Thinking about buying a bike...

i've had a few bikes and ridden many and i have to say for a beginner to intermediate bike its hard to beat a 94-98 Honda F2 or F3 600. They are known for going well over 150-200 thousand miles and are very dependable. I have a 97 that i love to death. you can easily find these bikes for 1500-3500. 94-96 are a little less on the HP and a few and don't have a few of the nicer options like floating front disc and adjustable shocks but they are pretty much the same. Im not sure what style bike you are in to but if you are seriously wanting to get one let me know. Mine is for sale and i know of a few that are nice that are also for sale.

here is mine after some extensive body mods
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here is mine and a local buddies when it was stockish
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i had a 2006 Ninja 650r and it was an AWESOME bike!!! great for long or short rides.. you can track it.. it is very very very quick, handles well, stops great, rides 2 nicely... and you cant ask for a better beginners bike. plus you can get them very very cheap. here is mine (sold it to buy my stang )

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I hate this thread... I have a line on two bikes, either one I'd love to have but I cannot bring myself to pull the trigger.

One is an 03 or 04 CBR 600 F4i, the other a 2000 ZX600.

Fug.

Im hoping to get this next year or year after.. zx-6r..

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BurningRubber said:

I hate this thread... I have a line on two bikes, either one I'd love to have but I cannot bring myself to pull the trigger.

One is an 03 or 04 CBR 600 F4i, the other a 2000 ZX600.

Fug.

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the f4i is a good bike. should be able to find one priced pretty good. the Kaw on the other hand.... i love the look and power but reliability has been my issue with them. I know of a handful that have transmission problems

Demented4.6 said:

the f4i is a good bike. should be able to find one priced pretty good. the Kaw on the other hand.... i love the look and power but reliability has been my issue with them. I know of a handful that have transmission problems

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$2500 with 11k on it... Price was good, and it seems to be a superior bike to the Kawasaki I was looking at.

Decided to hold off on all of them. After doing some research, I don't really want a carb bike, and I need to keep saving so I can get stuff in order after I'm done with school.

f4i is fuel injected, if thats what your talking about, idk, thats what I have, it kicks as$

Tanus said:

f4i is fuel injected, if thats what your talking about, idk, thats what I have, it kicks as$

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Yeah, sorry I kind of wrote that a little mis-leading.

The F4i seems like an ass kicking bike, and being FI is a big plus. It's a little out of my range of what I would comfortably spend, but it may be worth it over a carb bike in the long run.

the f4 98-00 is pretty much same exact as an f4i, except its carborated, but its a great bike and can be found for cheap and the best part is, later on when you have more money, you can swap in a f4i motor/ecu and basicly have a f4i.

LB0193 said:

all bikes are organ donors...............

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Ahh your just disgruntled because you don't ride one.

It's no different than saying because you have a gun or guns in your home, someone in your home has a 300% chance in dying by it. You know that through responsible measures, the dangers are minimized; same goes for cycling. ATGATT All the gear all the time, head and eyes, friction zone.

Notchbck93 said:

Ahh your just disgruntled because you don't ride one.

It's no different than saying because you have a gun or guns in your home, someone in your home has a 300% chance in dying by it. You know that through responsible measures, the dangers are minimized; same goes for cycling. ATGATT All the gear all the time, head and eyes, friction zone.

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Let's not ignore a few simple and obvious facts.

Driving down the road at ~30 mph and a car pulls out right in front of you so close there's nothing you can do. Were you in a car and wearing your seatbelt? If so, then chances are ~99% you don't even have a bruise.

I've been hit by a truck while riding my bicycle. The guy made a left turn into me. I saw it coming and did everything I could to avoid it, but he just ran me down like I wasn't there. My bicycle is more maneuverable than your motorcycle, but I it still doesn't hover or change direction regardless of speed or traction.

Sure, wear your gear and drive defensively, but realize that while stuck on the outside of a steel frame, you are a bug on the windshield if something unlucky happens. The best you can do is try to minimize injury. You cannot always avoid the behavior of other people just by being attentive.

For what it's worth, most motorcycle accidents happen when the rider goes off a curve. The single most common accident is a head-on collision with another vehicle, but it's overall more common for a motorcyclist to lay it down or hit something other than another vehicle (like a tree, sign, or animal). However, vehicle collisions are responsible for slightly more fatalities than non-vehicle collisions. IOW, it's more dangerous to collide with a car or truck.

I'm not knocking motorcycles, but I think it's silly to believe you can always avoid trouble by wearing your gear and paying attention. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do. I still prefer to ride my bike in traffic than my car, but I know for damn sure which one is safer no matter how careful I might be.

40oz said:

Let's not ignore a few simple and obvious facts.

Driving down the road at ~30 mph and a car pulls out right in front of you so close there's nothing you can do. Were you in a car and wearing your seatbelt? If so, then chances are ~99% you don't even have a bruise.

I've been hit by a truck while riding my bicycle. The guy made a left turn into me. I saw it coming and did everything I could to avoid it, but he just ran me down like I wasn't there. My bicycle is more maneuverable than your motorcycle, but I it still doesn't hover or change direction regardless of speed or traction.

Sure, wear your gear and drive defensively, but realize that while stuck on the outside of a steel frame, you are a bug on the windshield if something unlucky happens. The best you can do is try to minimize injury. You cannot always avoid the behavior of other people just by being attentive.

For what it's worth, most motorcycle accidents happen when the rider goes off a curve. The single most common accident is a head-on collision with another vehicle, but it's overall more common for a motorcyclist to lay it down or hit something other than another vehicle (like a tree, sign, or animal). However, vehicle collisions are responsible for slightly more fatalities than non-vehicle collisions. IOW, it's more dangerous to collide with a car or truck.

I'm not knocking motorcycles, but I think it's silly to believe you can always avoid trouble by wearing your gear and paying attention. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do. I still prefer to ride my bike in traffic than my car, but I know for damn sure which one is safer no matter how careful I might be.

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I think you may have breezed through my post a bit too quickly there matey!

No where did I say the phrase "always"; nothing in this world is 100% certain other than death. Gear helps minimize injuries...like airbags.

My key word was "minimized."

I too was almost killed at the age of 13 while riding my bicycle, and I can tell you that you have a lot more of a fighting chance with a motorcycle than you do a bicycle.

I was hit from behind by an ill-willed person, it was not an accident. I had no mirrors and no way to predict that I would be run over on a bicycle.

Anyways, any motorcycle or automotive drivers course always teaches to scan, identify, predict and execute. When I see a car approaching an intersection I ALWAYS expect them to pull out in front of my bike. Cagers never see bikers, it's just that simple. Because they look at you, doesn't mean squat, because most likely they are looking through you.

While sitting at an intersection, I flash my brake light while being ready to take off it the person approaching from behind isn't slowing down. Before I proceed, I look both ways twice, because you never know when a suspect maybe hauling arse through an intersection well after a red light.

There's one simple fact, every gelly-brain behind the saftey of their four-wheeled cage is out to RUN YOU OVER.


Like I've said before, a lot of people discriminate certain hobbies before they even try them. "Oh, so and so died on a motorcycle, and if I get on one, I will die as well." So many people out there are living in fear; it's a real shame.


You know the old saying, you can get busy living, or you can get busy dying and I choose life. Too many are born with cancer these days, disease, crippling dystrophies, and I have a fair amount of health left, so I am going to get out and soak up some of this goodness that there is to be had out there.

What I mean for this is by advancing my riding skills through closed course training environments; not riding irresponsibly trying to so-called improve my mad riding skilz.

Top three killers for cyclists are:
1) Imparement(s) --can be anything from drinking to not feeling up to riding
2) Failure to negotiate---usually caused by excessive speed---linked to number one
3) Lack of gear-- it's too hot, or it's dorky to wear a helmet, gloves, armoured jacket, armoured pants and boots.


There's always a chance, no matter what you are on or in, a SOL situation is going to happen. A truck's dual wheel assembly flies off, a small piece of scap metal ruptures the gas tank on a big and safe full-sized van and the family burns to death...happened not to far from my house. In those situations, cagers never had a chance to survive.

Anyhow, everyone be safe out there and keep the shinny side up

heres my baby...

I would say look into like a Suzuki SV650.. great comfortable bike that are still nimble/sporty and plenty fast. You can find them pretty cheap too! Just make sure you go for 2003 or up because they are fuel injected. That goes with any bike unless you are confident with carb'd bikes I would say stick with fuel injected, IMO they are a pain in the ass and to tempermental.

Carb bikes are not bad. I had a 2000 F4 and didnt have too many issues with it. I just bought an 09 600rr yesterday and I really love this bike. if you have less than $4k to spend your probably not going to get a FI bike, unless it has been wrecked. I sold my F4 for $3k and it was far from perfect.

Heres a pic of my new bike
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and my old bike
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Just bought a 2006 Honda Spirit 750 a couple days ago. I love it, can't beat it for the money.

bike are dangerous, I know that better than most, spent 3 weeks in a hospital in 06 and about 4 or 5 hospital visits besides that. And I still think buying a streetbike was one of the best things Ive ever done....maybe not the smartest though,lol

Tanus said:

bike are dangerous, I know that better than most, spent 3 weeks in a hospital in 06 and about 4 or 5 hospital visits besides that. And I still think buying a streetbike was one of the best things Ive ever done....maybe not the smartest though,lol

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I have had so many people tell me I am crazy for riding a bike. and that all they would think about is wrecking...when I am on my bike the last thing on my mind is wrecking, theirs nothing quite like riding a bike, its just so relaxing and fun at the same time. I love it, its an addiction. whenever I am stressed out I get on my bike and just ride, it can really relieve the stress.

BlackStang03 said:

I have had so many people tell me I am crazy for riding a bike. and that all they would think about is wrecking...when I am on my bike the last thing on my mind is wrecking, theirs nothing quite like riding a bike, its just so relaxing and fun at the same time. I love it, its an addiction. whenever I am stressed out I get on my bike and just ride, it can really relieve the stress.

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I think a lot of people become upset because they either never have or no longer choose to ride. When a person doesn't agree with something, they tend to utilize the fear factor.

I'm right with you, I rode into work today and I really have to believe that riding a motorcycle is the most fun that you can have with your clothes on. A lot of cagers don't realize what they are missing by being stuck in a prison-like car compared to the openess, agility, speed and thriftyness of bike.

Riding is either in you or it isn't. The same goes for building fast 'Stangs, really with how low our speed limits are in the lower 48, it's technically a waste, but it certainly doesn't stop us from building 500 rwhp plus machines.

Rational and fun are enemies to one another. One goes without the other and seldom do they go together.

Here's a picture of me at an advanced rider course. I can, by looking at this photo, see a few areas of improvement that were addressed later on, but nonetheless, it was still a lot of fun.




Keep the shinny side up boys