Ultimate Thai Street Bike?

[madjbs]

Which one is it, for all around riding, considering price, fun and of course performance?

I am swinging towards the Z1000...

The Street Triple nearly qualifies but at 690,000thb it is still too expensive for a middle weight.

[wana]

z1000 would be my choice but its a bit more pricey than the rest ,not exactly practical either but if we wanted practicaity

we could all just get a 110cc wave

[madjbs]

Yeah a bit more pricey but still reasonable for a litre bike from Japan I think. Sounds and looks awesome too!

[wana]

Yeah a bit more pricey but still reasonable for a litre bike from Japan I think. Sounds and looks awesome too!

i dont think any of the 650 kawa bikes can come close , the fz6 would be my second pick and then the ducatti third

fourth and fifth is a toss between the ninja and er6 ,i prefer the looks of the er6 personaly so id have them in that order

[madjbs]

I think I would get the Duke at 400,000 over the FZ6 at 490,000. Only worry with the M795 is it is quite small and supposedly not very comfy for tall people.

[BigBikeBKK]

Z1000 is a great bike but really ought to have ABS for Bangkok's greasy streets...

Is Yammie still selling the Fizzer 6 in Thailand? At the BKKBikeFest they said it's being replaced by the FZ8 but not sure when they're making the switch.

Since you are considering imports in your comparison, why not include the Ducati Hypermotard 796- that's a fun urban assault vehicle!

KTM's Baby Duke is a bit overpriced but would also be a fun city bike IMO. The bigger KTMs are great too, but really spendy.

Personally I think the ER6n is a good choice because it's cheap so you don't have to worry about bumping your way through traffic or parking it where it might get dinged.

Then again, a D-Tracker with a big bore kit is pretty darn fun in the city too and again, cheap as chips.

Hmmm... too many choices!

[madjbs]

Too many choices but none which really hit the spot for me...

When I think rationally about it, for street riding, touring and just riding around town and taking into consideration comfort, cost and performance, you can't really beat the Versys....

How much better does a ER6n really ride on the road compared to a Versys?

I'm keeping my F650GS which is my light dual purpose touring machine, I will probably get a full on off road bike first and then I would like to get a bike for street riding and road touring, which is what this is thread is about.

Edited March 7, 2012 by madjbs

[madjbs]

FZ8 Fazer looks really good. But I'm guessing it will be double the price of a ER6n, at least, not sure if it would be worth it.

[nikster]

How much better does a ER6n really ride on the road compared to a Versys?

It doesn't. Well OK it does but only once you hit 160kph, after that the ER-6n has considerably more pull... but in BKK I am guessing that's pretty irrelevant unless you have a death wish...

I am waiting for the Hypermotard 795 or whatever they're going to call the "Asian Market" model to be produced here... probably another few years.

I also like the idea of a souped up D-Tracker - Tony let me know how your big bore KLX performs...

Edited March 7, 2012 by nikster

[kawapower]

I pick up my Z1000 tomorrow, it looks awesome it is so comfortable and it is super fast, rule out the Ducati as it is the most uncomfortable bike I have ever ridden, ER6n is again awesome and a great price, as for the ABS point, it all depends on how you drive, in over 40 yrs of driving bikes I have never needed the aid of ABS, if you drive very fast and to close you need ABS, I never drive in the wet if possible so no need for expensive ABS, if it does rain I slow down considerably!!

[BigBikeBKK]

I pick up my Z1000 tomorrow, it looks awesome it is so comfortable and it is super fast, rule out the Ducati as it is the most uncomfortable bike I have ever ridden, ER6n is again awesome and a great price, as for the ABS point, it all depends on how you drive, in over 40 yrs of driving bikes I have never needed the aid of ABS, if you drive very fast and to close you need ABS, I never drive in the wet if possible so no need for expensive ABS, if it does rain I slow down considerably!!

ABS has never saved me, but I sure do like to know it's there. You never know what might pop out in front of you in Bangkok- pedestrian, scooter, dog, etc. Like a good helmet, ABS is something you hope you'll never have to use, but it's comforting to know it's there.

[BigBikeBKK]

I pick up my Z1000 tomorrow, it looks awesome it is so comfortable and it is super fast, rule out the Ducati as it is the most uncomfortable bike I have ever ridden, ER6n is again awesome and a great price, as for the ABS point, it all depends on how you drive, in over 40 yrs of driving bikes I have never needed the aid of ABS, if you drive very fast and to close you need ABS, I never drive in the wet if possible so no need for expensive ABS, if it does rain I slow down considerably!!

Double post, sorry

Edited March 7, 2012 by BigBikeBKK

[thai4me]

I pick up my Z1000 tomorrow, it looks awesome it is so comfortable and it is super fast, rule out the Ducati as it is the most uncomfortable bike I have ever ridden, ER6n is again awesome and a great price, as for the ABS point, it all depends on how you drive, in over 40 yrs of driving bikes I have never needed the aid of ABS, if you drive very fast and to close you need ABS, I never drive in the wet if possible so no need for expensive ABS, if it does rain I slow down considerably!!

Only problem with the z1000 is the wind factor when you take her up to speeds.

Also the 15 liter tank is a bit puny when you only get about 12km to a liter of benzene.

[IanForbes]

I thought the question was about a STREET bike. The little 125 scooters are the best for the streets. They get up to speed quickly, They park anywhere, they are inexpensive to run and maintain, they last forever, they zip in and out of traffic better than anything and just about anyone can ride one.

If the question was about a ROAD BIKE then you guys are better than me in answering that. I'm quite happy with my D Tracker motard. It's as nimble as the scooters and much easier through bumpy sections. And, it's far better on highways, but not nearly as good as the bigger bikes. However, I don't really WANT to ride much faster than 110 kmph. There are just far too many hazards on Thai roads.

[rizla]

Here you go ....the ultimate..

But out of the ones you`ve mentioned, for a street bike (it`s in the name) The STREET TRIPLE, well worth the extra if you were planning on the Z1000...

[burnsie]

I pick up my Z1000 tomorrow, it looks awesome it is so comfortable and it is super fast, rule out the Ducati as it is the most uncomfortable bike I have ever ridden, ER6n is again awesome and a great price, as for the ABS point, it all depends on how you drive, in over 40 yrs of driving bikes I have never needed the aid of ABS, if you drive very fast and to close you need ABS, I never drive in the wet if possible so no need for expensive ABS, if it does rain I slow down considerably!!

Call yourself a biker!! You won't ride in the rain...crikey...

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[pauljones]

I thought the question was about a STREET bike. The little 125 scooters are the best for the streets. They get up to speed quickly, They park anywhere, they are inexpensive to run and maintain, they last forever, they zip in and out of traffic better than anything and just about anyone can ride one.

If the question was about a ROAD BIKE then you guys are better than me in answering that. I'm quite happy with my D Tracker motard. It's as nimble as the scooters and much easier through bumpy sections. And, it's far better on highways, but not nearly as good as the bigger bikes. However, I don't really WANT to ride much faster than 110 kmph. There are just far too many hazards on Thai roads.

Exactly right.

[NormanW]

It's got to be one of these surely on price but maybe not on power???

[madjbs]

I thought the question was about a STREET bike. The little 125 scooters are the best for the streets. They get up to speed quickly, They park anywhere, they are inexpensive to run and maintain, they last forever, they zip in and out of traffic better than anything and just about anyone can ride one.

If the question was about a ROAD BIKE then you guys are better than me in answering that. I'm quite happy with my D Tracker motard. It's as nimble as the scooters and much easier through bumpy sections. And, it's far better on highways, but not nearly as good as the bigger bikes. However, I don't really WANT to ride much faster than 110 kmph. There are just far too many hazards on Thai roads.

Exactly right.

Don't think so, as you can see from my first post I am looking for a road bike for messing around on in the city, day rides and a bit of touring. I am not interested in scooters and the D-Tracker is far too underpowered.The Hypermotard would be a nice option when it comes out, but right now the Versys is the rational decision if it is as good on the road as an ER6 below 160kmh, which I rarely would go above.

[madjbs]

Here you go ....the ultimate..

But out of the ones you`ve mentioned, for a street bike (it`s in the name) The STREET TRIPLE, well worth the extra if you were planning on the Z1000...

The Street Triple is just too expensive at 690,000thb, they only cost 330,000thb in the UK so I couldn't bring myself to pay more than double for the same thing here.

Edited March 8, 2012 by madjbs

[BigBikeBKK]

Here you go ....the ultimate..

But out of the ones you`ve mentioned, for a street bike (it`s in the name) The STREET TRIPLE, well worth the extra if you were planning on the Z1000...

The Street Triple is just too expensive at 690,000thb, they only cost 330,000thb in the UK so I couldn't bring myself to pay more than double for the same thing here.

All imports are expensive in Thailand, but some brands jack up the prices more than others... The Z1000 MSRP is $10,799.00 USD back home but sells for 585k Baht or roughly US$19500 here in Thailand, so yeah, I'd have a hard time justifying payment almost double the price I'd pay back home as well. But TiT, if you want to play with an import, you gotta pay!

[BigBikeBKK]

I thought the question was about a STREET bike. The little 125 scooters are the best for the streets. They get up to speed quickly, They park anywhere, they are inexpensive to run and maintain, they last forever, they zip in and out of traffic better than anything and just about anyone can ride one.

If the question was about a ROAD BIKE then you guys are better than me in answering that. I'm quite happy with my D Tracker motard. It's as nimble as the scooters and much easier through bumpy sections. And, it's far better on highways, but not nearly as good as the bigger bikes. However, I don't really WANT to ride much faster than 110 kmph. There are just far too many hazards on Thai roads.

Exactly right.

Don't think so, as you can see from my first post I am looking for a road bike for messing around on in the city, day rides and a bit of touring. I am not interested in scooters and the D-Tracker is far too underpowered.The Hypermotard would be a nice option when it comes out, but right now the Versys is the rational decision if it is as good on the road as an ER6 below 160kmh, which I rarely would go above.

The Versys handles far better than the ER6 / Ninja 650 thanks to its higher spec suspension

[madjbs]

I guess we always compare to our home countries. The Z1000 in the UK costs 430,000thb, so that is only 160,000thb less than here. The Triumph in the UK is 360,000thb less than here, which is just crazy.

It's not only the mark up in price but whether or not the bike is actually worth it. I think the Z1000 is probably worth 590,000 but I don't think the Street Triple, as good as it is is worth 690,000! I guess you earn it back on resale but I keeps bikes for a long time and I think second hand values are going to continue to drop over the next few years as more and more bikes come at reasonable prices.

[madjbs]

The Versys handles far better than the ER6 / Ninja 650 thanks to its higher spec suspension

There is not much point in buying the "road" models then, apart from the extra power...All my bikes have been adventure style bikes, I just kind of fancied something a bit different.

[NormanW]

Versys it is then

[madjbs]

Indeed, but I want an off-road bike first!

Either a KTM Freeride 350, KLX 250 or second hand WR250 or something...

By that time we might know more about the Hypermotard or even a CBF600....

Edited March 8, 2012 by madjbs

[JonnyF]

I'd have a street triple. You can pick them up a couple of years old for less than 500k and they're great all rounders - light, powerful, good looking, sound awesome. Bit windy at high speed I'd imagine but they're one of the only naked bikes that still look good with a (smallish) screen at the front.

Best value is the er6n no doubt. I quite fancy a 2011 ABS model, they're even better value at 12-18 months old when they dip below 200k but I just need to find an exhaust that can make them sound nice.

[NormanW]

I'd have a street triple. You can pick them up a couple of years old for less than 500k and they're great all rounders - light, powerful, good looking, sound awesome. Bit windy at high speed I'd imagine but they're one of the only naked bikes that still look good with a (smallish) screen at the front.

Best value is the er6n no doubt. I quite fancy a 2011 ABS model, they're even better value at 12-18 months old when they dip below 200k but I just need to find an exhaust that can make them sound nice.

Leo Vince:

[madjbs]

But listen to this!

[Kwasaki]

But listen to this!

The 4 inline sweet sound, so it's the Z1000 then.

Edited March 9, 2012 by Kwasaki