About last year when I had decided the ultimate bike for me would be the 600RR. I hadn't ridden one yet, but I knew if I was smoking everyone in my ol' F3 then the 600RR would have to be the ultimate. Form combined with function.

Unfortunately for me, I had the chance to ride an 06 600RR. Going down the street, great. Cool, actually. Not bad and almost exactly as I expected. Unreal throttle response, great brakes, clutch was perfect. Then I hit the twisties. Now, I know there is a pretty large weight difference between a 12 year old F3 and a then-current model 600RR, but this was more than I had bargained for.

As I got into the corners... scratch that - when I got to the first corner, I lost all confidence. As I began to lean off the side of the bike and drag it around the corner with me, the frickin' thing took on the handling of a big-wheel. Just seemed to have lost stability. I finished the run and started back backwards. Same thing. As I start to hang off, looking through my turn - I've got my field of vision looking just outside of the mirror and I'll be goddamned if it didn't feel as if that front wheel was going to wash out from underneath me at any moment. Nothing doing. It felt as if I was a friggin' lumberjack on a little girls tricycle, I was all over that thing (I'm only 5'11", 205lbs.) Nothing I could do could compensate for that unbeleivealbe twitchiness that I felt. It wasn't just the front, either. Felt like the rear end was coming around on more than one occasion. I had decided I was finished with my love for the 600RR. Maybe the 1000RR? It's bigger, right?

So I tried out my buddy's blue and yellow 06 1000RR. MUCH more comfortable in the corners, didn't once feel like it was going to wash out, BUT... the bike still felt small somehow. I still felt "big" on it. Although I must say that I did feel as if I could grow to love it. But that's not what finding, "my bike," is all about. When you ride the right bike, you just know it. Everything is there, it's all right.

So I tried out another buddy's 03 954RR. Wow. When I sat on it, it was perfect. I leaned it side to side while standing, felt great. Brakes were great, the throttle was perfect. So I hit the twisties section. Wow. Actual power without losing so much weight. Some might argue that the weight loss adds the flickability to these bikes, and they'd be mostly right. However, for a street application, it just seems too unstable (the lighter bikes). The 954 seemed to be my perfect fit. Felt snug, didn't feel as if I was hugging the bike when hanging off, and the throttle was much more consistent (could be due to the PCIII).

Now in this short, and somewhat out of the blue review, I'm not going to talk about HP. To me, HP is one of the last deciding factors, after all, I just spent 2 summers showing everyone in town what the rear end of a 12 year oldF3 looks like. HP can't mean that much for the street.

What I think would make the 600RR a little more stable would be to re-valve the forks, and an adjustment to the rear shock, or possibly even installing an aftermarket shock. A PCIII may have helped my opinion on the 1000RR, but again, it wasn't, MY fit. So after considering all that I decided to go with a 900 series RR. I found a smooth deal on an 01 929 that was literally too good to pass up ($2200 in all, clean title, frame/subframe/swingarm andforks are perfect).

So I've ridden the 929 a handfull of times now and the very first thing that came to mind was, STEERING DAMPER!!!Way too light in the front end on acceleration out of turns or simply throttling through turns. The magic number can be re

 

The new '07s and '08 weigh 410lbs soaking wet .. if I'm not mistaken the 929s weight around 440lbs wet.

But good write up. Gotta find the bike that fits you.

 

I went from my '91 F2 to my '06 1000RR and on the F2 going in corners it feels like i has four wheel and inspires confidenceby being predictable. My 1000RR is shakey and loose feeling and I have messed with the dampening settings but no solution. I might get used to it or I might not but I have the same feeling since it is lighter like I am big on it but I am only 156lbs.

 

Jackalo, get the forks re-valved and check into getting the rear shock adjusted to your weight. That will probably help you tons. I don't know much about the RR though, I'm guessing the forks should be good to go with some tuning and adjustment. If you live near a track there are cats always around there that would hook you up for probably $50.

 

Very nice write up. You have to get the bike you feel the best on.

 

I have to say that if you felt like the 06 600RR felt light, you would absolutely flip when you feel how featherlight the new 07/08 models feel. After riding for a year and a half on my 06, then riding a little over a week with the new 07, I have to say that I'm absolutely head-over-heels for it. Even though it's light, flickable and can easily be tossed around the corners, it feels so much more planted and stable than the 06. And that's even on the stock Dunlop's. I can't wait until the new off-the-shelf Qualifier's and get the damn, takes-an-eternity-600-mile-break-in-period over with so I can really get on it.

On my "world premier" thread, someone wrote how their attention was drawn to my chicken strips. And I admit, I had very large ones due to me working on it and not riding. But today, I was on my way to work and was getting desperately low, lower than I have ever been on my 06. And I wasn't even hard on it, I was just throwing it around around the 4,000 rpm mark and it just kept wanting more. Not once did I ever feel the wishy-washy feel of the rear stepping out, or anything. The handling difference between the 06 and 07 is night and day, honestly. The engine has much more pull. Even when accelerating from 3,000 rpm, it just pulls hard, where the 06 model bogged until it hit about 5500. The 07 just stuck the corners and begged for more. I have much more confidence on the new bike than my previous model.

But I do agree that a rider has to find the bike that he/she feel's the most comfortable on. My only regret about buying the 07 is that now I desperately want another one for the track only. Maybe I can find a used one somewhere for cheap.

 

you definately have to get a bike right for YOU, not just what everyone else says.

good reviews for sure. I like my 04 600RR for now. plus, i'm 5'10" 175, so the weight of the 600RR is good for me.

 

Ummmm, what???? Since when are rear sets mounted directly to the swingarm??? Everything I've seen shows them mounted to the frame like every other bike.

Big pic so Im not gonna directly post it as an image....

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photo...-CBR929RRa.jpg

 

^^+1 There mounted on the frame same location as the swing arm pivot point.

I think it would shift gears when you hit a bump in the road if the swing arm went up and pulled the linkage.

 

If by that you mean, "mounted on the swingarm," then yes. I don't need a picture to know what I've been staring at the last couple of dirty days, lol.

Get a bigger picture or go look at a 929. The rearsets are mounted plain as day on the swingarm. And while you do make a good point, it doesn't shift when the suspension moves. However, it should be noted that the actual movement of the rearsets is extremely minimal, but you feel it. And that my friend, is weird.