SV650.org - SV650 & Gladius 650 Forum - What should my next bike be?

Well, went out for my test rides at Reading Honda, but they messed up the bookings so got to try out some others too while was waiting around. Bit of a long post but ended up testing 4 bikes.

CB1300 - Naked
Rode like the SV but more so. Loads of grunt then a nice progressive surge of power at about 5.5k rpm. Once you got above walking speed the size and weight of the bike seem to vanish and it just feels nicely planted. Oodles of torque, great overtakes, very comfy but seemed odd having virtually no engine braking. Got a bit of a bounce going on bumpy lanes, but the suspension was set up for a bloke about 3 stone lighter than me so should be sortable. Liked it a lot.

VRF not back from previous rider so have a go on this .....

600 Hornet. - Naked with a pointy bit onthe front. Looked v. Nice.
Felt tiny after the CB and completely gutless in lower revs. Then about 7k gets a bit interesting. Then about 10k really wakes up and gets a shift on. Felt very crisp. Can see why folk like them but to be honest it all seemed a bit too much like hard work at medium pace and given most of the time you are not hooning about do not think this is the one for me.

Pulled into carpark to see VFR going out. Had a coffee and a chat then salesman said, why not give that a quick blast pointing at a....

CBR600RR. Eventually managed to fold myself into it. Nearly dropped it turning out of the carpark as it more or less stalled and with my knees round my ears I was less stable than usual. Took it out on the service road and found I was doing 60 before I could blink. Then got on the A33. 0-5k Quick. 5-10k V.V.V. quick. 11-15k ARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH. I can not even imagine what the CBR1000RR goes like. This 600 was mental. I think I was in 3rd. It was raining a bit. pootling along at about 50. Wound it pretty much fully open. Felt all my internal organs shifting rearwards then looked down to see I was doing 140 about half a nano-second after I started accelerating. Why does anyone need anything quite that quick ? Brakes are also out of this world. I think I need to rent one of these once every few months just to see if it is possible to grin any more than I did when I got off of it. Salesman said my face was a picture when I got back. If you want something stupid quick and do not care about comfort, the fact you can not see anything around you, a turning circle of about 300 feet and have a huge bank of self control then go get one of these.

Got back and the VFR was ready for me.

VFR Felt very dull after the CBArrrrrgh but made a plesent change to be able to both breath and see where I was going. Below 7k it's adequate. At 7k the VTec stuff kicks in. The engine sounds like it is giving a huge burp and it goes like a bat out of hell. Seems very happy about 9k. Loads of protection and probably comfy when you get it set up right, but after 30 mins my wrists ached and I never got used to the clutch. I think I may need to try another one of these that has been set up by a rider rather than factory fresh to see if the set up can be improved. Real shame as I hoped to really like this bike.

Went back again and was offered a blackbird and a blade. Not wishing to overdose politely declined.

So of that lot, the VFR was disappointing, the Hornet too much hard work, the CBR600RR totally mental and the CB1300 something I will be keeping my eyes open for a used bargain.

Got on my old SV, felt comfy, sounded great, handled like a hovercraft, brakes seemed useless and I really started to miss the extra hundred or so HP. Then by the time I was half way home talked myself out of going back and placing an order for the CB1300 as the old girl gave me the opportunity to wind it fully open and feel like I was making progress without risking 180 mph incidents on every ride.

Need to see if I can do the same at local suzuki dealership, bandit 1200 should be similar to the CB1300, and if they insist I take out a GSX-R who am I to turn it down?