Modern day 600s are very cramped and not particularly copmfortable. Take a look at an older CBR600, like the one Paper Lawyer bought, or a VFR.

Both would be OK as first bikes.

If you must have a 600 sports bike the 05 R6 was one of the last of the range to be slightly comfortable.

(I have a nice R1 I could let you have for a good price )



Edit: He beat me to it

 

i've still got my 600f which have now had 4 years. im 6ft and wouldn't last more than an hour on a rr - too small and uncomforable - i think you'd struggle even more.

i agree sv650 would be a good choice, hornet is nice and well rounded as well but as an all rounder ther 600f is hard to beat.

i have ridden all the focused 600 sports bikes over the years and in my mind in real world road conditions they arent so much quicker as to warrant the disadvantage of their track focused riding positon / handling over the 600f.

 

So it's decided then

 

Andy.. bars to bum is what a mate told me.. look at PLs pic and you'll see the difference in height between bars and bum is less on the RR

you cannot buy the F new now and i fell in love with the RR but it's hard on the wrists in any traffic - go and sit on one in a riding position
this is all irrelevant if you only want to do short blats though. i think leg room will be OK

if you want a new bike (i was paranoid about this) then your choices are the CBR and the R6 and the latter is supposed to be more snappy. not something that appealed to me. the Honda has a steering damper as std and you can even get abs (i'm not an all weather rider so dont need this)

insurance cost me £600 with no no claims on a new bike it may be more next year

 

Have you ridden a modern CBR600RR Jamie? They are far faster than the 600 class used to be a few years back. Its a very fast bike!

Saying that though the throttle works both ways and i would say it would not be a bad choice as a first bike as its pretty forgiving and its likely to be all the bike your going to need once you have got comfortable with your riding. Saves buying another bike once youve got passed that stage. If i was buying a new 600 my money would go on the Ninja, Great engine

 

I agree, a modern 600 superbike will be too much to learn on, by nature they are very unforgiving and will punish cack handed-ness!

If your leaning towards a sportsbike be aware that they are expensive to repair when dropped, something like a hornet or fazer is a more sane choice.

Or look towards the older 400s, they're great fun and good to learn on.

My old RVF

 

I don't know too much about bikes myself but a friend has got the 600RR as his first and he's been fine.

But , despite being a complete loony in all other walks of life, always hanging off mountains and doing himself mischiefs skiing etc., he's very tame when it comes to things with engines. Odd.

 

I think you've just described me, Graham

Renewed my bike insurance yesterday - 3 years' NCB and the fully comp figure was £180 after a little haggling.

 

IMO, don't go for the RR...it could prove too powerful and hardcore for you.

A CBR600F Sport or Fazer 600...which I had as my first 'big' bike, and I'm 6'6" are very good for learning on, which is essentially what you'll be doing for the first 5000 miles. CBF600 or Hornet are other options.

I quickly moved on to a VFR800Fi-W, which is probably the best bike ever made. If you are good enough, you can keep up with 1000cc sports bikes with little effort.

I'd avoid any 400 and the SV650, as they are quite small.

HTH

 

Snap!



that a 400 or SV650 would be too small (I had one of them too)