Foolish? (probably)
Discussion
Hi. I've got a 2010 Suzuki Gladius which i like but it's a bit shabby and tired.....(and uncomfortable, for me at least) Over the weekend i was able to try a friends 2019 Honda CB650R which was great (what a top end, fantastic)...and also a 2017 Kawasaki Z650...which i thought was surprisingly (given the somewhat lukewarm interviews) great!
Now...it turns out...that i could potentially get the Z650 for a cheap price due to the owner being a mate and him going back down to one bike....
The question is.....
At 6ft 2 and 17+ stone...i'm not a small person.....and the Z650 does strike me as a small bike (not that the Gladius is big at all, mind). It's a shorter bike, certainly.
But i could feel the lightness. About 20kg lighter than the Gladius and i could feel it both when moving it and riding.
I found the Z to be a really fun bike, albeit just for the few minutes i was having a play.
I was riding it with a big smile on my face...but then i was thinking...this feels like a little toy....tiny...unsubstantial....light.....flimsy? But the point was, i was having a right laugh after 2 minutes!
So the question is.....will it be too small and uncomfortable to me after a while. I do look a bit like a monkey on a mangle on it....but surely the point of an occasional use (which is what this would be) bike is fun...and this was fun.....it shouldn't matter what it looks like. (Bike looks great, i mean me, on it.)
Does anyone have any longer term feedback on these?
I was expecting to find the engine rather bland after the reviews but it wasn't at all, made a decent sound + nice induction roar, quick revving, responsive, torquey and was as quick (or quicker) than my Gladius (which is fast enough for me at the moment). The bike just had a 'lets go!' feeling to it which i thought was great.
What are peoples thoughts?
Now...it turns out...that i could potentially get the Z650 for a cheap price due to the owner being a mate and him going back down to one bike....
The question is.....
At 6ft 2 and 17+ stone...i'm not a small person.....and the Z650 does strike me as a small bike (not that the Gladius is big at all, mind). It's a shorter bike, certainly.
But i could feel the lightness. About 20kg lighter than the Gladius and i could feel it both when moving it and riding.
I found the Z to be a really fun bike, albeit just for the few minutes i was having a play.
I was riding it with a big smile on my face...but then i was thinking...this feels like a little toy....tiny...unsubstantial....light.....flimsy? But the point was, i was having a right laugh after 2 minutes!
So the question is.....will it be too small and uncomfortable to me after a while. I do look a bit like a monkey on a mangle on it....but surely the point of an occasional use (which is what this would be) bike is fun...and this was fun.....it shouldn't matter what it looks like. (Bike looks great, i mean me, on it.)
Does anyone have any longer term feedback on these?
I was expecting to find the engine rather bland after the reviews but it wasn't at all, made a decent sound + nice induction roar, quick revving, responsive, torquey and was as quick (or quicker) than my Gladius (which is fast enough for me at the moment). The bike just had a 'lets go!' feeling to it which i thought was great.
What are peoples thoughts?
Hard to say about long term comfort, but...
1/ If he is a friend could you take it out for an hour to see how you get on?
2/ In terms of appearance I wouldn't worry too much if a load of people you don't know see you.
3/ If it is cheap could you buy it then sell it for the same price if you really don't get on with it?
For item three, if you got more you could split the profit with current owner to keep everyone happy.
Good luck.
1/ If he is a friend could you take it out for an hour to see how you get on?
2/ In terms of appearance I wouldn't worry too much if a load of people you don't know see you.
3/ If it is cheap could you buy it then sell it for the same price if you really don't get on with it?
For item three, if you got more you could split the profit with current owner to keep everyone happy.
Good luck.
I think the Honda is getting on for 90bhp & the kwak about 67(??)
I had a cb650f a while ago. Same engine/chassis, but naked version. Never missed a beat & very well screwed together. Nice top end & just enough power, decent handling. I reckon you would get bored of the kwak pretty quickly....
I had a cb650f a while ago. Same engine/chassis, but naked version. Never missed a beat & very well screwed together. Nice top end & just enough power, decent handling. I reckon you would get bored of the kwak pretty quickly....
I'm pretty much identical in size and weight to you. I have an old CBF500 that I do a lot of day to day riding on including winter touring.
It wasn't the physical size of it that was so much of an issue as it was the crap, softly sprung oem suspension. People our size can really do with aftermarket suspension on these kind of bikes to fully enjoy them so just make sure you keep that in mind when you're deciding.
It wasn't the physical size of it that was so much of an issue as it was the crap, softly sprung oem suspension. People our size can really do with aftermarket suspension on these kind of bikes to fully enjoy them so just make sure you keep that in mind when you're deciding.
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