Bike choice... I'm so confused

Zascar

Ugh this is annoying, I’m so confused as to what bike to get. I’ve had my Ducati Monster 620 for 3 years and I love it. I took it to France on a tour and it really struggled, just not a bike for long milage, I got blasted to sh1t with the wind and it felt like it needed another gear as it was screaming at 90mph on the motorways. So, I decided I want a sports tourer and had pretty much settled on a VFR. Reviews are just fantastic and it ticks all my boxes.

However, when I drove the bike, I have to say that really I was not that impressed. It felt fine but really it was not nearly as powerful as I was expecting. With 800cc and a vtec I was expecting a monster but it felt fairly boring to me. The Vtec does kick in with some oomph but fairly low at only 6k which is about half way through the rev range, its kinda weird. Without the vtec it seems like it would just be a flat boring rev through the range to 12k or so. I happen to drive a Honda Civic Type R so I know vtec’s well, but it just seemed like it was using a vtec to try to get a fairly boring engine a bit more exciting. Maybe I’m just not driving it right, or maybe I’m just used to a V-Twin and flat fours’s are just different and I’m expecting too much. Am I?

Basically, my current bike (monster 620) is a V-Twin. It has loads of grunt in the mid range but kinda runs out of steam at the top end. But I love the torque of the twin its fantastic. The VFR’s engine was totally different, more of a flat acceleration with the vtec kicking in half way. Ok I only took it for a 10 minute spin but it did not exactly excite me. Am I just being silly here or do I have a point? Maybe I should look at a bigger twin instead.

My mate reckons I should forget getting a sports tourer for the once a year I might go touring. He thinks I should get a CBR600rr – and having just come back from the Isle of Man and seeing them race I’m very impressed.

I dunno I’m really confused. Help!

Thoughts??

CJhaughey

VFR's are a V-4 layout.
Do you want a big hit? it makes bikes more exciting to ride and and challenging but also a bit harder if they are very peaky.
Most highly tuned Inline 4 bikes have more of a hard hit.
The older VFR pre-vtec 94-97 had a different feel. More of a gradual pull in like a V-twin down low, changing to a smooth pull all the way up to redline.
Maybe you should look at something like an Aprilia V4 instead with a bit more rush?

antiskeptic

Zascar wrote: »

Ugh this is annoying, I’m so confused as to what bike to get. I’ve had my Ducati Monster 620 for 3 years and I love it. I took it to France on a tour and it really struggled, just not a bike for long milage, I got blasted to sh1t with the wind and it felt like it needed another gear as it was screaming at 90mph on the motorways. So, I decided I want a sports tourer and had pretty much settled on a VFR. Reviews are just fantastic and it ticks all my boxes.

However, when I drove the bike, I have to say that really I was not that impressed. It felt fine but really it was not nearly as powerful as I was expecting. With 800cc and a vtec I was expecting a monster but it felt fairly boring to me. The Vtec does kick in with some oomph but fairly low at only 6k which is about half way through the rev range, its kinda weird. Without the vtec it seems like it would just be a flat boring rev through the range to 12k or so. I happen to drive a Honda Civic Type R so I know vtec’s well, but it just seemed like it was using a vtec to try to get a fairly boring engine a bit more exciting. Maybe I’m just not driving it right, or maybe I’m just used to a V-Twin and flat fours’s are just different and I’m expecting too much. Am I?

Basically, my current bike (monster 620) is a V-Twin. It has loads of grunt in the mid range but kinda runs out of steam at the top end. But I love the torque of the twin its fantastic. The VFR’s engine was totally different, more of a flat acceleration with the vtec kicking in half way. Ok I only took it for a 10 minute spin but it did not exactly excite me. Am I just being silly here or do I have a point? Maybe I should look at a bigger twin instead.

My mate reckons I should forget getting a sports tourer for the once a year I might go touring. He thinks I should get a CBR600rr – and having just come back from the Isle of Man and seeing them race I’m very impressed.

I dunno I’m really confused. Help!

Thoughts??

What kind of riding do you do all year round - then add more oomph and some kind of fairing. Fazer 1000 wouldn't be a bad all rounder if you're 5' 8" or up (I've one but am a little to short to optimize it). As inline 4's they need revs but make up for that at the low end by sheer weight of cubic centimetres.

I've had a couple of CBR600's (both nicked which say's summit) and they're a fine bike but probably not the greatest of all rounders and definitely not the greatest of tourers either. How old are your wrists?

Zascar

Haha, my wrists are 30, and I'm only 5'6 so no phazer for me. Well I ride my bike about 6 miles through the traffic across the city every day. I also do occasional ride outs around wicklow etc, and hope to do a decent tour every year fingers crossed

I dunno I've been thinking about it, the bike gets great reviews all over the place some saying it has excellent low end pull - maybe I am just totally wrong in my opinion. But maybe I am just spoilt with my current engine - really grunty any time you want at low-mid speeds. The monster has huge pull between 4-6k revs and starts running out at 7k or so, so you are lashing through the gears quickly. Maybe you just have to ride a '4' differently and smash it through the revs all the way to the limiter, like in this video.

I did find the engine was quite smooth at low speeds though, on my monster I find myself pulling and feathering the clutch at low speeds a lot, no need on the VFR. I found it weird how the vtec kicks in at 6.6k rpm, seems a bit low but maybe you get used to it.

Maybe I should ask him can i take it for another spin, a proper one for an hour or so. That might be tricky though as he has no insurance on it and I don;t think mine covers me on other bikes

650Ginge

What about a Sprint ST 1050?

antiskeptic

Zascar wrote: »

Haha, my wrists are 30, and I'm only 5'6 so no phazer for me. Well I ride my bike about 6 miles through the traffic across the city every day. I also do occasional ride outs around wicklow etc, and hope to do a decent tour every year fingers crossed

Same height and did a bray-finglas commute through town for many a year. Had a fazer6 at the time and bar the fact it had no zero-rev grunt it was a peach of a bike. The thou has the same problem down very low and it would be a shame to give it up for the sake of a once a year tour.

Funnily, I couldn't complain about the cbr in that dept, it had power from nothing upward (vs. the fazer 6/1000).

I think you need to focus on your prime ride - comfort, flickability, 2nd gear 90 degree turns, nip and tuck.. are crucial to what you do. You shouldn't trade that all in for t'other.

I did (relatively speaking) in going from the 6 which fit to the thou which didn't. And it was never the same. Cept the m50 opened. Which made sense of the 1000. And made even more sense in a car.

LookBehindYou

Consider a Suzuki V/Strom dl 650 for touring. It a V engine, so lots of grunt. Some of them are kitted out with hard luggage, so no need for backpack or tankbag.
The seat on the 650 is a lower seat than the 1000, so would be ok for a 5ft 6 person.

galwaytt

Zascar wrote: »

My mate reckons I should forget getting a sports tourer for the once a year I might go touring. He thinks I should get a CBR600rr – and having just come back from the Isle of Man and seeing them race I’m very impressed.

I dunno I’m really confused. Help!

Thoughts??

Well.....I did try to tell ya..........

Forget what your mate thinks - he's not riding it. The CBR-RR won't me a million miles of the engine manners the VFR has..........by all means a CBR600F.......

The problem is, you're now used to a Twin. Even more powerful Fours will feel......less.

The Triumph Triple's are a good choice though.......

Did you try the F800 in any guise ?

Tigger

vfr is an old man's bike
easy to ride well but no spirit

try a vtr or tls/r

you don't come off a ducati to get on a vfr v-tec imo

Biker.ie

try a CBF1000 - loads more mid-range oomph than the VFR and surprisingly good handling and fun on the backroads - great for touring aswell.

Dartarded

In my opinion as an owner of a vfr800 i can say that this bike is the biking equivalent to the Ford Mondeo , it does everything competently but excels at nothing.
I use it to commute 90Km's a day and for me its perfect.
My only gripes with the bike are the poor fuelling and the flatspots at ~5K and just before the vtec engages.
My vote for best all round bike would have to be the gsxr 750 , Comfortable enough to tour on and more than enough power to be fun.

copeyhagen

CBR1100 Blackbird

Zascar

Dartarded wrote: »

In my opinion as an owner of a vfr800 i can say that this bike is the biking equivalent to the Ford Mondeo , it does everything competently but excels at nothing.
I use it to commute 90Km's a day and for me its perfect.
My only gripes with the bike are the poor fuelling and the flatspots at ~5K and just before the vtec engages.
My vote for best all round bike would have to be the gsxr 750 , Comfortable enough to tour on and more than enough power to be fun.

Ugh, very disappointed to hear this. Amazing that I never heard things that like before, the VFR gets such great reviews all over the place!

Do you really think its that bland? What year is yours? I'm starting to think I'm just being silly and it will be a great bike for what I need. I have no desire for an R1 or a crazy superbike. Some grunt would be nice, but I don't want a racer you have to ride the nuts off either. Thing is with the CBR600 etc you have to rev them a lot too! I'm just spoiled with the twin. How come more bikes are not twins??

I just had someone over to look at my bike and they want to buy it, so the monster will be gone in a few days.

A mate in work has a GSXR750 I'll go take a look at his maybe

Pique

LookBehindYou wrote: »

Consider a Suzuki V/Strom dl 650 for touring. It a V engine, so lots of grunt. Some of them are kitted out with hard luggage, so no need for backpack or tankbag.
The seat on the 650 is a lower seat than the 1000, so would be ok for a 5ft 6 person.

I reckon this is a good suggestion.
Same engine as the SV but bigger and more of a sit up and beg riding position.
Triumph Tiger would be another example of this style...if that's your sorta thing.

Having said that, I met a guy from Oz at the NW200. He and about a dozen others had their bikes shipped over to Turkey and then were touring Europe for about 6 months, taking in MotoGP, WSBK, BSB, NW200, IOM-TT etc... (nice life, huh?). He had a Bandit 1200 (1150) and it never missed a beat.

antiskeptic

Why not get a bigger Monster. Then stick a windshield on it for touring.

KamiKazi

1000cc Vtwin is what you want

Zascar

I rode my mates Aprilia RSV1000R when in France. Holy Christ, the thing was just insane. I'd say I gave it a fraction of what its got and it still scared the crap out of me.

Dartarded

Zascar wrote: »

Ugh, very disappointed to hear this. Amazing that I never heard things that like before, the VFR gets such great reviews all over the place!

Do you really think its that bland? What year is yours? I'm starting to think I'm just being silly and it will be a great bike for what I need. I have no desire for an R1 or a crazy superbike. Some grunt would be nice, but I don't want a racer you have to ride the nuts off either. Thing is with the CBR600 etc you have to rev them a lot too! I'm just spoiled with the twin. How come more bikes are not twins??

I just had someone over to look at my bike and they want to buy it, so the monster will be gone in a few days.

A mate in work has a GSXR750 I'll go take a look at his maybe

As another poster said it has no spirit... My bike is an 03 which i have had for the past 5 months , and i can say in all honesty that i have yet to be excited once on it.

like i said it does everything competently and for commuting it is perfect , very economical , comfortable and so far has been reliable.

My previous bikes were zx6r , gsxr 750 and zzr 1400 , the 750 as far as i am concerned was the best bike i have ridden.

Wossack

stil think zx9 or 954 blade :P

triples are good too (biased). Great low down pull, and they rev out further then twins so higher hp - the noise gets ya in trouble though :pac:

CJhaughey

How about a slightly bigger v-twin? The Aprilia Shiver GT should be punchy enough and the Bikini fairing will make it a lot more comfortable at speed.
Its actually amazing how little a fairing you need to make a big difference to your comfort.
Have you tried a Monster with any kind of fairing? They aren't expensive, it might be worth trying one before changing bikes

Zascar

Dartarded wrote: »

My previous bikes were zx6r , gsxr 750 and zzr 1400 , the 750 as far as i am concerned was the best bike i have ridden.

Hmm, well I think that's a little bit of an unfair comparison, they are proper sportsbikes, of coruse the VFR is going to feel a little dull im comparison, its not trying to compete with them! I'm not really looking for a proper sportsbike, if so I'd get another Ducati. I'd love an 848 but they are pretty expensive. Actually I'd almost consider getting a 749. There are some lovely ones in the uk. Can get dam expensive if anything goes wrong though.

Had a look for some zx9's and 954 blades, not really into the styling all that much though

Daaaammmm, this is a good deal: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201122389573363/sort/priceasc/usedbikes/model/749/make/ducati/radius/1500/quicksearch/true/page/1/postcode/sw148pu?logcode=p

AgileMyth

Zascar wrote: »

Daaaammmm, this is a good deal: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201122389573363/sort/priceasc/usedbikes/model/749/make/ducati/radius/1500/quicksearch/true/page/1/postcode/sw148pu?logcode=p

Just buy it, you know you want to:D

Zascar

It is a Lot of bike for the money. A beautiful twin that powerful but not 'silly quick', and not too big either. Plenty of fairing for wind protection. Found one in Dublin, the 749 Dark, gorgeous. going to look at it tomorrow