Motorcycle Forum / Country Specific / UK Group / August 2008

It sounds like you plan to cover a lot of distance on this bike.

The CBF600 is a great first bike, and it's a dream for commuting in
London. My wife was also very comfortable on mine. The big hassle I
had with it is that it has virtually no wind protection. Even the
little OEM fly screen didn't help much.

I've not tried the Fazer, so I can't comment on wind protection of
that.

But in the finest tradition of ukrm, let me recommend what I currently
have :) I was looking for an impossible combination - comfortable
commuter, nice for longer rides, good wind protection, fun for the
track, comfortable for my pillion and currently in production. In the
end, I gave up on currently in production and bought a CBR600F with
10,000 miles on the clock.

My pillion loves it - she says it's about as good as the CBF600 was.
It's great fun on the track, although VERY expensive if you drop it,
it's a hoot for commuting (although it may yet land me in jail) and
it's awesomely comfortable for longer motorway trips.

Anything described as a "Sport" bike will usually have low handlebars
and the resulting laid forward riding position will become a pain in
the wrists at the speeds you can expect in London traffic.
If comfort is important rather go for a more upright riding position
as found on cruiser or commuter style bikes.

The next consideration is weight - the big cruisers are heavy and
clumsy in traffic so you need to be looking at lighter models and a low
centre of gravity.

I like my GS500 but others around here say they are crap, so wait for
more suggestions to come along and get a few test rides.

Do you really need to buy new - there are plenty of good used bikes
on the market at the moment due to hard times and someone else will
have taken the big early depreciation hit.

Ob.plug - I have a Jawa 350 for sale, cheap town wheels but zero
street cred points.

You might want to consider a Suzuki DL650 v-strom.  Comfortable for
commuting and touring. Touring riding position so weight not on wrists.
Easy to fit panniers to. Good acceleration and cruises happily one-up at an
indicated 100mph (92mph as Suzuki speedos are always very optimistic). Good
passenger comfort and able to cope two-up without major loss of performance.
Good handling. 50mpg.  It has the same engine as the SV650 but tuned for
more miid-range and flatter torque curve.  One slight drawback - some think
it is a bit ugly, as in "...it looks like it fell out of the ugly tree and
hit every branch on the way down".  However, owners usually love them (me
included).

Don't look at the GSX650F, whatever you do.  This is not the bike you
are looking for.  You can go about your business.  Move along.

Suzuki GSF600 faired - otherwise known as a Bandit 600...

Brilliant, plain and simple.