I think there's a 1200VFR due out soon! Proably a bit of a handful at first...

Hornet may be a tad easier to pick up again, too!

Honda bikes are still generally considered the 'best' in terms of BQ, reliability, all-round useability etc. Yams for handling, Kawas for blinding performance, etc etc. So Honda's not a bad place to start off generally.

 

i found the vfr a much bigger bike than the RR and so it was a bit itimidating

218kg vs 180kg it felt a lot bigger bike

but if you are gonna do biggish miles my RR is tiring to go to work on (75 miles)

 

I did get an insurance quote for an RR - cheapest at £520.

I was discussing buying a motorcycle with my boss today who likes his bikes and he has offered me a good deal on his 04 plate Suzuki SV650.

Andy

 

If it fits it's a great place to start.

My wife had one and I have to say whenever I rode it I loved it. My brother now owns it, he's 6' 1" and has no bother with its size. I'm 5' 10" and found it very roomy.

The bike has now done 50k miles, has never missed a beat and looks as good as new. It's a 2001 model BTW.

 

Not sure I'd recommend a VFR as your first bike unless you were using it for 350 round trips at weekends (which was why I bought one).

It's pretty heavy and as noted, expensive if you drop it.

I had a '98 VFR800 (FiW) and replaced it with a VFR800 VTEC (which isn't much different TBH) when the FiW was written off.

There are issues with snatchy throttles on many VTECs, so another reason you might not want one as a first bike.

If you don't need to do long trips I would go for a 600 street bike - lots around, cheap to run, modern ones should give you plenty enough fun until you get more experience and decide what you really want from a bike. In retrospect probably what I should have bought instead of the Viffer initially.

 

An SV650 isn't a bad place to start especially since an 04 wouldn't cost you much. A good friend started on an SV650 and then graduated to an SV1000 and last year a GSXR 1000.

The 650 has adequate performance and handling and is not likely to scare you.

TBH an SV 1000 would not be a problem.

When I said earlier that it might be best to stay away from really sport focussed bikes I didn't mean to say stay within a defined cc limit. You can kill yourself just as easily on a 250 as you can a 1200 if you don't ride sensibly. But a soft power delivery 1000 like the SV i.e. nice and linear, is easy to ride. I suggest that it wouldn't be wise to get some bike where the power comes in with a bit of a rush higher in the rev range.

I wouldn't even rule out one of the earlier FireBlades say the 2002 model which is a really road friendly bike or something like a Kawasaki ZX900, another excellent road bike. You will find that all the more recent supersport bikes whether in 600 or 1000 mode are much more track focussed.

Others have mentioned the VFR 800, another potential option - my first bike after passing my test on a Honda 125 was a VFR 750. The BMW 800s are also good bikes.

One thing I will pretty much guarantee is that in the first few months or year of riding you will have what I call the "Oh s**t" moment when you realise you've f****d up a corner big time, or done something equally stupid. That is why I say that advanced training is the best investment you will ever make, because it might just prevent it happening in the first place (unlikely IMHO), but if it does, it might just save your life.

Whatever you get pics please!

 

The Blackbird replacement

This thread is not the place to discuss this bike ... or anywhere on this forum - it will be harmful to my bank balance

SV650 as mentioned - top bike to start with .... never heard a bad word about them. Get a different can and they sound good too

 

Im planning on getting a yzf-R125

I just need to to commute and doing short journeys no point to get a big bike in London you can never use it to it's potential

 

If I were in London I wouldn't bother with a bike, I would get a scooter.

 

It certainly will at the BMW level money they are going to want for it

Silly range will put a lot of touring types off it also.