Kawboy1647545515

I'd go for a wrecked Busa or an unwrecked ZX12 in your price range. You could run low 11s letting off at half track then and both are in your price range with the newer models out.

As some others have said, I've seen a guy foul out his plugs in a few tanks with that stuff on a mostly stock bike.

Had an '82 T/A LG4 auto......... Had an '82 Pace Car Z-28 worked 350 4-speed (original LG4)......... Had an '87 L98 IROC auto converted to 383/T56 combo with 150 shot of NOS and ZR1 wheels covering Baer brakes. Still have some parts laying around........

The new KTM R8 looks and sounds incredible. The SV-1000 is a good bike and better in every way than the Superhawk. If Honda still makes the RC-51 it is a better, faster, more comfortable V-twin Honda. There are some other Italian V-twins like MV-Agusta and such too. I used to have a Superhawk and honestly didn't find much appealing about it. Power like a 600, weight like a Busa, horrible factory suspension, terrible gas mileage, vibration everywhere and terrible resale.

$195 for a trackday at Mid-O $300 for used leathers $150 for decent boots $50 for decent gloves Gas, food, lodging if needed........... All this to ride a Ninja 250 on the track?? Not for me, it's a commuter that almost resembles a sportbike, I'd ride one and enjoy the 70 mpg it gets but I'll never take it to the track. I would say that everyone who owns a Supersport bike should do a track day and learn the bike.

My suggestion would be don't mess with it and enjoy the great gas mileage and learning to ride. When you are ready get something else. If you absolutely have to modify it, get the suspension set for your weight. Performance mods will likely have little to no gain and will hurt your mpg.

Have you tried a Mity-Vac? Makes one person bleeding a snap.

Every new tire feels 50% better than the old worn one you took off........I'll second the Pilot Power 2CT's though. Sorry - hit the Edit button instead of the quote button... Carry on. -Vince

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Bump, lowered price.

You can use the 2 amp you have to charge it. The battery tender is more for maintaining and you can get a very cheap one at Harbor Freight. I have an extra and would probably trade ya but I'm 2 hours away from Columbus and they are very cheap at HF.

keepin it

I have a free front tire you can have but I'm about 1.5 hours from Columbus so it's not a huge deal. $25 is pretty much the going rate and even though I used to have tire spoons, breaker, and balancer, I wouldn't do any tires but my own because it's to easy to scratch up a wheel.

In that case, I have an SV-650s that is a great beginner bike and fun for even experienced riders. It's in perfect shape and gets 55 mpg. $2750 It's going back to Indiana and getting sold for sure in two weeks so let me know if you are interested.

If you do a cost analysis, you probably won't save any money by the time you insure and plate another vehicle and buy gear. Most of the gas savings will be offset by the fact that bikes (especially sportbikes) eat tires. Even a 600 will likely only get 6000 miles max on a set of $300 tires.

I've seen this on bikes when the choke is sticking. Is your exhaust discolored? The other thought I have is it could be electrical, if your ignition system is finding a ground somewhere. This may be just starting when it's warm but may get worse. I think the choke or another carb problem is more likely though.

Books - Keith Code "A Twist of the Wrist II" Magazines - IMHO they are all fluff and push whatever is new and being advertised in them. The European magazines are better but still not worth buying.

It only came loose shortly after I bought the bike, I suspect it wasn't torqued correctly during set-up. I torqued it according to spec and it was fine from then on. Now the rest, I had to check often.

FWIW: the 636 version was legal in WERA where I believe it did quite well. 600s there are legal to I believe 650cc and pretty much all the top bikes are running over 600cc so you can't call it a "cheater" bike there. The '03/04 bikes were also seen competing very well in the 750 class (including AMA at the time). This is nothing new though as the R6 did very well in this class too.

I had an '05 until recently. I loved everything about the bike and never had a problem with it. I felt it was the best looking and performing 600 for the street when I bought it and still feel that way today. Known common problems: Coolant leaks from the radiator overflow hose. It kinda weeps out through the top of the hose. You can see deposits usually on the radiator and sometimes the block. This is harmless and in 7000 miles mine was never down on coolant. Injector tick. This isn't so much a problem as it is annoying to some people. The injectors are loud but this is normal. Undertail heat. UT exhaust may look cool but man is it a cooker sometimes. As an additional bonus, your passengers will smell like exhaust fumes after even a short ride. Think of this as marking your territory, unless you give dudes a ride.......then it's just not cool. The bike's operating temp is pretty high, this is normal, but a little odd to me at first. Bolts vibrate loose. In the time I owned the bike, I had to retighten just about anything I could reach with the plastic on. This includes the steering head nut (scary). I lost a few bolts over the years, including 3 out of the 4 that hold the front fender on in one ride. The foot pegs are known to break in the smallest impacts, this includes if the bike falls over in your driveway (which it likely will). I'd consider aftermarket pegs although I had a contradictory experience to this one when I lowsided the bike and found the pegs to be perfectly fine.

I gotta agree, the pic needs work but for an 8 year old showing interest it's pretty good. I'd also start her on a cheap point and shoot and let her work on framing and picking backgrounds. If she gets good at that and is still interested, move up to an SLR or D-SLR and that's a few models old and then she can work on f-stops and shutter speed to get the picture looking great. Get her a camera that does black and white too so she can explore that. It's actually easy and somewhat cheap to develop your own black and white film and pics and you can do a lot with a pic in the darkroom. Photochop existed way before Photoshop did.

Yeah it's the old, "my bike is faster in the magazine than yours" trick. I've rode old R6's, new R6's, 636's, and even a Honda here or there and I know that with a fair start are equal bikes, the 636 destroys the other bikes in roll-ons. It also puts up 5-8 more horsepower on the dyno back to back, even more than the mighty new R6. I will say the build quality is better on the Honda or Yamaha though, but the Kawasaki is dependable and goes like stink. In the end, all these bikes are so good, pick the one that you like and fits you best. Back to the original subject..........that 10r is so ugly it had to sneak up on it's shipping crate.

It is very ugly and the latest magazine liter bike shootout it didn't do great in any category........yet they voted it first place. I don't get it, they rave about the engine yet is finished last in the roll-on, lowest mph at the dragstrip, and dyno'd like the Yamaha which the same writers said "if you like 600s, this is the bike for you". I think Kawasaki stole some Suzuki styling people during that time they were merged.

The late 90s, early 2000s Superhawk are V-twins. VFR series bikes are V4s. If you are looking for a good platform that's cheap look at CBR600 F3 series. The F3s had a lot of suspension and engine upgrades over the older 600s and are very capable bikes. Any honda with a 750 cc engine is probably rock solid reliable since that basic design has been around since the mid 70s. One of the most popular platforms in the timeframe you specified was the Honda Hawk. It was a 500cc (I believe) twin that has a huge following in road racing and street riding. For that reason, don't bet on it being as cheap as you may think.

Based on history, it will spend more time in the shop than being rode. They are fun bikes but as a beginner I would avoid it because the time it will likely spend broke down will ruin the whole new ownership experience. I would recommend a late 70s or early 80s small Honda for a starter bike but if you have to have a sportbike, go with an SV from Suzuki.