Considering a used bike
 

Ive always been a fan of 2 wheels but never got on one. My Dad had quite a few BMW's and kawasaki's - his fave being a 86 GPZ 550. I fell in love with the 92-up CBR 600's and they seem to be one of the only "race" bikes that you can sit up on while riding.

I know nothing about prices for used bikes. What would I expect to pay for a 600 F2? Would that be a good beginer bike? Should I go with more of a sport tourer like a CB400?

people will tell you get a 600 or even a 250
get anything and ride with respect to your skill, get a gsxr 1liter if you must.

-get something lite weight, fewest body junk to replace
-fuel injection solves many performance issues
-save money for the gear your dad didnt wear

most bicycles have the rider positioned forward, motorcycles the same reasons. your body will get used to the position unless your really out of it.

SV650, 1st or 2nd gen. They're easily as much of (more even) a race bike than an F2, and have much more reasonable real-world ergos (the naked ones anyway, the faired "S" models have low-mounted clip-on bars).

Worthless post on just about every idea presented. Only the first line is accurate, and maybe the third "-" point if that's the case.

Lots of used bikes out there. Go on your local craigslist [or local big city] and look at motorcycle ads. You can do it price range as well. Any japanese bike that's well taken care of will be reliable, even with higher miles.

You can get a great motorcycle/sport bike for 2-3k.

I have found the 2-3k range to have some cool oldschool stuff - like a 600 ninja, CBR, and GXR 750 (fuel injected?)

The idea of a new liter bike is interesting, but given my personality I would probably go over the grip limit or just do something stupid like downshift to 2nd when I wanted 4th :). Those things are so F'n fast, I would have to test ride a GSXR1000 just to get a taste of how fast they are. They've got to be running the 1/4 under 10 now right?

Again, SV650.

BTW, fuel injection isn't that big an improvement over carburetion in the motorcycle world. In the SV650, the FI'd model did get a boost in power, but that was due to cams (swapping them into the older carbed bikes gives the same power). FI'd bikes have almost invariably gotten WORSE fuel economy than the previous carbed versions, and many models have suffered "carburetion issues" (nonlinear throttle response, difficulty in getting the bike to accelerate smoothly) with the introduction of fuel injection.

Not to mention, I modded and rejetted my '01 SV650 for a total expenditure of less than $10 worth of jets and shims. With FI you get to spend $350 minimum to fiddle with the mixture. Actually, for my '03 Tuono the recommendation is to get an aftermarket chip AND get a PowerCommander on top of that!

Carbs ain't all bad...

+1 for a SV650 (or Kawi 650R since you like K's).

My 1983 GPz 550 is remembered fondly (first single-sided swing arm on a bike and some other firsts IIRC). Back then all the 'sporty' bikes had upright seating position.

[QUOTE=SlipAngle79,May 4 2008, 12:08 AM] The idea of a new liter bike is interesting, but given my personality I would probably go over the grip limit or just do something stupid like downshift to 2nd when I wanted 4th :).

Frak all the advice above. It's worthless without MSFBRC.

Get that done and then you'll have a better idea of what you should be on.

this guy does drugs, but entitled to his opinion tho wrong.

new rider, new bike be careful out there. a 650 will not save you, you can ride sloooow on any bike.