Hi all,

I'm in the market for a sport bike. I have been riding a 500cc Magna cruiser for 2.5 years and about 22,000 miles as my main means of transportation. I almost keep up with my sport bike friends on weekend rides and I did a 8,000-mile trip through Mexico last Summer. I live in San Francisco and handle the hills, traffic and rain without any problem. At the moment, I don't intend to ride faster than 100mph. I like to take girls for rides on occasion. I'm 5'11" and 170 lbs.

I'm considering a 2003 1000RR mostly because I like the looks. Any clue whether or not this is an appropriate choice for me? Would something like a cheap Katana be a necessary intro to sport bikes for me?

Thanks
Dan

 

Howdy hello!

Honest answer from me would be to take a look at a F4i or a 600rr. You got the experience to transition over to a 600cc nicely. But going from a 500cc cruiser straight to a liter bike will likely be bumpy imo. Nowhere near as bumpy as a completely new rider getting suckered into a 1k at the dealership. But also not as smooth as someone with 22k miles on a sport bike before a 1k.

Did you get any riding in on your friends' sportbikes? If you did, what kind of bikes and what did you think? And you say you're not looking to ride > 100 mph "at the moment". So what are you looking to get into when the moment is over? Tracks?

 

I once rode a friend's GSXR 750 but only down the street and back. So I don't really have a good sense of how different sport bikes are. And I have no idea what I'll get into after this. It'll depend on how much I like sport bikes, I guess.

Today I felt that getting up a San Francisco hill with a passenger could be among my priorities. So I started looking for SVs that aren't too ugly. Is that close enough to a sport bike to give me an impression?

 

I have both a 600 F4i and an SV 1000s, My advice is the SV, no where near as intense as the 600, a very easy transition from your cruiser and much more room and grunt for a passenger