I initially wanted this bike for myself whenever I decided to trade in my R1... But it apparently isn't meant for me, my wife has laid claim to her Daytona 675....
It all started when I forced my wife to settle for an 07 ZZR600 as her step up from a Ninja 500. Her dream bike at the time was a CBR600rr... A bike I thought would be too much for either one of us to live with as a second bike... My bike at the time was still my Kat 600... The ZZR turns out to be just as fast as a CBR but not as expensive... At any rate, the CBR stayed on my wife's mind while she rode her new ZZR all the way up till it's demise with me as its pilot... It was totaled less than a year from new... only 5k miles on the odometer, but our first trip to Deals Gap included the late ZZR600 so it will go down in history...
Now that the ZZR was out her life she could go get her dream bike... Or could she....
The Motorcycle show came to town and we sat on ALL the bikes, just to make sure she still loved the CBR600rr even more that it was an all new model for 07...
ALL the bikes except Triumph.... They failed to make it to the show..
So to be fair we went to the Ducati/MV/BMW/Triumph dealership in Dallas.
The salesmen were great and the atmosphere was leaps and bounds better than my local dealer's hi pressure place...
There, we both sat on the 675 and revved the engine to get acquainted with it... It was in the showroom when I realized how well this bike looks compared to the 1098 and the MV F4.... In some respects the 675 looked better...$8,999 didn't hurt either compared to $25k for an MV...
Turns out the wife loves it more than a Honda.... She says you see Hondas everywhere... This bike's rarity appeals to her more than anything at this point...
3 days or so later we have one in our garage...
Now on to the review.
Looks speak for themselves.... It's drop-dead gorgeous.
Perfomance:
The engines 3cyl configuration means you don't have to rev it to the moon like an R6.... Nor does it redline as early as a twin...
A happy medium between the 4's and twins means a very flexible engine that will pull strongly out of slower corners w/out the need for a downshift... Basically, its got grunt....
Handling:
It feels as narrow as our ninja500... And it's a pretty light bike as well...
Narrow and Light = Flickable like no other bike I've ridden....
Add to the equation the stock Pirelli Super Corsa tires and you got some excellent grip to go with the flick.... Now on rainy days it might be a different story...
*Ergos...
This is where it falls short when compared to a CBR... or even my R1..
However the only concern is the seat height and slope of it... It feel like the rear is up too high and it tilts your body a bit forward... Maybe an adjustment would sort that feeling out...
The foot pegs are at a good distance... I can confirm this based only on the comfort level of my rehabilitating, surgically repaired knee and ankle when compared to the R1's pegs....
Overall this bike offers attributes that aren't traditionally grouped together... Inexpensive, Rare, and Top of the class in performance on the track....
Not to mention the steering damper and steel braided brake lines that are standard....
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