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I'm about to buy my first bike; wanted to see if anyone had a suggestion as to which of the two i'm looking at I should buy.

2004 Honda CBR600F4i for $6998 - brand new black and red

2005 Yamaha YZF600R for $5800 - used 1000 miles perfect condition; blue

If anyone has any suggestions as to why to get one and not the other I'm all ears, i've read up a lot about both bikes; I really want the CBR but my bank account is pushing me towards the YZF. Thanks

Are you willing to go with a bit older bike? If you really like the honda there are plenty of 02 and 03 F4I's available for 4500-6k. Cycle trader has a ton of listings, especially for the sportbikes.

Facington wrote:I'm about to buy my first bike; wanted to see if anyone had a suggestion as to which of the two i'm looking at I should buy...

Well, I personally like the looks of both those motorcycles. But I wouldn't recommend either one for your first bike, a second or third bike, sure.

I'd go with a 500cc or smaller bike new bike (do you fit the GS500F or Ninja 500?) or a 600cc or smaller old bike as your first bike. As many will tell you, there are two types of bikers, those who have dropped their bikes and those who are going to. It's best to drop a cheap used bike than a new expensive one.

If you REALLY have to go with either of those 2 bikes, the YZF600R would be my choice. But even this milder sportbike should be a 2nd+ bike IMO.

Mike.

Facington wrote: I really want the CBR but my bank account is pushing me towards the YZF. Thanks

as a first bike your going to drop it and if you think your bank account is hurting now wait untill you price new plastics/gauges/controlls/lights/exhaust/bars, ect thats likely to break on a minor drop. then add on the labour to actually put them on for you just to make the bike rideable again.

if you dont think it wont happen to you because you will ride extra carefull. just read around a bit and see how many other people were in your same boat and learned the hard way.

have you thought about gear? if you go broke on paying for the bike you wont have any decent gear to go along with the new bike. go old, used and cheap for the first bike, then move up to the dream bike. then you can afford the right gear(which can cost a grand easy).

Beater, all the way. It teaches you how to work on bikes too (bonus). I would be very hesitant to dive into the guts of a 8-10k (USD) bike. I would be afraid I would cause more damage. If you have a 800 (USD) bike, it is a lot easier to start taking stuff off and messing with it.

I just picked up a 79 KZ650 for an extra bike... It runs great, isnt hard to drive, and it was under $700 bucks. It runs pretty much perfect, it just needs a valve adjustment, and Im going to do a cosmetic resto/conversion just for some custom fun!

I would highly recommend picking up an older 500cc or so to ride for a few weeks, then sell it for what you got it for (or more in some cases), and get the bike you want.

The first few weeks of learning how to ride are very important, dont shortchange your learning experience by killing yourself
Also, stay away from new bikes on your first bike.. breaking them in is a royal pain, and just one more thing you have to worry about.