Suggestions for girlfriend's bike

RiDE have a piece on the CB500, ER-5, Yam Divvie 600 and GS500...all in the price range.

Worth a look if your after a parallel twin 500cc.

I had a divvy, although classed as a middleweight it was a lot heavier than the SV, probably a bit hard to keep upright for a lightly built not very tall beginner. SV is ideal, get one, we all did !

Originally Posted by imaleon

Cazza - That is a really nice example of the GPZ, best ive seen so far (she wants one like that )

Hmmm... except the pic I posted is my bike, which is a GS500F (Suzuki). Thanks anyway though!

Originally Posted by northwind

Personalyl I'd say don't touch the SV4... DOn't want to offend Rock! But it's a less powerful SV, weighs just as much, about the same size, has more or less the same geometry but inferior brakes, less easy to find some parts... And it's still too powerful to ride on an A1 license. Very little to recommend it over the 650 really...

So, I recommend a 650 Honda 400s are mainly good bikes, but they tend to be very expensive for a nice one, or disasterous for a cheap one. Fans are always telling new riders that they can find a good one for a grand, I don't know where they shop but when I was looking for one the closest I got was a smoky 40,000 miler for £2000. Not cheap to maintain or repair either.

www.400greybike.co.uk Crackin forum - check out the for sale section - FZR400 is UK model, so is the RVF - but they are V. expensive. LUSH tho! GSXR400 is also offical UK bike , vfr400 is very nice- Uk model means cheaper insurance.

I have owned a number of cbr400rr's, they are BRILLIANT bikes! low seat tho (which is rubbbish cos I'm 6ft!), light and will keep up with a 650.

Doesn't ride very well with restricters in tho - thats why mine lasted about 2 days before they landed in my desk draw.... I know I know - Im a BAD man!!

Any bike is good when u just passed, even a wheezy 33bhp restricted Virago 535 felt like a rocket ship when I first passed, tho grinding everything in the corners made me sell it for a 400.

They are not very expensive to maintain and service - a v4 rvf or vfr may be due to the engine configuration, but the IL4 400's - especially the Honda CBR's are pretty bullet proof. They are similar to the SV in costs - tyres etc. are the only expence that is more than a simple commuter, and no more than a SV's rubber.

Even road tax is stupidly cheap.

More than anything else they are GREAT fun to ride!

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Dangle_kt

They are not very expensive to maintain and service - a v4 rvf or vfr may be due to the engine configuration, but the IL4 400's - especially the Honda CBR's are pretty bullet proof. They are similar to the SV in costs - tyres etc. are the only expence that is more than a simple commuter, and no more than a SV's rubber.

I'm thinking more age-related things... They're reliable, but you can start to get into serious expenses with older bikes, especially sporty ones- full suspension rebuilds, stuck fasteners preventing routine servicing... Not so easy to find a cheap panel after a drop, or used bits, as is the SV, and a wee bit harder to work on if you service it yourself. Though I agree that the IL4s are cheaper than the V4s. A CBR400 that's working well should beat an SV when it gets twisty, but I've never found one for sale that didn't have bathwater for fork oil...