What's A Good Upgrade?

Originally Posted by neio79

Well according to the June edition of Fast bikes magazine the ZX6-R is still the best SS600 (obviously the only magazine not on Hondas pay roll), so there you are get it!!

Hmm. Not for the road. Too focused. Still a damn good bike but only for short blats. I think the new CBR600RR is the best roadbike SS600 at the moment. But then I've not tried the new gixxer yet.

I have a ZX6R as a loan bike at the moment. 07 plate. It's certainly a beast. However it's totally and utterly different to ride than the sv. Almost nothing happens below 7k revs. I mean really not a lot at all... in any gear. Unlike the sv where the push is available from the start, it's just not there on the zx. You have to spin the motor up to get it going.

Between 7k and 11k revs it has a fairly reasonable midrange, if that's what you can call a mid-range! However, jack it up past 11.5k revs and it howls and simply takes off like a lunatic. The downside is that 11.5k revs is about 95mph in third gear, so it's only really possible to get the revs this high in 1st and 2nd gears on the road so you're talking quick starts, really... not day to day riding.

It's simply a track focussed bike, where you'll spend a lot of time in second and third gear at very high revs. Not great for the road at all.

What a scream I'm having with it though!

Originally Posted by neio79

Well according to the June edition of Fast bikes magazine the ZX6-R is still the best SS600 (obviously the only magazine not on Hondas pay roll), so there you are get it!!

On the other hand this month's Bike magazine doesn't have it top I think it's actually got it last or second from last (includes Daytona 675 in this review).

Originally Posted by muffles

On the other hand this month's Bike magazine doesn't have it top I think it's actually got it last or second from last (includes Daytona 675 in this review).

yeah strangley enough one of the magazines that ass kiss honda!!

Originally Posted by leatherpatches

I have a ZX6R as a loan bike at the moment. 07 plate. It's certainly a beast. However it's totally and utterly different to ride than the sv. Almost nothing happens below 7k revs. I mean really not a lot at all... in any gear. Unlike the sv where the push is available from the start, it's just not there on the zx. You have to spin the motor up to get it going.

Between 7k and 11k revs it has a fairly reasonable midrange, if that's what you can call a mid-range! However, jack it up past 11.5k revs and it howls and simply takes off like a lunatic. The downside is that 11.5k revs is about 95mph in third gear, so it's only really possible to get the revs this high in 1st and 2nd gears on the road so you're talking quick starts, really... not day to day riding.

It's simply a track focussed bike, where you'll spend a lot of time in second and third gear at very high revs. Not great for the road at all.

What a scream I'm having with it though!

when i was on NW3 true enough i found i was only using 1-3rd gears 90% of the time, but even so above 6K in most gears it still has enough to keep pace with the SV's in the pack, and there was about 25 of them!! , knock it into second to dispach about 6 in one go

Nah I used the ZX6R to commute for a bit. It's not that gutless to be honest and happily pootles aorund town, provided you have the back/wrists to cope with it. I didn't. But push and and it flies past most other bikes and also hands them their asses on the twisties. I do miss it but I just couldn't do that riding position.

Happily this has turned into a zx-6r discussion! I think my next bike is going to be a big grunty naked torquey type bike (bandit 12 or something), as I'm not too sure how useful the whole revvy thing is on the public roads. But its great fun, thats for sure!!! Then again, I like the look of the last of the zx-9r's, hmmn I wonder why!

keeps comming back to this whole a SS600 is gutless argument, they are not at all, given the midrange on them is about 10-11K, they are starting to fly at this point. so from that point of view they have a stronger midrange than the SV, also i think a lot of people confuse the feling of torque and BHP.

When you are in a Diesel car it sems to push you into the seat a bit more than a petrol one, but not be going as fast, same as the V-twin. That people, is tourque, and its being confused with BHP.

So while i can look down at the clock on the 6R and think that did not feel like it ripped my arm off, but my got i am doing a ton in second, the Sv would have felt like ishouls be doing 150, but i look down to see a disapointing 70 displayed.

Having ridden an R6 for 2 years 2000-02 I found that I was just riding too fast everyday. It was so smooth it was far too easy to be doing 100+mph so when someone pulled out in front of me, writing it off as it flipped when it slid down the road, too much front brake on a wet november evening.

I decided at that time that it was best for my licence and future health to get something a bit slower and having read so many good reports on the SV thought that would be a good choice. 5 years and 60,000 miles later the big end goes but I enjoyed the bike so much i've replaced it with another SV. Yes there are better, faster bikes out there but I don't need it for everyday riding and I still have a blast on the SV when I want to.

there might be something to be said for arm ripping off yet 'disappointing' 70 that doesnt lose your licence as opposed to a 'fuk me i'm doing 120 and dont even feel it' that the zx-6r does in its sleep though?! like the man says, its all too easy to ride too fast...