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Sup, I'm a guy from Helsinki, Finland, born in 1992. My ride is a blue 1995 GSX600FS Kat which I bought for a whopping 1450€ ($1900) with 85.000km (53k miles) on the clock on July 17th. I've put a little over 2k km on it since then. Also a new set of tires (Shinko 011 Verge 120/70/17 front and 160/60/17 rear) because the old set (Bridgestone Battlax front and Michelin Pilot Roadsomethingsomething rear) had seen better days. This is my first proper motorcycle, my earlier ride was a 50cc scooter which I rode for 5 years during my teenager years. My little brother inherited it.
I bought the bike because my old car (a beater BMW) grenaded the clutch and I couldn't bother fixing it, so I sold it and bought a bike instead. A purchase I haven't (yet) regretted. I use it for everyday transportation and commuting (my longest commutes are about 30mins of highway) and it has worked flawlessly thus far. With gear good enough to keep water off my skin and the Northern chill off my bones paired with a new set of tires, the bike is a solid sports tourer and commuter. Lots of fun.
About the bike:
Pros:
Mixed:
Cons:
Looking forward to finding loads of great info (already found the Wiki!) and great stories, and eager to share my own.
I will do a project log / build diary sometime later, right now I'm in the middle of moving, so can't spend too much time with my bike.
I bought the bike because my old car (a beater BMW) grenaded the clutch and I couldn't bother fixing it, so I sold it and bought a bike instead. A purchase I haven't (yet) regretted. I use it for everyday transportation and commuting (my longest commutes are about 30mins of highway) and it has worked flawlessly thus far. With gear good enough to keep water off my skin and the Northern chill off my bones paired with a new set of tires, the bike is a solid sports tourer and commuter. Lots of fun.
About the bike:
Pros:
- Looks (I don't get the whole "lol teapot", I like the looks. A little dated, yes, but the design is from the 80's, what do you expect?)
- Double exhausts. My inner 12-year-old is gleeful. Also contributes to my appreciation of symmetry.
- Reliability and fixability (simple engineering everywhere, nothing flashy or high-tech. Oil-cooled whoop whoop!)
- Performance (mild enough not to get me killed, powerful enough to crack a smile at any time)
- Handling (agile yet manageable)
Mixed:
- Fuel economy. It's not bad, but it could always be better. I'm getting around 5.5L/100km (43MPG) during normal riding. 4L/100km (59MPG) would be more to my liking.
- Ergos. They're pretty good, just not always. Then again, I'm 190cm (6'3") tall, so it might not be the bike's fault.
- Availability of spare parts and aftermarket. General maintenance parts (brake pads, chains, sprockets etc. etc.) are easy to find and cheap, as are general aftermarket parts, but anything more specific is either expensive (fairings, even the shittiest Chinese knock-offs) or impossible to find (frame sliders, anyone???)
Cons:
- Suspension sucks from the factory. Can be fixed/remedied, though.
- Needs a repaint badly. Will do that in the winter among other cosmetic modification and touch-up.
- What underseat storage?
- That annoying engine vibration when cruising at around around 6-8k RPM. In 6th gear that means around 120km/h (75MPH), which is the maximum speed limit in Finland. So you either gotta go a little over the speed limit or well under. Guess which one I pick...
Looking forward to finding loads of great info (already found the Wiki!) and great stories, and eager to share my own.
I will do a project log / build diary sometime later, right now I'm in the middle of moving, so can't spend too much time with my bike.
how about getting some pics posted ? we LOVE pics on KR 
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