What used naked bike?

[LunarOne]

I have the urge to buy another bike.

I'm 50 later this year and got my licence 25 years ago. In that time, I've only had two bikes - a Bandit 600 naked (which I loved) and a VFR800 5th gen - the one before VTEC which I still own but never really gelled with. I love the sound of the V-four on song, but I don't love the weight on my wrists. Due to limited use, the VFR needs some work - it won't idle reliably when warm and I'm told the fuel pressure drops off at idle, and the injectors are likely blocked.

But I no longer commute and no longer have any family to look after, so I barely drive anywhere these days - I just do a 2-3 week road trip in my Boxster around nicer bits of Europe once a year on my own. When I do drive in the UK, I'm immensely frustrated by the glacial pace of traffic in my part of north west Surrey. All the NSLs have become 40s, and all the drivers seem to have become brain-dead as a result and some barely manage 30 on these roads. So once again, I'm drawn to biking, where I can blat past all the automatons doing their thing in slow motion. On the one hand, I'm tempted to buy an old Blackbird. I'm about 179cm (5'11") but a fatty at about 125Kg so I'm sure that could handle my weight. But on the other hand, I'm much more drawn to naked bikes - the kind with round chrome headlights rather than the super-modern-looking ones. If it weren't for that I'd have gone straight for a Tuono V4.

In 2015 I test-rode a BMW RnineT and really liked it, apart from the lack of a top end that a four cylinder bike tends to have, and the feeble exhaust note. I remember being loaned a CB900 by Honda Chiswick once when my VFR went in for a service, and finding it nowhere near as powerful as I thought a bike with a Fireblade engine (albeit detuned) would be but it felt very easy to ride and I thought I might like one. I also test rode a new GSX1400 at one point and found it totally listless.

I don't have much of a clue about bikes from Yamaha, Kawasaki, Triumph or Ducati.

I'm not a speed demon in that I don't care about triple figure speeds. I don't do track days, get my knee down, do wheelies or ride like a twit. But I do love twisties and I love a good exhaust note.

I don't care too much about ULEZ although compliance would be a bonus as I'm only a few miles from the outer edge of the London zone, and I don't care too much about age or gizmos like ABS. I will only ever ride on dry days.

I've found researching this to be tricky - I haven't kept up on what bikes are out there for about 20 years, and everything about naked bikes seems to focus on the middleweights an I think I want more power. Can anyone suggest a naked bike on the more traditional-looking side of things, which is nimble enough not to feel crap in the twisties, and has a bit of power? Something in the 110-160bhp range would probably suit. Thanks!

[LunarOne]

Thanks. I didn't really have a budget in mind but I was imagining spending a couple of thousand on an older bike. I know you can find decent CB900s at that sort of money. But I'd have to spend around £6k for an r nineT.

How do Monsters and Triumphs cope with not being ridden 8 months of the year?

[LunarOne]

stang65 said:

Surprised you didn't like the CB900. I have a VFR800 (pre-VTEC) and switched to a CB900 and it was better in every way except weather protection (not least getting rid of the awful linked brakes). Still have the Hornet whereas the VFR800 lasted a year.

I did like the CB900 but it felt less powerful than expected. But if I can find a nice one at the right price I'll probably get one.

stang65 said:

What about a CB1000R? I must admit to keep looking at them as 145ish hp is plenty, and most other nakeds don't look anywhere near as nice (and half the people who recommend nakeds suggest Tuonos and so on that aren't even naked!). Honda reliability and build quality has a lot going for it.

I don't think I was aware of this one. At first glance it looks too much like a Transformer and not retro enough but I might warm to it. I should have put this in my OP, but I'm definitely aiming at older bikes rather than anything too new. I try to stay off Facebook, but any time I look at my local groups I see that bike theft is rife in my area. It probably is everywhere. I live in a nice area and have a secure garage, but I also travel for work quite a bit so would prefer not to put anything too irresistible to scrotes in there.

[LunarOne]

Went to a Triumph dealer earlier today to have a look at the speed twin 1200. It's got the sort of look that I like but the exhaust note wasn't anything to write home about. I'll have a look to see if I can find any examples of a partially unmuted bike. I don't want a stupidly loud exhaust, but a nice exhaust tone is what really gets my blood pumping when it comes to anything automotive.

I also went to a BMW dealer and had a look at the R12 nineT which seems like a stupid name. But that bike with the option 719 with gold and accents and gold spoked wheels really does it for me. But I was thinking of finding a bike for £3-6k and now I'm going mad and looking at a £17k new bike. I suppose I could spend £17k if it were my primary transport, but it's really not going to be anything like that. Just a toy for sunny days when I need a bit of escapism.

I'm going to see if I can find a Ducati Monster for sale somewhere. I think they look great, but for some reason I am looking at twins when I sort of decided I wanted a four cylinder. Should I be looking at an old Bandit 1200? Right price, right look, but maybe a pile of rusty bolts by now.

I think I really need to narrow down what I really want and then hunt for that..

[LunarOne]

Stevemr said:

If you thought a GSX14 was bland, you won’t want a bandit!
B king?

Except I had a Bandit 600 and loved it. Maybe the lack of power meant I could pin the throttle often and listen to the revs build without ending up at silly speeds. Only it didn't love my weight and I constantly bottomed out the non-adjustable front suspension and then ended up doing unintentional stoppies. Which would be fine if that was something I was intending!

The GSX1400 was neither fast accelerating, nor did I feel like it handled well. It just felt unnecessarily slow and heavy. It was brand new and I didn't want to rev the nuts off it as it wasn't even run in, but I didn't get the feeling that revs were the answer on that bike. But I did like the way it looked and from memory it was on the more comfortable side of things. But then it was more than 20 years ago and my memory is clouded by the passage of time.

[LunarOne]

stang65 said:

OP, are you sure you're not confusing performance with the feel of performance? A lot of the bikes you don't like, Hornet 900, GSXR1400 etc. have quite linear power delivery. Yet you liked a Bandit 600 which is quite peaky. Are you saying you want a certain power delivery, that top end hit? I hated my VFR800FiX (the first 800) as it had no low down and a lot less mid-range than the VFR750, but it did have a top end gain...so same thing, but you've kept yours.

If I've given the impression that I didn't like the CB900, then I've done so mistakenly. I really DID like it and in fact I'm still scouring autotrader bikes and MCN classifieds daily for a nice unmolested one within a reasonable distance. I don't mind aftermarket cans but I'm not a fan of weird headlight arrangements. All I said was that it didn't feel nearly as fast as I expected. Perhaps you've hit the nail on the head and that the linear power delivery tricks my senses. But I alone am the weight of two fully grown adults, so that's going to blunt the performance of any bike. As you guess, I enjoyed the revvy nature of the Bandit 600 and I like it on the VFR, along with that sound.

Maybe if I can find a GSX1400 I'll try one again. The Australian video of the GSX1400 beating the R1 off the line is impressive and someone above mentioned a naked version of the Super Blackbird, the X11. I'd forgotten those existed and I really like the idea.

How does buying a bike from a private seller work? My bikes both came from dealers who were happy to let me take a test ride. If I were a private seller, I'm not sure I'd want to give a stranger the keys to my bike - at least not without a deposit. And then there's insurance. Am I right that test-riding a bike from a private seller is a rare thing?

[LunarOne]

Fitz666 said:

If you like a V4 have you considered a Vmax?

I have. But it seems more of a cruiser and less of a muscly naked bike and I'm not looking for anything so laid back. I heard they don't go round corners, and I rather like going round corners! Honestly no idea if that's true. Having said that, I used to ogle one that was parked up near my hotel in the south of France many years ago and I was baffled by the baffled exhausts. I have a vague memory of the VMax being the fastest accelerating bike on the planet, but if that was ever true it would have been back in the days before modern bikes existed.

So probably not in contention. I'm looking for something good at converting traffic in front of me into traffic behind me. So decent manoeuvrability is as much of a must as a decent turn of acceleration.

[LunarOne]

ChocolateFrog said:

The last bike I bought privately he let me take it up and down the street

Dodgy ground though if the buyer does drop it.

I think it's not unreasonable to ask for the asking price in hand before a test ride and if you drop it you bought it.

I don't think that's unreasonable at all.