Soldato
Thinking back to the SV days....The brakes are terrible when wet and the handling is not confidence inspiring - although sticking some pilot road 4's on helped the shock is probably the cause.
Sorry did mean to say I had no problems doing 100+ down the motorway, you’ll always feel it more with a naked but honestly it wasn’t a problem.
Is this for a year round commute? If it's just in summer then a naked bike will be fine but if you're commuting though winter you'll want a decent fairing and screen.
Also, how many miles a week on the commute?
I friend of mine picked one up from Birmingham and rode it down to Southampton on motorways. He did say it was a bit windy but was happy that he had done it.
If you are looking at a CBR get a 600 not a 650. The 650's are down on power and just seem a lot softer than the 600's
Nothing bad to say about an SV650 either. I did find I wanted a bit more power after a while though
How about a Honda NC750X?
VFR?
I commute 20 mins on an SV650 at motorway speeds. Wind isn’t really a problem at the speeds you’re talking unless you hit some open ground and it’s particularly gusty. 100mph+ though and it’s like someone pushing your head backwards
Street triples look a great bike but they’re also one of the most-stolen bikes, so you need to consider that imo.
The XJ6-N gets rave reviews from MCN, so that's interesting. I think it's mostly marked so well for its value for money. Definitely one for contention!I would recommend the XJ6 and FZ8 ahead of the GSX650F.
Naked (oor errr)I won't be going above 80, so that's promising. Was it the SV650F/S? (Fairing, screen, naked?)
Thanks for your suggestions all, much appreciated!
It is for a year-round commute, yeah. Whenever I can ride safely, I'd like to. A fairing and screen are on my list because of this. The commute is roughly 22 miles or 45 minutes each way, with 13 miles or 20 minutes of it being motorway.
See if you can get a test ride on one, you'll be surprised how comfy they are.Looked into these, they look a lot like the Triumph Sprint to me in terms of forward leaning, higher pegs. Looking for slightly more upright than that. Mind you, people usually post threads like these saying this sort of thing, and then opt for ZX10Rs
I'd want a faired bike for that commute, or a decent screen at the very minimum.
I've done a 180 mile a week commute with barely any DC on a naked bike for nearly 2 years, and in this weather you want the weather protection, especially if you're doing 25+ miles a day on the motorway.
I hope you've allowed for at minimum heated grips, or better - heated gloves. The windchill at 70mph at 3 degrees is huge. After 45 minutes in the mornings for me, without heated gloves my fingers were in pain.
If you want to see just how upright/leant over you'll be, look at http://cycle-ergo.com/ that will give you an idea.
So, NC750X is a very good shout, it's an excellent 'tool' to do the job.
Triumph tiger 1050 might be worth a look too.
A BMW F800ST (or even a cheap F800GT) would be another very good tool for the job, belt drive, 60+mpg.
Don't discount a VFR800, get the 5th Gen and they're good for 100k miles, mine cost £1900 and had 23k on the clock, barely run in. It's done 8000 miles since April and not missed a beat. The battery died but I think it was the original one! Yes they're heavy when stood still but perfectly balanced when moving. They don't have ABS but the linked brakes are pretty good. 200 miles to a tank too, and they're slightly leant over but they're also dead comfy, I did 500 miles from Switzerland to Kent on mine in a single day, no issues at all.
See if you can get a test ride on one, you'll be surprised how comfy they are.
Answers:
Gerbing xr12 heated gloves - £170
6ft 3in.
Yep that's a 5th gen, they're 1999 to 2001, pre the different VTEC model.
Coming off a KLE500 and nobody's thrown in the option of its natural successor, the Versys 650? Tut tut
Edit: Ultimately, you're in a great position in buying your first bike. I remember plenty deliberating but it was exciting. All of the suggestions appear decent to me. Enjoy the process and especially the bike that you end up with.
How about a Transalp?
There's a few 'adventure' style bikes, I'd go for a transalp 700 if you've got 4k, my budget was £2k which is why I got a VFR, but if I'd had £4k it would have been a transalp in my garage.
They're only 50bhp but they have a nice punchy, torqey engine, ABS, loads of wind protection, good headlights, 50-60mpg, cheap to insure, adventure style so good riding position, top box, cheap tyres, and you'll get a 2011/2012 model for under £4k. Just get a decent exhaust as they sound terrible with the stock one.
And it's a Honda so it won't break down or disintegrate in the salt!!!
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/263338602081
Update. I went to a local dealer last night and sat on a couple of bikes. Thoughts:
CBF600 naked, but with a screen. No fairing, but there was a screen, and I could add a larger aftermarket one to deflect some of the wind, so not written off. Extremely comfy for me, and a known quantity as it's the bike I passed my test on! Comically done 4,500 miles since 2006
VFR - Sat on it, felt a lot lower than other bikes, knees are fairly bent which I didn't see as much of a problem, but a problem I did notice was that the slightly forward leaning angle meant I was looking in blind spots closer to my arm pits than over my shoulder. I have a slightly dodgy neck at times, so this angle is less preferred for me. Not out of the running though, as it wasn't uncomfortable to sit on at the time, was very reasonably priced, and sounded amazing when started.
TT 600 - Tried for the sake of it. Very uncomfortable. Incredibly short brake and gear levers. Meant I had to form an unnatural position to get to them.
SV650 naked - Comfy to sit on, nice and high, the model I sat on had definitely seen better days though, so not keen on that particular item.
They didn't have any adventure bikes of note to sit on, so didn't get a chance to try any out, although I know I'm pretty comfy on adventures, just looking at other models to get a balanced view.