[Squisher]

Well I mentioned in my other thread about wanting to upgrade. And well........I want to upgrade from my r3. Some background if anyone has missed it. I have ridden off and on throughout my life, dirt bikes for decades and a gs750 on the street. I've put a bit of seat time on a gsxr750 that wasn't mine but besides that my little r3 has been my main staple for the last year. Pushing 7k on it now in that year of mostly all twisty riding. I've commuted with it to work exactly once only.

Its been a great bike, real confidence booster. When I ride it lately though I'm really finding it lacking in acceleration and braking.

My whole love of riding is pretty much based around sport riding. I research and then I practice, research, practice, and on and on and on. My quest for ability and performance has lead me to lose 25lbs in this last year and I certainly wasn't obese before hand. Another ten and I'll weigh what I did at 18 at my current age of 43.

Just adding all that stuff to paint as clear a picture as possible as to where I'm at.

Im really sold on upgrading to a four cylinder 600 sport bike but also like to do some longer rides so the only bike I keep coming back to is a cbr f4i. A bit older then I was really wanting but I don't know of any newer bikes that are true sport bikes that offer a slightly relaxed stance while still being sport oriented and not having outrageous horsepower. Also not interested in something with substantially less horsepower than say the cbr mentioned.

So what other bikes should i be considering? Suggestions? Ridicule? Bring it.

 

[CoolDaddyGroove]

You have plenty of options, but your F4i reference makes me think you have a limited budget. The R3 is a great bike, and I've railed on a handful of bikes in that 300-400 class. Bottom line, they handle awesome, and if all your "fun riding" is riding alone on a backcountry twisty road, I wouldn't change it.

If you want to "tour", or ride in a pack of bigger bikes, that bike is going to suck.....big time! You can't perform quick passes, the wind will blow you around, and it's tiring to knock down a 600-800km day on it.

Newer bikes with more relaxed upright ergos you might want to look at are a Ninja 1000, Z1000, Ninja 650, The Suzuki GSX-F models, Yamaha MT-01, .......I'm sure others will chime in with recommendations.

600cc supersports will have more cramped ergos than your R3, so you can pretty much scratch those off your list, although changing the clipons is relatively easy and cheap, so keep that in mind when you sit on them. Just put your fists on top of the bars to get an idea of what 1" higher feels like.

So what's the budget? And do you prefer to stick with a Japanese bike?

 

[TMR]

Ninja 1000. End thread.

 

[TMR]

Suck that, CDG.

 

[Squisher]

Hmmm. Thanks for the feedback. I hadn't really considered a litre bike, just figured it would be to big of a step up power wise to be the best choice. *My buddy had a r1 for a handful of years and he's cautioned me not to step up to a litre bike before riding a 600class bike some first. But kind of why I've started this thread to research and draw some input from more experienced riders.*

*The r3 I'm having a blast on but I literally feel badly for it at the end of a ride I am flogging it so hard. Shift light, shift light, shift light. *Maybe I shouldn't? *But I've been an abuser of all things mechanical most of my life and my gut tells me I'm punishing it. Although I guess that's what it's designed for? *But ultimately every time I ride it now I'm left wanting more. The top end is slowwwwww and the brakes lack from high speeds, even I'm finding them lacking at lower speeds too.*

Budget depends. Not really to limited but less is better. Probably 10k on the high end to avoid marital problems. But if I can get something that fills my needs for half that even better. *I would like to stay with a Japanese bike. I really kind of want a 4 cylinder. I love the sound of them, I've had a old one before, the gs and ridden my buds gixxer750 a bit but didn't like the bike to much. It had mismatched rear sets and dropped race clip ons though. Bit of a hacked up machine.*

The f4i seemed(seems) like a logical choice? *But I question if it's to old, or there's better newer tech out there. I like the styling of the older split seat ones more and like the overall styling of the bike which I'll admit is important to me. I want my bike to be pleasing to my eye when it's sitting in my shop. *I'd like something reliable without to oppressive of a maintenance schedule. I guess I like the performance specs on the 600 supersport class of bikes and the f4i seems like the only one with somewhat favourable ergos. I do think I'd prefer something revvier than torquey. Like I'm not really interested in twins.*

I'm 5'9 if that helps and about 185pds. **

 

[TMR]

IMHO, torque wins for the street. Consider not just peak HP, but how the bike puts down that power. The R3 is a great bike and as the saying goes, oftentimes it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow. Personally, I don't enjoy riding 600 supersports on the street; terrible ergos, small tank, needs revs to move, and is a pretty piss-poor tool for the job when our roads aren't exactly perfect.

And so, if you want to stay with sub-litre bikes, consider bikes like the fz-07, sv650, etc... Not rip your hair out fast, but more than enough for the street with handling that will surprise you. We got my wife a newer SV650 last year and we both love it; it handles really well, has a peach of an engine, gets insane gas mileage, and is cheap to own, has plentiful aftermarket parts, and is easy to work on. F4i's are getting pretty long in the tooth now anyways and I suspect it would be challenging to find one that is not a shitter bike.

On this topic, this video is salient: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYahwC4fcNk

 

[cvrle1]

Triumph Street Triple R, either 675cc model, or new 765cc model. That triple engine is something special. Plenty of torque all over the rpm range, very linear power ramp up through, sounds great at lower rpm (has that vtwin deep growl), at higher rpm it feels more like I4 engine, and has higher pitch sound. 2016 and earlier models have fully adjustable front and rear suspension, some come with abs, Nissin calipers, etc. 765cc model is new for 2018 and it comes in more models, with RS being top of the line. RS has all the goodies from Brembo, Ohlins, different riding modes and so on.

I have 09 R and love it!

 

[Squisher]

Thanks again everyone for all the input. I appreciate it. Lots to think on and research. I'm not going to rush into any rash decisions.*

One reason I'd been thinking f4i was there is a real clean 05 locally with 8000km. I had my eye on one with 20,000km but it sold. There's also another minty looking one with 36,000. But now I feel less sure than before that that is the bike for me. I had been looking at the fz7 or 9 but am uncertain on a naked bike or not. *i will research the street triples some.

All input welcomed. I appreciate being able to hash out these thoughts here.*

 

[CoolDaddyGroove]

Just because a bike is 1000cc's doesn't mean it falls in to the "Liter Bike" category, which is a legacy term when the only bikes out there were supersports (GSXR1000, R1, CBR1000RR etc). That's most likely what your buddy meant by avoid them. I would avoid them too based on what you have shared, mostly because they are uncomfortable for touring and make most of their power high up in the rev range. In other words, weak mid-range.

Modern bikes.........very different, especially now that we have a plethora of options for more upright sporty-bikes

 

[oldgixxer]

I think "cheap" is the operative word here.

It will be hard to find a litre bike in your price range and any 750 gsxrs that come up for sale are pricey or sell quick. You might find deals in Alberta or lower mainland. I'm talking bikes in good shape.

There are and have been a few decent 600s for sale in the area that might be closer to your budget. You can always try lowball offers this time of year.

VMS has a lovely gsxr 1000r marked down. You won't grow out of that baby anytime soon.

If you're wringing a R3 out pretty good you might find the fz07 boring soon.

 

[bandito]

One good option for good riding position, sport performance, in your budget and good for some touring is the every trusty vfr800. Get one with the electrical stuff sorted and they are really sold bikes that will run well into the mid 100k km's without much work at all.

 

[Young Lion]

Based on what you're saying, I'd concentrate my search on these two models:

- '13-'16 Triumph Street Triple - base or R spec - similar ergo's to the F4i, amazing inline 3-cyl engine, 90hp and a sweet midrange punch, and they look and sound awesome IMO.

- '16+ CBR650 - almost identical ergo's as your R3 just a tad larger everywhere and MUCH more jam. Looks decent, capable enough, cheapish even brand new.

Good luck with the search and keep us posted!

 

[Purplekawi]

Ninja 650. The latest version is quite a fun bike. Not Supersport power but a fair bit more than the current crop of 3-400's. Quite capable of passing cars easily and at just over 400lbs, stable on the road in the wind.

 

[CoolDaddyGroove]

And a damn nice looking bike too

 

[Young Lion]

Ninja 650. The latest version is quite a fun bike. Not Supersport power but a fair bit more than the current crop of 3-400's. Quite capable of passing cars easily and at just over 400lbs, stable on the road in the wind.

Agreed on the recommendation however the OP did say he wanted a bike with F4i power or more, and wasn't a fan of Twins so I passed on adding it to my list. These make roughly 68hp and about the same torque figures - a good step up IMO from an R3 but in his position, I'd guess maybe not quite enough of a bump.

 

[Squisher]

Thanks again for all the input. Had a hard shift at work last night and can't seem to shake it off this morning. By Sunday night will be 120hrs in two weeks for me. I need to learn to say no.*

Regardless when I have a chance I'm going to methodically research these suggestions. Hopefully by sometime next week I'll actually have a day off and can even get out for a ride on the bike I have.

 

[Squisher]

I think "cheap" is the operative word here. *

*There are and have been a few decent 600s for sale in the area that might be closer to your budget. You can always try lowball offers this time of year. *

This fellow reads me like an open book. My dads nickname is crowbar wallet and you know what they say about apples.*

I won't/don't lowball offer. I'll try to get a couple or even a few hundred off a asking price if the ad is obo. But I'm a very polite fellow and can't bring myself to 'lowball' people. But I do expect to get a bit of a break if a ad says obo. Honestly last weekend I was all set to go to Kelowna and look at a f4i listed, the one with 36k but the ad clearly stated obo yet when pressed on bottom line he'd only move $200 on the price and keep about $400 in accessories that were listed with the bike.*

At that point I just moved on and then thought to start this thread here. Now I feel like I'm kind of back at step 1 lol. The 'cheapness' in me still kind of leans towards the f4i though. I just can't seem to shake the feeling that it is going to fulfill my needs at a much lower price point then something newer. Are there any real negatives to a f4i that I've not stumbled across besides the age? *As I mentioned earlier I don't ride in the city much at all, no stop and go traffic or very little.*

 

[sAdam]

I would make abs a priority. *You don’t want to be a 43 year old all busted up in hospital because you went too cheap/old to get modern safety gear. *
*

 

[Squisher]

Good point. So far I've never ridden a bike with abs. *But I do see how it would/could be a huge benefit.*

 

[Squisher]

The more I look the more I feel less certain about what to possibly upgrade to.*

If it was a naked bike I'm leaning towards a mt09. But honestly I don't know if I want a fairingless bike and out of the sport/touring fairing equipped bikes I'm not really feeling it for any of them. What I want is a 600ss bike with slightly more upright ergos. Maybe it's worthwhile to mod one? *I'm not worried about the driveability in traffic or cities, I avoid both like the plague. *At 5'9" I fit on sportbikes fairly well and that is the type of riding I do/enjoy even with my little r3, which I know is very upright/relaxed compared to a real sportbike. *

I can't afford to screw this decision up as it's hard enough with 15 years of marriage, mortgage, teenage kid going to France next year, etc, etc, etc to get the green light on this. Whatever I get I'll be stuck with for a bit I'm guessing.

Older bikes don't scare me much mechanically. As I think I've mentioned here or elsewhere I have my own shop and am fully equipped with tooling, and very capable with it. But I don't want to be broke down on the side of the road either or riding some old beater. * And now abs has been mentioned which makes good sense too.**