One of the age old questions..............................

Next year sometime in the spring, I will be purchasing another motorcycle. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my 550, but my biggest issue with that bike is that it does not have enough top end. By that I mean in 6th gear my bike is spinning at 6k rpm going down I-75 (70 mph). So I would like to get a bike that firstly has more balls, because who doesnt want a faster bike, and secondly a bike that I can cruise at 70, yet still be able to kick it down a gear and get going.

So................... should i buy a new bike or fix an old bike? When i say new bike I mean something newer than 2000-01 with less than 10k miles. So my new bike choice would be a GSXR 750, and i thought maybe the old bike could maybe be a Seca Turbo or something comparable. Any suggestions from anyone out there?

 

Well, i'll help you out.
I know ur in college so money is a factor
you're thinking of a sport bike above 00-01, so you're thinking about spending 4K or so
If you're looking for speed and power, ill start from the bottom of the price rand and work my way up
1. xj1100, surely enough power, will hit 150 if i believe, my friend has one that runs really poorly, im sure he'll sell it for 600 or so, actually its an xs100, same thing. but if you want one ready to go, ur lookin at 1500
2.vmax, You can start at around 2500, and got past 4K, I would recommend mid 90's or so, this would be my first choice
3. mid 90's 600 rocket. Now, they are fast enough, sensible insurance, i think. BUT they SCREAM 90's styling, with lots of purple, greens, oranges, and pinkish stuff, so unless you're sportin a flat top or jean suit, if you buy one, either peel off the decals and get it painted, actually the seca II is a good looking bike that i think of it, those range from 1500-2500
4. ok so now we're up to modern day 600's I like em, but they're expensive at the get go, my uncle got a STEAL getting an 01 gixxer with 14K miles at 3K, he talked the guy down 1600!!! now my uncle makes about 45-50K and all he can barely afford is plpd on the bike, and you'll ant to upgrade with a 600 smacks yosh exhaust, cdi box, so on and so forth. also with those bikes, you'll be tempted to pull the front wheel up, so on and so forth.
so i would reccomment the 1100 or a v max

no v twins

 

Re: One of the age old questions............................

As you so aptly worded it in another post schooter, why would i want "a junky sounding water pump"? lol. If i could get my hands on an xj 1100, that would be really cool. I would be interested in your friends bike, but when you say runs really poorly, what exactly do you mean by that?

I also have seen a couple of those mid 90's Seca II's while looking at the bikes for sale on the main page. They are really sharp, and im sure insurance would be fairly reasonable.

 

Re: One of the age old questions............................

I believe if you want to ride something that isn't turning 6Krpm on the freeway you need to get something that's a V. V-Twin or V-4. As far as I know all the inline fours turn lots of revs.

 

change sprocket sizes. stock on mine 6th gear was about a 1 to 1 match with road speed. i jumped one tooth on just the rear the bike still has plenty of get up and go plus i'm 1000 rpm's below my speedo. little nicer at 65-70 but it's not often that i cruise at that speed it's usually just a 3-4 mile run then off to where i'm going.

 

Re: One of the age old questions............................

um, am I mistaken, or does the 550 like every other maxim NOT have a 6th gear? I remember all my maxims having only five gears

As far as revs are concerned, if you want an inexpensive fast and powerful bike, look at the older magnas. My 86 absolutely rips. I love it for it's top end, but my maxim x will eat it for lunch in the turns. That v4 in my magna is one bad little girl.

 

The (chain drive) XJ550s, Seca and Max, had six-speed gearboxes.

For the 550, 6K is "fast cruise." I can get my 550 Seca (stock gearing) "feathered" and holding at 6200rpm or so with almost NO throttle opening at all and just hum along, nearly silently, at that speed. (Approx 72mph.) It actually takes MORE throttle to run at 5500.

The Seca II was a chain-driven 600, it would be turning comparable revs.

 

My 82 550 Maxim hits redline in 3rd gear and 65mph. It also runs 1 for 1 (5000 rpm = 50 mph) in 5th gear. If I'm cruising at 65 in 5th and drop it into 4th and open it up I'm doing 75 damn near quicker than I can check the tach. I'll leave the need for more speed/power than that to you young studs.

 

At the risk of being shouted at - if you like road/sport bikes - I really like the VFR 750 Hondas (They might be called "Interceptors" in your neck of the woods).
The cam gear drive models, not chain. They sound lovely although I heard the rear suspension linkage is "Complicated".

I like my bike (Badged an FJ in the States) but it has similar gearing to the 550 and 650, so does sound "Busy" at 70mph, although it is a 6 speeder.

 

Uh my 600 CBR runs 6000 RPM on the highway too - it just revs out to 14,000 RPM.

For a 2000 model sport bike... you're looking at 3000-4500. Definitely look around as some markets are steeper than others.