What's a fun commuter bike?

[Jamie01]

Do you want a bike that makes commuting fun, or a bike you can commute on and also have fun on the track and twisties?

If the former, I'd say a supermoto, or if you do more highway and want two cylinders and wind protection, maybe a DL 650. If the latter, it's really a matter of how much discomfort you can tolerate during the week in order to have a sport bike when the weekend comes around.

[singram]

Originally Posted by Furad

1000cc or more or you wont be able to merge on the freeway bro.

DaFuk? Someone tell me this one just has a lame sense of humor.

[ZorroX]

Originally Posted by singram

DaFuk? Someone tell me this one just has a lame sense of humor.

That is an inside joke from a thread where a bunch of people were ranting that an I4 600cc is just unbearably too underpowered to ride comfortably on the street. LOL

A fun commuter bike is whatever sparks that fire in you. Be it a 600cc SuperSport, supermoto, or even a harley. It's all personal preference.

[singram]

That is an inside joke from a thread where a bunch of people were ranting that an I4 600cc is just unbearably too underpowered to ride comfortably on the street. LOL

Ahh, gotcha!

[UltimateOG]

Originally Posted by ZorroX

That is an inside joke from a thread where a bunch of people were ranting that an I4 600cc is just unbearably too underpowered to ride comfortably on the street. LOL

A fun commuter bike is whatever sparks that fire in you. Be it a 600cc SuperSport, supermoto, or even a harley. It's all personal preference.

Technically, anything less than a hypersport doesn't make enough HP, Torque and comfort for street, city, highway and freeway use.

Unless they start making hover bikes...

[bluspyder]

I can't speak for the f4i or the zx-14, but out of the 6 bikes I've owned the fun factor is exponentially higher with a supermoto.

Sent from my DROIDX

[singram]

Originally Posted by UltimateOG

Technically, anything less than a hypersport doesn't make enough HP, Torque and comfort for street, city, highway and freeway use.

Unless they start making hover bikes...

So you're saying a 600cc I4(a mere Middleweight) doesn't make enough HP or torque for street, city, hwy or freeway use.

Uh yeah, I'm gonna need you to extrapolate on that.

[UltimateOG]

Originally Posted by singram

So you're saying a 600cc I4(a mere Middleweight) doesn't make enough HP or torque for street, city, hwy or freeway use.

Uh yeah, I'm gonna need you to extrapolate on that.

You used a word that I cannot pronounce or understand, your post is invalid.

But no i was trying to tag along on the inside joke. Guess I ain't funny.

[Jfaden23]

Originally Posted by harleyxlc

I guess I should be thankful my <1000cc bikes have been able to merge on to freeways...whew!

How do you define a "good commuter bike"? mpg? Hard bags? Freeway comfort?

My opinion of good commuter bike is reasonable insurance rates, low theft appeal, great gas mileage. For example, a ninja 500 is not high on the list of bikes to steal, soft bags abound and great gas mileage. And low maintenance costs.

Bikes like a zx14 are wonderful to ride, including long distance (I know, I have one), but I don't like it topping the stolen bike list when it comes to commuting and leaving it out. And even older models are above the $4500 budget.

I didn't find my naked bike was bad on the freeways, but if I had to pick one for commuting and had one bike, I wouldn't pick something like a monster or triple. Bags were horribly annoying for my speed triple and I have other bikes that are more comfortable on the freeways.

Honda VFRs are decent (since I have one, i am a fan of the 5th gen). Hard and soft bags, decent mileage, sporty yet comfortable. And definitely within your price range.

The two you listed would be good choices, at least the 650 for your price range, maybe increase the distance you are willing to travel to find a bike, too?

I'm going to be commuting on 55 MPH Highways. When I say a fun commuter bike, I'd like fun to be more of a focus than commuting. Sat on a cbr at a dealer and thought it was way too cramped/bent over, gixxers are alright but still sport feel is just too much for long trips. So basically the next best thing, I like the SV seating position/look as well as it's MPG. It seems pretty torquey around town and holds its own OKAY in twisties/highway.

The FZ8 seemed very nice to sit on and had a great look as well.

So basically a fun commuter bike with emphasis on fun. BTW I've only had DR 650, but I'm bored as sh*t with it. Test driving an SV 650 was nice but I really wasn't comfortable enough on the bike to drive it like I would my DR, and the only nearby areas were all corners, so I really didn't get a feel for the horsepower/torque difference as much as I would have.


I'm pretty much looking all over california, found 2007 Suzuki SV 650 Only 1,680 Miles! It looks like new!!! about 5 and a half hours away, he's just not responding to my emails (didn't leave a phone # in the ad.)

[danny500r]

Originally Posted by singram

F4i. Surprisingly wide power band for an 600cc I4, A somewhat relaxed seating position putting you more upright than a true-on RR(even the 01-03 split seat isn't too bad for long rides)and well within your budget.

This is what I was going to suggest, but I'd also really suggest a Kawi 500R for commuting. More comfortable then the F4i, better gas mileage (I was getting 50-55 on mine vs 36-39ish on the F4i), and just enough power to stay out of trouble. They can also be had for under 3k and ridiculously easy and cheap to work on.

[Jfaden23]

Hm, f4is were discontinued in 2006? Did honda make another bike from there on out that was pretty much = to the f4i?

[SPOOLN GSXR]

Originally Posted by Jfaden23

Hm, f4is were discontinued in 2006? Did honda make another bike from there on out that was pretty much = to the f4i?

No, thus why I'm so angry at Honda. They've killed a lot of useful and cool bikes such as the 954RR, F4i, RC51, VFR800, Blackbird and such. They were once so innovative and now it seems that they don't try as hard.

[singram]

Originally Posted by Jfaden23

Hm, f4is were discontinued in 2006? Did honda make another bike from there on out that was pretty much = to the f4i?

The 600rr picked up the Honda middle class lineup in 04, though the F4i continued another 2yrs. Honda highlighted the point by seemingly religating the subsequint f4i's to sport tourers by equiping them with bannana seats and grab bars, nothing else changed.

Worth noting,(performance wise),except for the bars and rearsets, the 600rr is identical in every way to the F4i. Same engine, same computer, everything.

[Jfaden23]

Interesting...well I found a seemingly flawless 2006 f4i w/ 8k miles going for $4500. Anything I'm overlooking with an f4i to make this not a good deal? Something wrong w/ that year etc.

[Dem0nDuck]

There is a 07 ZX14 in my area with 25k miles selling for $4500. Just sayin. Look around and you can find it. The insurance in my area on the ZX14 is cheap but not sure about theft rate.