Sport Bikes banner

Quick 2nd bike question

3K views 35 replies 21 participants last post by  S3aturnR 
#1 · (Edited)
Okay guys I know you get this a lot but I have a quick scenario for you. I got my first bike last year which was a GS500F and I am selling it soon to upgrade next spring. I was planning on getting either a GSXR 600 or R6. Well I've found a great deal on a '08 CBR1000. I know it's a huge leap in performance but I can tell you(and if you read my name) I'm not out to do wheelies on the highway or go 190 into the City. My concern is... even with a level head will this 1k get me killed? Is the throttle so touchy that I will loose the rear wheel even when I'm not pushing the bike? Any insight will help. Thanks guys. Oh by the way the bike will mainly be used for commuting and some weekend fun.
 
#3 ·
Many 08's had ring issues and burned excessive oil, fyI

IMo, the last place I want to ride is cities and Highways, thats no place for my style of ride. Course, if your buying a Litre bike, with out intention of using the motor, then why buy it , other than for Posing and Good looks. For putting and level head, buy something more practical for street use.
 
#6 ·
i don't think he would be ready for any 1K (OP looking at CBR1k. - OW!) nothing like having an "oh shit" moment, grabbing a handful of throttle, looping bike and smearing themselves all over the road.


sure, find a nice nos turbo equiped Busa.... even better. :)

OP - I'd wait til you have more time in the saddle before jumping THAT far up the chain.

like it's been said before..... there will ALWAYS be deals in the future. don't be in a rush.
 
#10 ·
For what it's worth, I bought my 954rr as my second bike. Coming from a GS400E, too. To say whether you're ready or not is impossible to tell. I take safety while riding very seriously, so if I'm going to have some fun with the bike, I choose my time and place very carefully. Even still, I haven't given the bike all it would do. If you are disciplined and patient enough to learn the bike at a slow rate without getting cocky, then you will do fine....but if you have any doubt, otherwise, save your loved one the grief, and don't get the bike. Believe me when I say this....a litre bike is exponentially faster than your GS500. Faster than you even realize. Which also means the chance of disaster is increased exponentially.
 
#13 ·
Sure the jump to a liter bike can be done but, no one wants to recommend it. My wife went from a 250R to 750 in the matter of 3 months. Would I recommend that? No but, it can be done. Things can go wrong quickly on a liter bike. Regardless, be safe on whatever you get. Any bike should be respected.
 
#14 ·
Honestly most of the people that tell you no don't have a 1k. You are on the starter bike now that most would recommend. If you got a 600 or 1k first then you would get told off in lots of ways and you would be that special snowflake as they put it. But you didn't do that and people still say no to the 1k.

Look I say if it is a good deal and you think your skills are good enough to move up the get the 1k. Honestly the throttle response is quicker on some 600s than it is on some 1ks. Sure there is more power but it is not like a hand full of throttle on a 600 won't loop it as well.

Buy the bike you want and just be aware of the fact that it will have more power and respond much different.... A bunch more touchy than that 500.
 
#15 ·
I went from my Ninja 500 to, with mods, 140hp ZZR1200. That was...quite a jump. I really had to relearn maneuvering, given the weight and hp/tq differences in the bikes. That weight difference really isn't there for a GS500 to a CBR1000 like it is a ZZR1200, but a liter RR bike also screamed overkill to me. I got my ZZR because I thought I would be sport touring a shitload. (Wrong.) When I found out how wrong I was and when I got introduced to the track I sold it and got an SV. No regrets. (And I wouldn't have regrets having a 600RR instead of a 1000RR.)

Basically, it can be done. It can even be done safely and well, I've just not seen it done a lot. People tend to vibrate towards 600 RR bikes.

That said, there is something to be said about the kick in the ass rush of a high horsepower motorcycle that wants to tear your fucking arms out of their sockets when you throw the throttle back. :D
 
#16 ·
Another advantage of a litre bike is the torque. I hear a lot of people say that you have to rev the piss out of a 600 to have any power. I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know that I can easily cruise at 3500 rpm on my 954 and still have lots of power and response. I've heard the Honda litre bikes are more focused on mid range usable power rather than top end.
 
#17 ·
:agree
You're right but, it's the torque that gets you in trouble. A 600 has 40-45 wtq and a 1000 has 70-80 wtq. You don't see the whp until the upper rev range, but that wtq is there at a much lower rpm. At 5k a liter bike starts to pull due to torque. I'm a liter bike man myself but, someone who hasn't ridden one should be told to watch out. To me the older model liter bikes have more torque at a lower rpm than the newer ones. Those are the ones to watch out for.
 
#24 · (Edited)
It really depends on what you are going to be trying to do on the bike IMO. The last bike I owned before my ZX10R was an SV650S. That was a huge jump. I grew up on dirtbikes and small street bkes and so I learned how to ride...but still. Holy crap liter bikes are just a whole different ball game. My ZX10R is an 07. They had the same motor as the 04-05 ZX10Rs but the chassis was relaxed a little bit to make it less wheelie prone...but that doesn't mean it isn't absolutely ridiculous anyways. There is this one road that I ride every day on my way home from work. Traffic is usually moving 55-60 and its heavy. Thus, you have to be aggressive to merge into traffic...and somehow the front tire always ends up off the pavement. lol

As others have said, that liter bike torque is absurd. If I'm getting on the throttle hard in 1st gear, the front tire starts lifting at like 40-45 mph. If I'm in second gear, any bump in the road can cause a big wheelie when I'm going 55-60 or more. Third gear will also bring aggressive wheelies if you are hitting dips and bumps in the road, but those are at much less legal speeds.

As Akumu said, there is something about the rush of a 180hp motorcycle trying to throw you off the back. On the rare occasion that I get my ZX10R wide open it honestly feels like I'm flying low. I feel the bike squat down and the front end gets very very light. Depending on the road, it will often dance back and forth ever so slightly. The speeds you get to and how quickly you get to them are nothing short of amazing. I've put 7000 miles on my ZX10 and it still blows me away how quickly it piles on speed...even when you're not wide open and you're just riding around town. Let out the clutch, get the bike going in first gear....and you're doing 40mph. Just like that. It is difficult to go 25mph on it.

Cornering for me can be scary on it as I've felt the back end step out here and there on me...not only that, some higher speed bends that you would normally take "fast" on your old slow bike, now produce wheelies and headshake.

I guess what I'm trying to say with all of this is that there is nothing like them, but they also scare the crap out of me. I started riding 8 years ago, and the bike still spooks me sometimes.

Now, if you are the type that doesn't care to drag a knee or show off or keep up with all the other people that are riding fast, then I would say go for it. OTOH if you're looking to really develop your talent, take corners faster, and really learn to ride fast, then I would say stay away from it. They are absolutely brutal machines that will punish mistakes.

There are sometimes that I wish that I had gotten a 600 instead of a 1000. The 600s are easier on tires and cost 1/2 as much as a 1000 to insure. They would also be a lot less prone to scaring me mid corner. OTOH, that power is SOOO addictive. On some bikes the power sort of gets old after a while...but dang. It really never disappoints. The first time I got on the throttle, I honestly felt like I was in the millenium falcon jumping to hyperspace. Its as if someone just pressed fast forward on the world. Either way you won't be disappointed. 600s still have more power than anybody really needs and are tons of fun.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Wow awesome guys thanks for the great advice. I passed the offer up but still read all your comments so I can learn even more. To answer a few I put about 8k on my bike in a matter of a few months. I rode it almost every day for hours on end because I fell in love with being on two wheels. I'm past the point where I'm full open on the throttle and it feels like a putz but now that I think about it I still make some mistakes that a 1k might not forgive me for. I'm not trying to become a GP rider I'm more of a straight line person.. meaning I love to drag and I love acceleration rather than sharp corners(I know, I know bikes are meant to be turned). Most of my time on two wheels is spent getting that rush out of the acceleration or exploring new places.

To be honest the biggest reason I want to upgrade is because I'm tired of killing my GS on the highway in 6th gear when I want to go above 65 and If you're not familiar with Atlanta, 80 is traffic speed most of the time...if its not dead stop, and you use the major highways to get anywhere around the city. Either way I found a 600, same year and 7k miles, for a bit less. I just hope I don't outgrow the 600 in a few months or a year like I have the GS500. Thanks again guys.

A little side question. Does anyone have experience with a smart way of making a transaction with someone that doesn't hold the title(his bank does). I assume a bill of sale is all I need to legally cover myself and once he gets the title if he doesn't transfer it I can get a new title with the bill of sale, does this sound correct?
 
#26 ·
Bud - you have some if the best roads in the world to the north of you! Come try some twisties, you will hate straight line afterwards

Oh and a short ride on a triumph Daytona 675rr had me very impressed. Way better than I remember my 600DS being. Something to consider
 
#30 · (Edited)
IMO I believe that any one person can safely move up to a 1000 with the proper amount of restraint. I say this because even though a 1000 makes more than enough power for the street at 4000 rpm, it is still very tame at that rpm (is not tame past 8k). As long as that person doesn't have the urge to wrap the throttle back ignorantly they should be fine. But generally as a precaution most will say no, because the average person has a certain curiosity of what that bikes capabilities are. As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. In this case it killed the noob. As stated anyone "can" move straight to a 1000 from a learner bike, but the learning curve is not forgiving at all. That said If you keep the rpm's low I doubt that using 1/4 throttle at 4000 rpm is going to flip you in the air at 200 mph in first gear, but if not careful it can go from 35 mph at 4000 rpm in first to 90 mph and flip you if your not respectful of the machine and proceed to WOT. The biggest difference in the 600's and 1000's is the torque, on the street many prefer the 1000's because you don't have to exceed the 4000 rpm mark. Whereas with a 600 I'm sure you don't have to ring its neck to go up a slight incline, but a 600's max torque is around 45 ft/lbs at 10,000 rpm where a 1000 makes more that that at the 4k rpm mark. That is where most get into trouble learning with the 1000's. Just my .02 cents.
 
#31 ·
But this is a case by case basis. Remember just over a year ago when i got my first bike a 2011 Ninja 650R, having never ridden a day prior in my life? I was a "level Headed" rider but i still made plenty of mistakes and dropped that thing left and right. After my bike got vandalized, i went about 6 months bikeless until i got my hands on my Ninja 636 and have been riding pretty darn good so far and only 11,000 miles under my belt.

I would highly suggest that no matter what bike any given rider moves to next, that they should invest plenty of time in MSF courses and parking lot practices to become familiar with the bike from the start instead of just figuring things out.

Oh and luck is a huge factor in riding too.
 
#32 ·
I completely agree not getting something like that for a first bike. Not that it's expected to drop your first bike a few times, oh wait, yes you are. That is why someone should never buy a new bike when learning. With that stated once you've gotten past your toddler phase of riding, you can feasibly move up. Would I recommend someone move straight to a 1000? I can't say, as stated above it is a case by case decision that cannot be determined by reading a post on the internet. All I am saying is that I do know some people who have moved to a b***** bike within a year and have been fine. Then again I know a lot of people who have done so and the lack of learning curve bit them big time. What ever the case it is not our decision to make. All we can do is give advise from our own experiences.
 
#36 ·
the longer i've owned sport bikes, the more i wonder why the hell anyone would get one of these things for only street riding and commuting.

if you plan on doing some track days or club racing or some other sort of closed course riding, a cbr1000rr is a great bike. so are the r6 and gsx600r.

if you're going back and forth from work with the occasional "spirited" (read: illegal, because no spirited ride ever involves going the speed limit) ride, keep your current bike or something like it. a sport bike is not something to "graduate" to, it's more like something to ride when you're planning on breaking every motoring law ever written. the street is just not a good place to do that...


s3aturnr
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top