The great search...

[Bowflex]

Hey guys, I'm going to be in the market for a new bike as soon as the insurance company finishes up with the paper work from my last bike. I'm coming from a Kawasaki ZZR600 and I want to stay in the 600cc bracket. Don't know if I want to get another ZZR or try something new. Being the fact that I can't ride every brand of bike before I buy I'm putting this question out there for those of you who've been riding your favorites for years. I'm looking for suggestions on dealers and brands. Why do you like your bike? I chose the ZZR for comfort reasons and it was also affordable, but I've heard some of the newer sport bikes out there have gotten better with their ergonomics. I'm still healing from my accident, so I've got plenty of time to browse, but hope to be back on a bike within the next month or so.

I live in leominster and so far Sohegan Valley have the best prices as far as Kawasaki goes. Tell me what you guys think. I go for performance over speed, but I don't want one that's gonna be slower than my ZZR.

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

Alot guys are nuts for the FZ6 Yamaha, They seem to do everything the sportbikes do just a little more comfort. and far better touring

[nilez]

the new Honda CBR F4i's are fairly comfy, sort of the same type of bike as the ZZR.

[schleppy]

Another vote for the FZ6. If I hadn't bought my SV I most likely would have ended up on one of those. Awesome bikes from what I've heard, and quick too.

[Bowflex]

How are the half fairing and fighter style bikes compared to the full fairing sports? I have to say I've liked the full fairing bikes on cooler days where I can hug my tank to stay a little warmer. Though, due to my recent accident, they considered my bike a total because the cost of getting it fixed apparently exceeded the worth of the bike. The whole outer shell needed to be replaced along with the sub-frame and a part here and there. I still don't see how there could be over 4.5k in plastics on the bike.

[Doc]

If your trying to stay warm on a sportbike you need to get a more Touring oriented ride.... FZ6 fits the bill

[KillBill]

Hey guys, I'm going to be in the market for a new bike as soon as the insurance company finishes up with the paper work from my last bike. I'm coming from a Kawasaki ZZR600 and I want to stay in the 600cc bracket. Don't know if I want to get another ZZR or try something new. Being the fact that I can't ride every brand of bike before I buy I'm putting this question out there for those of you who've been riding your favorites for years. I'm looking for suggestions on dealers and brands. Why do you like your bike? I chose the ZZR for comfort reasons and it was also affordable, but I've heard some of the newer sport bikes out there have gotten better with their ergonomics. I'm still healing from my accident, so I've got plenty of time to browse, but hope to be back on a bike within the next month or so.

I live in leominster and so far Sohegan Valley have the best prices as far as Kawasaki goes. Tell me what you guys think. I go for performance over speed, but I don't want one that's gonna be slower than my ZZR.

I can't say enough good things about Souhegan Valley Motorsports. Sean, his Dad and his brother are great guys that give you straight answers without the bullshit.

Makes me wish sometimes I bought a bike from them and not Best Cycle.

[Bowflex]

I can't say enough good things about Souhegan Valley Motorsports. Sean, his Dad and his brother are great guys that give you straight answers without the bullshit.

Makes me wish sometimes I bought a bike from them and not Best Cycle.

They are great guys and i wouldn't mind dealing with them again, i'm just not sure I want another ZZR after the work and time I put into that last one. Now that I've felt how fun 600's are I'm just curious as to what others think of the brands out there and what would be comparable to the ZZR's handling/speed. Maybe there is something out there that would give me a better ride

[slowrider]

I think Nault's might still have a leftover CBR600F4i - basically the Honda version of your ZZR. I don't think they're making it anymore. I used to have carbed version of the F4 (maybe only 1 year it wasnt fuel injected), but I really loved that bike. 100x more comfortable than my 675 & the engine is still way more capable than I will ever be. I think it makes an excellent 600 cc sport tourer.

Check out the FZ6 too, don't shy away from half faired bikes. The upper half is the business end I've had half faired and wind protection was never an issue (imo).

[Bowflex]

Just got to find me a close good yamaha dealer and I'll check the FZ6 out.

[ThisBitch]

If your trying to stay warm on a sportbike you need to get a more Touring oriented ride.... FZ6 fits the bill

I absolutely love my Ninja 650R. I traded down from a 636 because the riding position on the 636 was killing my back and wrists. The 650R is more upright. I can do 200 miles in a day and my butt is a little sore. The handling is great. I highly recommend it

[Jim]

I can do 200 miles in a day and my butt is a little sore. The handling is great. I highly recommend it

are you talking about riding your bike 200 miles?

[DucDave]

Are I4s your only consideration? There are quite a few Twin Fans here and most of us will speak highly of the way they put power down and the tons of fun in the lower bands...

If you would consider a Twin there are many choices. I LOVE the new Ducati 848 as well as the new Monster 696. But the SV650 is a strong, do it all contender too...

[ThisBitch]

are you talking about riding your bike 200 miles?

Maybe?? If you knew the nickname my closest guy friends have for me, you'd probably think not!

[Crash Dummy Denno]

monsters are a blast - not much wind protection - but very comfortable to ride

[Mr Bread]

+1 On the Monster. Fun as hell.

[reiobard]

i have an 07' FZ6 and love every minute of it, I was coming off of a yzf600r which is very similar to the zzr600 and i am very please with my decision.

[Bowflex]

Well today so far I have found 1 dealer that has the FZ6 in stock but only the blue one. I gave it a sit and it's much less aggressive than my ZZR. It's even the same height seat wise as my ZZR was. I do have to say I like a lot of the features on the FZ6 that my Kawa didn't have such as the fuel injection, easy access to oil filter, center stand, gas gauge and the under tail exhaust is interesting. Being the fact that my hand was crushed at the beginning of the year has made sitting on my ZZR uncomfortable after longer rides, so this might be a bonus that the FZ6 has. Myself and the dealer talked about what I was looking for in a bike and he also suggested the SV650, but I still think it looks ridiculous in the front end. I want to see what the black FZ6 looks like in person, and trying to find a dealer with one in stock is another difficult task. The fazzer looks like it could be a comfy ride.

[lady flyin' low]

I'm getting an FZ6 in about 2 weeks i love everything about the bike and have done a little test ride on a friend of mines. Its a great bike and i can't wait to get it!

so +however many ppl voted FZ6

[Fitz]

Huge props to Sean and Scott at Souhegan Valley. I went to them to discuss my plans for racing in '09 as well as run a few ideas by them. Sean spent 2+ hours with me pointing out the differences in various bikes and lettign me sit on pretty much everything in the shop before I even mentioned I was also looking for a street bike. I went back to them a week later and bought an 07 zx6r leftover. Since then I've continued to make the trek out to Wilton and now Milford even though I literally work next door to Hudson Kawasaki. I have nothing bad to say about Hudson, but the Mullin's have treated me right from day one so why take business elsewhere?

Fitz

[banzairx7]

I absolutely love my Ninja 650R. I traded down from a 636 because the riding position on the 636 was killing my back and wrists. The 650R is more upright. I can do 200 miles in a day and my butt is a little sore. The handling is great. I highly recommend it

The suspension on the 650 is a little "budget". Coming from the ZZR he'll probably be disappointed. You can swap a 636 front end on, but for the cost you probably should have started with a different bike.

Power is a whole different ball game than the ZZR. The 650 has nice low end grunt and makes it a dream to drive around town. 3k rpm is smooth and pulls from that speed nicely, it's very torquey. 6th gear rollons on the highway it will pull most 600's. If your into triple digit speeds though the 650 is not for you. After about 90 it really loses steam & maxes out about 125. It does make a nice sport tourer with the full fairing and more upright position than the SS bikes. Oh and no stupid carbs to deal with like the ZZR, I love EFI!

I looked into the SV also. At the time it wasn't available with a full fairing. It also has a side mount exhaust where the 650 has an under engine one. I liked the 650 one snce it was damn near impossible for my GF to burn her leg.

What were the likes & dislikes with your ZZR?

[Bowflex]

What were the likes & dislikes with your ZZR?

It was the first bike I sat on that made me feel comfortable. I did like the power she had and it was fun to ride. My dislikes...I didn't have a problem with the carbed engine, it's what I was used to so it didn't bother me that much and it gave me an opportunity to get to know my bikes inner workings when I shimmed the needles to get rid of the flat spot that was in the power band between 4-5k. I didn't like the lack of fuel gauge but then again when I hit my reserve I simply reached down, turned the knob and then went on my way to eventually get to a gas station. The ZZR wasn't as aggressive as a lot of the other sportbikes out there so it was easier on the back and wrists. It was a hastle to change the oil or do just about any maintenance on the bike because you had to take the fairings off to get to the filter. I liked how I fit very well while hugging the tank, which I did frequently especially on the highway. After seeing some of the bikes at the dealership today I can see that the ZZR really is outdated. They haven't changed the design since it used to be the Ninja, which wasn't always bad because you can get tons of parts from the 98-02' ninja J model and they fit for the zzr so there were a lot of choices for mods. It's a great bike and I will truely miss it, but I also want to try something new.

...now if I could just decide on a color...black is always my standard...but the blue is pretty too

[venk25]

Have you looked into Suzuki's new GSX650F ? IIRC, it has a tuned Bandit engine, with full fairings and supposedly comfortable ergonomics. It has been getting decent reviews so far.

GSX650F at Suzuki.com

Its new for 2008 - so might have some initial kirks to be ironed out in the coming years. However, not in the motor front - as the Bandit motors are time-tested.

[Bowflex]

I actually did inquire about that bike because at first glance I thought it was a gixxer until I saw the rear end. If it weren't for the fact that it looks so much like the gixxer I'd consider it. I don't need to be thrown into squid category just because people think it's a Gixxer. That and because it's new this year, I'm always weary about how the bike performs when they throw a new model out there and they are always prone to problems. The only thing I like about the Gixxers are from the 2007 model front headlight. I also see suzuki's everywhere around my area, I like to be a little different.

[banzairx7]

Have you looked into Suzuki's new GSX650F ? IIRC, it has a tuned Bandit engine, with full fairings and supposedly comfortable ergonomics. It has been getting decent reviews so far.

GSX650F at Suzuki.com

Its new for 2008 - so might have some initial kirks to be ironed out in the coming years. However, not in the motor front - as the Bandit motors are time-tested.

Bike is a tank though, Very heavy. I thought it looked really bad also. But thats just my opinion.