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Are sport bikes any fun if you just ride them without pushing the redline? Say if you wanted to use it primarily for a commuter? I'm talking primarily about inline 4's. I've never ridden one, and I'm looking at possibly trading my cruiser in on a sport bike.

Any videos I find on youtube of people riding sport bikes generally consist of staying way up near the redline, which I know is where the power really is. If you just kept the rpms lower are the bikes just a big snore? I'm looking at a couple in the 600-750cc range.

Depends on whether you like going hyper-speeds or not...
IMO it's kind of like when you ride your cruiser hard, you're always in the peak torque areas, using that to the best of your advantage. On a sportbike it's all about the HP, not the torque, and the HP kicks in at the higher RPMs. You can still have the same amount of fun as you would on your cruiser at the lower RPMs though.
As a piece of advice though, supersports SUCK for commuting. If you can get a friend to let you borrow one for a few hours, go on a 100 mile ride and see if you can stand up straight afterwards or use your wrists for anything other than jellied hand connectors...
What are you looking at?

They suck for commuter bikes but it can be done. It depends on the model too.They're mostly fun on the track and the twisties where they shine. What kind of sport bike are you thinking of getting for a commuter?

Sorry, should have mentioned that. I am responding to 2 ads, on has a Yamaha YZF600R, and the other a Ninja ZXR750. I am not a speed demon, I've just always been drawn to sport bikes since I was a kid. I use to sit on Ninjas and Hurricanes as a kid and dream of owning one some day. Of course, I didn't know anything about V Twins or Inline 4's back then .

roncg41677 wrote:Sorry, should have mentioned that. I am responding to 2 ads, on has a Yamaha YZF600R, and the other a Ninja ZXR750. I am not a speed demon, I've just always been drawn to sport bikes since I was a kid. I use to sit on Ninjas and Hurricanes as a kid and dream of owning one some day. Of course, I didn't know anything about V Twins or Inline 4's back then .

The yamiha has a pretty standard seating position. If it feels good when sitting on it it would be a good commuter. It's all about how the bike ergos fit your ergos. I know some guys who commute on supersports and love it. Others, not so much. There are a ton of different options for sportbikes..the best way to find out is to get your butt in some seats. If you're not hunching over or having issues holding yourself up with your core (vs your wrists) you'll be ok. Or there are the more upright sport bikes, like the sv650/suzuki gladius/ninja 650/er-6n/fz6/fz6r.

Wrider wrote:Depends on whether you like going hyper-speeds or not...
IMO it's kind of like when you ride your cruiser hard, you're always in the peak torque areas, using that to the best of your advantage. On a sportbike it's all about the HP, not the torque, and the HP kicks in at the higher RPMs. You can still have the same amount of fun as you would on your cruiser at the lower RPMs though.
As a piece of advice though, supersports SUCK for commuting. If you can get a friend to let you borrow one for a few hours, go on a 100 mile ride and see if you can stand up straight afterwards or use your wrists for anything other than jellied hand connectors...
What are you looking at?

I would love to borrow a friends, but all of my friends ride cruisers. I was hoping that in one of these swap deals we could try a 1 week "trial period" or something.

Oh my, of course!

I used my FZR as my "everything" bike. I took a 750 mile trip on it... I used it as my commuter (60-70 miles a day), I used it as my weekend getaway vehicle, etc.

The nice thing about it was that it was mostly an upright seating position. Still leaned over a bit, but it's definitely not to the extremes of modern race replicas. I spent most of my time around 6000rpm, actually. I rarely spent much time over 8000. It was a real hoot at any speed, quite honestly.

I wish I still had it.

Actually the YZF isn't a bad all-around at all. It's got higher bars, not clipons, plus it's got relatively comfortable pegs. I rode my buddy's and had no problems with it at all. As far as the 750. It's a bit more extreme, faster, but heavier too. I guess it's up to you, but I'd go for the YZF600R if it was to be the daily driver!

nalian already touched on this bike... but i have an fz6. it sits pretty upright. i use it for commuting and have taken it on long trips with no problems at all. it feels a bit like a cruiser when kept under 7/8k but when you go over that it get's pretty stinkin' fast. i'd check out the fz6 and the fz1. great bikes with sport bike engines and standard seating. and because they're not sport bikes the insurance is much cheaper (except with geico).

roncg41677 wrote:Are sport bikes any fun if you just ride them without pushing the redline? I'm looking at a couple in the 600-750cc range.

I never had my Bandit anywhere near redline, and it had plenty of power everywhere.

As far as the old inline 4 versus v-twin argument, I guess you would have to try both and see which is your personal preference. Having tried both, I prefer inline 4's. I also have an irrational desire to own a GSX-R 750.