I had to choose between the 600r and the GS as my first bike. Although I'm not disappointed with the GS, the 600r will most likely be my next bike. I've only read good things about them, they do seem fairly hard to come across. Dealer usually only have R6's in stock. I've actually gone to a couple dealerships where I had to explain what a 600r was:

Dealer: "you mean R6?"
Me: "No, 600R"
Dealer: "When did they make it?"
Me: "They still make it..."

Quote from: Yankee Punker on July 29, 2006, 08:47:48 AM
I don't get teased much about riding a 05' GS500F so a Katana can't be any worse,

actually its much worse. the katana is universally ridiculed as one of the ugliest bikes ever made. not THE ugliest but right up there.

Quote from: common sense on July 31, 2006, 11:11:21 AM
I've actually gone to a couple dealerships where I had to explain what a 600r was:

Dealer: "you mean R6?"
Me: "No, 600R"
Dealer: "When did they make it?"
Me: "They still make it..."

can you explain what a 600R is to me? I've never heard of one. Ive heard of 6R's (kawasaki 636), 600RR (my honda), R6, 650R (the new kawasaki) and the yzf600 (might be what you're referring to as a 600r?) but never heard of a 600R.

Yes, the 600r is the YZF600R, aka the Thundercat.

ah, not the way its generally known in the US (or the western US). its the yzf600 here. Not thundercat (sounds awesome) or 600r.

Its full US nomenclature is YZF600R. Which causes endless confusion with the YZF600 R6 . Luckily in conversation usually you can get away with saying "YZF600" for the former and "R6" for the later.

"Thunder Cat" isn't its offical name here, its just been adopted by us...

The YZF600R as said before is an excellent all rounder bike. It is abit heavier than most of the sports bikes but i would class it more of a high performance tourer. Big comfy seat, Pillion seat is ok too. Its a pretty bike - except for that front headlight. . . My dad just sold his to a guy who was going to buy an R6 for his first bike (arghhh) he loves it. Plenty of power, very good handling, but alot less squidly than an r6 or gixxer 600.

The only problems i can think of with it is if they have high milage the rear suspension turns to a spongy mess and the rear shock could use upgrading if it does have high miles. Particularly if it was alot of two-up riding. Otherwisie i can sing nothing but praises for it. I nearly bought it off my dad before i got the zxr. Its never had a single mechanical problem while we owned it. 7ish years i would think. Great bike and seems like a very reasonable price. Ours sold with only 7k miles on the clock for £2300 thats in England so i would think 3k would be a good price for it.

The YZF 600R is a decent bike.... but all the ones I have ever seen are pigs.  Wide body, wide tank.     If I were in the market for non-race-ready sport bike then I would probably look at an F4i first since it has fuel injection and better looks (in my opinion).

As for the Katana...   they are weak bikes (compared to modern 600cc bikes).   They are sport TOURERs with the same power as an SV-650.  The stock rear tire is a 160.  They are comfy, though....easily fit tall people, long wheel base, *really* bright headlights, fuel gauge.   They dont' get much respect from the sportbike crowd, though.

Quote from: TarzanBoy on August 02, 2006, 08:37:19 PM
The YZF 600R is a decent bike.... but all the ones I have ever seen are pigs.  Wide body, wide tank.   

Compared to what? A GS500? Well yeah... 

Quote
 If I were in the market for non-race-ready sport bike then I would probably look at an F4i first since it has fuel injection and better looks (in my opinion).

Probably same here. Though if you take long rides and such, the YZF is still better suited for "real life". And even though Honda came out with a blue F4i, its still not "better" enough to make me want to swap my Yamaha for it.

This looks like a good spot for a gratuitous YZF pic! 

Really like the 600r.  Either that or the ZZR600 will probably be my next bike (prob a year or two away).  The only thing really holding me back on the 600r is that I'm almost certain it uses a steel frame.  Don't know exactly why, but my mindset is that every bike I own after the gs will be aluminum framed.  I'm sure steel frames are fine, but I'm a total rust-o-phile (I actually wipe down the gs frame with gun oil and grease after each major cleaning  ) and aluminum just seems like one less hassle. 

Who knows, maybe suzuki will come out with a relatively inexpensive, up-to-date kick-ass replacement for the katana by the time i'm looking to upgrade .