Hi, I work for a large mobile telecomms company. I live in Oxford but was born in Toronto, Canada. ...
Hi, I work for a large mobile telecomms company. I live in Oxford but was born in Toronto, Canada. Engaged to a lovely guy from Birmingham (see Sonatine on Ciao [love you babes xx]). Love playing guitar & midi keyboards when I can afford it. Have 2 ca...
Member since:03.01.2001
Reviews:86
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I passed my bike test about ten years ago, cutting my teeth on a Honda CBR600RR which just blew me away for speed, performance, handling & braking.
However, due to change of jobs and the need to luglaptops around with me for work I sold the bike and opted for a 4 wheel boxmobile and have stayed thay way ever since....much to my shame.
However, my boyfriend is a bit of a biker at heart cus he find cars a tad mundane...except of course when its raining or he wants a few bits of shopping brought back home...bit of a different story then, but never mind:o)
Anyway, he's had a number of streetbikes over the years and is currently shackled with a 3 year Suzi GSX600-F.
Although having the design of a supersports I'm afraid one shouldn't judge books by covers cus unfortunately the engine plays a rather different tune.
As soon as I fired it up I realised the engine lacked the necessary "oomph" in the pony department...85hp I think he said but that's nothing compared to most 600 pocket battleships that carry over 110 easy these days.
However, I was quite impressed with the handling especially around town; steering was quite light too although the brakes didn't offer much confidence even though they're disks back & front. Even on dry roads the back wheel would squeal a bit under sudden braking pressure, although perhaps this was down to either the noncy Pirelli tyres or the rear suspension being too soft.
Once on the big roads I was able open the engine up to reflect its true potential. It has very good mid range between 3rd & 5th but tends to fade to a flatspot at around 9k rpm. Low-down grunt is a bit light but once passed about 4k the bike starts to pull away with a decent bit of asskicking.
Handling at 70 is a doddle, even though the fairing isn't all that good at deflecting wind resistence. The engine sounded happy enough and the gears were light & responsive.
Overall then, its a nice bike but needs a major injection of HP cus it just doesn't have the necessary grunt in the right places. Ok so it can do 0-60 in about 6 secs but thats deathly slow to be honest as bikes go.
But it looks cool in its sexy Ferrari red fairings & the seat height was comfy enough for my 6ft frame although some of my weight was pushed forward onto my wrists because the handlebars were a fraction too low relative to the seat.
Basic service is every 3k but that can be done by anyone with a Haynes manual (Majors are every 6). The bike retails at around £4700 which is rather a lot of dosh considering you can get a second hand CBR6 for the same price or even a brand new Thundercat or ZZR600 for a couple of hundred quid more but for that you get a shedfull more ponies.
This kind of bike would suit either the born-again racer, or those people who prefer a nice compromise between bimbling around town & "A" road blasting. My better half feels happy on it so who am I to deny him his little pleasures....lol
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Advantages: Genuine all round bike, fun to ride, easy to live with, cheap to run, reliable, good tourer Disadvantages: Might be a little boring for some of you? Very tall seat.
Regsy 19.02.2009 (07.04.2009)
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