he
Bought current model GSXR1000
Sold it to get SP1 as he always wanted one
Sold that as it was great when pressing on but town work was tedious. Very extreme riding position. He replaced it with older GSXR1000 as SP1 wasn't fast enough!
He's now replacing that with CBR1000RR as the old GSXR doesn't turn quick enough
All within the space of a year and a half. I dread to think how much money he's lost!
If it were my money, I'd get the Blade or the 600RR
llowen said:
Hi, had a ZZR 600E1 first model with RAM AIR, borrowed a triumph t595 on the odd day this summer.Used to enjoy a Sunday blast out, also used it every day for work.Obviously more commitments now & not planning to blast round as fast !!! Would like to do the odd track day.
If you want to do the odd track day the CBR600RR with a can and power commannder and maybe spend a bit of money onthe suspension.
If you are coming back to biking and have no NCB you might find the insurance a bit less eye watering on a 600 or 750. I've had real trouble recently trying to get insured on an R1 - hardly any companies would touch it, and those that would insisted on FC only for which they demanded the princely sum of £2500 
And that's for someone with good car history, no points / bans or other sillyness
And that's for someone with good car history, no points / bans or other sillyness
I've just got back onto a bike again after effectively six years. I bought an immaculate ZX6 off of here, which I am now commuting on into London. Have to say it's superb to ride and thus far is as easy or mental as I want. Previoulsy I had a loony tunes heavily modded GSXR 884(750)L and I would reccommend the 600 as touch easier to get back into the swing with, without the bike dominating you, if that makes sense.
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