Yamaha Thundercat

kae2

kae2

kae2

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Am I mad to have desires for the Thundercat as a first big bike? Went to look at several Honda CB500's today and thought it was the bee's knee's until I saw the one this afternoon that was sat next to a 'cat...

It's to be a daily commuter (50 miles round trip) and 1 or 2 tours a year).

Oh dear, this new "hobby" isn't cheap!
 
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Not at all, the Thundercat is a excellent value 600 sports bike. It won't have the economy of the CB500 of course, and running costs will be a bit higher (more expensive tyres, chain and sprockets etc.) but for going touring I'd far rather the cat than the CB500. As a new rider you need to check out the insurance however.
 
I've just purchased a Thundercat as my first 600 after riding a 125.

My main use is also communting.

I didn't want a full on supersports and after looking at loads of sport touring style bikes I decided that the Thundercat was the best one for my needs as I wated something that was good for everyday use but still looked sporty as well.

I serviced it myself and after buying new service parts from Ebay it wasn't very expensive.
 
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i had a thundercat as my first bike many years ago and can definatly recommend it. very underrated bike. the only really issue with the bike is the brakes the front in particular can bind up very quickly and in the couple of years i had mine had to have the calipers stripped twice which cost a little more on the servicing. but i do use bikes all year round. from memory the tyres last well as do the chain and sprockets if you look after them other than that they are spot on good midrange and enough power to grow in to and pretty forgiving.
 
Dogbreath said:
Not at all, the Thundercat is a excellent value 600 sports bike. It won't have the economy of the CB500 of course, and running costs will be a bit higher (more expensive tyres, chain and sprockets etc.) but for going touring I'd far rather the cat than the CB500. As a new rider you need to check out the insurance however.
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The 'Cat is literally £4 a month more to insure than my 125!

I use the bike all year round, so a caliper rebuild is between 30 and 130 in parts.

So very tempting.... Thanks to everyone for your comments. The only bad points sounds like a not so great headlight (slightly worried about this) and not to buy one with a dodgy second gear as it's not cheap to fix.
 
kae2 said:
So very tempting.... Thanks to everyone for your comments. The only bad points sounds like a not so great headlight (slightly worried about this) and not to buy one with a dodgy second gear as it's not cheap to fix.
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A lot of older bikes have fairly mediocre headlamps. Sticking the uprated lamps in them and maybe adding a relay to minimise voltage drops can make a big difference though. Do you do a lot of commuting on unlit roads?
 
kae2 said:
The 'Cat is literally £4 a month more to insure than my 125!

I use the bike all year round, so a caliper rebuild is between 30 and 130 in parts.

So very tempting.... Thanks to everyone for your comments. The only bad points sounds like a not so great headlight (slightly worried about this) and not to buy one with a dodgy second gear as it's not cheap to fix.
Click to expand...

Just rebuilt the callipers on my FZR and the seals cost me around £20 from wemoto.

It's a ball ache more than a money drain tbh.

You won't go far wrong with any YZF IMO.
 
Thundercats have a fairly poor turning circle but otherwise there is nowt wrong with them for a first bike.

One thing to look out for is some can drop out of second gear and its an expensive repair.
If you can, get a test ride.
Put it into second and accelerate hard. If it drops out of second walk away.
 
Ish said:
I put an Osram Nighbreaker Plus bulb in mine and it has improved the headlight a lot.
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That's good to hear, I've also read that removing the additional "mushroom" reflector can improve things further.

Most of my commute is on the A50 which is virtually unlit apart from going through Holmes Chapel/Knutsford.

Ish - how is the headlight in comparison to your 125??


Thanks everyone!

Andy.
 
Dogbreath said:
A lot of older bikes have fairly mediocre headlamps. Sticking the uprated lamps in them and maybe adding a relay to minimise voltage drops can make a big difference though. Do you do a lot of commuting on unlit roads?
Click to expand...

Thanks DB, I can certainly do that no problem.

Commute is along the Haslington Bypass/A50 so mostly unlit winding roads.
 
kae2 said:
That's good to hear, I've also read that removing the additional "mushroom" reflector can improve things further.

Most of my commute is on the A50 which is virtually unlit apart from going through Holmes Chapel/Knutsford.

Ish - how is the headlight in comparison to your 125??


Thanks everyone!

Andy.
Click to expand...


The headlights on my CBR125R are nothing special but the TC is much better.
 
Ish said:
The headlights on my CBR125R are nothing special but the TC is much better.
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Thanks Ish, I'm thinking that perhaps the 'Cat is poor in comparison to other big bikes, but if it's an improvement on the 125, I won't be complaining too much!
 
Although I haven't rode my TC properly yet as I need to pass my Mod 2 I have tried it out on some poorly lit 'private roads' and with the Osram bulb I had no problems seeing the road.
 
Same colour as mine!

I have my Mod 2 soon so I hope to be able to ride it properly in the not too distant future.
 
:D I have never, ever, ridden anything as fast as this! Whoooeeeeeeeee!

2nd gear is just unbelievable, I'm too much of a scaredy cat to try opening it up in 1st yet!
 
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