[neutom72]

Hey guys!

Hello from Minnesota! Brand new to the sportbike.net forum.. this is my first post.

Looking for your advice. Just a little background about my riding history. I'm a 32 year old male and have been riding almost two years on the street, but I had some experience on a dirtbike as a kid. I started on a Katana 600 and rode it for a year before I bought an OLD GUY bike... a 96' Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic. My wife convinced me that I was too old for the bike and needed a cruiser. Well, I miss the bike. Love my cruiser but I need a "fun" bike for zipping around town. AMAZINGLY I talked the BOSS into letting me keep the cruiser and get a real sportbike. I came across a nice 94' Yamaha FZR1000 with low miles and a great price. The thought of getting a liter bike really hadn't crossed my mind but it appears to be a really good buy. I consider myself to be a really responsible rider and I have NO intentions of EVER doing wheelies, stoppies, or anything else that would kill me on the spot. What are your thoughts? Am I crazy for even considering this bike? I'm also considering a 94' Suzuki RF900R. Would either of the two be better for me or should I stay away and look for a 600cc bike?

I appreciate any advice you're willing to offer.

Thanks!

Tom
Brooklyn Park, MN.

 

[RACER X]

how many miles do you think you've ridden?

 

[neutom72]

I put about 1,500 miles on the Kat, and I have put about 500 on my old guy bike. I bought the Vulcan 800 Classic late November 03'.

 

[21 natas]

I would hold off for now, 2k miles is not really that much experience for a liter bike, but this is just my opinion.

 

[firefighter81]

Well the thing is, the new 600's are just as fast, if not faster than that FZR1000 or the RF900R, so it's up to personal choice. You sound reasonably responsible, enough to handle a powerful bike, but still, even Valentino Rossi messes up, so be careful with whatever you decide to get. Also, get some formal training if you haven't had it already.

Jason

 

[ZX7R95]

Just to let you know, that a newer 600 is just as fast as some of those older liter bikes and manuever better

 

[neutom72]

About the power of todays 600's to yesterdays 1000's. Those were my thoughts as well. With the newer 600 bikes being fuel injected and much more refined, one would think the comparison between the two would be pretty close.

I took the MSF course here in Minnesota before I even bought the Katana. The class was worth every dime and more. I can't begin to tell you how much I learned.

Thank you for your comments.

 

[RACER X]

but also consider the RF is a sport/touring bike, the chasis geometry is much more forgiving and neutral handling. and the power delivery is much smoother and linear.....

hard call......at your age, your heads on straight.......i'd say go for it.

 

[Quik]

litres have nice low end power that middleweights dont have and you dont need to rev a litre to get going

 

[neutom72]

Quik.. so what do you think? Would I be in over my head?

 

[Neverlose]

IMO, No you would not.

 

[Quik]

Quik.. so what do you think? Would I be in over my head?

see each person learns at different paces. i started on a few different bikes. VTR 250,Kat six00,F3 then the cbr1krr.

i stepped up quickly but some litres are actually user friendly like the 1Krr. youll have to answer the yourself...are you ready?? just respect that bike to all hell and youll be fine. alot of riders should never ride a middlewieght rather alone a litre. i love hte low end power of my litre. i went back to riding the F3 before i sold it and was like damm i got to rev it again.

 

[Mykl]

I'm going to go against the popular opinion here and say that you'd probably be just fine.

 

[Quik]

I'm going to go against the popular opinion here and say that you'd probably be just fine.

X2 take your time and pace yourself

 

[RussXL]

I'm 32, and I've been riding less than a year on the street. But I've got more than double your mileage out of my 2 bikes. (3100 on an EX250 and 1300 and counting on my Harley)

I know that I could throw a leg over a liter bike and ride it to the store or Starbuck's or the lakefront and pose and look convincing, but I'm not anywhere close to beginning to apprach it's capabilities.

Plus modern 600's are so nice now and so fast, why bother with a literbike?

 

[Quik]

I'm 32, and I've been riding less than a year on the street. But I've got more than double your mileage out of my 2 bikes. (3100 on an EX250 and 1300 and counting on my Harley)

I know that I could throw a leg over a liter bike and ride it to the store or Starbuck's or the lakefront and pose and look convincing, but I'm not anywhere close to beginning to apprach it's capabilities.

Plus modern 600's are so nice now and so fast, why bother with a literbike?

once you go litre youll never go back. no one is saying shit about middleweights but the low end power of a litre is what its all about. im not even goingto say things about topend....insane describes it best

 

[RussXL]

once you go litre youll never go back. no one is saying shit about middleweights but the low end power of a litre is what its all about. im not even goingto say things about topend....insane describes it best

Don't tell me that... LALALALALA I'M NOT LISTENING LALLALALALAA

It's more my lack of experience that keeps me away from the big bikes. I'm nowhere near ready to ride one hard.

 

[Mykl]

X2 take your time and pace yourself

Well, this isn't true in 100% of the cases. It's just that this fellow seems like the type that he's not going to be running balls out everywhere he goes...

He also doesn't seem like the type who's looking to refine his skill to club racer levels. The main reason I suggest that people start small is to build skill on a machine that is more forgiving, overall.

If all he does is go for a ride every now and then on the street and just wants a quick hit of adrenaline every now and then provided by the power... I think he'd be just fine.

once you go litre youll never go back. no one is saying shit about middleweights but the low end power of a litre is what its all about. im not even goingto say things about topend....insane describes it best

I dunno... sometimes I wish I had a 600. For a street bike I prefer as large of an engine as I can get, simply because I can't really exploit that handling advantages of a smaller machine so I may as well have the power to keep myself entertained with. At the track it's a completely different story.

 

[Mykl]

Don't tell me that... LALALALALA I'M NOT LISTENING LALLALALALAA

It's more my lack of experience that keeps me away from the big bikes. I'm nowhere near ready to ride one hard.

If you want to learn how to ride fast with skill, you don't want to have anything to do with a big bore bike. For the purpose of skill development I really wouldn't recommend anything larger than a 600. Even with a 600, if your goal is to become a more skilled rider, you'll want to work up to it by riding bikes like the GS500E for a while.

 

[firefighter81]

If you want to learn how to ride fast with skill, you don't want to have anything to do with a big bore bike. For the purpose of skill development I really wouldn't recommend anything larger than a 600. Even with a 600, if your goal is to become a more skilled rider, you'll want to work up to it by riding bikes like the GS500E for a while.

+1 This man speaks the truth. It's a FACT that people who start on smaller bikes become better riders! Even MotoGP riders do it, they start in the 125cc class, win some races, learn to ride better, move up to 250cc class, win more, learn more, etc etc. Only then are they ready for the awesome power that is the MotoGP class (500's and 1000's). Start small now, be a much better rider in the future......sounds good to me! :leghump