CBR600RR.... what are they like?
 

I've just started thinking about upgrading to something else, had my license for a year now and it feels a good time to sell the SV650 for something faster.

I know the SV is a bit girly but its been spot on, not particularly fast but good fun. I commute 25miles a day (12ish each way) and im worried i'll miss the torque of the V twin....

I've always loved the 600rr, and the 2003-2006 models are in budget insurance wise and price wise....

Went for a test ride last weekend but forgot the paper part of my license :cry: but the shop (P&H crawley) doesn't have a 2004 CBR in stock so it would have been the new RR which i imagine is pretty different, but will be riding something next week for sure.

Are there any other bikes I should conciser? I think its time for a screaming 4 at least for a year or two.

Cheers

Rob,

They are very focussed, very front endy.
Feel like you're perched on top rather than sat in it like ya SV.

Defo test ride, I know several people who bought one and didn't like it, regretted not test riding.

Cheers mate, I've heard a few people say similar things focus wise.

I shall indeed find one to test, just don't want to test a private sellers bike, rather piss a dealer about.

Rob,

awesome machines end of,ridden a few of mates and really hammer them a little twitchy on front end but nothing a damper wont sort

get a 900/1000, it will cut out the upgrading later

Gsxr600?

Totally agree with you :) I have a Gsxr 600 k9 and it's a fantastic bike. The Cbr is very good but for me it has to be Gsxr. Keep us updated !!!

If your after a sports bike they will all feel very different to an sv as a sports bike is for fast road / track and an sv is for shopping lol all depends on what type of style bike you like or how you ride

CBR600s are also quite small. I think alot of the sport 600s of that era are pretty focused in thier riding style..

Get a ride on a Kawaski ZX6r 2005 to 2007 or 8 I think (first of the underseat exhaust model anyway) They have a 636cc engine and it's surprising what a differance that extra 36cc make to the midrange.. You can pick them up privately for less than 3K if you look around. I;ve had one for a few months now and it pretty comfy (I'm 6'2") and as quick as you ever need on the road. They are a bit less money that the Honda and Suzuki equivilants as well

2p

Cheers for the replys guys!

Im pretty small, 5ft 8" and the cbr I say on felt well suited to my size. The Zx6r and Gsxr600 are also two other options im seriously considering. Im told the Zx6r is a bit on and off but incredibly fast. Although 9/10 reviews you read on the Internet have really conflicting opinions.

1.9 xr2 on 40's I would love a fireblade but the insurance is still a little silly for me, perhaps next year. I've had a good run on the SV so far and see sports 600 as a good stepping stone onto a good 1000.

I keep looking at adverts for daytona 675's too :cry:

I'll let you all know after the test ride at the weekend (if its not pissing it down as usual).

Rob,

best thing to do is ride them all then you can make an informed choice to suit yourself..

but I do love my kawasakis, they just seem to have that little extra something over the oposition IMO..

good luck with the test rides, weathers looking pretty good for this weekend..

Funny you should mention that!!

I went back again today and couldn't ride a 600rr, the bloke was being a touchy twat about booking a day in advance (not that it was ever mentioned), so had a walk over to their other shop and took a brand new ZX6r out for an hour :)

Beautiful bike, far more flexible that I thought it would be, would happily potter at 30mph in 5th/6th and fuck me did it go. Above 10,000 rpm it was a real rocket, dead easy to ride too.

Im a little disappointed in one respect as the sv650 is genuinely the faster A-B bike through town, on open road there would however be no competition but it has made me pause and have a little 're-think', but I still want a 600 4 for a little while :)

Can you tell me how the earlier (2005ish) 636 compares with the later (2007) 600? The guy in the shop said the 636 was faster but less flexible? Wondered if that was bull. He really wanted me to buy a 9000 mile 2007 zxr they had in stock.... was very tempted but at £4900 it was a little steep, a quick google shows them available for around £3800 and a nice low mileage 636 for £3000.

Rob,

636 drops into big boy tax hence why they went back to 600s

So kawasaki completly redesigned there engine just so a few people in 1 country could get cheaper tax lol.

I think you might find that kawasaki went back to 600cc so the zx6r was eligable for certain race series's hence why they made a earlier zx6rr along side the production of the 636 which was a 600 also in limited numbers. Makes more sense to just run a production of 1 model than a 636 and 600 doesnt it.

Im not going to get too upset about the cost of tax. If they are all round better than the 600 then I would be happy to pay it.

Rob,

Glad you got a shot on a ZX6r..

as for comparing the newer 600 to the older 636.. I have not ridden the newer 600 so cannot comment directly but I have heard people say the 600 is a little more refined but lacks nothing in the power stakes compared to the 636..

The thing to remember is the 636 engine has been around since around 2001 as it was first used in the A model ZX6r so the newer 600 is maybe 6 years further on in it's developement so I would expect it to be better than the 636 motor despite it's 36cc defecite in capacity.

Where the 636 wins IMO (apart for an extra £15 or £20 on road tax) is over the other 600 offerings of the same era. The 636 just offers alot more midrange so you don't have to cane the tits off it and incidently I've heard the the new 2013 ZX6r is going back to 636cc. Maybe in an effort to compete with the 675 Triumph Daytona.

I paid £2900 for my 2005 ZX6r 3 or 4 months ago and it's alot of bike for the money IMO.

cheers

What about an R6 ? Have to say I'm a Yamaha man though ! Rode one (I'm 5'11 and 16 stone) and it felt a little small for me but for your frame it'd be fine. Go like stink.

Off topic, I did meet a brand spanking new Ducati 1199 Tricolore at the lights yesterday....:love: man alive, WHAT a bit of kit !

Gotta say I loved my 600rr, but I only have my old 99 ninja to compare it to, only downside was it got me a ban a huge fine and a slice of community service :'( lol

ive got the 954 blade and can say ..its to quick for the road!! 178mph and around 154bhp .. i had a zx6r before and thats plenty enuff i think the 600 is the best class as in cc.. the 954 is crazy man!! speeds from say 100 to 140 is just silly!! im going thru the gears look down and 130 comes up , went around a roundabout with the other half on the back and gave it just abit to much and the front ends lifting!! and if you get on the throttle to early from corners the back will step out, the kind of things the 600 wont do.. 636 is a top bike

Had an SV650, cracking bike, could have some fun with it without it being too giddy.
R6 will be the easiest bike youll ever ride, just does everything you want with ease.
Not thought of going SV1000?

Cheers for all the good advice guys :) and bigG I did consider an sv1000 and may even uh one next year, but for now ive just bought:

http://http://i68.photobucket.com/al...05DF5F6AEE.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i6...05DF5F6AEE.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i6...05D9BDB8A7.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i6...05D3FCED6D.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i6...05CE0820D7.jpg


http://http://i68.photobucket.com/al...05D9BDB8A7.jpg

http://http://i68.photobucket.com/al...05CE0820D7.jpg

http://http://i68.photobucket.com/al...05D3FCED6D.jpg

8900 miles hasn't seen a drop of rain in 6 years and lived in a garage since new :) happy man

Rob

Bloody iPhone, I'll fix the photos in a bit

very nice! and your never go sv 1000 now lol if you like sports bikes id keep that for 2 or 3 year years then un grade to a 1000rr :)

put your warrior keyboard down for a minute:roll:,
ive worked in motorcycle workshop and sales for a few years and the 636 was always the last to sell before the 599s obviously not the only reason but sales were down for kawasaki as people did not want the high tax with the 636 when in hindsight you pat the same tax as a zx9 so why get the smaller cc bike,
kawasaki didn't want to have the added complexity of making two bikes, one for the streets (636) and one for the racing circuit(ZX6RR--599cc) to comply with MotoGp and AMA regulations!

very nice by the way rob, got a damper already so your sorted, very very good bike

I'm sure I've seen that about..

I bought it froma chap in Bristol, he had a slipped disc and had only ridden it twice in the couple of years (poor sod), but he bought it with 5000miles on 6 years ago and it had 8900 when i picked it up, done 300 miles on it already lol

Cheers for the comments, im loving it! Doesn't seem to be amazing on juice but that may be me more than the bike.

Rob,

Your missing my point entirely and you cant say people chose an r6 over a 636 because it is £30 a year more expensive when the fact is they probably bought a cbr6 or r6 because that is what they wanted. In my experience people choose the 636 over the other 600's as it had that little bit more grunt but still retained all the other charactoristics of a 600 supersport like being light revy and easy to throw about.

The fact is kawasaki changed to 599cc to comply with racing rules so the bike was eligable for racing not to improve sales in 1 country.

Plus your contradicting yourself and actually agreeing with me when you say they changed to 600cc to comply with homologation rules for racing?

not the case at all, 600cc i think is the best weight to have , 1000cc superbikes like the r1 and the blade are completley different animals, i spoke to a main dealer down the road to me and he rides every year at the isle of man so should now his stuff, he said .. anything over say 130bhp on the road is more of a hinderence !! after having my zx6r for years and then getting onto a 154bhp bike i totally agree, the 600cc superbikes are more fun and easyer to ride and in the correct hands will keep with any 1000cc bike until say you get to over 145mph , but were do ya do over 145? ok i dont want all the idiots saying yes i do that just down the road all the time , the fact is on a nice sunday run you wont be going over that speed alot!!

Andy

Awwwwwwwww Davey Fox you seen the new 2013 zx6r? Back to 636cc, must think the british public can afford the extra £20 a year in tax and it wont effect sales to much.

O and there also making a limited run of 600cc zx6r's so they can go racing so obviously not to arsed about the complications of making 2 bikes anymore :grin:

i've had loads of bikes in 25 years from strokers to gixxer 1000's and i can definately say you do not need a thousand on the road unless you just want to pose like a cunt.

99.9% of road riders dont know what the fuck to do with a thou its just "look what i got"

what the fuck has motogp got to do with 600's :cry:

Or like me when your 6 foot 5 and the extra physical size of a thou is much better than a little 600 especially these days with them making them smaller and smaller

Agree with size thing to an extent and i had that same idea when i was looking to pass.. Im 6"3 and fit on my gsxr600 nice.. Its comfy and i cant really complain.

hyabusa for you then :P

although 2012 blades are the same size as 600's now so you are foooked son :cry:

Loving the cbr so far, it's a little too tall for me if anything but other wise it fits well. I've parked it up now until jan so I'm back on the sv650 until then, definitely missing the refinement of the Honda, but not missing it's rock hard seat and wrist smashing position.

Toying with booking a track day or two next year, can any one suggest a beginner(ish) track?

You can lift the front forks to take some of the pressure off your wrists and you can buy lowering kits to bring it down a bit.

Cool, thanks mate I'll have a play and see if I can make it a little more comfortable for my short arse.

I had thought about a lowering kit but didn't want to mess about with the handling too much, i've heard lowering the backend can effect the turn in etc and it rides so well stock etc.

Rob,

No problem mate. If you need any info just pm me.

If you are going to lower it then leave the forks as they are as it will bring the bike to a square riding positon. Any adjustments to the suspension will change the handling which will mean learning the bike again.

PS where in london are you? I work in Brentford and ride mine down to work often from Milton Keynes. I also go on a few rides with mates and often meet at ACE Cafe.

i think all todays 600's are very quick compared to 12 years ago. the cbr is a bit focused. lots of hp but a bit peaky. i think a good compronmise weight/useability would be the 636 kwak, triumph 675, or the gixxer 750. even the 600 gsxr is a v.good road bike as itsa not as focused as the cbr/r6. again, the 07 on r6 is properly quick but makes its power right up top. if your happy on the cbr rr then any of the above will be decent on the road. the r6 and cbr rr and 600rr ninja and supersport bikes first and foremost, roadbikes second.