I'd kill myself, I don't have the discipline for a 1000

 

Haha, me neither.


What's that your wife is riding? Suzuki?
I wish my girl was into riding.

 

Yeah my wife is riding a 2003 Intruder. Her engine is bigger than mine, she's riding an 800 V twin

 

My 2007 CBR 600RR is my second bike. Technically my third since I bought the CBR, totalled it, and worked out with my insurance and dealer to get my bike replaced with an identical bike that I just now hit 200 miles on. My first bike was an '04 Shadow Aero. In moving from the cruiser, I was shocked at how comfy the CBRis. I am 5'8" and 180 lbs. I can ride it for 1.5 hours before needing to get off, and then only for about 10 mins with subsequent stretches of an hourbetween rests. I run 250 mile rideswith no problem. I am currently planning a ride from Sierra Vista, AZ (almost at the Mexican border) to Moab Utah, then the Grand Canyon, then back home. All in all about 2500 miles in 4 days. I commute on my CBR 20 miles to and from work every day as well. I am confident that the bike will be comfortable enough for you. Helibar can get you higher and rearward handlebars if you need to be more upright. An Airhawk cushion can give you long-duration seat comfort. Aftermarket seats are hard to find, but custom seats can be obtained without too much headache. Coretech can give you nylon saddlebags and a tailbag.

The 600RR can be set up to be plenty comfortable with additional performance of the RR. However, there are a couple of things to consider. If you plan on parking your girl on the back of your bike you need to stay with the F4i. If you set anyone heavier than a smurf back there you will just about sink the tail section into the rear wheel unless you completely ruin your suspension settings, and even if you do that, they will be miserably uncomfortable. Also, while the CBR is substantially lighter than the F4i, the engine is better, and the chassis is better for more performance riding, I don't think the power level of the RR will satisfy someone who thinks the F4i is too slow. Granted, my RR is a little anemic because I am at 5000 feet of altitude, but my impression is that while the the RR has plenty of power, there is a lot more power to be had than is available to the RR. Also, F4i has a lot of speed to it. While the RR should be a good head and a shoulder above the F4i in terms of perfoemance, you can't forget they are both essentially middleweights. The RR is faster, but still in the same general class or category as the F4i. The reason to get the 600RR is not so much the speed increase as it is the lighter, racier frame. TheRR will be able to lean from side to side with less effort and generally be more responsive in corner carving elbow dragging situations. If that is what you need, then read my above statements about the CBR being comfortable enough and switch to the RR. However, if you just want more SPEED, I would seriously consider upgrading from the 600cc engine. A literbike might be too drastic in power while being just as heavy as your F4i, so really, I would have to recommend the GSX-R750. It is still a good bit lighter than the F4i, tons lighter than a literbike, less than 20 lbs heavier than the CBR 600RR, and has loads more power. It basically has all the usable power of a literbike in the hands of someone not professionally trained to milk full performance out of the 1000cc engines with less low-range power for safety and convenience, and has all of the handling and lightweight nimbleness of the middleweight race bikes.

Basically I would say stick with the F4i or move up from the 600cc class to a 750cc inline 4 or maybe a performance v-twin from Ducati or something. The 600RR is beautiful, the best bike I have ever ridden, and possibly the last bike I would ever buy. But a guy like you who is frustrated with the F4i might need a bigger jump than from one kind of 600 to another.

 

Good choice you made there

 

baileyjn you are a God sent, that's the info that I needed to hear. I was looking at the GSXR 750, but once again I'm concerned with comfort. I was even thinking about the Triumph Daytona 675, but I'm afraid parts would be hard to get, because it's not a common bike on the rode. It's not that the F4i is to slow, I just want more power on tap, I don't get that same buzz I got when I got here.

 

OGPlaya, thanks for the encouragement, alot of testosterone filled guys would have given me hell, but I see there are some other mature riders out there.

 

From what I hear, the GSX-R750 will be a little more aggressive in riding position than the RR. However, the statements I made about Helibar, Airhawk, and custom seats hold just as true for the Gixxer as they do for the RR. Still, though, I would think it would be a better idea to get a bike with the frame and engine that you want and drop a less than a thousand dollars in accessories to give it the comfort that you want than it would be to keep buying bikes every few thousand miles. You might hear that the 750 is less comfortable than the RR or F4i, but I would go with that bike to get the power and handling you need and then tweak the seat and the bars (maybe even the footpegs if you're real fussy) to make it perfectly comfortable.

 

I saw 2 GSXR 750s broken down on the freeway. One yesterday and one this morning. And no they were not the same bike. (different color schemes) I'm by no means bashing the GSXR, i have 2 older ones myself. But seeing something like that would make me skeptical about getting one. I know if i saw 2 rr's broken down i'd reconsider purchasing one.

Has anyone heard if the new GSXRs are having factory defects? Or was this just a freak occurance?
'

 

Well one of the reasons that I brought up the GSX-R750 without actually owning one myself is that my dad thinks his sport tourer is too heavy and is looking to get rid of his '02 Ducati ST4S and get the Gixxer 750 and alter the handlebars and pegs so he can do his 2,000 mile rides with it. So while I don't own one, the research my dad is doing suggests that the 750 can be made comfy. But to respond to your point, we have not read anything about defects or reliability problems with it. Now of course I can't speak for all previous years. Maybe these guys were riding older, poorly maintained bikes?