Considering my options (new/project bike)

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Just back from Assen and despite being out with some big boy bikes held my own quite well, but that was as good as it got. The touring side of things was brilliant and the cat didn't put a foot wrong but when we found some better riding roads I was frankly wringing her neck to not keep up. I'm not saying I've grown out of the cat, far from it I love her but I find myself yearning for a little of something extra power wise.

Anyway the garage extension is nearly finished, roof timber coming Saturday, roofing sheet being fabricated as we speak and door on order, when the cat moves in I'll have room for another bike and thinking about buying a bit of a project. Buying something that needs work to do up gradually over the next 12 months ready for next year. Wifey has signed off on the requisition, thinking about spending £2500 so what to buy??

Open floor but my openers are Fireblade (parts cheap and plentiful) or GSXR1000 (holding their money, outrageously quick but I just love looking at them)!! Any other thoughts people?

P.S the Cat is staying !!

Only problem with option 2 Paul is you don't need a helmet and I think I'd definitely want to where one save being seen on it

Secret option number two though I'm going to see the bike in question so what I could do if it's that good deal is test ride it on the dealers insurance, buy it, get my mate to ride it back, (he's insured), garage it and Sorn it until november. That'll give me time to get it stripped, cleaned and ready for next summer and by then I'll be good to go with more reasonable insurance Simples

How much extra speed are you looking for? a more modern 600 sports bike is significantly faster than a cat. i swapped from a 2008 GSXR 600 to the Cat and the difference in unbelievable! The cat seems to start to struggle at much over the 3 figure mark, and it doesnt seem to get up to speed all that quickly. It keeps accelerating but not at a rate i would like. The GSXR however accelerated like a cat out of hell from a standstill to the 150mph i had the balls to ever give it, and it was still pulling like a train at that speed! you may find that a modern 600 super sports bike is enough faster to make the difference without making your insurance company bend you over! As for comfort my GSXR was great, i could do from my house out into wales with no issues, so a proper full days riding. my mates CBR600RR however crippled him after an hour so i would advise to steer clear of those. dunno about the Yam R6 as i havent ridden one.

It's not so much speed as grunt, my concern with the modern 600's is their weight to power, they really are rocket status but weigh next to nothing (compare to the cat). Whilst I know an older super sport (eg fireblade) will easily tear me a new one there is more weight to them and that combined with not having to constantly wring its neck and be up and down the gears is more what I'm looking for.

Sounds like you need a twin or triple Steve, less revs move grunt (that reminds me, time for my daily movement)

Why would you purposefully want a heavier bike??? there is a reason manufacturers spend so much on R&D into weight saving, Mass centralisation etc, less weight means nothing to how the engine works, you can still have a big torquey lump in a light bike!

Buying old hat technology to keep up with (presumably) recent Thou's is not the way forward!

The lighter bikes are so much easier to ride. They handle better so are more nimble through the corners, therefore you can keep up better.


The CBR rr I just had as a hire bike & my triumph, are way easier to ride than my old cat.

I agree the CBR cripples the wrists!

According to the stats my bike has a top speed of 160. That's enough for me lol.

i wanted a faster more nibble bike went from a cat to a 750 gixier found the build quaity a bit wanting
so then had a kawa 636 extra power very nibble handle bars slighty higher than most sports bikes
so easy on the wrists as the grunt & the speed well enough for me
swop that for a zx9 thats a ballistic missle but not as good in the corner,s as the 636
so went back to the 636 A1P its the 1st of the 636
now cheap in price too toured scotland with it came back with rob on is R1 so its fast enough i know its only 36more than a a standard 600 but boy can it shift

i wanted a faster more nibble bike

In case you got a bit peckish Pete?

I cant help but giggle at Suzuki build quality was lacking, so i bought a Kawasaki!

Well just been to view a 2002 blade, 20,000 on the clock, few mods, power commander etc. lovely bike with just a dent in the tank but it's got a baglux cover which hides that, stupidly cheap money and it's actually really light compared to the cat (to push around at least, flat battery as been stood meant couldn't start or test ride but they agreed to sort it for me I go back and try next week) Stunning bike but can I justify buying it to sit there for a few months. Not sure when another will come up for this money!!
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Triumph triple, all the good bits of a twin and four, with out the bad bits of a twin. On normal A roads it will be more relaxing to ride than a 600 but the Cat will stay with it. There's always the Honda Vtec 800 does every thing well and relaxing to ride. Its got the V4, the best engine layout of them all, expensive and difficult to service though. Must admit can't fault the Cat, it does every thing well and it's more than quick enough for anything other than straight roads.

That's a 2000/1 929cc RRY Fireblade . . . .

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It may have an 02 plate on it but it's the older model and lower in cc. Not that you'll probably notice to much, but there are differences in styling too (headlights for a start). So if he's telling you the above is an 02 model he's misleading you.

This (below) is the 2001/2/3 954cc model blade . . .

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Still both very good machines. IMHO the 929 & 954 were the best blades.

past-it wrote:Triumph triple, all the good bits of a twin and four, with out the bad bits of a twin. On normal A roads it will be more relaxing to ride than a 600 but the Cat will stay with it. There's always the Honda Vtec 800 does every thing well and relaxing to ride. Its got the V4, the best engine layout of them all, expensive and difficult to service though. Must admit can't fault the Cat, it does every thing well and it's more than quick enough for anything other than straight roads.

Also sound advice

I did not know it was an older model, not that it makes a difference, suppose that's why it's so cheap.

I've pretty much made up my mind I'm going to let this one go and wait until November passes. It's absolutely pointless spending thousands on a bike that's just going to sit there for 4 months. Besides if I wait until November to buy I reckon that right on top of Christmas I'm going to get a pretty good deal as people try to turn garage ornaments into spends