Oh shit, I totalled my bike

[KnuckleBallz]

Time to buy a new (used) one! But I need some help...

I put the question to my local forum, but figured I'd farm my search out a little further. Feel free to toss your two cents in here. Could be useful for others in the future as well. The most popular suggestions (& my thoughts) are below.

Original Guidlines:

~$3k
-comfortable for city/highway commuting w/ traffic. So not full RR ergonomics. I'm down for some aggression though.
-fully-faired

Front-runners:

FZ6: Mechanically, seems to have a lot to offer. Undertail exhaust is sexy, but I hate the half-faired look. Depending on how available/affordable lower fairings are, this may be my future. I think it looks pretty sick naked, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.

YZF-600r: Noticed a lot of these popping up in my CL searches & asked about them. Response was overwhelmingly positive & they seem pretty well priced. This is the clear-cut favorite right now. I like the look & it seems like I'd like the ride as well. There's a few blue ones in my area that I'm keeping an eye on. My jacket may finally match my bike!

f4i: Another pretty popular entry, but seems like my ~$3k budget is not gonna get the deal done. Other than that, I like what I've seen/read.

Other suggestions have been: 636, 650r, sv650. I don't like SVs for the same reason I don't like FZ6s. And it's winter so I'm fine with waiting til I find something I like looking at as much as I like riding.

Thanks for taking the time to read & respond!

[kevin_stevens]

There are factory lowers for the SV650 that a lot of bikes were sold with.

KeS

[Royal Tiger]

The F4i and YZF600 are both decent steps up from your GS500. If you are ready, then I vote for the Yamaha. If not, the Ninja 650 could be perfect for you.

[kevinwilly]

Yeah, but stock suspension on the SV sucks ballz. Other than that, though- yeah, it's a solid choice. not too aggressive, but still plenty fun.

You'd easily be able to get an F4i for 3 grand. I see them all the time. It's an 11 year old bike. You can find them for that price.


YZF600r- yeah... it's in the price range. But it's carbourated. Which is a huge negative in my book. Also, the f4i is way better. WAY better.

[KnuckleBallz]

Originally Posted by kevin_stevens

There are factory lowers for the SV650 that a lot of bikes were sold with.

KeS

Heard about this.

Originally Posted by kevinwilly

Yeah, but stock suspension on the SV sucks ballz. Other than that, though- yeah, it's a solid choice. not too aggressive, but still plenty fun.

You'd easily be able to get an F4i for 3 grand. I see them all the time. It's an 11 year old bike. You can find them for that price.


YZF600r- yeah... it's in the price range. But it's carbourated. Which is a huge negative in my book. Also, the f4i is way better. WAY better.

They're all fucked up or yellow though

Nah I hear you, but for whatever reason they hold their value pretty well up here compared to other bikes from that generation. There's a few i'm keeping an eye on.

Not many are close to stock either, and modding was something I was looking forward to.

[LessPeople_MoreRobots]

Originally Posted by KnuckleBallz

They're all fucked up or yellow though

Ah, come on! Yellow is awesome on a bike.

[Süsser Tod]

GSX 650F, AKA faired Bandit.

Big bike, shares the frame with the Bandit 1250 or the GSX 1250F. Inline 4 derived from the SACS engines, smooth as silk, seems like it were electric. Comfortable, can be made to tour, there are plenty of luggage options, and it is no slouch.

Another bike you should consider is the Kawasaki ZZR600.


Or maybe, a SV1000S with lower fairings?

This is how a SV looks like with the OEM lower fairings:



Thats a SV1000S, the SV650S looks about the same.. At least from the right side.

[KnuckleBallz]

Originally Posted by LessPeople_MoreRobots

Ah, come on! Yellow is awesome on a bike.

Haha yes it's not bad.

But this is the jacket I'm workin with:



I'm not wicked into matching, but that would be insane. Ideally I'd get something blue, red, or black. Silvers ok, and white I wouldn't be able to keep clean, but I'd consider it.

[arcticamt6]

Buy outside of New England. The bikes for sale up here are way overpriced. Seriously, I drove 8 hours to get my Daytona.

[singram]

You're area may differ, but I just picked up a mint F4i for $3200. I'm sure I could have talked down to 3k even, but when I saw the bike in person, I was more then happy to give him 2 more bills.

I gotta ask though, you're seriously trying to match you're next bike to the color of your jacket?

[USAFgsxr750again]

my wife gives me heck cause i still use my Yellow Sitch on my Blue/white 750. kinda required to wear certain items while riding because of the military, and what i have to work with. i've started wearing my HD leather jacket with ICON vest since the temps started to drop a bit.

[singram]

Originally Posted by USAFgsxr750again

my wife gives me heck cause i still use my Yellow Sitch on my Blue/white 750. kinda required to wear certain items while riding because of the military, and what i have to work with. i've started wearing my HD leather jacket with ICON vest since the temps started to drop a bit.

This is what I'm rocking with the new F4i.



I dont give a fuck though. I paid $200. for it last season for the ZX6 and its comfortable as hell, so I'll wear it till it falls apart.


Oh, and I got this hanging up in the closet that I'll be wearing for the red Honda, and the green Kawi.

[KnuckleBallz]

Originally Posted by arcticamt6

Buy outside of New England. The bikes for sale up here are way overpriced. Seriously, I drove 8 hours to get my Daytona.

That seems aggressive, but I believe you. Any noted areas for good deals, or did you just cast a wide craigslist net? I'm definitely intrigued...would be a bit worried that I'd drive all that way & find out things weren't as they seemed. But I could see it being a fun adventure.

Originally Posted by singram

You're area may differ, but I just picked up a mint F4i for $3200. I'm sure I could have talked down to 3k even, but when I saw the bike in person, I was more then happy to give him 2 more bills.

I gotta ask though, you're seriously trying to match you're next bike to the color of your jacket?

Yup, I seriously am.

[arcticamt6]

Originally Posted by KnuckleBallz

That seems aggressive, but I believe you. Any noted areas for good deals, or did you just cast a wide craigslist net? I'm definitely intrigued...would be a bit worried that I'd drive all that way & find out things weren't as they seemed. But I could see it being a fun adventure.



Yup, I seriously am.

West of NJ is generally a good area to start.

Find a bike you like the most, then join a specific forum for it. Find someone on there reputable that is selling their bike and buy from them.

[singram]

Yup, I seriously am.

You got rich man hopes on a 3k budget, my friend.

Eh, either way, good luck on your search.