Big bike time!

[Adam2201]

Finally passed my mod 2 and despite half hearted promises (mainly to the mrs) about keeping the ybr's fuel economy and cheap parts it just doesn't feel right after riding an xj6!

I'm on a bit of a budget and have seen a few of the older xj600n's knocking around on eBay and auto Trader at a bargain price. For people that have owned them, are they fairly decent year-round commuters, or would I be better off trying to wait for a mid mileage fz6 or (if it's not swearing to mention on here) a S**uki SV or Bandit? Are there any common issues I should be looking out for if I buy one? Looking on Google it seems like the exhausts are quite expensive to replace.

For selling the YBR, does anyone have any experience of using MCN? Price wise they are the same as auto Trader and flea bay and bikes seem to fetch a bit more money but I'm not sure if the level of interest would be the same.

Cheers

[slice]

Buying a bike is all about personal choice, we can tell you how great a bike is then when you sit on one your thinking "what the fuck were they on about?" Which can be good or bad, if you like the Suzuki more than the Yam then buy what you like. All bike exhausts are expensive, it seems to be no matter what bike you have half the price is for the exhaust, 2nd hand bikes are best in some ways as you can buy your bike with all the bit's you want on it for a bit more money than a standard one. As for how expensive are they to own & run? If you do your own servicing then you will only need the parts prices to decide, if you get your bike maintained by a workshop then cheap is not always best. Hope some of that helps?

[clarke]

+1 to above. Test ride as many bikes as you can even if you end up going for a 2nd hand one. Don't rush into buying anything as any bike will seem better than your 125 in terms of power etc.

I have a Suzuki V Strom 650 and you can pick them up with low mileage for around £3,500 for the new shape (£7k new), or less for the older shape.

[DirtyDT]

On a budget. The Suzi Sv is the best bike for little bucks, in my opinion. I had a curvy ('02) it was a great bike. The V twin engine is great.

[Cynic]

One suggestion, if your on a buget try to avoid the basket cases.

Bikes pass through a point where they have little value but are still great, that will be what your looking for. Can you not keep the ybr for the daily grind then get something that will light the blood on a weekend.

Commuters are great and all but, well, they are commuters, the Mondeo's of the motorcycle world. An FZR600, maybe a GSXR400 (bloke I work with does 50 miles a day on his GSXR400 year round). They can be bought for under a grand for a tidy one. They could still get you to work but you would have a silly grin when you got there, then when the weather is cack, take the YBR as fast don't matter then. Maybe a 2 stroke (im biased) A 350b would do all you need or an XS400 is a good blend of economy and go.

Just don't get trapped by the showroom lights, there are a lot of tidy classics out there for not much. Also it is FAR too easy to get caught speeding these days to. I deliberately picked a bike that is at its best between 60 and 90. Downsizing from a 600.

[Adam2201]

Thanks for all the advice.. Budget is going to be 1000-1250 maximum, depending on what I get for the ybr, so it will definitely be second hand. It will mainly be used for commuting but I'm not set on a naked style bike, those just tend to be the ones that fall within budget.

Cynic, I like the idea of a 400, my stepdad used to have a zxr400 with the ram air pipes and that was a cracking bike, but they're quite rare now. Will take a look at the baby gsxr as I didn't know they did a 400.

Dt I've heard great things about the SV, if I can find a tidy one within budget it could be a winner. A mate has the SVS so I'll try to have a sit on that at some point to get a feel for it.

The temptation is just to get out there and buy one whilst the weathers nice, but as you've mentioned I don't want to end up with a money pit that wants loads spending on it. Think I might be asking a lot!

[DirtyDT]

The old ZXR's are great, never ridden a 400 but the 750 was cracking.

This is my old SV, sold about 2 years ago for about a grand I think.

[slice]

Sweet bike DT, do love that yellow. Don't get the 750 at least not right off the back of a 125 !!!

[Cynic]

Perfect example, commuter dullness or this......

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YAMAHA-FZR-400-RR-EXUP-4DX-UK-MODEL-/251986089740?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3aab8a970c

[Adam2201]

Nice bike DT, someone got a bargain buying that. They look great in yellow. No excuse for anyone to not see you either!

That fzr looks tidy as well.

Need to get the ybr sold then the bargain hunting can begin... Will come back and let you know what I find.

[clarke]

I shouldn't mention Suzuki are doing 0% finance over 4 years on new bikes...

[Adam2201]

You definitely shouldn't mention that, it could be dangerous!

To be honest though, I don't like the idea of spending weeks breaking in an engine, only for the bike to lose 30% of its value in the process.. if you plan on keeping something forever, I can see the value in knowing you've been the only owner, but I'll always buy used.

Seen some cracking bikes for sale, just need to sell the YBR and I'll be laughing...

 

[Adam2201]

Well, the YBR is sold- was sad to see it go, but it held its value much better than expected... in fact, it held value so well that I managed to buy a mint FZS600 for the same price! Pick her up tomorrow night and can't wait.. found a few twisties for the way home if I manage to get there in daylight. 

I'd looked at a few SVS650s and Thundercats and got quite into the idea of getting something sportier, but the ones I could afford were all a bit rough round the edges (or cracks round the fairing bolts which makes me think they'd been track bikes) and I didn't have the budget to put them right. Fazer was a low mileage bargain with a lot of work done, and should be decent for commuting as well as a bit of summer weekend fun!

Just need to sort insurance now... I've got 11 months no claims with RAC at present, which it would be nice to keep, but with the admin fees for changing bike/updating to full license it looks like I might as well start a new policy. Only 40 quid difference between a year's no claims and zero no claims looking online, and RAC seem to think it reasonable to charge me a £30.00 'admin fee' for the 5 minutes on the premium rate phone number to update the policy  

[Silkk]

Sweet bike DT, do love that yellow. Don't get the 750 at least not right off the back of a 125 !!!

and why not? I went straight from the GZ125 up to a ZX750RR. 

Took some getting used to but brilliant for an everyday bike. 

The only advice I would give against the ZXR is the ram air system, as filtering in traffic on a warm day has a tendency for the bike to over heat and then cut out. Even with the built in fan. That being said, I retro fitted a separate fan switch onto the bars so when I fired it up I could turn the fan on straight away, keeping the bike cooler. 

If your looking at a zx I would also suggest getting "water free" cooling for it. As again it keep the temp down a lot lower than most water based coolants. 

To be fair, any liquid cooled bike I would suggest getting the water free. 

Its expensive but sooooo worth it in the 4 strokes. 

You can look at the cooling here:  http://www.evanscoolants.co.uk

[captf]

Well, the YBR is sold- was sad to see it go, but it held its value much better than expected... in fact, it held value so well that I managed to buy a mint FZS600 for the same price! Pick her up tomorrow night and can't wait.. found a few twisties for the way home if I manage to get there in daylight. 

I'd looked at a few SVS650s and Thundercats and got quite into the idea of getting something sportier, but the ones I could afford were all a bit rough round the edges (or cracks round the fairing bolts which makes me think they'd been track bikes) and I didn't have the budget to put them right. Fazer was a low mileage bargain with a lot of work done, and should be decent for commuting as well as a bit of summer weekend fun!

Just need to sort insurance now... I've got 11 months no claims with RAC at present, which it would be nice to keep, but with the admin fees for changing bike/updating to full license it looks like I might as well start a new policy. Only 40 quid difference between a year's no claims and zero no claims looking online, and RAC seem to think it reasonable to charge me a £30.00 'admin fee' for the 5 minutes on the premium rate phone number to update the policy  

I'd still be tempted to get that 1 year no claims.
Mainly because, it may only be £40 difference with the RAC, but how does it affect the cost with other insurers?

Then, instead of the premium number, search through http://www.saynoto0870.com/ to see if you can find a local number for it.

 

[g1hsg]

Well, the YBR is sold- was sad to see it go, but it held its value much better than expected... in fact, it held value so well that I managed to buy a mint FZS600 for the same price! Pick her up tomorrow night and can't wait.. found a few twisties for the way home if I manage to get there in daylight. 

I'd looked at a few SVS650s and Thundercats and got quite into the idea of getting something sportier, but the ones I could afford were all a bit rough round the edges (or cracks round the fairing bolts which makes me think they'd been track bikes) and I didn't have the budget to put them right. Fazer was a low mileage bargain with a lot of work done, and should be decent for commuting as well as a bit of summer weekend fun!

Just need to sort insurance now... I've got 11 months no claims with RAC at present, which it would be nice to keep, but with the admin fees for changing bike/updating to full license it looks like I might as well start a new policy. Only 40 quid difference between a year's no claims and zero no claims looking online, and RAC seem to think it reasonable to charge me a £30.00 'admin fee' for the 5 minutes on the premium rate phone number to update the policy  

I'm sure you'll love the Fazer. I'm guessing it'll be a boxeye at YBR prices. You might want to think about upgrading the headlights if you do much riding in the dark as they are notoriously poor. The guys over on The unoffical Fazer owners club site ( www.foc-u.co.uk ) are a great source of advice. If you intend doing your own servicing I recommend investing in a Morgan carbtune to balance the carbs. Have fun

[Adam2201]

Cheers for the advice guys. Picked the Fazer up last night and got a couple of pics with my potato phone this morning http://imgur.com/a/tbPM5  (ignore the KTM in the background trying to steal her thunder).  Scared myself silly opening itup on a country lane on the way home - the road just seemed to disappear! I'm definitely going to have to take it easy for a few weeks.

Silkk, a ZXR will definitely be on the agenda one day but not for a while now.  I've seen that waterless coolant on and old Wheeler Dealers episode, looks like pretty cool stuff and they do 2L bottles (only £22!! ). Will see how she gets on for now...smelled pretty hot on the way home, so a full service and coolant change will be a priority this weekend.

Captf - the 40 quid was from a comparison site, so I ended up starting a new policy. It's annoying to lose the no claims, but those kind of admin charges are fairly normal now.  I tried the Bikesure policy off here but they quoted double the price I paid unfortunately.  How do you like your XJ6?  I passed my test on one, such a wicked bike!

g1hsg - yep, a boxeye rather than foxeye - like something out of Transformers, I love the look of them!  Previous owner had done an HID upgrade (I guess it's full HID rather than just a bulb, I don't know much about them), but it wasn't pleasant in the dark on the M3.  I thought retrofitting HID would be a problem for the MOT, but seems to have gone through the last few ok.  It's only done about 500 miles in the last 4 years, but runs well.  Signed up on foc-u - seems like a cool site.   I'll be doing servicing, but I might end up paying someone to balance the carbs the first time and watch how they do it - I've never messed with them before and balancing 4 (I think it's a quad carb isn't it?) is probably not the best place to start!

Looking forward to some longer rides over the summer!

[bippo]

Great stuff - enjoy it, looks like a smart one. I remember opening my first big bike up for the first time... Never experienced such an insane grin / nervous-hysterical laugh / brown trousers episode before...!

[g1hsg]

Cheers for the advice guys. Picked the Fazer up last night and got a couple of pics with my potato phone this morning http://imgur.com/a/tbPM5  (ignore the KTM in the background trying to steal her thunder).  Scared myself silly opening itup on a country lane on the way home - the road just seemed to disappear! I'm definitely going to have to take it easy for a few weeks.

g1hsg - yep, a boxeye rather than foxeye - like something out of Transformers, I love the look of them!  Previous owner had done an HID upgrade (I guess it's full HID rather than just a bulb, I don't know much about them), but it wasn't pleasant in the dark on the M3.  I thought retrofitting HID would be a problem for the MOT, but seems to have gone through the last few ok.  It's only done about 500 miles in the last 4 years, but runs well.  Signed up on foc-u - seems like a cool site.   I'll be doing servicing, but I might end up paying someone to balance the carbs the first time and watch how they do it - I've never messed with them before and balancing 4 (I think it's a quad carb isn't it?) is probably not the best place to start!

Looking forward to some longer rides over the summer!

Haha, just imagine how poor the originals might have been then ! Can certainly relate to the exhilaration/fear on opening up the Fazer for the first time, all part of the fun. There was a very good video guide on YouTube on using the Carbtune, it's really easy to follow and there's no better way to get to know your bike. 

[captf]

Scared myself silly opening itup on a country lane on the way home - the road just seemed to disappear! I'm definitely going to have to take it easy for a few weeks.

Captf - the 40 quid was from a comparison site, so I ended up starting a new policy. It's annoying to lose the no claims, but those kind of admin charges are fairly normal now.  I tried the Bikesure policy off here but they quoted double the price I paid unfortunately.  How do you like your XJ6?  I passed my test on one, such a wicked bike!

For the most part, I love it. Easy to throw around, and has all the acceleration I've ever needed so far - I can hit 70 by the end of a dual carriageway park/stop area [approximately].
I've only actually had to open the throttle fully about twice in the time I've had it. Both to get up to 70mph fast while merging on to a motorway/dualcarriageway

But long distance, it's not kind to my ass. But that's more a personal discomfort thing, I believe - I know there are others who find it find for many hundred miles.

I remember the first time I got my bike [I posted a video of it here back in February], where you can see the different emotions I go through while taking it for its first spin.
It honestly doesn't take long to get to the extra power, and when you go back to a 125, it's underwhelming...