Am I crazy for wanting to buy a "real" sportsbike?

[greg]

Re:

I find super-sport bikes only make sense and are comfortable when you're hanging off the side going around corners quickly (i.e. track riding)

 

[PosterFZ6]

Re:

I find super-sport bikes only make sense and are comfortable when you're hanging off the side going around corners quickly (i.e. track riding)

I wasn't expecting it to be comfortable, but the super aggressive position just made me really nervous riding it on the street.

Handlebars were at the same level of height as my knees. Great on track but down right scary on the street. I don't know how people ride these in the city.

My whole premise was to have it for weekend twisties. But no way Jose.

I guess I am back to looking at the Speed Triple and the Ducati Monster Evo.

 

[Erci]

Re:

I find super-sport bikes only make sense and are comfortable when you're hanging off the side going around corners quickly (i.e. track riding)

Tried to reply earlier, but forum blew up

Was going to say.. +1! I took my R6 to the MSF range (where we coach slow speed drills). We have multi-sized U-turn box: 20x60, 24x60 and 28x70.

On my FZ1, I can do 20x60, on R6 I had a hard time doing 24x60!

Riding super-sport on the street is a bit like eating soup with a fork.

 

[lawlberg]

Re:

Riding super-sport on the street is a bit like eating soup with a fork.

I would have used "like wiping with your other hand" - you can do it, it's just awkward and uncomfortable.

but your analogy made me laugh.

 

[JayyVee]

Re:

I would have used "like wiping with your other hand" - you can do it, it's just awkward and uncomfortable.

but your analogy made me laugh.

This one made me laugh more tho.. :thumbup:

 

[PosterFZ6]

So, I went into another direction.

Dirrrrt bikke! Asphalt was getting kind of boring. Besides I have my Vstrom for it.

Two weeks ago I bought 2006 Husqvarna TE610. And I love it haha!
While my father bought a 2006 Suzuki Dr650.

We're hoping to conquer the Trans America Trail next year.

TransAmTrail.com is the exclusive source for Maps Roll-Charts, and GPS Tracks for navigating the Trans-America Trail - an exciting, off-road, dual-sport motorcycle adventure across the United States

 

[iviyth0s]

So, I went into another direction.

Dirrrrt bikke! Asphalt was getting kind of boring. Besides I have my Vstrom for it.

Two weeks ago I bought 2006 Husqvarna TE610. And I love it haha!
While my father bought a 2006 Suzuki Dr650.

We're hoping to conquer the Trans America Trail next year.

TransAmTrail.com is the exclusive source for Maps Roll-Charts, and GPS Tracks for navigating the Trans-America Trail - an exciting, off-road, dual-sport motorcycle adventure across the United States

Jesus christ lol, why such a big one?

I feel like a dirt bike that big would ruin its maneuverability compared to one half its size which would do plenty well. Unless it was a dual sport or something

This reminds me I still want to get a dirt bike to improve skills and confidence while being slightly more forgiving (and fun). I've never ridden one

 

[PosterFZ6]

Jesus christ lol, why such a big one?

I feel like a dirt bike that big would ruin its maneuverability compared to one half its size which would do plenty well. Unless it was a dual sport or something

This reminds me I still want to get a dirt bike to improve skills and confidence while being slightly more forgiving (and fun). I've never ridden one

Yup, dual sporting is the main goal.

Coming from my V-strom, DR650 or the Husky 610 are svelte ballerinas in comparison.

I took my Vstrom to Pine Barrens and picking up a 500lb bike got kind of tiring after a while.

At 300lbs both the DR650 and the Husky are feather weights that I have no problem picking up dozens of times. Hell even my Vstrom wasn't bad, but it's just not really all that offroad capable.

I would have gotten smaller dirt bikes, but the goal is to do the TAT next year and I feel both the Husky and the DR650 should be excellent for it. My father and I will have this summer to practice off road ridding and if we feel that the bikes are not upto par, we'll just sell them and get something different.

 

[iviyth0s]

Yup, dual sporting is the main goal.

Coming from my V-strom, DR650 or the Husky 610 are svelte ballerinas in comparison.

I took my Vstrom to Pine Barrens and picking up a 500lb bike got kind of tiring after a while.

At 300lbs both the DR650 and the Husky are feather weights that I have no problem picking up dozens of times. Hell even my Vstrom wasn't bad, but it's just not really all that offroad capable.

I would have gotten smaller dirt bikes, but the goal is to do the TAT next year and I feel both the Husky and the DR650 should be excellent for it. My father and I will have this summer to practice off road ridding and if we feel that the bikes are not upto par, we'll just sell them and get something different.

I see, well that certainly justifies it. I figured they'd be pretty light (that's lighter than my Ninja 250 was! haha) but wasn't sure if they were stricty trails.

Enjoy blazing the trails/pathways! I'm pretty jealous!

 

[PosterFZ6]

I see, well that certainly justifies it. I figured they'd be pretty light (that's lighter than my Ninja 250 was! haha) but wasn't sure if they were stricty trails.

Enjoy blazing the trails/pathways! I'm pretty jealous!

I wanted definitely something tamer and not so maintenance prone such as a street illegal trail bike. Just a week ago when I was picking up the Husky I had to drive 20miles on the interstate. Not a problem with power or passing other vehicles. I did feel like I was floating with the knobby tires on, but in a pinch it's pretty capable of highway travel.



Sent from my SGH-T599N using Tapatalk

 

[iviyth0s]

I wanted definitely something tamer and not so maintenance prone such as a street illegal trail bike. Just a week ago when I was picking up the Husky I had to drive 20miles on the interstate. Not a problem with power or passing other vehicles. I did feel like I was floating with the knobby tires on, but in a pinch it's pretty capable of highway travel.



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Makes sense! Sounds like it'd be an interesting ride, I can't wait to eventually try a dirt bike or dualsport

 

[Brackson]

Hey hey! As someone who literally just went through this whole debacle after selling his fz6...

TEST RIDE EVERYTHING TIL YOU FALL IN LOVE.

Seriously, test ride everything you can.

I did tons of research on specs and everything possible and I LOVE the daytona675. Seriously, one of my favorite bikes of all time. This one time I found a 2012.5 (2012 body with 2013 engine/tranny) and loved the look!

But as you can tell from my bio, I do not own a d675. Why? Because I found the fz-09 to be SO MUCH MORE FUN on the street than a d675. It's much more fun to keep around the speed limit too!

At the end of the day, it's your money, do what makes YOU happy. I'd just suggest seeing a couple options before making a rush decision. (I almost bought a '12 WRX the day before I bought my fz-09 that would have meant I'd not have another bike for years. so glad I didn't!)

I had basically the same experience. I was looking at 3 bikes at a dealership together. A 2008 VFR800, a 2011 V-Strom 650 (outfitted for extreme touring, 20,000 miles on it including the Dalton highway), and a 2009 FZ6. I fully intended to buy the VFR800, I was riding the others just for comparison and to say that I had done my due diligence. These were not some lap around the parking lot excuse for a test ride either, they were about 10 miles on each of the bikes.

The VFR800 was ok, but the posture was more aggressive than I expected (since everyone called it the original sport touring bike, or the ultimate sport tourer). Also while the throttle was more responsive than the 1982 XJ650 I owned at the time, it was not as responsive as the FZ6. Overall I expected it to be alot better than it was.

The V-Strom was down right boring, and I was driven crazy by how jerky the throttle was as it engaged and disengaged. To be fair the boring nature of it may be from the mods, like I mentioned, this bike had ridden the dalton highway, so it was setup for extreme conditions.

The FZ6 was amazing, I immediately fell in love with it, the longer I was on it the more fun I had.

I will never buy a bike again without a test ride. Sooner or later you will find a bike you just never want to get off of. That is the bike for you. You can see from my profile which one I chose.



Side note: Ironically, my buddy who I am doing a massive multi-week ride with shortly just bought a V-Strom 650 himself, so I will get to try riding one more in the very near future. I am interested to see if it grows on me.

 

[PosterFZ6]

I had basically the same experience. I was looking at 3 bikes at a dealership together. A 2008 VFR800, a 2011 V-Strom 650 (outfitted for extreme touring, 20,000 miles on it including the Dalton highway), and a 2009 FZ6. I fully intended to buy the VFR800, I was riding the others just for comparison and to say that I had done my due diligence. These were not some lap around the parking lot excuse for a test ride either, they were about 10 miles on each of the bikes.

The VFR800 was ok, but the posture was more aggressive than I expected (since everyone called it the original sport touring bike, or the ultimate sport tourer). Also while the throttle was more responsive than the 1982 XJ650 I owned at the time, it was not as responsive as the FZ6. Overall I expected it to be alot better than it was.

The V-Strom was down right boring, and I was driven crazy by how jerky the throttle was as it engaged and disengaged. To be fair the boring nature of it may be from the mods, like I mentioned, this bike had ridden the dalton highway, so it was setup for extreme conditions.

The FZ6 was amazing, I immediately fell in love with it, the longer I was on it the more fun I had.

I will never buy a bike again without a test ride. Sooner or later you will find a bike you just never want to get off of. That is the bike for you. You can see from my profile which one I chose.



Side note: Ironically, my buddy who I am doing a massive multi-week ride with shortly just bought a V-Strom 650 himself, so I will get to try riding one more in the very near future. I am interested to see if it grows on me.

The motor on the Vstrom 650 is butter smooth. It has the smoothest transmission of anybike I have ever owned or ridden.

On a recent FZ6 forum ride, I had no problem keeping up with other FZ6 riders. I was gunning every corner and scrapping pegs.

If you are going to treat the V-strom as a standard bike then yeah it will be boring. But if you are willing to do what only minority of Vstrom owners do...aka take it offroad or ride it aggressively then it's a pretty entertaining bike. That's how I use my V-strom 650. Also it's a massively better long distance touring bike compared to the FZ6.