Help with choosing my next bike - Heart or brain?

[Hockeynut]

Should I follow my heart or my brain?

I've been riding for about 4 months now, having my curvey SV650S for a similar time. However I want to upgrade and get something a bit more sporty.

My budget is about £4500, maybe £5k -ish at tops including hopefuly about £2k px on my curvey. Ideally no more than 4-5 years old with no stupid milages.

One of the reasons I fell in love with biking was seeing how sexy the cbr600rr is. So in my heart I know I want that, I just don't know if it will be practical enough for me in how I'd use it.

These are the things I want it to be able to do, not in order:
Be able to tour for a week or 2 inc some luggage but no pillion required.
Do the 10 mile each way comute and filtering into Nottingham
Look sporty/sexy
Have rideouts and short fun on at evenings/weekends.
Trackdays are not a priority, that might change, not tried one yet.Can anyone help me out here with advice and suggestions?

Also, does the price drop by much in winter? As I'd have no problem waiting till then.

Popped into the Triumph shop near me, the Daytona looks nice, but just not as sexy as the RR in my eyes.

Thanks,
David

[hovis]

fireblade?

seems to tick all the boxes IMO

[suzsv650]

i would say " what ya playing at"

4 months and u want more sportyer than a SV!

i think you need to keep you SV ...... your on a big learning cure here ....

[Dan]

i would say " what ya playing at"

4 months and u want more sportyer than a SV!

i think you need to keep you SV ...... your on a big learning cure here ....

+1

And I reckon you'll be disappointed if you think you'll get 2K px on yours. There are people on here having trouble selling 06 pointies for 3K privately.

[Biker Biggles]

I would keep brain engaged for a good while yet.The SV can teach you a hell of a lot about riding if you let it,so I suggest spending a bit of that money on a Bikesafe day,some cheapish suspension upgrades,and then some additional tuition either on road or track.Commuting into town and even out and about on real roads there is not much that a well sorted SV can't do pretty much as well as a CBR6.(Contraversial opinion alert:D)

[Nostrils]

Think with your heart or head?

I was in this position after passing my test in July - My heart wanted a Gixxer 600 and with Suzuki offering cheap insurance it was very tempting.

My head said take it slowly, get a bigger bike with low insurance, sporty looks and preferably with 0% / Suzuki offers. Since hearing all about the SV from a worker at Dobles (Honda) I found this site, read lots and my head was fixed on an SV.

I pick the new bike up on Saturday. Give it a couple of years and if Suzuki make some vast difference to the 2008/2009/2010 Gixxer I will have the experience and the money to go for it satisfying my head and my heart

[mattSV]

If you want a a very nice CBR RR then have a look at this:-

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=95821

It is a minter, at a very good price :smt045

[fizzwheel]

Your SV meets all those criteria.....

OK how old are you, and how many miles roughly have you done on your SV in your 4 months riding. Is the SV your first bike ?

Nowt wrong with wanting to change to a different bike and the RR is a fine choice. Lots of people choose that sort of bike for a first bike, and get on fine.

But....

If your young and your SV is your first bike, and you've not done many miles, then personally I'd keep your SV another 6 months at least till you've done a year on it..

Heres why, in my opinion.

Your 4 months into a long biking career, you're at that stage where you've mastered the basics by now, but still learning, heres where the SV is a good bike, you can ride it and make mistakes on it and its pretty forgiving to a litlte more corner speed than your used to, etc etc. Where as the RR with another what 40bhp, better chassis, better brakes, can in certain circumstances leave you with less room for error, I found it deceptive on the GSXR when I first got it, you could easily come up to a corner 30 or 40mph faster than I was used to and it took time to adjust the extra power the bigger bike had, it can be intimidating, I know riders who had a similar bike to the RR and scared themselves silly on it, and lost confidence, and now dont ride because of it, ( not saying you'll do this )

Personally I think a bit more time on the SV, will see you be able to extract more fun from the RR when you do get one, I was certainly glad of the 2 years on my SV before I got my GSXR, the experience, confidence and respect for a bike I'd built up on the SV I think stood me in good stead and I know I wouldnt enjoy the GSXR as much as I do if I had got on it with only a short time in the saddle prior to purchasing it and also my insurance would have been a whole heap more expensive to...

But I'm not you, you gotta do what you think works for you, if you can have a bit of patience it'll be rewarded in the long run. Saying that, I'd agree with Matt, Scoobs' RR is very tidy and at that price its a bargain as well.

Have you ridden an RR ? perhaps a test ride would help you make your mind up, leave it a few more months and you'll probably find you'll get a better deal once the clocks have changed, but then you wont get as much for your SV either then...

Hope that helps.

[wtdafk]

ooo get a daytona!! i got one a few weeks back, i got 2000 for my 02 SV with 15000k on the clock, i still cant get over the power its greati tryed to wheelie my sv and couldent really do it but the daytona does it all by itself in a non scary way, im sure mine is a transformer so much charater it even talks in bike talk when its turned off! i chose that over the cbrr and there doing 0% for 2 years!!!

[ASM-Forever]

I think fizz has given some decent advice and i can only echo the majority of what he has said.

I only had my SV for a little over 6 months before i got a SS600, so in that respect the SV didnt last long. I did however own two RS125 and a Mito before that.

I dont think you will be able to get the best out of an RR, but that doesn't mean you should not get one. If its what you really want and you can afford it then go for it!

I like to give conflicting advice :)

[on yer bike]

something more sporty... try a pointy ;)

[Lissa]

something more ugly... try a pointy ;)
:D:D:D

[scarlett]

My budget is about £4500, maybe £5k -ish at tops including hopefuly about £2k px on my curvey. Ideally no more than 4-5 years old with no stupid milages.


Just to give you some idea of part ex by dealers. I was offered 2200 for my SV650 K4 naked pointy about a month ago.

I'd be inclined to take the advice of the others and stick with the SV for a while.

[husky03]

Are you finding that you still have newby moments on your sv where you get away with making a mistake that maybe you wouldn't on a sports bike?[-o<-been riding just a wee bit longer than you and have clocked up a few thousand miles so far and to be honest the sv's all the bike and more than i can handle at the moment-if your hearts set on a sports bike you'll end up going with it because no matter what anyone else says you'll allways be comparing in your head how that rideout would have been on a sports bike.Good luck on your decision- its hard to hold back and do the sensible thing,but sensible can be boring for some people:)

husky

[Scoobs]

If you want a a very nice CBR RR then have a look at this:-

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=95821

It is a minter, at a very good price :smt045

Matt knows what he is talking about. :wink:

PM me your contact details if you are interested and I will send you some photos.

[Scoobs]

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7923/cbrforsalece7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[mattSV]

Got any bigger pictures ;)

[Scoobs]

Got any bigger pictures ;)

I'll try and dig some out later. I thought this thumbnail would surfice for now. :lol:

[Hockeynut]

Thanks everyone for your replies, they are very much appreciated. The only other thing instead that I was thinking of was something like the VFR.

Your SV meets all those criteria.....

I don't feel like it meets the touring one, I don't think I'd fancy spending 1-2 weeks and a couple of thousand miles on it.

OK how old are you, and how many miles roughly have you done on your SV in your 4 months riding. Is the SV your first bike ?
I'm 30 years old and yes this is my first bike, had it about 1-2 weeks after passing my test. I'd never been near a bike before that. I think iirc that I've done about 2-3k miles on it so far, no really big excursions.

Have you ridden an RR ? perhaps a test ride would help you make your mind up, leave it a few more months and you'll probably find you'll get a better deal once the clocks have changed, but then you wont get as much for your SV either then...

I'm hoping to try one out soon, and alternatives too, see how it suits me.

Are you finding that you still have newby moments on your sv where you get away with making a mistake that maybe you wouldn't on a sports bike


If I'm honest yes I would say so. That's also why I'm looking at Bikesafe/IAM etc.

Hmm, my head knows what you say is right. :(

[fizzwheel]

I don't feel like it meets the touring one, I don't think I'd fancy spending 1-2 weeks and a couple of thousand miles on it.

I've toured around Ireland on my K5 GSXR 750, covered nearly 1200 miles in Five days, my other half used her SV and covered the same milleage no problem. Its all in the mindset... I cant remember his name but theres that bloke that regularly does round the world trips on an R1...

You dont need a touring bike to do touring on, if you pack the right stuff with the right luggage you can achieve anything IMHO.

[Flamin_Squirrel]

I've toured around Ireland on my K5 GSXR 750, covered nearly 1200 miles in Five days, my other half used her SV and covered the same milleage no problem. Its all in the mindset... I cant remember his name but theres that bloke that regularly does round the world trips on an R1...

You dont need a touring bike to do touring on, if you pack the right stuff with the right luggage you can achieve anything IMHO.

Yep. I did 3500 miles in 11 days a couple of years ago, it can be done.

[jambo]

cant remember his name but theres that bloke that regularly does round the world trips on an R1...


Nick Sanders, a man who apparently doesn't need sleep:cool:
http://www.nicksanders.com/

[Stu]

Performance bike this month compares a ZX6R to a GTR1400. for a tour to Germany.
Get what you want. People pass there test & get an R1 at least you've done 4 months apprenticeship

[hovis]

i did not see the 4 months bit, and you still have a lot to learn, as do most of us, i kept the sv for a year & although i was thinking of changing, i only did cos the fireblade was too much of a bargin to let go.

i dont miss the sv too much, exept round town it was a bit more fun........

[stuartyboy]

Get what you want. People pass there test & get an R1 at least you've done 4 months apprenticeship

I'm with Stu...get what's right for you.

[Ratty46]

go with your brain....

i too passed my test in july, and like nostrils i was temtped to get a gixxa600, i thought about it long and hard, i had a ZXR400 in mind or an SV too, i went for the SV...glad i did, better riding position, not overwhelming power, but still pretty damn quick!

if your still having the odd " ooops" moment or newbie moment,whatever, than stick too the SV, cos i get them too, and as said on a more powerfull and more focused bike, theres no room for error.

[Razor]

Fz1 ;)

[Ratty46]

Fz1 ;)

see a very tasty black and yellow one up the ace last week, my mates thinking about gettig one, his blades a bit old.