Honda CBR600RR vs CBR929RR vs CBR 954RR?

Question

I've always been into cars, but I got into dirtbikes last year and I'm trying to get into street bikes. Trying to find a good bike thats user friendly, good handling, and a somewhat good beginner bike. I dont want anything less than a 600, but I've narrowed it to these three. In the North American market, which of these three is easiest to find parts for, which one is the least problematic and which one shows the most manufacturer faults? which is easiest to maintain and which one has the best handling? Which of these three is the hardest to come across and which is the easiest? How much would I expect to pay for one of each and last but not least, what are the 0-60 and 1/4 mile times for these. I know someone is gonna reccomend the 1000 but I dont need that just yet, to be honest, probably too much power for me right now, just want something good to start with. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

No one is going to recommend the 1000cc of any brand for a first road bike, no matter how much dirt experience.

Nor will any with a bit of sense suggest a 600.

All the information you ask for is available in the regular rags.



I suggest starting your journey with researching a license, which you must have to ride any bike.

The Basic course is not required everywhere, but it is a good start on learning the rudiments.



The question shows as asked from the UK, but the profile says NY....

so I picked this: http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/motorcycles.htm

Answer 2

Asking this sort of question in a European forum gets everybody reading it shaking their heads slowly whilst 'tutting'. We simply DO NOT do that sort of stuff over here. And I'm very surprised that America allows it to happen in this day and age.



You're too inexperienced for any of those bikes. And you're maybe too stupid to even realise it. Doesn't matter what anyone here says, you'll probably go ahead and get one anyway - you won't listen to reason. Your biggest problem is your vanity; buying a standard, low performance bike is out of the question, right? It has to be a supersport bike for the image. Fair enough. You will likely die on the thing. They're fast, twitchy and don't take prisoners - make a mistake on a sport bike and the bike will react to your mistake faster than you can react to rectify. Let me give you a simple example - you're approaching a corner too fast (you will) and you pull the front brake a little bit too much, locking the front wheel. On an ER500, you'd think "oops, locked the wheel" and release it and the bike will steady itself and you can apply the brake again. Do the same on a CBR600RR or similar and the front wheel will have washed out before you know what's happened, you'll be sliding wide on the left bend (on the floor) wondering if anything's coming the other way while your bike is grinding itself away. With 000's of miles and a few years experience, you would have controlled it and maybe just needed a change of underwear, with NO experience of sport bikes, you WILL NOT control it...



...think small, start small, ride small. Get several thousand miles of experience (time is irrelevant) on a small bike and then make more informed choice of larger machine. It's the only way if you want to keep riding for years to come.

Answer 3

600RR is the best road bike of these three forgetting rider ability. The Blades will be better on the track with a race quality rider and tires to match. The big bikes try to highside when on the gas with road tires which limits progress. The 600 allows earlier throttle openings with confidence resulting in more speed and safety point to point. Plus they come with a steering damper standard (the blade needs it), less tire wear, better fuel economy and more street cred when you destroy all comers on your favourite bends (which you will if you are a good rider). Keep it standard to help avoid upsetting residents (with noise) and aid in police evasion (not that they care). There are three types of rider that own bikes like these, the slow (nervous), the good (fast & don't crash) and the dead.

A rider I worked with had a sensible bike (Thundercat) when the 600RR came out, he was older than me (about 30) and was handing out lectures to me and my mate (I had the R6 he had the R1) because we were carving everyone up on our favourite roads and word was getting around.

A month later he bought the 600RR, a week later he got sucked into sport bike performance and handling before going under a bus at an estimated 140mph. The road was closed for a day and painted red!!

Another (sensible 37 year old) mate bought an R6, he too had been scolding my riding after coming out with me. Within a week he was 140 here 150 there doing dodgy overtakes I wouldn't dream of.

These bikes are capable and suck you into a different world where you can feel invincible, it's not about how fast you go but where and when. As long as you keep your head screwed on the 600's are the safest, sharpest bits of kit out there, but the performance can be as addictive as crack cocaine. Big acceleration, high corner speeds, huge deceleration and 100mph wheelies pinging it up in 2nd off the clutch are awesome and was the norm in my day. Younger riders in general these days are a bit boring really.



Whatever you buy if you have no idea about tires the Michelin Pilot Powers are the best general sports tire, ideally go for a 2CT rear, I like the standard single compound fronts as the edges wear too quick on the duals.

Answer 4

Even the 600 will out-accelerate a $250,000 super-car. What makes you think that any of these are even remotely suitable for a novice street rider? Would you buy an F-16 as your first airplane?



Japanese motorcycles are more carefully designed and built than any cars you might be familiar with. NONE of these bikes display "manufacturer faults", none are problematic, none are hard to find parts for. ALL are easy to maintain, and have handling capabilities way beyond your abilities both now and into the foreseeable future.

All of these bikes have 0-60 times under 4 seconds, and 1/4 mile times in the 11-second range. The limitation to these times is not power, but how hard one can accelerate without wheelying over backwards.

Answer 5

Dont go for the 600"s as a beginner as you will come a cropper,as these machines are incredibly more powerful than you realise ? Start off on an old 250 because if you drop it as you will,wont cost you an arm & a leg. It will take you about a year and a half to get used to traffic conditions,style of riding and general awareness of drivers on the road, once you feel you have attained this then go for the 600.

Answer 6

And we have another candidate for a posthumous Darwin Award.



First off, don't get me wrong. I am not anti Sport Bike. However, I strongly believe that the motorcycle should match the skill level of the rider.



A Sport Bike like this is essentially a street legal racing bike. Getting this motorcycle for your first bike is like getting a Formula 1 race car for you first car. A very bad idea. Any decent Sport Bike can go from zero to deadly faster than you can say "Oh Sh**!".



Take a walk through your local salvage yard. I bet you will see several newer Sport Bikes with less than 5000 miles with the forks driven up into the engine. These were once owned by young inexperienced riders like you that thought a sleek sexy Sport Bike was the only bike to ride. Think about the road rash and broken bones the riders of these bikes had to endure.



A recent report from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) found that teenagers riding super-sport motorcycles were than four times as likely to get into a crash than an older rider.



Do this instead. Get an older used Standard or Cruiser style bike in about the 500cc range. A Standard or Cruiser type bike will be much more forgiving to a novice like you. A 500cc Standard or Cruiser won't be so fast that it will scare the crap out of you but will be fast enough that you won't get bored too quickly.



Learn on this bike. Make your mistakes. You will make mistakes. Most new riders will lay their first bike down at least once. Ask yourself this. Which bike would you rather lay down? An older Cruiser or a nice shiny expensive new Sport Bike.



Another thing about a nice shiny expensive new Sport Bike. These bikes have lots of easily broken but expensive to repair plastic parts. Laying a Sport Bike down, even at low speed, will get very expensive, very fast.



After at least 1 year of riding this starter bike, you can sell it. If you take good care of it and don't beat the crap out of it, you won't lose much money on the sale. You can then put this money towards your next bike. Even a Sport Bike if this is what turns you on.



One final word about when it gets time to move up to a Sport Bike. Sport Bikes are generally owned by young riders who think they are racers on racing bikes. They tend to beat the crap out of their motorcycles. So if you want to get a Sport Bike, get a new one.



As for insurance, use some common sense. Insurance companies keep detailed statistics on all accident claims. They know from experience that young inexperienced riders are high risk. They also know exactly which bikes are fast. Add together a young, inexperienced, male rider, on a fast bike, and insurance is going to be expensive.



Ride Safe - Have Fun



Always remember this. On a motorcycle stupid hurts.

Answer 7

None are suitable for a first road bike no matter what sort of riding God you think they are. They are all too extreme.

Sorry can't coment on the parts and prices as you have posted this in the UK and Ireland section save to say over here in the UK the parts are easy to come by and all are reliable.

Answer 8

let me put it this way...how many dirt bikes have you ridden that go 0-60 in 3.2 seconds?....



start off with something smaller, have you considered a cbr400? it will be cheap as chips to insure and you'll be able to learn on it much better

Answer 9

For handling 600RR. They are very easy to come buy.

I would suggest you ask this question on 600rr.net There are very knowledgeable people on the site who can help you with Honda.