Another "Which bike?" Thread : All year round / distance edition.

[rb8989]

Morning Org, my situation is as follows, you can skip this if you like, its 2am and it's probably not all that relevant.

I use either my SM or zx7r for work daily and both for pleasure.

I want to sell the Ninja as I find the CCM is more fun. The Ninja is juicy and not really what I want for distance or parking up/work. It's a great bike though.

Now the SM isnt left too far from sight and is obviously rubbish for distance so I don't want to keep using it for work and I don't want to do distance on it.


I'm thinking vfr or similar. Not sure how sought after they are by scrotes, but they seem to be well loved on here.

Gs500 is a good all-rounder but not sure if ill want more motorway grunt when loaded..


Any comments appreciated.

[Blueperson]

At the risk of being obvious....how about an early SV650? Good on the motorway and not worth enough to nick. More economical than a Viffer and comfy enough for 300 mile days.

[rb8989]

They're a nice bike and I did have a curvy but the suspension was really bad for my weight as to be expected from non ajustable one size fits all equipment. It just seems too hard for the small bumps and too soft for the big ones and it'd have a good dive under braking.. An SV with sorted suspension is a bit more money than I want to spend. Cheers though.

[Pete7]

An early SV with an ebay ZX10 or ZXR6 rear shock and some new progressive springs up front would be a cheap enough, say £150 if you did it yourself.

Pete

[rb8989]

Something to think about I guess. How's the weather protection on a fully faired SV?

[aesmith]

Something to think about I guess. How's the weather protection on a fully faired SV?
I've found it pretty good. I ride in normal shoes and don't really get my feet wet even in pretty heavy rain, and in light rain I've ridden without over trousers without getting too damp. My previous bike was an Aprilia Atlantic (scooter) so weather protection was something I was expecting to be giving up on the SV, in fact I'm pleasantly surprised.

Tony S

[jonny.boyd]

I got my Viffer about 2 months ago, having previously owned a SV650.

The pre & post VTEC viffers are incredibly different in engine characteristics, so probably test ride one of each to see which is to your taste. I've got a 2003 VTEC model, and whilst the surge of an extra set of valves per cylinder coming in is noticeable, I've actually come to really enjoy it; The change of noise, the rush of power!

But each to there own I guess. They are very comfy, and can happily sit there for hours without numb bum / aching wrist syndrome!

HTH

edit: and so far, I've had no "scrotes" sniffing around it - not sure if they're sought after much by thieves. But to be honest, just keep it out of site / well locked up!

[L3nny]

I love my vfr but it can be a bit boring at times as it's so easy to ride. The running costs on the vfr vtec are a bit steep too. £700 for a vtec service at a main dealer, luckily that's only every 20k

[rb8989]

Something to think about, i'd probably go pre vtec, not really looking for too much a thrill because then the devil horns come out and I will ruin the MPG!

Then again, sub 600 would be cheaper to tax.

[L3nny]

Yes, the vfr is thirsty. Uses more than my mate's blackbird.

[Gordon72]

Thought about a Cbr600f , comfy and you can still have fun on it, I have a 2003 model after downsizing from a zzr1400 and it still keeps me entertained on the commute .