In a year or so, I'll be buying a newer if not completely new bike. I love the styling of all the newer 600cc bikes but there are differences in handling, power, rider positioning, etc between all the manufacturers' newer offerings. As of yet, I haven't ridden anything newer than '09, which was the R6 right after Yamaha revamped the suspension and it was a great upgrade from previous models. I've heard different strong points about all the bikes out there, but I want to hear from the people that have the newest generation of 600RR to see what made you choose that bike over the others. I know some probably went for the Honda for really no better reason than loyalty to the brand, but I wanna hear what made some of you choose the Honda over the other manufacturers after testing some of the others. What made Honda the superior choice for you? I'm thinking I'll most likely go with either a newer R6 or 600RR. I like the styling of the Kawasaki and I may even consider that bike, but I haven't been very fond of the riding position Suzuki uses for quite a while though they are getting better about it. Still, I ride purely for the enjoyment of riding and look for a bike that is both fun and comfortable to ride. I suppose when I do get a bike, it will be purely for my own reasons, but your input will give me a few ideas to look for directly from the people who own them instead of listening to a sales pitch. Also, any reason not to go with completely new? Issues with current models to steer clear of?

 

my reason will not apply to you but it was the weight and body size. As you may know, I also have gsxr 750. But I do LOVE my cbr600rr. however one thing I don't like about is you have to take off pretty much all fairings to do any maintenance work. And there are not much room under the fairings. I have extra wires for HID and custom third eyes and under the fairings are pretty full. That is why body is slimmer and I like it to fit my body. but after many times of taking them off, the tabs will eventually break. Also not much storage space under the passenger seat. That never became a problem with me, but if you are used to putting things there, you might not like it.

 

When I bought my bike new in 08 I went to try out all the 600s that were out. Honda was the most comfortable to me to ride on as far as ergonomics but I also liked the mid range on the bike. It felt the easiest to ride. If you don't like the Suzukis' ergos you are going to hate the R6. It's easily the most aggressive of the big 4. They are beautiful bikes but the gutless low end and ergos steered me away from them as far as a street bike. I haven't test rode any of the newer Ninja or Suzuki 600s so I can't really comment on them.

 

It's funny about the ergonomics of those two bikes. As far as full tuck is concerned, the GSXR isn't bad. Fairly comfortable, really, but being a tall guy with long arms, I do have a tendency to ride upright from time to time to get a bit more airflow. Not so much if it's cold or windy though for obvious reasons. The GSXR kinda forces me to ride at least half tuck so my arms aren't dead in half an hour. I have considered getting a cruiser for that very reason, though. Maybe find a decent cruiser to trade my F3 even for and just buy a newer bike outright. That way, if I want to ride upright, I can ride a bike designed for it. By the way, another point with being a taller guy that gets hairy is factory rear set positioning. Typically, most bikes I have ridden have them a bit far forward for the length of my legs, so I almost always have to buy adjustable rear sets to situate them farther back. Otherwise, my knees are in my chest at full tuck and on some bikes, it's has hampered my ability to steer well, which is another reason I don't care to ride at full tuck. Any taller people have any thoughts on newer bikes as far as that is concerned? Rear set positioning, I mean, and whether or not you get decent foot and leg positioning at the stock location?

 

I'm a Honda person, 2 wheels or 4 and soon as I was done with the MSF I rode nothing but 600's (didn't own a bike yet) so naturally my bike of choice would be the 600RR. Got an 08 instead of used cause that years black and red was my favorite.

 

they take a licking and keep on ticking, had an f2, Cbr 100rr 04 and now a cbr 600rr race bike and a cbr 900rr they are just comfortable and bullet proof...

 

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I still haven't heard from any taller riders as to their experiences with ergonomics, though. This is going to play a key role in what bike I get.

Edit: I just read on 600rr.net that the 03-06 rr is one of the best modern 600's for taller people. The 07 has about the same ride height, but slightly smaller seat size which may be a problem for someone with a larger frame, not sure how that would affect me. I'm 6' 1" and about 180 lbs, so a bit over 200 fully geared with leathers and the boat anchor Gmax helmet I'm currently using, so I'm not a big guy. Still, the extra seat room does keep things a bit more comfortable for long hauls. I also read that Suzuki at the very least tends to cater to a smaller rider than Honda, so that's most likely going to be a no-go.

 

I'm 6ft and 170/175-ish. Bike suits me just fine, even let a taller/bigger friend ride it and he preferred it over his 750. Plus, sportbikes aren't comfortable for long hauls in general.

 

snakerb, first off, that's a great looking rr you got, hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of checking out your album. Second, I appreciate the response. That bit of info is very reassuring. I had even contemplated the idea of going with a slightly larger bike, maybe a 750 or even a 1k, if needed, to get the sizing I needed. I didn't want to step out of a 600, though, because I love the feel of them and how well they handle in the twisties without the added torque to make things hairy if you goose the throttle. Knowing that a person likely larger than me with a bigger bike preferred the smaller bike tells me basically everything I need to know for sizing. As far as longer trips, I don't mind it as much. I actually find cruisers more uncomfortable on long hauls due to a compression injury I had in my low back a few years ago from falling off a roof. With a cruiser, my only option of relaxing my back is to slouch which causes tons more pain the next day. At least on a sport bike, I can basically rest my chest on the tank here and there to stretch my back and relax the muscles a bit. I went on quite a few 5-6 hour trips on my old ZX9R with only a few short rest breaks, but I could never do that on a cruiser now. Now, I'm older and haven't tried anything like that but I have ridden a bit over 2 hours non-stop on my F3 without any issues to speak of other than maybe a little cramping in my wrist and being very tired.

 

I just bought a 06 this past Friday. Why? Because it was wrecked and cheap. I've figure about $1500 and it will be track worthy. Needs forks, fairing stay, rearsets, slip on, and fairing. It came with Clymer manual, PC3, and full Yosh but the muffler is mashed. The bike has 9500 miles. Oh! I almost forgot. I paid $400 for it and it purrs like a kitten. Might be a while before I get to ride it. I got 2 more track weekends this year on the old 94 F2.