Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Re rimmed to use road tyres?

It will be a hoot to ride.

was that with A2Z?

No it’s was with MTS Sussex. The cheapest das I found and the parents live round the corner so I know the area.

See what @chak said to make his sv his.

Bandit 6? or 4vvt? Older yam xj6 (can be fun but needs tweaking) cb5 are fun they even have a race series. ER5 twin pot fun? Not really a gs5 fan tho.

Ah, i'm currently riding round on one of those for my DAS.
big bikes are quite entertaining.

Good isn't it. So much more planted than the 125's

Last friday I jumped straight onto my Brompton after motorbiking home... The wobbles were extreme!

I’m basically looking for a poor mans MT07. I like the idea of having a twin. Not a huge fan of the sound of 4 cylinders (the ones I can afford)

Yup. With some trick upgrades to boot. It looked it was loved but shredded.

@Jules Oof, it's not really much of a photogenic bike. It's a bit of a rat but brings much joy.
I went through an SV at first, then a VFR800, then a Street Triple, a GSXR, and now back on another SV.

Depending on the year you get and the mileage, they might need some work on the bouncy bits to really make them shine as is with all bikes of a certain age.

Overall though, it was a combination of reliability, running costs, and more importantly, the fun bang-for-buck that made me go back to it. Also, it's not really a theft target and insurance is peanuts.
They have a huge following, spare parts are easy to come by and you can repair them with zip ties and a hammer.
Put some decent tyres on them, and you'll start racking up mileage without fear of losing you license or your limbs.

If you liked the MT07 (I learnt on that as well), I genuinely feel like that's the SV's successor and has the same ethos.

I got this for £750. It's taken me through Europe and back, and get's used weekly. It's on nearly 70k on the Odo (eats a bit of oil) but overall, runs like a champ

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That’s basically exactly what I want. Keeping my eye out for a naked version. Do like the fully faired ones as well.
Looks clean though!
Yeah I’ve heard more good than bad about them and there so much aftermarket parts. Definitely keeping an eye out for a black naked SV

The first I had was fully faired with some twin laser exhausts and it sounded the bomb! I'd say try both to see what you'd like. The fully faired definitely had better weather protection.
This one beats me up a bit if I push and can get a bit tiring, but earplugs help with that (get earplugs asap anyway)
I've experimented with so many aftermarket parts I can barely remember all of them.
The clip on bars were from SVRP and love 'em. The guy who owns it is an SV Wikipedia and races them to oblivion and back.
Give me a shout if want any more info. I tinker a lot so learnt a few of their foibles.

Like it!

That's starting to tick some boxes for me. Maybe by the time an electric bike is a necessity in London they'll be decent. I wonder how many accidents with peds stepping into the road there will be though.

The wheels are a bit too Harley on that one but it's not horrible.

Just seen the max speed is 28mph, for that reason I'm not going to invest.

Yeah, they're not far off but they're not there yet.

It's pretty small / cheap but for someone who lives centrally, they're cheap, decent looking etc so I can see them doing well.

That looks a lot better than any SV I’ve seen, is it just the clip on bars doing that?

Cheers mate. Yeah I think I’ll just go for what comes up first. Going away on Monday so I won’t be buying until the end of September. No doubt I’ll definitely be coming to you with a fair few questions.

Mostly yes. I dropped the front a tiny bit and raised the back. The rearsets are of an S model, and the tyre is a 70 profile, so it makes the whole thing a bit more squat.
There's silly stuff you can do to them which really makes them pop. I was after more functionality than anything else.

@Jules Have something to think about in these.

On another note. @Sparky was it you who bought a 600rr?

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I wish. I passed my full licence years back, bought a PX125 and enjoyed it for a couple of years, then vandals ripped the wiring loom out. I’ve never bothered to buy a bigger bike. It remains on the to-do list but I don’t want to hand it directly to the local thieves.

Right I’ve decided against a ninja (sensibly) due to power (certain death), impracticality, comfort and risk of scallywags nicking it.
Adventure bike would be sick but it might get used abroad once so unnecessary for the majority of my riding.
Recommend me a 4 cylinder naked sub 3 grand and preferably newer than 2005.
Current thinking is
Another GSR
FZ6 or XJ6
Hornet 600
Definitely love the naked sports bike vibe so not after a V twin, mostly just inline 4s
Suggestions of anything else to look for? Or comments on the above?

Suzuki Bandit 1200/1255.

or the smaller one if you must.

I’ve been riding sub 6 months. Think I should stick with the circa 600s for a while :)

900 Hornet. Yamaha FZ1. Are they under 3k? They are wicked bikes...silly fast, practical and civilised.

https://www.cycleworld.com/why-original-yamaha-fz1-was-so-damn-good#page-6

Aye my dad has the hornet 9.
These bigger bikes do seem great, smooth, reliable, powerful but I’m thinking smaller, lighter, shoutier.

Try a 2006 and up FZ1, they're at the small end of the naked streetbike size spectrum. I think only the street triple is much smaller? They might still be bit spendy.

Shouty? I know you said you don't like twins but the Aprilia Tuono is a naughty, naughty bike and the late models are civilised and reliable too.

The only 4 cylinder 600 naked bike I've ever ridden was the hornet and I thought it was bland and has a shite gearbox. Twin again, but I had quite a lot of fun on a Kawasaki ER6N - they're really tuneable too.

Aprilia Tuono

92 kW (123 hp) @ 9500

Yooo I’d have that and myself wrapped round a tree way too quickly