What are some great types of Sport bikes?

86 911 · 86 911's Garage

I have gotten the motorcycle bug, and have been looking at a few sport bikes lately. I mostly been looking at Kawasaki Ninjas, Yamahas and Hondas. I know nothing about motorcycles, so I am asking the knowledgable members of this board to help me out here. The type of design that I would like to get is something like the photo below. My questions are:

1) What would be a great sportbike to get for under $8000 that is new (preferably 2004-2005 year)?

2) Which manufacturer is know to be very reliable with sport bikes?

3) What are common and known problems with sport bikes?

This kind of bike is what I would be interested in:

Thanks in advance for the input!

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Ducati
Triumph
Benelli
Aprilia

More than your budget for new unless you find a leftover. Require more maintenance than a Japanese bike, but you will be rewarded with soul...

Anton · 05-03-2005, 09:09 PM

I hate to sound like your mom, but here goes:

Motorcycles are dangerous, be careful. DO NOT BY A FULL ON SPORTBIKE AS YOUR FIRST BIKE. DO NOT BY A FULL ON SPORTBIKE AS YOUR FIRST BIKE. DO NOT BY A FULL ON SPORTBIKE AS YOUR FIRST BIKE. DO NOT BY A FULL ON SPORTBIKE AS YOUR FIRST BIKE. Buy something cheap <$1000 that you don't mind crashing. You will crash your first bike. Buy the best hemet you can find. My last three have been used. One from being a new rider, one from killing a deer, and one from playing around with lean angles til I found the traction limit. Take the motorcycle safety course.

Ok, now that I am done telling you how to live your life, I'll answer your question. Any of the four big Japanese brands will do just fine. Reliablity is excelent and bang for the buck cannot be beat. If you want a Hayabusa(pictured) figure $11k for a new one, it will have be a few year old to meet the $8000 criteria. Also look at the Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird, not quite as fast(it'll only do 175) but used ones are cheaper. The Suzuki SV1000 and SV650 are nice, cheap and faster than any new rider needs. A used Yamaha R1 or Suzuki GSXR will have good value and will get you killed in a week. If you are buying used, look for one that has a pipe and chip since you will be putting one on anyway, let the first guy pay for it.

There is only one common known problem with sport bikes. New ones are mechanically sound, require little standard maintainace, have no handling quirks, and are designed to run thousands and thousands of trouble free miles. The only known problem with sportbikes is operator who don't know what they are in for. Buy a cheap bike, preferably a dirt bike, beat it around for a while and learn to ride.

Anton · 05-03-2005, 09:11 PM

Also, listen to Nostatic, he is a wise man.

LeeH · 05-03-2005, 09:46 PM

Reread Anton's paragraph that starts with, "Motorcycles are dangerous." Then read it again, and again, and again.

Spend $2000 on a mid-90s Yamaha Seca II. You won't be so sad when you drop it.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

http://www.msf-usa.org/

http://www.organdonor.gov/

http://www.lifeinsurancewiz.com/

BlueSkyJaunte · 05-03-2005, 11:12 PM

Oh, in case nobody mentioned it, you'll kill yourself on a new sportbike. Please add me to your will...

Rufblackbird · 05-04-2005, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Anton
Also, listen to Nostatic, he is a wise man.

I agree, having just bought one on his list as my first bike. And yes, it's a full on sportbike. Having owned it for about 3 weeks now, I am very glad to be still alive. The small Hondas we used in the motorcycle safety class was MUCH easier to ride and handle, and MUCH more forgiving.

gaijindabe · 05-04-2005, 04:57 AM

In Japan these big, fast sportbikes are as rare as hen's teeth. You have got to pass a series of tests to get a licence for the biggest models... Here, you can pass the road test on a Honda 90, and go kill yourself (and others) on a 1000cc monster the next day...

Eric 951 · 05-04-2005, 05:13 AM

Here you go:

Jeff Higgins · 05-04-2005, 05:30 AM

Matt, listen to these guys - start cheap and almost "disposable". You WILL dump your first bike. Hopefully you will be going slow enough to not hurt yourself. Anything you are looking at on your list is way too much bike if you truly "know nothing about motorcycles". I have been riding for almost 30 years, with an honest quarter million plus miles on motorcycles. These things still scare the bejeezus out of me when I get an opportunity to ride one. They are just plain scary fast on acceleration; no car you have ever driven can even come close. And don't kid yourself about starting off easy on one of these until you get the hang of it, promissing yourself to not get on it until you gain some experience. If it's there, you will use it. Imagine a machine that has the beans to flip you on your back with a simple downshift and WOT - when you are already speeding - on the freeway. I know it doesn't sound like as much fun, but once again, listen to these guys. You'll live longer, and learn to ride to boot. Both are worth doing.

motion · 05-04-2005, 05:55 AM

Matt, You're what, 16 years old??? Stick with the 911 buddy. Get a dirt bike and go out with friends on the weekends riding. Its safer. You have no business on a modern sportbike at that age. I had a CB750F when I was 17 - the equivalent of today's GSXR750. I crashed my brains out once a month. I still can't believe I'm alive.

LeeH · 05-04-2005, 07:25 AM

My wife worked at a large motorcycle dealer north of Atlanta when she was first learning to fly. A guy came in one day and wanted the biggest, baddest bike they had... probably a GSXR1100. The salesmen tried to talk him out of it as it was his first bike. He bought it anyway. Then they tried to arrange for delivery to his house until he could take the MSF course. He wouldn't discuss it. He was going to ride it home.

The guy made it to the end of the dealership's driveway. With several salesmen watching he went to pull out onto the (thankfully deserted) road. He twisted the grip a bit too much as he turned, overcorrected, bounced off the curb and dumped his new baby.

Only his ego was bruised. The salesmen rolled it back to the shop for repairs.

BRPORSCHE · 05-04-2005, 07:31 AM

Matt I am in your situation. Everyday when i get on the computer at school my first two pges to open up are pelican and the Ducati site. I am only 17 and ever since my friend got an '04 yamaha R1 for the summer i have been hooked. Literally i can't stop drooling over that bike. I have been warned by him many times and my mom that i probably will kill myself but I just love speed and can't have enough of it. My mom say's i can't get one till i am 18 so that is just fine since i am already saving up. But I am going to go with Anton's advice and buy a cheaper bike that has already been dropped. Best let the PO pay for it. Didn't mean to hijack it but I know where you are coming from.

BRPORSCHE · 05-04-2005, 07:32 AM

Oh yes and motion if i am ever in California I am going to find you just so i can drool over your collection also...ok well back to director....

motion · 05-04-2005, 07:50 AM

You got it, buddy.

Director.... Macromedia Director?

BRPORSCHE · 05-04-2005, 08:10 AM

yup macromedia director...making a scarbble board out of my g/fs picture. Now I am in American History but I will need to do my math homework.

BRPORSCHE · 05-04-2005, 09:21 AM

Ok finished my math...what bikes would you recommend for the new guy. I have driven a dirt bike for many years and am quite good on it, but I know that it will be nothing like a sport bike. I have been eyeing a 1-2 year old YZF-600R, it has a lil get up and go, but nothing to serious that I drop it in a week. Any other idea? I really like yamaha, but I will accept other bikes.

vash · vash's Garage

any sportbike from japan will offer years of stupid grinning. well, right until the next model year comes out, and it is lighter and has more horsepower. having said that; if you are not the type to chase the latest and greatest, slightly used japanese bikes can be had cheap. i like hondas, but truthfully, any 600 will pucker your nuts. for fun, this weekend, drop by scuderia in san francisco. aprilia is bringing a trailer full of bikes to demo. check out AMY too. kinda hot, and riding a bike gets girls like her. just kidding.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

If you're careful, you'll live through it.

I did. Started with a classic Honda 550-4 (not counting the Norton Commando JPS I never actually rode) and ended up with a Yamaha FZR 600. Didn't drop any of them, ever. But I was careful where and when I rode and didn't let traffic push me out of my comfort zone.

My neighbor, a physician with a major teaching hospital, told me the hospital staff's nickname for sportbike riders: "organ donors."

Lots of 20-something young, healthy men were coming in with massive, fatal brain damage from bike accidents, and providing nice, pink organs for the transplant pool.

Don't be like that. Take a motorcycle safety course and above all, do what my instructor said from day one: 'dress for the fall, not for the ride.'