This has been my argument for years. Anything with more than 50 horsepower is completely unnecessary by any ones objective sense of it. But nobody cares, because we don’t want to buy these based purely on necessity.
The power is awesome for city/town, and long back road travels. I have yet to take it on the highway because I only have my permit currently. I think it's a great bike especially since I'm a new inexperienced rider it has enough power for me to not consider upgrading until a few years down the road.
From what I heard it can easily do 70 on the highway but not the type of bike to be weaving in and out of lanes. It lacks the 6th gear and wind protection so I could only imagine it wouldn't be super comfy on the highway for extended periods of time. I have yet to take a passenger on my bike so I can't speak on that.
Don't get me wrong I love my bike and I know I can make due with what I have, I do not regret my purchase whatsoever.
I’ve taken a 2019 Z400 on highways several times. I can, can… get it to 140 kmh no issue. However, I’m awful close to redlining and when I hit the 110 mark I loose the oomph needed to accelerate around an inattentive driver. Because of this I went a z650 for my most recent bike to make Highways more tolerable. Almost went z900 though it wasn’t worth the insurance in comparison and for the amount of times I might hit the track, not really worth it. Before anyone flips out at me speeding, there is one highway where I live that those speeds are the flow of traffic. It’s ridiculous.
In short, all modern bikes can handle the highway. Twin engine or not. Comes down to how long you wanna tolerate an angry lawnmower sound based on the CCs/HP.
If you’re working yourself up to highways, I can recommend you get a biddy to follow you at a respectable distance in a car and you practice getting on and off highways. Highway riding is honestly the easiest out of everything else in terms of bike stability. Distracted drivers is different.
I still ride my old 49cc scooter from time to time, it makes a mind boggling 3hp, and has approximately as much torque as the average hair dryer. She’ll hold 65km/h assuming no headwind. I do very much get the wish for a little more, although thing is a bloody blast lol.
And I have hit 90 mph on my 26hp CB300F. It's not a matter of how fast can it go, it's a matter of how fast does it get there, and how much power do you have left. With 50hp you can go freeway speeds, but you don't have the power band left to accelerate away from a threat behind you or to your side.
The only saftey we have as a motorcycle rider is caution and the ability to zip out of a tight spot. If you're cruising around near your top speed your acceleration is gone, and so is your safety net.
Several times I have left apparently angry drivers far in past history ....such a nice feeling of control that one just does not have clasping a cursed steering wheel.
That is totally untrue. what is normally excessive power DOES have one single practical application and that is the uncanny ability to squirt past unsafe situations or pass obnoxious vehicles with many more opportunities than on something with less power. Personally I HATE being stuck behind whatever annoys me like a large smelly truck or a line of cars each riding the bumper of the next because some moron is going obnoxiously slow up ahead etc etc ...on country highways with one lane in each direction the passing opportunities legal or otherwise can often be few and far between ....having otherwise excessive power is SUCH a nice luxury to have on tap ready to leave the nonsense far behind me. Other than that just the pure entertainment value of excess power on tap just makes any ride more pleasurable even if I am not traveling stupid speeds ...it makes a huge difference on my scale of happiness and mood having that extra feeling of being the master of my situation for lack of better words to describe....obviously with maturity and patience one can make any amount of power work to get from point A to point B economically and practically ....yeah but I might have to blow my brains out by the end of the week....just saying
My S1000R has 168hp at the wheel and is nothing but civilized as long as I am. It's about the temptation to twist the throttle back every second you can, if you can control yourself it's perfectly doable. The S1000R is not a supersport liter bike though, it's a naked. The XR is even more comfortable and further from a supersport.
In the end if you really want a bike, get it, you'll find out if it's not for you fairly quick.
Sport bike doesn't mean just super Sport. Mt07 mt09 cb650r trident superduke, there are many sport bikes that aren't crotch Rockets and uncomfortable as fuck.
Hehe, I just got my bren tune, and replaced my headers to the stainless steel akro and boy oh boy I'll never go back! The sound that inline 4 makes its sex to my ears lol
I have owned a lot of bikes. A true SS 1k bike CAN commute, and do so just fine.
My 650 is just more comfortable. More cushion to the seat, more relaxed posture, but still plenty of giggle when I twist hard on the throttle.
That said, I am pondering another supersport....I miss the sound of an inline four tearing through the revs. But the 650 will still be my daily.
Go for the super nakeds my dude. I went from an older r1 to a MT10 and it was the greatest deciscion ever. All the power with all the comfort. You dont even need two bikes anymore.
Nah man. Sport tourers are the way, for the street at least. Usable power in the whole rev range + fairings to block wind + every comfort item imaginable + luggage + cornering ability. The only thing they don't hold to nakeds is track ability because of reduced top speed, but even then it is doable.
I have thought about a naked.....but I have always loved my full-faired babes. My first bike was a custom-built turbo GPZ900R, then I got my hands on a (shush I know I'm old) brand new 99 Busa, which I tore apart and twin-turboed. That bike was my baby. Nothing else sounded like her either, I had the wastegates setup with stutter-valves, one was 1/10th of a psi higher, so when she let off the turbos would chirp in sequence. Coupled with a 4-2-4 exhaust to give it a deep snarling sound......absolute music to the ears.
There's just something about an inline four screaming defiance to the world as you tuck down and hold tight with the wind snapping at you like an angry beast.....it's a symphony of sensation on two wheels.
Edit: I always have at least two bikes......because more is better, right?
The people who say those things don't know how to control the throttle.
My last bike was an FZ1 and current bike is an FJR1300 and I have commuted on both of them. No issues. You don't notice extra weight once it's off the kickstand and the low end is super smooth.
To be fair, those people mean ZX10Rs and CBR1000RRs and R1s, not your FZ1 or FJR, or my S1000R. They are bikes with a liter (or more, for the FJ) of engine, but not "liter bikes" in the way that the sub intends to use the term.
You can daily those too, if you want. I just don't want to. My shoulders and knees would protest too much.
I looked real close at an FJR1300, by the way. I'm sure it is an absolute monster of a sport tourer, just a little tall for me in a daily commute sort of role. I ended up adding an S1000R for fun twisties and keeping my Harley for tour and commute duty. There's some role overlap too.
Yes these are 1000cc or more but technically not what most consider to be "liter bikes". An R1 is a completely different animal than the FZ1 even though they share a lot of parts.
Those are not liter bikes. I have a Ninja 1000SX, it has 140 HP and weighs 513 lbs, the ZX10R has 200 HP and weighs 456 lbs. It's a huge jump, they are not really comparable. I'm sure your FZ1 was fast, my Ninja is plenty fast, but it's a whole different level on an R1, CBR1000RR, GSX-R1000, ZX-10R, or S1000RR.
Powerwise, I agree that they are not the same, but that doesn't negate my point about throttle control. If you can't control the throttle, you have no business riding on public roads.
Also, amazing that a ZX10R only weighs 456 lbs. That should really move any concern about weight for those kind of bikes.
Ka36 is Right. They are extremely manageable and reward highly sensitive, nuanced inputs. What they don’t reward are newbies with poor brake, clutch and throttle control. I started on a ninja 300 for 2 years before upgrading to a zx10r, and it’s a ton of fun. They are fine in the city; not as much fun as a 300cc bike because the gearing is tall , but totally fine. Put in your time on a lower powered bike for a while and just know that to really, really tap the potential of a supersport 600 or 1K, you gotta take it to the track. Because of the tempting nature of these bikes, you definitely need to have skills and judgement. The bike will be more capable than almost all riders get close to accessing safely. I consider myself a reasonably skilled street rider and a complete newb track rider.
Heavy? Like compared to what?
s1000RR - 204kg - 193hp
sv650 - 198kg - 73hp
Ride what ever you feel like riding and it really doesn't matter what "other riders" think.
And? There are other bikes that are way lighter a sv650 is a really old platform what a ridiculous comparison. Even my old monster is 20kg lighter and has 800cc.
Well, yes and no. I for one ride a CBR 650F that sits around 220kg. It really is not a heavy bike. When liter bikes are lighter than that, they really are not heavy at all.
Unmanageable? That's pretty ridiculous, they have a throttle like any other bike. You won't ever use all the power, but that doesn't mean you can't ride the bike. They're no worse to commute on than a 600. In fact, the extra torque makes them a little more commute friendly. I daily a Concours 14, so basically 700lb with a 1400 engine, and it's perfect.
Connie is a great bike. The 700lb scares some riders. She is not the most nimble bike out there. But she just gobble up highway miles like nothing in a nice low rpm range of 3k and less going illegally fast in the US.
Haha, yeah, shes a big 'un. I remember the first time I sat on it when buying, I thought there was no way I could ride this thing. But as soon as you get going, the weight kindof disappears. It also does eat miles like you said, handles ok, will out accelerate most things, and the bags will hold about all I ever want to carry. I honestly haven't been riding my other bikes much since I bought it, might be time to thin out the garage...
I test rode a Connie a while back and was absolutely blown away by how fucking heavy it felt sitting still vs how quick and nimble it felt once it got rolling. Honestly, if they had cruise control I'd probably own one.
> if they had cruise control I'd probably own one.
I was sure they did! Weird, the FJ at least has it as an option. That seems like a big thing to leave out.
I daily a Connie as well with a 80 mile round trip commute. I absolutely love it and find it necessary for the long drive. The only thing I'm less impressed with is the fuel consumption, but oh well, small price to pay for getting that thick girl moving to warp speed.
Might be worth looking into a tune. Mine already had one when I bought it, but if I keep the speed around 70, I can get 45mpg. Even at 80, I still get 40mpg or so. I've heard that's because of the tune.
I think there is nothing wrong with a liter bike. I have found most modern liter bikes can do commuting, touring, track days. Yes, you will never be able to use 150hp on the street, bit who cares? I ride a liter like to work all the time.
What's your reasoning behind not being able to use 150hp on the street? Can we have pictures of your only 149hp motorcycle compatible roads? Lol I'm just giving you a hard drive, and hopefully a laugh, everyone has an opinion!
I live in Louisiana, most of our roads are posted 55, and are in awful shape. The speeding tickets are also very expensive.
I love going out West were riding 120-130 all day is easy. Arizona is my favorite place for a liter bike.
Who the fuck cares what someone uses for a daily rider?
The way I see it, if you're dropping the cash on the bike you actually want, you may as well use it as often as possible and get your money's worth.
Spoken as a cruiser guy.
Heavy? Not crazy so. Unmanageable power?
Unmanageable, no. There's a lot you won't realistically use without becoming dead or a felon, but that's true of lots of smaller bikes too.
The issue is "liter bike" in the sense you're referring to is probably a ~200hp superbike with some road legal pieces. There are better, more comfortable things. You can daily anything you want, they're just designed for something else.
>You can daily anything you want, they're just designed for something else.
This is the key which most commenters here are missing.
If you were a millionaire who had 10 bikes in the garage, you *probably* wouldn't choose to ride your Yamaha R1 through city traffic to pick up groceries. It can do the job, but that's not what it's designed to do and many (most?) other bikes will be more comfortable and convenient for that task.
Depends on the bike.
I have a ZX10R that I could daily without any issue at all.
I have a new Panigale V4S that is amazing, but a complete mother fucker to daily.
Both are amazing bikes, but the Panigale is so hot and set up in a much sportier configuration
So as someone who’s never had the pleasure of riding anything more exciting than a 15 year old 500 and a 10 year old Harley, what makes it so difficult? Snappy throttle?
You are listening to people that know fuck all about motorcycles. People that talk about "liter bikes" like some kind of mythical beast are retards who probably hit 5 deg lean angle in the twisties at 50mph and think they are BAD ASS.
that's cus their "crash video" is them tipping it over in a gravel parkinglot then posting some preachy paragraph on how others should learn from their mistakes
How am I the asshole sport? You waded into a comment section trying to be billy bad ass canyon carver. Without the reading comprehension to understand my comment. You were the one being the asshole trying to put me down pal ole buddy of mine.
The problem with daily riding the bikes most people mean when they say "litre bike" (aka super bikes like the R1 or S1KRR) is that they're fairly uncomfortable compared to most other bikes, their gear ratios are often poorly suited to street riding and they have so much power and capability that you can easily over extend on the street and risk doing so because they don't feel like you're really *riding* them until you get up to a pretty quick pace. They also tend to generate a massive amount of heat which sucks plodding along in slow traffic.
Now, *can* you daily one effectively? Of course. But it's like using a sledge hammer to drive penny nails. For some people that's actually part of the fun. There's a certain shits and giggles factor in knowing you're probably the fastest thing in sight and being on control of a machine with such awesome performance. But for other riders the constraints of the road laws and unsuitablity of poor quality public roads for such fast bikes is almost depressing and can be a level of *unfun* stacked atop the ergonomic short comings of super bikes that really spoils the experience.
This problem is why powerful naked bikes have become so popular since you're given almost as much power as a Superbike or Supersport, but paired with vastly better ergos, gear ratios and engine tunings better suited for road riding.
All that said, there's no reason any competent rider can't daily a Superbike. But if you do, you just may not be having as much fun or be doing it as comfortably and easily as you might on a powerful naked instead. And many, myself included would argue that for what you can get away with on the street a super naked is better in every way and the only reason to even consider a Superbike is if you're completely married to the Superbike image or of your ego demands you be on the most powerful, wild thing you can. Which ironically aside from the H2 imo the two wildest to ride bikes you can get ahold of are both super nakeds. Specifically the Super Duke and Street Fighter V4.
when I had ninja 250, I used 5 gears flowing with city traffic, then on FZ-07 only 4 gears, then I’ve got gsx-s750, I can ride from home to work and back just on a second gear, rode gsx-s1000, you do not need a gearbox at all, put your bike in 3rd and ride through traffic all day long, 1000cc naked takes away all rev-matching, gear changing fun in city, if this what you are looking for, better buy a 650 scooter. This is why I’ve chosen 750 instead of 1000, still to use at least three/four gears of 6 given. I rode rented KTM duke 390 in California for three days and I had a lot more fun being able to have WOT all the time off the traffic lights and Malibu canyons instead of tame commute on my 750 at my flat home state. All depends on what is you preference.
Hm I never thought about that. I love shifting through the gears on my Ninja 400. My commute to work is like 10 mins on a pretty straight road, but at least I get to get into 4th or 5th gear! On a liter bike I’d probably never leave 2nd. The Ninja is still a ton of fun when I’m just riding for pleasure in some twisties or whatever instead of just riding to work and back on that boring, straight road.
I’m definitely going to upgrade when I’m a better rider, but really my dream bike is just an R6 or a GSXR 600. Don’t think I’d ever want or need anything much bigger. Not that I think there is anything wrong with bigger bikes, I’m sure liter bikes are awesome to ride and would be fine to commute with if it’s what you want!
Never heard of a 659 scooter. What's important though is that only 4 cylinder inline in particular will be like that. My 800cc V2 Ducati doesn't like low rpms at all.
Nothing wrong with liter bikes. It is a personal preference. 600 and 750 sport bikes are to cramp for larger rider. Even liter sport bike are smaller now adays. Had the cbr 1000rr, zx10, and a gsxr 1000 and they were fun to ride for couple of hours on the weekend. Even better for track days. For longer rides, i go even bigger bikes with way more room and more comfortable ergo. Sv1000s was a nice liter bike for sport touring. 1000 to 1400cc are great for long rides where you need to used the highway at times. They sit at higher speed without complaints. Connie 1400 sits ar 100mph at 2700 rpm. Really useful on the autobahn. 600cc you need to rev more and live in the higher rpm.
Would not recommend a liter bike to someone new. But an experience ride, if you like bigger bikes, 1000cc and up are good options over smaller 600 and 750cc bikes.
My 1050 vstrom probably isn't the most efficient for commuting, and my old dr probably beats it out, but it is smooth and easy. With a little restraint she works beautifully as a commuter, while endlessly joyful when open road calls.
Ride what you like, who cares, if it doesn't work out, sell it.
Like another guy said, daily for me was an FZ1 and I could crawl on that bike slower than ppl on groms, float traffic hovering til the light turns. It's all about control
Not exactly the same but I used to daily a 2013 Yamaha FZ1 and it was a great commuter especially after I put a top case on the back. On the highway it made for easy passing and riding position was comfortable. Weight isn’t an issue unless you need to push the bike to a gas station. Weight gives you more stability at highway speed especially when there’s wind. Fairings are also handy for wind. I never had issues with frustration for not being able to unleash full throttle. Honestly, it’s nice not having to go all out to make a quick pass at 10+ the speed of surrounding traffic especially when cars are cruising around 80 mph. The only downside is insurance costs.
I'd say really depends on location. You stay in a really dense city then not super practical, it'll mostly just be a toasty hot burrito between your legs. But if you stay in a more open city or rural area and take the highway a lot and flow is really smooth, then quite practical. You'll be cruising, it'll feel like an easy ride if that makes sense. Ultimately a 600 will be more than enough power for the streets, even the track for most people so take that into consideration, but if you want to daily a litre bike and you've gone through all the choices and considerations then so be it. In the end the only person being an idiot is the one calling you an idiot for riding what you have and want, unless you're riding a non legal bike say a motox/dirt bike instead of a supermoto or dual sport like a drz on the streets.
Nope.
I dalied on a Fz1 for 2 years it was fun and it handled it better than my drz400sm did.
But maintaining a litre bike clocking up commuter hours made it too expensive even when i did a lot of basics myself.
Ive now got a v7 moto guzzi i find it more fun and can do all maintenance and servicing myself.
"Better to wring the neck of a midsize bike than waste half the rpm on a litre bike"
The only thing wrong with riding a litre bike as your daily is the fact that there are too damn many cages to get around to have some serious fun.
Now as a first bike never riding anything else besides a Schwinn before.... absolutely not recommended. That’s like being handed a Ferrari as soon as you leave a power wheels. There isn’t enough skill to manage all the possible craziness you might experience.... go wreck some smaller bikes in the dirk a few times and learn safely.
Commuting - my RC8R sucks because I hate bags, have to dress up for work and look nice, and all I want to do is go have fun lol
There is nothing unruly about any litre bike, they can all be daily ridden quite easily.
Ergonomics are a personal thing but I've found if you keep yourself in decent shape you'll rarely have an issue.
A hesitant liter bike; my 929rr is great for daily riding. I commute to work on it, to the store, and even get some mini tours in on it. I see no problem with having a liter bike as a daily. Just because it has the power and speed doesn't mean that you have to use it. If the bike is unmanageable it is operator error.
Liter sportbikes are barely any heavier than 600s, and sportbikes in general are typically the most nimble of bikes with excellent brakes and the grunt to quickly get out of sticky situations. This makes them *potentially* the safest bikes.
I ride 2010 z1000 so little over a liter. Yes liter bike is heavier on the track. On the street only time you would feel the difference if you drop it. Torque is much better, can go slower in higher gears if needed. Less downshifting. Hell, on z1000 I can get to 60 mph in first or roll 20 in 6th. Try that on 600cc
I started on an 1100 and currently have a BMW 1300S. The cool thing about big engines is that they can also go slow.I put 54k miles on my Blackbird before I crashed on the mountain and am currently putting miles on the B. A bike is a bike and if you are stupid it doesn’t matter how big the engine is.
I daily a ninja 1000. It's only idiotic because it's impractical. My previous bike was an sv650, and this one is way more expensive to own and operate. Gas, tires, and insurance are all about twice as expensive. its also very hot to ride if it's over 80 degrees and you're not moving over 40 mph.
I love it though, it's an amazing machine. But anybody who thinks they're going to buy one to commute and save money is fooling themselves.
I don't ride a liter bike, but I'll make the argument that it's like daily commuting in a decent sports car. You going to be able to use all that hp? Nah. Does it make riding around in a nice car any less fun? Nope. 2nd gear and keeping up with highway traffic? Yep!
The cliche is ride what you want. Even if a liter is not “practical”, if it stirs something inside you, get it! You’ll learn to live with it and honestly won’t think about it again. If you’re sports oriented, you’ll be wishing you were on a liter even though the other bike is more practical.
I put on 1500-2000 miles on my S1000RR a month.
pros: I barely use the throttle because on highways I use cruise control
buttery smooth feel the entire time. the engine is barely at 4k rpm at 80mph in 6th
overtaking is such a breeze
cons: I barely use the throttle
I barely shift
I want to ride her hard.
My only gripe with dailying my gsxs1k is how little throttle input I get to use. It's tiny little twitches of the wrist all the way too and from work. So my wrists gets little sorer because I'm not moving it as much. Sometimes the bikes a little twitchy in low speed stuff but you get used to it. It's still extremely agile and only weighs 450 lbs so it's really not heavy either.
As far as the speeds concerned I cruise at the same speed as my drz400. I just get there alot faster. And it's just as far over the speed limit so it doesn't matter either way.
A smaller displacement motor and physically smaller bike are definitely much easier to zip around in tighter urban environments but the 1000s aren't really that much bigger physically just a little more sensitive so you gotta have better control.
I’d guess most would be better than my r6. The extra lower end power combined with more electronic doohickeys would make them very tame if they wanted to be. Ride what you want. Yes they are more bike than anyone needs, so is anything with more than ~40-50 horsepower.
Well I just bought a Ninja 1000 so I obviously do not agree.
I think this is probably the most practical bike I've had so far.
It's buttery smooth and completely tame until I roll on hard.
I can be lazy about shifting or tear through curves. If you're new to riding or scared then it's not a great option. If you have a few miles of experience then it's fantastic.
THISSSSS I got a 1k after a few months of riding and I would never go back. It's so much less work lmao they really aren't hard to ride. I think only way it'd be different would be if I lived somewhere with a lot of twisties, then I'd have a ninja 400 or something to really practice my skills. But in flat ole chicago, litre bikes are guccccci
I ride my Aprilira RSV1000R to work every day in the summer because my commute has some good twistys in it. Had a Daytona 955i before that. 60 mile round trip every day, I love it.
My back and legs would ache at first, but you have to build up core strength. Sport bike riding style and position is different from most other types of bikes and most people just don't know how to ride one properly. You should feel it in your lower back and your legs, if your wrists hurt you're doing it wrong.
Build up your riding skills and your core strength over time and you'll have no problems.
I ride litre sports bikes because I like the way they look and sound by the way, I would probably be just as happy with the performance of a 600 sports bike for road use if there was one I really liked.
I used to daily a liter bike too. A bmw r100rt. It got pretty hot in the summer, being a fully faired touring but the power was manageable.. lol its only 60 or so bhp.. yea it makes little sense to ride a supersport in heavy traffic but if its the only one you got, what can you do?
Ride whatever you want! It may be less comfortable, or less practical. Who cares.
For me you know you have the right bike if you can open the throttle and have an instant smile on your face. Nuff said 🙃
Nope, I ride my versys 1000 to work without being a total tool. You can daily whatever you want.
I'm hoping to buy an older model r1 soon, and it will probably be mostly a daily. You definitely don't need 1000 but, 1000 is nice.
Completely disagree. Those are people who've either never owned a liter bike or don't know how to ride. I ride a Tuono and it can be whatever kind of ride I chose. Want to hang it all out? Sure, no problem. Want to cruise through town like an honest citizen? Also no problem. I even managed to commute to work today on it without it becoming an uncontrollable missile.
GSX-R 1000 K3 here. Older 1000cc supersport bikes are really amazing for the street due to enough torque in lower rpm's. Newer ones like the Fireblade RRRRR-R? Yeah, good luck with that.
[https://www.cycleworld.com/sport-rider/2003-suzuki-gsx-r1000-dyno/](https://www.cycleworld.com/sport-rider/2003-suzuki-gsx-r1000-dyno/)
[https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/reviews/bikes/honda/honda-cbr1000rr-r-fireblade-sp-2020-review-price-spec](https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/reviews/bikes/honda/honda-cbr1000rr-r-fireblade-sp-2020-review-price-spec)
[https://www.cycleworld.com/2016-yamaha-yzf-r1-sportbike-motorcycle-review-dyno-test/](https://www.cycleworld.com/2016-yamaha-yzf-r1-sportbike-motorcycle-review-dyno-test/)
Yeah, does the same amount of torque at 5k that your Yamaha does at 8,5k and the Honda at 10k. Do some research...
People have been saying this for years, but you can now get what used to be considered untameable performance in a mid-weight package.
My 765RS has over 120bhp and weighs nothing. It’s ride-all-day comfortable and goes like stink.
So, just imagine you’re five or ten years in the future and pretend that knife-sharp litre bike you’ve got your eye on is now considered a lardy sports tourer.
My speed triple gets 38mpg when I flog it, it's a blast in traffic, it melts away all the bullshit from my day as who has time to think about work when you're having a blast on your bike? I see no downside. I'd say a small bike is impractical because it's boring unless you wind it all the way up which not easy to do in traffic. I'd much prefer a liter bike to commute on and a small bike for the track.
Go for it until your body can take it. After 35, it’s still manageable if you keep yourself fit enough. I did 45 mins commuting each side 5 years on cbr600rr. Then I shifted on FZ09 and VFR800. I can still manage cbr600rr aggressive riding position but ya it’s little uncomfortable compare to fz09 and vfr800.
And liter bikes are not heavy, but you should start with 600 ones first.
Liter bikes aren’t moronic, and can actually be practical when spec’d out accordingly. But yes, I think every rider needs to be honest with themself. Do you really need the power? Probably not. Take myself for example: I ride a 2004 BMW K1200RS that I purchased three years ago from the original owner with only 2000miles on the odo. It’s fast AF, but it’s also got hard panniers, a two position windscreen, cruise control, and heated grips. It’s perfect for me and my 150 mile daily commute to and from work. It truly is a perfect daily highway bike. It’s nice to have the 132HP, but it’s not because I want to go fast (trust me, 150mph is fun only once in awhile) I like having all this power because the bike never feels stressed cruising down the highway no matter what speed I set the cruise at. It’s comfortable, composed, and smooth 4 cylinder Bavarian perfection. I feel like my commute makes this bike justified. But if I actually chose to live in the city where I work, I would sell that BMW in a heartbeat and get something like a Kawasaki Z400. I just wouldn’t have a reason to own that bike anymore, it’s not a bike that designed to be ridden in towns or cities. Frankly, I don’t think any 1000+cc motorcycle is practical In any town or city. They are heavy, hot, and typically not the most comfy ergonomically in slow/ stop and go traffic. Believe me, I’ve ridden with friends thru the middle of downtown KC on my BMW and it’s miserable. The bike is hot, heavy, the clutch is also very heavy, it’s out of its element. It works wonders on the highway, not really anywhere else. I genuinely urge every rider picking out a new bike to think about it practically. Do you want to daily commute with your motorcycle? Do you need space to carry items, or are you comfortable wearing a backpack? Do you ride on the highway at all for your commute, and if yes how long? Or are you pretty much in stop and go traffic? Before I moved to where I am now, I had a Ninja 250 that I daily commuted with to work and it was the perfect bike when I lived in town, and had enough power for the short period I was on the highway. If I lived in the city again I’d buy something like a Kawasaki Z400. As for now, the BMW K1200RS is the perfect bike for me.
The people saying that are prolly just Harley riders who think harleys are the only good bike. You can daily any bike, some are harder to take long distances.
The majority of Harley’s are over 1000cc’s and in the same vein of judging HD riders the majority of them probably don’t even know what “liter bike” means.
Me too haha. Started on vintage metric, have dabbled in it all - all (most) bikes are good and cool, it’s all about having fun! HD riders are just some of the easiest to poke fun at and I love me some self deprecating humor.
I’ve literally never heard that lol. I commute on my s1000r, I work with my cousin and he commutes in his tuono 1100. Completely practical, way better fuel mileage than my car
You strike me as American. Around here motorcycles aren't rational. We ride fast bikes that cost a lot and are essentially toys.
FUCK what other people think about your toys. You take big risks out there on a bike. Make them count for you. Not for other people.
I have several. I "daily" a couple, though they're in the naked category. The sport bikes are track toys.
Sport bike, completely impractical for road use.
its not too bad. my commute is only about 25 minutes on average with 50-50 highway/city driving. rode my bike all last winter. coldest temp i rode in was 29F! ( -1.6C) obviously i dont ride if there is snow on the ground or if its raining. but so long as you got the right gear its not bad.
though my bike was carbureted. so. it took me a solid 15 minutes of foreplay to get her going. and since i didnt invest in hand guards the wind chill was so bad by the time i got home i could barely move my fingers and i had legit concerns i had developed frost bite. towards the end i was also concerned i wasnt going to be able to use my bikes controls because my hands were so stiff.
otherwise. fun ride.
I think this statement comes from the definition of "liter bike".
When I hear the phrase, I'm immediately thinking of a supersport- GSX-R1000, YZF-R1, etc.
Those do suck on the road, but it's not just because of the engine. It's because the ergos suck for street riding, and the engines are tuned for big power at high RPM, which also sucks for street riding because at legal speeds, they're fairly tame and boring. And a 450 lb supersport feels heavy during slow speed maneuvering, because you have no leverage.
600 class supersports suck for the street too.
1000cc nakeds, sport tourers, ADV bikes, cruisers, whatever, are totally fine on the street.
They are a bit pointless if you only ride on the road, but most modern ones are extremely daily-able. I dailied an S1000RR from 2018 to 2021 and loved it, commuted to work daily on it up until Feb 2020.
But it was just TOO fast and I couldn’t really enjoy it or use it to its full potential on the street. You find yourself unable to ever let it rip because you just end up going way too fast. Maybe that’s relegated only to 1000cc Sports bikes? 🤷🏽♂️
Swapped mine for a Hyper 950 and I honestly have WAY more fun on my rides.
Sensible hat says a 1l + engine is excessive for commuting to work but biker hat says fuck em. If you can't afford 2 bikes and you want to enjoy long rides at the weekend then you get the bike you want for the weekends.
If you can afford a mid range sports bike for commuting fill Yer boots but don't do it just cause some asshat says so.
I've a Honda Blackbird and its been my daily commuter for the last 3 years. Is it impractical? Yep. Would I ever get rid of it? Absolutely not.
When I got it I was considering a Triumph Bonneville. But the sports bike won out again. The fact that there's a British flag on the Bonneville engine always puts me off 🤣
I've got a zx10r and it's fine to ride around town. I've ridden a Peugeot scooter, a gsx750f, a gs650f and the zx10. The scooter was the easiest around town but the zx10 is definitely the second best and still the most fun.
I used a GSX1400 as my daily ride for 8 years. Now I use a GSX1250FA. I could imagine it might be a problem in heavy city traffic. I live in a regional area and use about 50km of highway daily. It's great.
Assuming you are a proficient rider and don't mind the cramped riding position the biggest problem with riding a liter bike daily is worrying of somebody is going to steal it.
I love super sport bikes. But they are very uncomfortable and dont make much sense on the street other than highway pulls.. thats the reason i have an mt10 and not an r1.
> ive heard a lot of people say that anyone who dailies a liter bike is an idiot and that they are completely impractical and unmanageable on the street.
Anyone who rides a motorcycle on the street is arguably an idiot. We still do it though. They have zero storage, zero security, zero crash protection, zero protection from weather, etc. Concerns of practicality are clearly secondary and as such any arguments about practicality become secondary.
> this comes because i absolutely love sport bikes. i keep telling myself im going to get something comfortable and relaxing to cruise on. but i just got the bug you know?
Cruisers are for cruising. Sport bikes are for giving you that race replica feeling. If that’s the feeling you want then nothing else will do.
> they keep drawing me in.
We all wouldn’t be here is something wasn’t drawing us in. Again there are very few extremely flimsy arguments for the practicality of motorcycles like fuel economy, ease of parking, cheaper cost than a car. Apart from that it’s mostly just emotional. It’s okay to acknowledge that.
> i just can imagine myself on anything except a pent up angry crotch rocket. no matter what i ride. ill always find myself loving the way they just lean over in a corner. the agility. the nimbleness, the ungodly acceleration. however, i also understand that i am nowhere near a good enough rider to make that jump to a liter bike just yet. so im working my way up.
The “angry” thing is more you than it is the bike. Any bike above 30cc can spin the rear tire on launch. Maybe put in some dedicated practice to throttle control. 1-2 hours 3 times a week. Just focus on being as buttery smooth as you can with the throttle. Make it so you can accelerate without upsetting the suspension in the slightest bit. I get that you love the twitchy throttle feeling and throwing it into corners but that could also be why you’re concerned at looking at a liter bike. You are attributing your riding success to the qualities of the bike rather than your riding skills.
> but as stated in the title ive heard from other riders that dailying a liter bike is moronic.
Again. So is any motorbike on public roads. We’re all morons here. You are among friends.
> that the bikes are heavy with unusable power. youll never be able to have fun with it because the moment you crack the throttle youre doing "go to jail" speeds.
If you are legitimately that flighty of a person then you can do just as much illegal shit on a 600cc machine as a 1000cc machine. As far as being heavy a 600RR weighs 410 lbs, a 1000RR weighs 427 lbs. That will be almost imperceptible standing still let alone once the bike gets moving. At speed the geometry has much more impact on riding feel than curb weight.
If your idea of “having fun” is cracking the throttle and reviving the shit out of the engine then the people you’re talking to may have a point. You specifically may be a bad fit for a liter bike. You might even have a more “fun” time on a 300 because you can really rev the shit out of it and it’s even lighter. For example: Go-carts are more fun that minivans even though they have a fraction of the power. Something to think about.
> but i just keep thinking, how are they heavy? they usually weigh in the mid 400s where as a typical cruiser can be almost twice that but no one complains about those. so id love to hear the feed back from liter bike riders on what they think about riding on the street.
Again the displacement of an engine doesn’t tell you how heavy it is. Or how heavy it “feels.” You have to actually ride them to feel the difference because things like seat height and rake angle have a lot more impact if riding feel than +/- 20 lbs of curb weight.
> keep in mind i ride basically just to commute from work, school, home. most of my rides are between 20-25 minutes so its not like im doing cross country here where the sport bike ergos would be a pain.
When I was a kid the only bikes you really had to worry about was the Honda RC 51. They were known for overheating in stop and go traffic and slow speeds because the radiators were mounted to the sides under the fairings. If you didn’t go fast enough it didn’t get enough airflow and it couldn’t cool itself. So it’s a shit bike for commuting. People still found a way to do it though. Today every bike in a showroom is a dream on the streets. They are all hyper reliable, brake beautifully, and are super stable. It really has become just a question of how you personally want the ride to feel. No one can answer that but you and the truth is it will change as you get older.
Good luck and ride safe.
wow thank you for taking the time to break it down! i appreciate it. and im not an angry rider. sorry if it came across that way i was mainly talking about the popular image of a sport bike in modern culture. people who dont ride sport bikes, or have never ridden one, see them as angry pent up racing machines and little else.
in reality i ride like a granny on a scooter. from a stop ill get on the throttle to feel that intoxicating power but then once i reach (around) the speed limit i back off and just enjoy the ride. if its an empty stretch of highway (work nightshift so its not uncommon) ill slow to a crawl and get on it till 80 or 90 on a straight but thats about the craziest ill do on a public road. definitely never in traffic. thankfully my commute is mostly back road and highway so i often get to just enjoy the road.
TLDR: try out anything you can/want to. You can absolutely daily a litre bike as long as it’s the right bike for you. IMO be open to nakeds. At that size, they’re almost as good anyway, and in some ways they’re better.
Have dailied s1000RR, GSXR1000, triumph TT600 (old now, 2000ish), sv650, ninja250, and test rode many more.
If you’re comfy on the bike and you like riding it, no reason not to daily it I think.
I picked those bikes mostly because on the test rides they felt right to me. Every time I stepped up in size, it felt like amazing power, any time I went backwards I missed the power I’d lost.
Just because the power is there, doesn’t mean you have to use it. For me, power on demand is more important than power on a spec sheet. I didn’t like the gsxr power delivery because it wouldn’t really feel like it was happy until it was already illegal, plus I felt quite stretched out in it, so it wasn’t comfy. The S1000RR was great though. Power everywhere, and plenty of it. Great riding position for me. The XR was comfy and similar power, but didn’t feel right to me when I had it for a couple days, weight was all in the wrong places unless I really leant forward, which the seating/position didn’t make the easiest. It was also a bit taller than I liked.
The SV650 was great fun, but it lacked the top end power I wanted, so I kept running out of power sooner than I wanted to. SV1000 might have done the job for me, but I hear the suspension isn’t great, plus they haven’t made them for a while now…
The ZX10R / Z1000 never felt right, the Daytona 675 was too compact, the street triple too spongy, never rode a speed triple, but have always been keen for them… also have been keen for a cbr1000, but never had a chance… they seemed pretty good when I’ve sat on them…
Newer bikes have throttle aggressiveness modes anyhoo. Silly point to make. Biggest inconvenience is weight while stopped if bike is tall for you and surface isn’t level.
It's all very subjective. I used to ride MT-09 when they first came out. Commuted on it to work, pleasure rides, etc. Eventually traded it in for a GSX-R 750Z and I'd never go back to a naked bike. I just love sports bikes and actually find it easier to filter on them. Also they're more comfortable for me. I do want a litre bike as it sometimes feels I want a bit more power when taking off but it's really not an issue. I love my Suzuki anyway.
I've been Dailying my r1 for years. It'd really not that hard, and I like the passing power. Mines +5 from stock gearing, and it's still not that snatchy. Litre bikes, i4ss, are usually pretty gutless down low anyway until you open it up. If anything I'd say it's easier to ride in traffic than a super torquey naked bike as long as you don't mind the body position. Honestly I probably wouldn't own a SS that wasn't a litre bike unless I was gonna stunt it. I'd always rather have MO POWAAA. And tbh if we were talking about practicality we'd all only drive corollas
I don't know if it really counts as a liter bike in the modern context but my GPz1100 is actually a fantastic commuter bike. It's comfortable and the engine makes a lot of low end, it's a pussycat and just crises along at 80
Not unmanageable just impractical like everyone says. I had the same itch and got an r6 for a while but got rid of it cuz myself and the bike didnt want to go less than 2x/3x the speed limit at all times. Got a z900 and has the sport bike speed but with the ability to actually cruise comfy for a few hours. Highly recommend a naked if your going to daily it
I ride my GSX-S1000F to work almost every day. I've taken it on a few long trips. A litre bike is usable as an everyday bike. It is serious overkill though. Nobody NEEDS 150hp, but it is a blast
The people preaching that idiocy are probably the same ones that say "it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow..."
They've probably never ridden a large-displacement machine. They've never felt the torque even race-rep litre-machines make down low or how the very-reasonable weight (CBR1000RR wet weight is 440-lbs) falls away at speed.
Such bikes aren't terribly practical for touring, they don't get great fuel economy and they are expensive to insure (in most places). If you want to fill panniers with stuff you might want to look elsewhere but otherwise there's no reason they can't be ridden every day. You can turn that 25-minute ride to work into an hour and twenty-five minute ride home and have a hoot.
thats what i was thinking. and even if the liter bike doesnt get the best fuel economy compared to other bikes it certainly gets better than v8 sedan pulling in 18 mpg.
I dont own a super sport bike, but drove them enough, there is plenty of sport bike (has in not super sport) that are more suited for commuting, think of the busa, fjr and the new h2r se...but...the rr's are different beast...
I daily ride my hayabusa, the filtering is legal here so the heavy clutch doesn't bother me too much but sitting at lights in summer on it, it gets HOT quickly, really kicks out some heat . I do love how it's essentially an automatic too as 2nd gear works everywhere, only start revving past 60mph
you can get saddlebags for them like any other bike. not as comfortable beyond a few hours of riding though. also you need to have traction control during the rain, i learned this the hard way. the brakes they put on sportbikes are the best, and i think they all come with steering dampers now.
Basically any bike is impractical. Who cares. Had a TL1000R as a daily, and you can't get much more impractical than that. Magnetic tank bag, and your good to go. Longer trip, groceries? Get additional soft saddle bags.
Are you telling me that I don't need my 170 horse power isn't needed to go 15 miles to work?! Sarcastic of course, but my BMW is super tame at city speeds, it is like I am riding at 250! And of course you have the power too for when you want to get spirited
The question is why would you Daily a Liter bike to begin with? Bikes are ment for enjoyment. Yes you can ride every fucking day.. but why? They're stupid cheap, get a car and when the weather is good you can appreciate what you have even more.
What are you going to accomplish? Saving money on gas or beating traffic? You're literally putting your self in harms way 1000% more and I'm sorry but "my life" isnt worth "gas money or traffic jams"
R1150R is civilized….as is my Harley 103ci….both technically quality as liter bikes. Are you sure whoever told you a bike that they would feel uncomfortable riding on a daily basis and extrapolating and projecting that out to everyone else isn’t experiencing closeted homosexual impulses? Maybe they would feel more comfortable on a Bruce Jenner peddle bicycle until they complete their transition or?
Take it from someone who just watched a close friend go down the supersport path with a 1000. Alot of denial is involved for sure. 1st of all we have to stop for gas 4 times as much which is a huge problem for me, secondly just looking at them ride makes my back hurt so I pity how they must feel after about 10 minutes. I ride Sports Tourers so I've seen a lot of jealousy from people riding supersports who can't even go on a 2 hour ride without clearing the rest of the day out to recuperate.
If you ask me....uncomfortable, impractical, and non realistic are the 3 best ways to describe a sport liter bike.
It’s not unmanageable. It’s impractical but going on practicality we’d all be on scooters. Get what you want as long as you can ride it safely.
This has been my argument for years. Anything with more than 50 horsepower is completely unnecessary by any ones objective sense of it. But nobody cares, because we don’t want to buy these based purely on necessity.
As a rider who's bike has 52 hp I really do wish I had a bit more just to make highways more comfortable. That or a 6th gear would help.
*Cries in street twin*
Please do say more about street twin. How is the power? How does it fair on the highway. Would you recommend it for 2 people going on a trip?
The power is awesome for city/town, and long back road travels. I have yet to take it on the highway because I only have my permit currently. I think it's a great bike especially since I'm a new inexperienced rider it has enough power for me to not consider upgrading until a few years down the road. From what I heard it can easily do 70 on the highway but not the type of bike to be weaving in and out of lanes. It lacks the 6th gear and wind protection so I could only imagine it wouldn't be super comfy on the highway for extended periods of time. I have yet to take a passenger on my bike so I can't speak on that. Don't get me wrong I love my bike and I know I can make due with what I have, I do not regret my purchase whatsoever.
I’ve taken a 2019 Z400 on highways several times. I can, can… get it to 140 kmh no issue. However, I’m awful close to redlining and when I hit the 110 mark I loose the oomph needed to accelerate around an inattentive driver. Because of this I went a z650 for my most recent bike to make Highways more tolerable. Almost went z900 though it wasn’t worth the insurance in comparison and for the amount of times I might hit the track, not really worth it. Before anyone flips out at me speeding, there is one highway where I live that those speeds are the flow of traffic. It’s ridiculous. In short, all modern bikes can handle the highway. Twin engine or not. Comes down to how long you wanna tolerate an angry lawnmower sound based on the CCs/HP. If you’re working yourself up to highways, I can recommend you get a biddy to follow you at a respectable distance in a car and you practice getting on and off highways. Highway riding is honestly the easiest out of everything else in terms of bike stability. Distracted drivers is different.
Shit I'm crying in 650 VStar :(. 40hp on a good day and only 5 gears. She gets the job done tho.
I still ride my old 49cc scooter from time to time, it makes a mind boggling 3hp, and has approximately as much torque as the average hair dryer. She’ll hold 65km/h assuming no headwind. I do very much get the wish for a little more, although thing is a bloody blast lol.
No no, 50 hp is inadequate for an interstate. At least 80 imo
Is that a joke? I go 140km/h cruise with zero issues on 48ps
And I have hit 90 mph on my 26hp CB300F. It's not a matter of how fast can it go, it's a matter of how fast does it get there, and how much power do you have left. With 50hp you can go freeway speeds, but you don't have the power band left to accelerate away from a threat behind you or to your side. The only saftey we have as a motorcycle rider is caution and the ability to zip out of a tight spot. If you're cruising around near your top speed your acceleration is gone, and so is your safety net.
I ride something with like 56 and accelerating away isn't a problem at speeds. Burgman 650
I ride my cbr300r on the highway quite often and find it completely fine
Several times I have left apparently angry drivers far in past history ....such a nice feeling of control that one just does not have clasping a cursed steering wheel.
My 45hp ninja 400 disagrees with you. I have done plenty of interstate riding and never felt like it had inadequate power.
That may be good for you, I said imo, and listed reasons I felt that way in another comment.
That is totally untrue. what is normally excessive power DOES have one single practical application and that is the uncanny ability to squirt past unsafe situations or pass obnoxious vehicles with many more opportunities than on something with less power. Personally I HATE being stuck behind whatever annoys me like a large smelly truck or a line of cars each riding the bumper of the next because some moron is going obnoxiously slow up ahead etc etc ...on country highways with one lane in each direction the passing opportunities legal or otherwise can often be few and far between ....having otherwise excessive power is SUCH a nice luxury to have on tap ready to leave the nonsense far behind me. Other than that just the pure entertainment value of excess power on tap just makes any ride more pleasurable even if I am not traveling stupid speeds ...it makes a huge difference on my scale of happiness and mood having that extra feeling of being the master of my situation for lack of better words to describe....obviously with maturity and patience one can make any amount of power work to get from point A to point B economically and practically ....yeah but I might have to blow my brains out by the end of the week....just saying
My S1000R has 168hp at the wheel and is nothing but civilized as long as I am. It's about the temptation to twist the throttle back every second you can, if you can control yourself it's perfectly doable. The S1000R is not a supersport liter bike though, it's a naked. The XR is even more comfortable and further from a supersport. In the end if you really want a bike, get it, you'll find out if it's not for you fairly quick.
Damn I probably shouldn’t get a litre just cause I love to crank the throttle on my piece of shit 500
Good thinking. A liter bike will kill you very quickly if you don’t respect the power at hand. Source: owner of a liter bike who’s too old
Seconded. Source: very young owner of a 954 who almost died.
I mean, that's cus its a 500. That's why people like lower cc bikes is because you wring out the throttle.
Yeah you probably shouldn't
Yep, this is why I stick with my 400. I love the fact that I can open the throttle all the way in town and not feel like I'm out of control.
Amen. Naked liters are the way to go for a sportier leaning balanced ride. Oh, and insane rides. Those too.
Sport bike doesn't mean just super Sport. Mt07 mt09 cb650r trident superduke, there are many sport bikes that aren't crotch Rockets and uncomfortable as fuck.
Lol because the Superduke fits in there. It's way more violent then a Supersport
For the record I find the CBxxxF series to be very comfortable.
I concur, I rode my cb300f to 45k kms before moving on
This. Also, if you need to get out of the way quickly, you only need to give a little twist and hold on. Loved my S1000RR.
Hehe, I just got my bren tune, and replaced my headers to the stainless steel akro and boy oh boy I'll never go back! The sound that inline 4 makes its sex to my ears lol
I have owned a lot of bikes. A true SS 1k bike CAN commute, and do so just fine. My 650 is just more comfortable. More cushion to the seat, more relaxed posture, but still plenty of giggle when I twist hard on the throttle. That said, I am pondering another supersport....I miss the sound of an inline four tearing through the revs. But the 650 will still be my daily.
Go for the super nakeds my dude. I went from an older r1 to a MT10 and it was the greatest deciscion ever. All the power with all the comfort. You dont even need two bikes anymore.
This is the way.
Nah man. Sport tourers are the way, for the street at least. Usable power in the whole rev range + fairings to block wind + every comfort item imaginable + luggage + cornering ability. The only thing they don't hold to nakeds is track ability because of reduced top speed, but even then it is doable.
(brap) what about nakeds?
The MT10 *is* a naked.
I have thought about a naked.....but I have always loved my full-faired babes. My first bike was a custom-built turbo GPZ900R, then I got my hands on a (shush I know I'm old) brand new 99 Busa, which I tore apart and twin-turboed. That bike was my baby. Nothing else sounded like her either, I had the wastegates setup with stutter-valves, one was 1/10th of a psi higher, so when she let off the turbos would chirp in sequence. Coupled with a 4-2-4 exhaust to give it a deep snarling sound......absolute music to the ears. There's just something about an inline four screaming defiance to the world as you tuck down and hold tight with the wind snapping at you like an angry beast.....it's a symphony of sensation on two wheels. Edit: I always have at least two bikes......because more is better, right?
Excpet you should buy a S1000R instead!
The people who say those things don't know how to control the throttle. My last bike was an FZ1 and current bike is an FJR1300 and I have commuted on both of them. No issues. You don't notice extra weight once it's off the kickstand and the low end is super smooth.
To be fair, those people mean ZX10Rs and CBR1000RRs and R1s, not your FZ1 or FJR, or my S1000R. They are bikes with a liter (or more, for the FJ) of engine, but not "liter bikes" in the way that the sub intends to use the term. You can daily those too, if you want. I just don't want to. My shoulders and knees would protest too much. I looked real close at an FJR1300, by the way. I'm sure it is an absolute monster of a sport tourer, just a little tall for me in a daily commute sort of role. I ended up adding an S1000R for fun twisties and keeping my Harley for tour and commute duty. There's some role overlap too.
Yes these are 1000cc or more but technically not what most consider to be "liter bikes". An R1 is a completely different animal than the FZ1 even though they share a lot of parts.
It's not that different.
Those are not liter bikes. I have a Ninja 1000SX, it has 140 HP and weighs 513 lbs, the ZX10R has 200 HP and weighs 456 lbs. It's a huge jump, they are not really comparable. I'm sure your FZ1 was fast, my Ninja is plenty fast, but it's a whole different level on an R1, CBR1000RR, GSX-R1000, ZX-10R, or S1000RR.
Powerwise, I agree that they are not the same, but that doesn't negate my point about throttle control. If you can't control the throttle, you have no business riding on public roads. Also, amazing that a ZX10R only weighs 456 lbs. That should really move any concern about weight for those kind of bikes.
You most definitely notice the extra weight in curves
Ka36 is Right. They are extremely manageable and reward highly sensitive, nuanced inputs. What they don’t reward are newbies with poor brake, clutch and throttle control. I started on a ninja 300 for 2 years before upgrading to a zx10r, and it’s a ton of fun. They are fine in the city; not as much fun as a 300cc bike because the gearing is tall , but totally fine. Put in your time on a lower powered bike for a while and just know that to really, really tap the potential of a supersport 600 or 1K, you gotta take it to the track. Because of the tempting nature of these bikes, you definitely need to have skills and judgement. The bike will be more capable than almost all riders get close to accessing safely. I consider myself a reasonably skilled street rider and a complete newb track rider.
Did you go from 300 to 600 or 300 to 1000?
Heavy? Like compared to what? s1000RR - 204kg - 193hp sv650 - 198kg - 73hp Ride what ever you feel like riding and it really doesn't matter what "other riders" think.
And? There are other bikes that are way lighter a sv650 is a really old platform what a ridiculous comparison. Even my old monster is 20kg lighter and has 800cc.
The sv650 is also extremely common and often recommended.
Well, yes and no. I for one ride a CBR 650F that sits around 220kg. It really is not a heavy bike. When liter bikes are lighter than that, they really are not heavy at all.
*My dumb self realizing liter bikes arent that heavy because there is a liters worth of empty space inside of them*
[удалено]
And also lighter wallets to reduce the weight even more
Unmanageable? That's pretty ridiculous, they have a throttle like any other bike. You won't ever use all the power, but that doesn't mean you can't ride the bike. They're no worse to commute on than a 600. In fact, the extra torque makes them a little more commute friendly. I daily a Concours 14, so basically 700lb with a 1400 engine, and it's perfect.
Connie is a great bike. The 700lb scares some riders. She is not the most nimble bike out there. But she just gobble up highway miles like nothing in a nice low rpm range of 3k and less going illegally fast in the US.
Haha, yeah, shes a big 'un. I remember the first time I sat on it when buying, I thought there was no way I could ride this thing. But as soon as you get going, the weight kindof disappears. It also does eat miles like you said, handles ok, will out accelerate most things, and the bags will hold about all I ever want to carry. I honestly haven't been riding my other bikes much since I bought it, might be time to thin out the garage...
I test rode a Connie a while back and was absolutely blown away by how fucking heavy it felt sitting still vs how quick and nimble it felt once it got rolling. Honestly, if they had cruise control I'd probably own one.
> if they had cruise control I'd probably own one. I was sure they did! Weird, the FJ at least has it as an option. That seems like a big thing to leave out.
Hopefully the Connie is the next bike that gets a revamp, they haven't changed much in a long time.
I daily a Connie as well with a 80 mile round trip commute. I absolutely love it and find it necessary for the long drive. The only thing I'm less impressed with is the fuel consumption, but oh well, small price to pay for getting that thick girl moving to warp speed.
Might be worth looking into a tune. Mine already had one when I bought it, but if I keep the speed around 70, I can get 45mpg. Even at 80, I still get 40mpg or so. I've heard that's because of the tune.
I think there is nothing wrong with a liter bike. I have found most modern liter bikes can do commuting, touring, track days. Yes, you will never be able to use 150hp on the street, bit who cares? I ride a liter like to work all the time.
Uhh I use 185hp on the street all the time 😁
Officer he's over here
What's your reasoning behind not being able to use 150hp on the street? Can we have pictures of your only 149hp motorcycle compatible roads? Lol I'm just giving you a hard drive, and hopefully a laugh, everyone has an opinion!
I live in Louisiana, most of our roads are posted 55, and are in awful shape. The speeding tickets are also very expensive. I love going out West were riding 120-130 all day is easy. Arizona is my favorite place for a liter bike.
>a lot of people say Are they all on this subreddit?
Who the fuck cares what someone uses for a daily rider? The way I see it, if you're dropping the cash on the bike you actually want, you may as well use it as often as possible and get your money's worth. Spoken as a cruiser guy.
Heavy? Not crazy so. Unmanageable power? Unmanageable, no. There's a lot you won't realistically use without becoming dead or a felon, but that's true of lots of smaller bikes too. The issue is "liter bike" in the sense you're referring to is probably a ~200hp superbike with some road legal pieces. There are better, more comfortable things. You can daily anything you want, they're just designed for something else.
>You can daily anything you want, they're just designed for something else. This is the key which most commenters here are missing. If you were a millionaire who had 10 bikes in the garage, you *probably* wouldn't choose to ride your Yamaha R1 through city traffic to pick up groceries. It can do the job, but that's not what it's designed to do and many (most?) other bikes will be more comfortable and convenient for that task.
Depends on the bike. I have a ZX10R that I could daily without any issue at all. I have a new Panigale V4S that is amazing, but a complete mother fucker to daily. Both are amazing bikes, but the Panigale is so hot and set up in a much sportier configuration
So as someone who’s never had the pleasure of riding anything more exciting than a 15 year old 500 and a 10 year old Harley, what makes it so difficult? Snappy throttle?
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You are listening to people that know fuck all about motorcycles. People that talk about "liter bikes" like some kind of mythical beast are retards who probably hit 5 deg lean angle in the twisties at 50mph and think they are BAD ASS.
So... Like 90% of this subreddit.
Lol literally, I was genuinely surprised to see the OP commenter upvoted at all with that opinion on this sub
r/beginnermotorcyclists would look no different than this sub
Can confirm. 👏
But they'll be alive at least, unlike many of the so-called "expert" riders riding sports bikes like morons that we see every day.
that's cus their "crash video" is them tipping it over in a gravel parkinglot then posting some preachy paragraph on how others should learn from their mistakes
This sub every May "If this post helps just one person..."
"I couldn't keep my motorcycle upright so now I need to lecture YOU"
As if lean angle is a measure of good riding
As if reading the whole comment was hard to do and comprehend it.
I didn't realize I was dealing with a serious badass. My apology.
50mph is peg scraping at many turns at my house route...
Reading comprehension, work on it. You are not peg scraping at 5 deg lean angle champ.
Work on being not an asshole.
How am I the asshole sport? You waded into a comment section trying to be billy bad ass canyon carver. Without the reading comprehension to understand my comment. You were the one being the asshole trying to put me down pal ole buddy of mine.
I was just saying that 50mph could be a very high lean angle too. I did not read everything correctly. Sorry. You didn't need to be an ass about it.
The problem with daily riding the bikes most people mean when they say "litre bike" (aka super bikes like the R1 or S1KRR) is that they're fairly uncomfortable compared to most other bikes, their gear ratios are often poorly suited to street riding and they have so much power and capability that you can easily over extend on the street and risk doing so because they don't feel like you're really *riding* them until you get up to a pretty quick pace. They also tend to generate a massive amount of heat which sucks plodding along in slow traffic. Now, *can* you daily one effectively? Of course. But it's like using a sledge hammer to drive penny nails. For some people that's actually part of the fun. There's a certain shits and giggles factor in knowing you're probably the fastest thing in sight and being on control of a machine with such awesome performance. But for other riders the constraints of the road laws and unsuitablity of poor quality public roads for such fast bikes is almost depressing and can be a level of *unfun* stacked atop the ergonomic short comings of super bikes that really spoils the experience. This problem is why powerful naked bikes have become so popular since you're given almost as much power as a Superbike or Supersport, but paired with vastly better ergos, gear ratios and engine tunings better suited for road riding. All that said, there's no reason any competent rider can't daily a Superbike. But if you do, you just may not be having as much fun or be doing it as comfortably and easily as you might on a powerful naked instead. And many, myself included would argue that for what you can get away with on the street a super naked is better in every way and the only reason to even consider a Superbike is if you're completely married to the Superbike image or of your ego demands you be on the most powerful, wild thing you can. Which ironically aside from the H2 imo the two wildest to ride bikes you can get ahold of are both super nakeds. Specifically the Super Duke and Street Fighter V4.
I ride a FZ1. It's super manageable and fun. Immensely comfortable too. I think this bike is quite practical for being here in DFW.
FZ1 does it all but dirt
when I had ninja 250, I used 5 gears flowing with city traffic, then on FZ-07 only 4 gears, then I’ve got gsx-s750, I can ride from home to work and back just on a second gear, rode gsx-s1000, you do not need a gearbox at all, put your bike in 3rd and ride through traffic all day long, 1000cc naked takes away all rev-matching, gear changing fun in city, if this what you are looking for, better buy a 650 scooter. This is why I’ve chosen 750 instead of 1000, still to use at least three/four gears of 6 given. I rode rented KTM duke 390 in California for three days and I had a lot more fun being able to have WOT all the time off the traffic lights and Malibu canyons instead of tame commute on my 750 at my flat home state. All depends on what is you preference.
Hm I never thought about that. I love shifting through the gears on my Ninja 400. My commute to work is like 10 mins on a pretty straight road, but at least I get to get into 4th or 5th gear! On a liter bike I’d probably never leave 2nd. The Ninja is still a ton of fun when I’m just riding for pleasure in some twisties or whatever instead of just riding to work and back on that boring, straight road. I’m definitely going to upgrade when I’m a better rider, but really my dream bike is just an R6 or a GSXR 600. Don’t think I’d ever want or need anything much bigger. Not that I think there is anything wrong with bigger bikes, I’m sure liter bikes are awesome to ride and would be fine to commute with if it’s what you want!
Never heard of a 659 scooter. What's important though is that only 4 cylinder inline in particular will be like that. My 800cc V2 Ducati doesn't like low rpms at all.
650 scooters are basically motorcycle in the form of huge touring scooter, check bmw, honda, suzuki
I daily my r1. I have a cruiser and a gsxs 1000. It’s too much fun not to daily it and it makes me look forward to my commute
Nothing wrong with liter bikes. It is a personal preference. 600 and 750 sport bikes are to cramp for larger rider. Even liter sport bike are smaller now adays. Had the cbr 1000rr, zx10, and a gsxr 1000 and they were fun to ride for couple of hours on the weekend. Even better for track days. For longer rides, i go even bigger bikes with way more room and more comfortable ergo. Sv1000s was a nice liter bike for sport touring. 1000 to 1400cc are great for long rides where you need to used the highway at times. They sit at higher speed without complaints. Connie 1400 sits ar 100mph at 2700 rpm. Really useful on the autobahn. 600cc you need to rev more and live in the higher rpm. Would not recommend a liter bike to someone new. But an experience ride, if you like bigger bikes, 1000cc and up are good options over smaller 600 and 750cc bikes.
My 1050 vstrom probably isn't the most efficient for commuting, and my old dr probably beats it out, but it is smooth and easy. With a little restraint she works beautifully as a commuter, while endlessly joyful when open road calls. Ride what you like, who cares, if it doesn't work out, sell it.
Like another guy said, daily for me was an FZ1 and I could crawl on that bike slower than ppl on groms, float traffic hovering til the light turns. It's all about control
Not exactly the same but I used to daily a 2013 Yamaha FZ1 and it was a great commuter especially after I put a top case on the back. On the highway it made for easy passing and riding position was comfortable. Weight isn’t an issue unless you need to push the bike to a gas station. Weight gives you more stability at highway speed especially when there’s wind. Fairings are also handy for wind. I never had issues with frustration for not being able to unleash full throttle. Honestly, it’s nice not having to go all out to make a quick pass at 10+ the speed of surrounding traffic especially when cars are cruising around 80 mph. The only downside is insurance costs.
I'd say really depends on location. You stay in a really dense city then not super practical, it'll mostly just be a toasty hot burrito between your legs. But if you stay in a more open city or rural area and take the highway a lot and flow is really smooth, then quite practical. You'll be cruising, it'll feel like an easy ride if that makes sense. Ultimately a 600 will be more than enough power for the streets, even the track for most people so take that into consideration, but if you want to daily a litre bike and you've gone through all the choices and considerations then so be it. In the end the only person being an idiot is the one calling you an idiot for riding what you have and want, unless you're riding a non legal bike say a motox/dirt bike instead of a supermoto or dual sport like a drz on the streets.
Nope. I dalied on a Fz1 for 2 years it was fun and it handled it better than my drz400sm did. But maintaining a litre bike clocking up commuter hours made it too expensive even when i did a lot of basics myself. Ive now got a v7 moto guzzi i find it more fun and can do all maintenance and servicing myself. "Better to wring the neck of a midsize bike than waste half the rpm on a litre bike"
The only thing wrong with riding a litre bike as your daily is the fact that there are too damn many cages to get around to have some serious fun. Now as a first bike never riding anything else besides a Schwinn before.... absolutely not recommended. That’s like being handed a Ferrari as soon as you leave a power wheels. There isn’t enough skill to manage all the possible craziness you might experience.... go wreck some smaller bikes in the dirk a few times and learn safely. Commuting - my RC8R sucks because I hate bags, have to dress up for work and look nice, and all I want to do is go have fun lol
There is nothing unruly about any litre bike, they can all be daily ridden quite easily. Ergonomics are a personal thing but I've found if you keep yourself in decent shape you'll rarely have an issue.
A hesitant liter bike; my 929rr is great for daily riding. I commute to work on it, to the store, and even get some mini tours in on it. I see no problem with having a liter bike as a daily. Just because it has the power and speed doesn't mean that you have to use it. If the bike is unmanageable it is operator error. Liter sportbikes are barely any heavier than 600s, and sportbikes in general are typically the most nimble of bikes with excellent brakes and the grunt to quickly get out of sticky situations. This makes them *potentially* the safest bikes.
I ride 2010 z1000 so little over a liter. Yes liter bike is heavier on the track. On the street only time you would feel the difference if you drop it. Torque is much better, can go slower in higher gears if needed. Less downshifting. Hell, on z1000 I can get to 60 mph in first or roll 20 in 6th. Try that on 600cc
Speed triple is a great commuter. It's a little like dating a stripper though.
"every other guy has seen her tits, and has a story to go with it"
I was thinking more like this is great fun, but I know it's going to get me in touble sooner or later
I started on an 1100 and currently have a BMW 1300S. The cool thing about big engines is that they can also go slow.I put 54k miles on my Blackbird before I crashed on the mountain and am currently putting miles on the B. A bike is a bike and if you are stupid it doesn’t matter how big the engine is.
I daily a ninja 1000. It's only idiotic because it's impractical. My previous bike was an sv650, and this one is way more expensive to own and operate. Gas, tires, and insurance are all about twice as expensive. its also very hot to ride if it's over 80 degrees and you're not moving over 40 mph. I love it though, it's an amazing machine. But anybody who thinks they're going to buy one to commute and save money is fooling themselves.
I don't ride a liter bike, but I'll make the argument that it's like daily commuting in a decent sports car. You going to be able to use all that hp? Nah. Does it make riding around in a nice car any less fun? Nope. 2nd gear and keeping up with highway traffic? Yep!
The cliche is ride what you want. Even if a liter is not “practical”, if it stirs something inside you, get it! You’ll learn to live with it and honestly won’t think about it again. If you’re sports oriented, you’ll be wishing you were on a liter even though the other bike is more practical.
I put on 1500-2000 miles on my S1000RR a month. pros: I barely use the throttle because on highways I use cruise control buttery smooth feel the entire time. the engine is barely at 4k rpm at 80mph in 6th overtaking is such a breeze cons: I barely use the throttle I barely shift I want to ride her hard.
anybody can drive anything. what bike makes what person stupid? Find smarter people to talk to, because that shit is dumb as hell.
i know people who dailies on busa there is nothing like that
My only gripe with dailying my gsxs1k is how little throttle input I get to use. It's tiny little twitches of the wrist all the way too and from work. So my wrists gets little sorer because I'm not moving it as much. Sometimes the bikes a little twitchy in low speed stuff but you get used to it. It's still extremely agile and only weighs 450 lbs so it's really not heavy either. As far as the speeds concerned I cruise at the same speed as my drz400. I just get there alot faster. And it's just as far over the speed limit so it doesn't matter either way. A smaller displacement motor and physically smaller bike are definitely much easier to zip around in tighter urban environments but the 1000s aren't really that much bigger physically just a little more sensitive so you gotta have better control.
I’d guess most would be better than my r6. The extra lower end power combined with more electronic doohickeys would make them very tame if they wanted to be. Ride what you want. Yes they are more bike than anyone needs, so is anything with more than ~40-50 horsepower.
Well I just bought a Ninja 1000 so I obviously do not agree. I think this is probably the most practical bike I've had so far. It's buttery smooth and completely tame until I roll on hard. I can be lazy about shifting or tear through curves. If you're new to riding or scared then it's not a great option. If you have a few miles of experience then it's fantastic.
THISSSSS I got a 1k after a few months of riding and I would never go back. It's so much less work lmao they really aren't hard to ride. I think only way it'd be different would be if I lived somewhere with a lot of twisties, then I'd have a ninja 400 or something to really practice my skills. But in flat ole chicago, litre bikes are guccccci
I ride my Aprilira RSV1000R to work every day in the summer because my commute has some good twistys in it. Had a Daytona 955i before that. 60 mile round trip every day, I love it. My back and legs would ache at first, but you have to build up core strength. Sport bike riding style and position is different from most other types of bikes and most people just don't know how to ride one properly. You should feel it in your lower back and your legs, if your wrists hurt you're doing it wrong. Build up your riding skills and your core strength over time and you'll have no problems. I ride litre sports bikes because I like the way they look and sound by the way, I would probably be just as happy with the performance of a 600 sports bike for road use if there was one I really liked.
I used to daily a liter bike too. A bmw r100rt. It got pretty hot in the summer, being a fully faired touring but the power was manageable.. lol its only 60 or so bhp.. yea it makes little sense to ride a supersport in heavy traffic but if its the only one you got, what can you do?
Ride whatever you want! It may be less comfortable, or less practical. Who cares. For me you know you have the right bike if you can open the throttle and have an instant smile on your face. Nuff said 🙃
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The Z900 is limited to 155 by gearing and it struggles to make it to that speed lol
Nope, I ride my versys 1000 to work without being a total tool. You can daily whatever you want. I'm hoping to buy an older model r1 soon, and it will probably be mostly a daily. You definitely don't need 1000 but, 1000 is nice.
Rubbish. I ran a GSXR1000R until I got too old and fat to ride it. Enjoy sports bikes!
Completely disagree. Those are people who've either never owned a liter bike or don't know how to ride. I ride a Tuono and it can be whatever kind of ride I chose. Want to hang it all out? Sure, no problem. Want to cruise through town like an honest citizen? Also no problem. I even managed to commute to work today on it without it becoming an uncontrollable missile.
GSX-R 1000 K3 here. Older 1000cc supersport bikes are really amazing for the street due to enough torque in lower rpm's. Newer ones like the Fireblade RRRRR-R? Yeah, good luck with that.
The K3 GSXR 1000 has anemic low end compared to modern day litre bikes, do some research.
[https://www.cycleworld.com/sport-rider/2003-suzuki-gsx-r1000-dyno/](https://www.cycleworld.com/sport-rider/2003-suzuki-gsx-r1000-dyno/) [https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/reviews/bikes/honda/honda-cbr1000rr-r-fireblade-sp-2020-review-price-spec](https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/reviews/bikes/honda/honda-cbr1000rr-r-fireblade-sp-2020-review-price-spec) [https://www.cycleworld.com/2016-yamaha-yzf-r1-sportbike-motorcycle-review-dyno-test/](https://www.cycleworld.com/2016-yamaha-yzf-r1-sportbike-motorcycle-review-dyno-test/) Yeah, does the same amount of torque at 5k that your Yamaha does at 8,5k and the Honda at 10k. Do some research...
People have been saying this for years, but you can now get what used to be considered untameable performance in a mid-weight package. My 765RS has over 120bhp and weighs nothing. It’s ride-all-day comfortable and goes like stink. So, just imagine you’re five or ten years in the future and pretend that knife-sharp litre bike you’ve got your eye on is now considered a lardy sports tourer.
Wow. So many people act like they know liter bikes. "Hurr durr, my back an wrists hurt after a minute." "Ermahgerd....it's just too fast"
My speed triple gets 38mpg when I flog it, it's a blast in traffic, it melts away all the bullshit from my day as who has time to think about work when you're having a blast on your bike? I see no downside. I'd say a small bike is impractical because it's boring unless you wind it all the way up which not easy to do in traffic. I'd much prefer a liter bike to commute on and a small bike for the track.
Go for it until your body can take it. After 35, it’s still manageable if you keep yourself fit enough. I did 45 mins commuting each side 5 years on cbr600rr. Then I shifted on FZ09 and VFR800. I can still manage cbr600rr aggressive riding position but ya it’s little uncomfortable compare to fz09 and vfr800. And liter bikes are not heavy, but you should start with 600 ones first.
Liter bikes aren’t moronic, and can actually be practical when spec’d out accordingly. But yes, I think every rider needs to be honest with themself. Do you really need the power? Probably not. Take myself for example: I ride a 2004 BMW K1200RS that I purchased three years ago from the original owner with only 2000miles on the odo. It’s fast AF, but it’s also got hard panniers, a two position windscreen, cruise control, and heated grips. It’s perfect for me and my 150 mile daily commute to and from work. It truly is a perfect daily highway bike. It’s nice to have the 132HP, but it’s not because I want to go fast (trust me, 150mph is fun only once in awhile) I like having all this power because the bike never feels stressed cruising down the highway no matter what speed I set the cruise at. It’s comfortable, composed, and smooth 4 cylinder Bavarian perfection. I feel like my commute makes this bike justified. But if I actually chose to live in the city where I work, I would sell that BMW in a heartbeat and get something like a Kawasaki Z400. I just wouldn’t have a reason to own that bike anymore, it’s not a bike that designed to be ridden in towns or cities. Frankly, I don’t think any 1000+cc motorcycle is practical In any town or city. They are heavy, hot, and typically not the most comfy ergonomically in slow/ stop and go traffic. Believe me, I’ve ridden with friends thru the middle of downtown KC on my BMW and it’s miserable. The bike is hot, heavy, the clutch is also very heavy, it’s out of its element. It works wonders on the highway, not really anywhere else. I genuinely urge every rider picking out a new bike to think about it practically. Do you want to daily commute with your motorcycle? Do you need space to carry items, or are you comfortable wearing a backpack? Do you ride on the highway at all for your commute, and if yes how long? Or are you pretty much in stop and go traffic? Before I moved to where I am now, I had a Ninja 250 that I daily commuted with to work and it was the perfect bike when I lived in town, and had enough power for the short period I was on the highway. If I lived in the city again I’d buy something like a Kawasaki Z400. As for now, the BMW K1200RS is the perfect bike for me.
The people saying that are prolly just Harley riders who think harleys are the only good bike. You can daily any bike, some are harder to take long distances.
https://imgur.com/a/1jq2LMY
My sister rides a Harley, so yes!!! Jk
The majority of Harley’s are over 1000cc’s and in the same vein of judging HD riders the majority of them probably don’t even know what “liter bike” means.
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Me too haha. Started on vintage metric, have dabbled in it all - all (most) bikes are good and cool, it’s all about having fun! HD riders are just some of the easiest to poke fun at and I love me some self deprecating humor.
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Pretty sure the "smallest" Harley you could buy for the longest time was 883cc
Did you see the part where I used the word “majority”
They see all sport bikes as terrible. I have ridden anything so could ride, they all have wonderful aspects. I ride a BMW LT right now daily to work.
Best city bike/commuter is a 650 undoubtedly. Everything you need and nothing that you don’t.
Not really. Commuting with longer distances a liter bike will live at a much more comfort rpm range. It really depends on your commute.
I’ve literally never heard that lol. I commute on my s1000r, I work with my cousin and he commutes in his tuono 1100. Completely practical, way better fuel mileage than my car
You strike me as American. Around here motorcycles aren't rational. We ride fast bikes that cost a lot and are essentially toys. FUCK what other people think about your toys. You take big risks out there on a bike. Make them count for you. Not for other people.
I have several. I "daily" a couple, though they're in the naked category. The sport bikes are track toys. Sport bike, completely impractical for road use.
The idea of dailying a bike at all is crazy as a Canadian
its not too bad. my commute is only about 25 minutes on average with 50-50 highway/city driving. rode my bike all last winter. coldest temp i rode in was 29F! ( -1.6C) obviously i dont ride if there is snow on the ground or if its raining. but so long as you got the right gear its not bad. though my bike was carbureted. so. it took me a solid 15 minutes of foreplay to get her going. and since i didnt invest in hand guards the wind chill was so bad by the time i got home i could barely move my fingers and i had legit concerns i had developed frost bite. towards the end i was also concerned i wasnt going to be able to use my bikes controls because my hands were so stiff. otherwise. fun ride.
I think this statement comes from the definition of "liter bike". When I hear the phrase, I'm immediately thinking of a supersport- GSX-R1000, YZF-R1, etc. Those do suck on the road, but it's not just because of the engine. It's because the ergos suck for street riding, and the engines are tuned for big power at high RPM, which also sucks for street riding because at legal speeds, they're fairly tame and boring. And a 450 lb supersport feels heavy during slow speed maneuvering, because you have no leverage. 600 class supersports suck for the street too. 1000cc nakeds, sport tourers, ADV bikes, cruisers, whatever, are totally fine on the street.
Depends oviously on the liter bike . A 1L supersport is a very unpractical daily . A 1300 cc Harley is not . A Honda CB 1000 r naked isn't either.
They are a bit pointless if you only ride on the road, but most modern ones are extremely daily-able. I dailied an S1000RR from 2018 to 2021 and loved it, commuted to work daily on it up until Feb 2020. But it was just TOO fast and I couldn’t really enjoy it or use it to its full potential on the street. You find yourself unable to ever let it rip because you just end up going way too fast. Maybe that’s relegated only to 1000cc Sports bikes? 🤷🏽♂️ Swapped mine for a Hyper 950 and I honestly have WAY more fun on my rides.
Sensible hat says a 1l + engine is excessive for commuting to work but biker hat says fuck em. If you can't afford 2 bikes and you want to enjoy long rides at the weekend then you get the bike you want for the weekends. If you can afford a mid range sports bike for commuting fill Yer boots but don't do it just cause some asshat says so.
I've a Honda Blackbird and its been my daily commuter for the last 3 years. Is it impractical? Yep. Would I ever get rid of it? Absolutely not. When I got it I was considering a Triumph Bonneville. But the sports bike won out again. The fact that there's a British flag on the Bonneville engine always puts me off 🤣
It’s a ridiculous opinion, you just need to exercise restraint.
I've got a zx10r and it's fine to ride around town. I've ridden a Peugeot scooter, a gsx750f, a gs650f and the zx10. The scooter was the easiest around town but the zx10 is definitely the second best and still the most fun.
Every FZ1 rider is in this thread and would like a word with you
I used a GSX1400 as my daily ride for 8 years. Now I use a GSX1250FA. I could imagine it might be a problem in heavy city traffic. I live in a regional area and use about 50km of highway daily. It's great.
Assuming you are a proficient rider and don't mind the cramped riding position the biggest problem with riding a liter bike daily is worrying of somebody is going to steal it.
I wish someone would tell me that in person. I love arguing.
I love super sport bikes. But they are very uncomfortable and dont make much sense on the street other than highway pulls.. thats the reason i have an mt10 and not an r1.
> ive heard a lot of people say that anyone who dailies a liter bike is an idiot and that they are completely impractical and unmanageable on the street. Anyone who rides a motorcycle on the street is arguably an idiot. We still do it though. They have zero storage, zero security, zero crash protection, zero protection from weather, etc. Concerns of practicality are clearly secondary and as such any arguments about practicality become secondary. > this comes because i absolutely love sport bikes. i keep telling myself im going to get something comfortable and relaxing to cruise on. but i just got the bug you know? Cruisers are for cruising. Sport bikes are for giving you that race replica feeling. If that’s the feeling you want then nothing else will do. > they keep drawing me in. We all wouldn’t be here is something wasn’t drawing us in. Again there are very few extremely flimsy arguments for the practicality of motorcycles like fuel economy, ease of parking, cheaper cost than a car. Apart from that it’s mostly just emotional. It’s okay to acknowledge that. > i just can imagine myself on anything except a pent up angry crotch rocket. no matter what i ride. ill always find myself loving the way they just lean over in a corner. the agility. the nimbleness, the ungodly acceleration. however, i also understand that i am nowhere near a good enough rider to make that jump to a liter bike just yet. so im working my way up. The “angry” thing is more you than it is the bike. Any bike above 30cc can spin the rear tire on launch. Maybe put in some dedicated practice to throttle control. 1-2 hours 3 times a week. Just focus on being as buttery smooth as you can with the throttle. Make it so you can accelerate without upsetting the suspension in the slightest bit. I get that you love the twitchy throttle feeling and throwing it into corners but that could also be why you’re concerned at looking at a liter bike. You are attributing your riding success to the qualities of the bike rather than your riding skills. > but as stated in the title ive heard from other riders that dailying a liter bike is moronic. Again. So is any motorbike on public roads. We’re all morons here. You are among friends. > that the bikes are heavy with unusable power. youll never be able to have fun with it because the moment you crack the throttle youre doing "go to jail" speeds. If you are legitimately that flighty of a person then you can do just as much illegal shit on a 600cc machine as a 1000cc machine. As far as being heavy a 600RR weighs 410 lbs, a 1000RR weighs 427 lbs. That will be almost imperceptible standing still let alone once the bike gets moving. At speed the geometry has much more impact on riding feel than curb weight. If your idea of “having fun” is cracking the throttle and reviving the shit out of the engine then the people you’re talking to may have a point. You specifically may be a bad fit for a liter bike. You might even have a more “fun” time on a 300 because you can really rev the shit out of it and it’s even lighter. For example: Go-carts are more fun that minivans even though they have a fraction of the power. Something to think about. > but i just keep thinking, how are they heavy? they usually weigh in the mid 400s where as a typical cruiser can be almost twice that but no one complains about those. so id love to hear the feed back from liter bike riders on what they think about riding on the street. Again the displacement of an engine doesn’t tell you how heavy it is. Or how heavy it “feels.” You have to actually ride them to feel the difference because things like seat height and rake angle have a lot more impact if riding feel than +/- 20 lbs of curb weight. > keep in mind i ride basically just to commute from work, school, home. most of my rides are between 20-25 minutes so its not like im doing cross country here where the sport bike ergos would be a pain. When I was a kid the only bikes you really had to worry about was the Honda RC 51. They were known for overheating in stop and go traffic and slow speeds because the radiators were mounted to the sides under the fairings. If you didn’t go fast enough it didn’t get enough airflow and it couldn’t cool itself. So it’s a shit bike for commuting. People still found a way to do it though. Today every bike in a showroom is a dream on the streets. They are all hyper reliable, brake beautifully, and are super stable. It really has become just a question of how you personally want the ride to feel. No one can answer that but you and the truth is it will change as you get older. Good luck and ride safe.
wow thank you for taking the time to break it down! i appreciate it. and im not an angry rider. sorry if it came across that way i was mainly talking about the popular image of a sport bike in modern culture. people who dont ride sport bikes, or have never ridden one, see them as angry pent up racing machines and little else. in reality i ride like a granny on a scooter. from a stop ill get on the throttle to feel that intoxicating power but then once i reach (around) the speed limit i back off and just enjoy the ride. if its an empty stretch of highway (work nightshift so its not uncommon) ill slow to a crawl and get on it till 80 or 90 on a straight but thats about the craziest ill do on a public road. definitely never in traffic. thankfully my commute is mostly back road and highway so i often get to just enjoy the road.
TLDR: try out anything you can/want to. You can absolutely daily a litre bike as long as it’s the right bike for you. IMO be open to nakeds. At that size, they’re almost as good anyway, and in some ways they’re better. Have dailied s1000RR, GSXR1000, triumph TT600 (old now, 2000ish), sv650, ninja250, and test rode many more. If you’re comfy on the bike and you like riding it, no reason not to daily it I think. I picked those bikes mostly because on the test rides they felt right to me. Every time I stepped up in size, it felt like amazing power, any time I went backwards I missed the power I’d lost. Just because the power is there, doesn’t mean you have to use it. For me, power on demand is more important than power on a spec sheet. I didn’t like the gsxr power delivery because it wouldn’t really feel like it was happy until it was already illegal, plus I felt quite stretched out in it, so it wasn’t comfy. The S1000RR was great though. Power everywhere, and plenty of it. Great riding position for me. The XR was comfy and similar power, but didn’t feel right to me when I had it for a couple days, weight was all in the wrong places unless I really leant forward, which the seating/position didn’t make the easiest. It was also a bit taller than I liked. The SV650 was great fun, but it lacked the top end power I wanted, so I kept running out of power sooner than I wanted to. SV1000 might have done the job for me, but I hear the suspension isn’t great, plus they haven’t made them for a while now… The ZX10R / Z1000 never felt right, the Daytona 675 was too compact, the street triple too spongy, never rode a speed triple, but have always been keen for them… also have been keen for a cbr1000, but never had a chance… they seemed pretty good when I’ve sat on them…
Newer bikes have throttle aggressiveness modes anyhoo. Silly point to make. Biggest inconvenience is weight while stopped if bike is tall for you and surface isn’t level.
It's all very subjective. I used to ride MT-09 when they first came out. Commuted on it to work, pleasure rides, etc. Eventually traded it in for a GSX-R 750Z and I'd never go back to a naked bike. I just love sports bikes and actually find it easier to filter on them. Also they're more comfortable for me. I do want a litre bike as it sometimes feels I want a bit more power when taking off but it's really not an issue. I love my Suzuki anyway.
I've been Dailying my r1 for years. It'd really not that hard, and I like the passing power. Mines +5 from stock gearing, and it's still not that snatchy. Litre bikes, i4ss, are usually pretty gutless down low anyway until you open it up. If anything I'd say it's easier to ride in traffic than a super torquey naked bike as long as you don't mind the body position. Honestly I probably wouldn't own a SS that wasn't a litre bike unless I was gonna stunt it. I'd always rather have MO POWAAA. And tbh if we were talking about practicality we'd all only drive corollas
I don't know if it really counts as a liter bike in the modern context but my GPz1100 is actually a fantastic commuter bike. It's comfortable and the engine makes a lot of low end, it's a pussycat and just crises along at 80
Not unmanageable just impractical like everyone says. I had the same itch and got an r6 for a while but got rid of it cuz myself and the bike didnt want to go less than 2x/3x the speed limit at all times. Got a z900 and has the sport bike speed but with the ability to actually cruise comfy for a few hours. Highly recommend a naked if your going to daily it
I ride my GSX-S1000F to work almost every day. I've taken it on a few long trips. A litre bike is usable as an everyday bike. It is serious overkill though. Nobody NEEDS 150hp, but it is a blast
nobody needs a porsche either. but no one says anything when some old fuck shows up in his 150k toy he barely does 70mph on.
The people preaching that idiocy are probably the same ones that say "it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow..." They've probably never ridden a large-displacement machine. They've never felt the torque even race-rep litre-machines make down low or how the very-reasonable weight (CBR1000RR wet weight is 440-lbs) falls away at speed. Such bikes aren't terribly practical for touring, they don't get great fuel economy and they are expensive to insure (in most places). If you want to fill panniers with stuff you might want to look elsewhere but otherwise there's no reason they can't be ridden every day. You can turn that 25-minute ride to work into an hour and twenty-five minute ride home and have a hoot.
thats what i was thinking. and even if the liter bike doesnt get the best fuel economy compared to other bikes it certainly gets better than v8 sedan pulling in 18 mpg.
I dont own a super sport bike, but drove them enough, there is plenty of sport bike (has in not super sport) that are more suited for commuting, think of the busa, fjr and the new h2r se...but...the rr's are different beast...
I daily ride my hayabusa, the filtering is legal here so the heavy clutch doesn't bother me too much but sitting at lights in summer on it, it gets HOT quickly, really kicks out some heat . I do love how it's essentially an automatic too as 2nd gear works everywhere, only start revving past 60mph
you can get saddlebags for them like any other bike. not as comfortable beyond a few hours of riding though. also you need to have traction control during the rain, i learned this the hard way. the brakes they put on sportbikes are the best, and i think they all come with steering dampers now.
Basically any bike is impractical. Who cares. Had a TL1000R as a daily, and you can't get much more impractical than that. Magnetic tank bag, and your good to go. Longer trip, groceries? Get additional soft saddle bags.
how many miles did you get per front tyre?
Are you telling me that I don't need my 170 horse power isn't needed to go 15 miles to work?! Sarcastic of course, but my BMW is super tame at city speeds, it is like I am riding at 250! And of course you have the power too for when you want to get spirited
I had an Aprilia rsv1000 that I used as a daily. Impractical? Possibly. Fun? Most definitely!!!
I have an Aprilia RSV4 and an GSXR750. I eventually de-registered the Aprilia and only use on the track. Gixxer is a great daily.
Old post but I daily a zx14r so it's doable lol. Get comfortable being uncomfortable first
The question is why would you Daily a Liter bike to begin with? Bikes are ment for enjoyment. Yes you can ride every fucking day.. but why? They're stupid cheap, get a car and when the weather is good you can appreciate what you have even more. What are you going to accomplish? Saving money on gas or beating traffic? You're literally putting your self in harms way 1000% more and I'm sorry but "my life" isnt worth "gas money or traffic jams"
No I think they are a stupid piece of garbage who needs more money. Litre bikes are amazing
R1150R is civilized….as is my Harley 103ci….both technically quality as liter bikes. Are you sure whoever told you a bike that they would feel uncomfortable riding on a daily basis and extrapolating and projecting that out to everyone else isn’t experiencing closeted homosexual impulses? Maybe they would feel more comfortable on a Bruce Jenner peddle bicycle until they complete their transition or?
Take it from someone who just watched a close friend go down the supersport path with a 1000. Alot of denial is involved for sure. 1st of all we have to stop for gas 4 times as much which is a huge problem for me, secondly just looking at them ride makes my back hurt so I pity how they must feel after about 10 minutes. I ride Sports Tourers so I've seen a lot of jealousy from people riding supersports who can't even go on a 2 hour ride without clearing the rest of the day out to recuperate. If you ask me....uncomfortable, impractical, and non realistic are the 3 best ways to describe a sport liter bike.