alright,

here is the situation, i presently own a 06 zx6r, now dont get me wrong i love riding this bike, but for street use its just not practical (ive gotten too many tickets within a short period of time). now, after doing some re-search i've come to the conclusion that, i need a bike with a much lower powerband, meaning the bike makes peak hp, and peak tq in the lower rpms. after looking through the sport cruisers in the 600cc range i noticed that there is a huge difference in hp between the sport cruisers and super sports. im the type of rider where performance makes a huge difference and i dont think i can settle with that big of a drop in hp or overall performance.

as stated above the zx6r, is my first bike, the only thing i have experience in riding(ive been riding the zx for about 9 months now with about 2400 miles under my belt) is dirtbikes, so basically i have no experience with any other style of riding. now my question is; someone with my type of experience, would something like a; cbr blackbird 1100xx, kawasaki z1000, or ducati s4r be a more resonable option in terms of street practicality??

 

i'm going through the same thing, trying to find a suitable bike to ride for the street... i thought going from a 1000 to a 600 would do it, but the new 600's are just as crazy fast as the 1000's, since the track has taken away any fun that riding hard on the street might provide its just no fun at all riding around on a super stiff bike with a uncomfortable riding position, doing 45mph knowing that the bike wants to be doing 145mph

i haven't ridden one but i'm very interested to try out a honda cb600f hornet, sporty bike, comfortable riding position, but not so much power that every time you open the throttle for half a second your doing triple digit speeds

s4r would be nice, also sv650, fz6... or maybe look into a motard, although the only really affordable common one is the drz400... maybe a zzr600 if you want to stay with the kawasakis

i understand just what you mean when you say performance is important, but don't try and think of performance as just horsepower... sure most naked bikes or sport tourers might not have the peak hp output that a supersport bike might have, but usually they are based off of a supersport motor tuned to have a more daily usable powerband with more torque... plus once you come to terms with it being ok not to have the "baddest" bike on the block there is alot of fun to be had riding a bike with less power

 

i see what ur saying, although supersports do take corners at faster speeds than sport cruisers, but you have to be a professional rider to get to that level of cornering speeds. im definetly keeping the zx for trackdays, but i would like to step up to something with a little more weight, plus more tq just because i do alot of highway riding and i think i would have a lot more fun on something heavy and torquey as opposed to something lightweight and versatile.

 

is the cb600f hornet in america now...i thought i was just reading an article in motorcyclist and remembered them saying it wasn't coming to the states just yet? that shit's dope though

 

You have to change your riding habits in general if you want to stop getting tickets. You could always redirect your addiction from speed to looks. Go get a Harley and chrome it out. You can modify them for performance as well while not having that "I NEED TO DO 200MPH!!!" feeling. It'll be fun from light to light and will get props if you dress the bike up.

 

you do have a point in the fact the my riding habits are pretty aggressive, but i feel like its the bike also. you would have had to have ridden a 04 and up supersport to get the gist of what im saying, and by that i mean; a motorcycle that is 136 bhp and weighs around 360lbs regardless of your mentality you will be exceeding speeds in the three digit range knowingly or unknownigly. i would just prefer a bike thats a bit less capable.

 

ya, or the suzuki m109r or something. otherwise if you want a heavier sportbike, get an rc51, plus its a v-twin so its torquey as hell, or maybe get a duc 748, thats a lil slower than the 1000 v-twin, or even an sv650 like del sol was saying. either way if you want the lower power go get a v-twin

lol, my riding habits are pretty aggresive as well, and i just got a zx9r, i don't think that really helps with my problem, but whatever

 

Kawasaki 500's or Suzuki gs500's are fun as hell make decent power but really should not get you in trouble.

 

they've actually been in the states for a few years, just very rare you see one... i wish they were a little more mod friendly, because its the basis for a awesome street fighter, but i guess if you have to do everything custom that would just make it cooler

+1 for the gs's and ex's... that would be a great choice, although those will probably feel like crap compared to his bike now so i think he'd have a hard time enjoying the transition

 

ya thats something to keep in mind, because these moddern day sportbikes might not be too street friendly as far as power and speed go, but do not misunderstand and think that they are not smooth becuase these bikes are very smooth from 4k to about 8k, but become pretty violent anywhere past that.