[ramblin-wreck]

So I was talking to an aquaintance yesterday (and a fellow LEO who should know better) and told him that I just got my "new" 650R. He immediately said that I shouldn't have gotten one because they are "really slow compared to a GSXR 600 or R6". Granted he rides a GSXR1000 but my thoughts are this. According to the specs I have seen a stock 650R does 0-60 in 3.8 seconds. Sure a liter bike might do it in 3 or a shade under but really 3.8 seconds is faster than all but the most expensive sports cars in the world. Saying a 650R is slow compared to a GSXR600 to me is like saying a 747 is slow compared to a F18. Sure 565 mph is slower that 800 but it's still pretty dang fast! Not to mention that I enjoy life (usually anyways) and have no desire to accelerate my demise by riding at sub-sonic speeds. Am I the only one who feels this way?

 

[1198Chezz]

You're not alone in this one, my neighbour has a 'busa and can probably exceed the top speed of my R in third gear, but, I'm not in that much of a rush. My R does everything I want it to, gets good mileage and I don't get raped by the insurance company. He's putting 2 rear tires on a season, I'm still on the originals at 14,000Km. I consider my R fast, 80Km/h to 150 in about 3 seconds passes most everything on the road.

 

[tagged99]

Honestly, coming from the liter bikes and the midsized high rev bikes my 650 is
a decision based on the change of fun style.
You can expect a non-rider to have the single mind set of "motorcycle = speed",
but it is a demonstration on ignorance for a bike rider to be that single minded,
in my opinion.
Hopefully ignorance that is curable with understanding there are different bikes
for different riding styles and desires.
They really get confused when you start talking dual sport, motard or anything
along the likes.
To them, it is dirt or street. Jump high or go fast.
Good luck with the educating. lol

 

[Green Rocket]

There's always a faster bike, no matter what you buy. But speed costs money and I didn't want to spend over $12,000 (GSXR600) on a bike to impress some buffoon who dares to call the 650R "slow".
Ask what kind of car he drives and I'll bet it could be called slow.

Guess some idiots will say anything to try to get a rise out of people.

 

[cefoskey]

off the line the 650 will out accelerate a gsxr600 to about 40-50mph, especially when ridden by an ignorant n00b squid type

 

[topgunz1]

Yes in the grand scheme of things they are "slow", but are still plenty quick and powered quite well for a street bike. I miss some of the comfort of the 650, but I am in love with the turning and braking abilities of my SS bike. It is all a trade off.

 

[cdrbrnr]

:soap:
I picked the 650 because:

1. Cheap insurance - for full coverage
2. Comfortable, short trips and distance
3. Known to be solid bikes that you can get lots of miles out of
4. Wicked fuel mileage
5. Lots of fun mods that won't break the bank
6. Fun and easy to work on
7. Looks good
8. Parts (tires etc) reasonably priced
9. Not something that everyone and his dog want to steal
10. More then fast enough to have fun and earn tickets if you want

Sure I could be a faster bike but why? This thing is 80 Km over the speed limit in no time. Everyday I ride is a great day, and it does not matter to me what kind of bike other people have. New, old, small, big, modded, not, just get out there be safe and live.

 

[Young at Heart]

So I was talking to an aquaintance yesterday (and a fellow LEO who should know better) and told him that I just got my "new" 650R. He immediately said that I shouldn't have gotten one because they are "really slow compared to a GSXR 600 or R6".

This reminds me of my hot rodding days when younger. Sometimes the operator has more to do with what really slow or fast is than the machine itself. Case in point; one of my friends spent over $3,000.00 in souping up his 72 Torino and he could never beat me in the quarter mile in my stock 71 Maverick with over 100,000 miles on it. I talk him into switching cars one night and let me tell you, his car was faaaaaaaast compared to mine and mine couldn't come close to beating his with the right driver.

I have yet come across any bike (regardless of size or type) on my daily rides that could go faster in a curve than my 650. I bet those on a GSXR 600 or R6 "are faster" in having to stop and take breaks due to their riding positions too!

 

[Hapmo650]

I prefer the flat torque curve of the 650 to the peaky 600s. I had a CBR600 and got tired of spinning it to the moon to get power out of it, had to always drop 2 or 3 gears to pass anything.

 

[aerythus]

The naked truth; it's all e-peen. Or M-peen in this case. I think you and the other posters hit the high points. Yes, it is slower, suspension and brakes aren't quite as good, but as Cefosky said, there are few bikes out there that will out perform it in the speeds that we all use every day and also happen to be legal. 90% of riders don't have the skill to push their bikes to take advantage of the "faster" SS's anyway, and those that do know enough do it on the track, not the damn street. Too many people buy SS bikes, go really fast in a straight line and the spend their time talking about how awesome sauce they are, how their bike is cool and how you should confirm them by emulation. It's the sportbike version of loud harley pipes, chrome and leather tassles. The older I get, the less patience I have with posers and ignorance. Any rider that I would call a true rider wouldn't have said that in the first place.

My advice is just nod and grunt, enjoy your ride, develop your skills and ride safe. And be very careful riding with him; he's going to want to show you just how big his testes are compared to yours.

 

[Green650R]

I'm a beginner rider and just bought my 650R yesterday. I've spent about 20 minutes on the road so far and I love my bike!

Maybe in a few years I will upgrade to an R6 or something like that, but I doubt it. My 650 will do everything I need. No, I'm not a stupid speed demon and I don't intend on racing or doing stupid tricks.

 

[Glocken]

The naked truth; it's all e-peen. Or M-peen in this case. I think you and the other posters hit the high points. Yes, it is slower, suspension and brakes aren't quite as good, but as Cefosky said, there are few bikes out there that will out perform it in the speeds that we all use every day and also happen to be legal. 90% of riders don't have the skill to push their bikes to take advantage of the "faster" SS's anyway, and those that do know enough do it on the track, not the damn street. Too many people buy SS bikes, go really fast in a straight line and the spend their time talking about how awesome sauce they are, how their bike is cool and how you should confirm them by emulation. It's the sportbike version of loud harley pipes, chrome and leather tassles. The older I get, the less patience I have with posers and ignorance. Any rider that I would call a true rider wouldn't have said that in the first place.

My advice is just nod and grunt, enjoy your ride, develop your skills and ride safe. And be very careful riding with him; he's going to want to show you just how big his testes are compared to yours.

+1, Most of the people who say that is slow, get a bigger bike etc etc, usually are ignorant posers. I remember the first time I rode my bike to meet my friends one of them (I don't really hang out with him much he was just there) asked how much cc is that? Why didn't you get a 1000; I just paided no attention to him and continued to speak to other people.

 

[steveinsandiego]

well, after all the above, all i can say is: i luv mine. it suits me fine. (oops, poetry).

 

[unL33T]

Slow? Well considering it'll do 50 km/hr higher than I need it to to lose the bike and my license on any road here I think it's plenty fast. The fact that it will get there in a matter of seconds is pretty good too. It's faster than most cars and even quite a few other bikes out there.

Sounds like the people that always told me diesels were slow when I drove one. Mostly because the HP rating was only 90 HP. It would still do 200 kph and off the line it was faster than what most of my friends drove. On this bike and that car torque will get you up to (and above) legal speeds faster than high HP numbers will.

 

[ramblin-wreck]

Glad to see I'm not only in my thinking. I love mine and honestly don't see myself "upgrading" anytime soon, if ever.

 

[baserunner11888]

What a n00b. Anyone who thinks a 650R is slow and doesn't understand the difference between a supersport and a dual sport needs to check themselves. I love my throaty and torquey twin and I would never trade it for GSXR.

Enjoy the bike man, the 650R is a blast. :alcy:

 

[2Wheels2Fast]

When i first bought this bike I was still really wanting a liter bike but the more I rode this I recognized a few things:

1.) Who has the time and space on public roads to really prove that their bike is faster than mine?

AND 2.) If they do, who says they will live?

I have seen a couple of people on the highway who get next to me and take off but almost lose control because being fast is too damn cool. Like some have said above, it's not what power your bike can produce but what the rider can do with the bike. Many noobs could never do on a GSXR 1000 what some of us here could do on our 650's.

Ride on fellow members...

 

[topgunz1]

It is more fun to ride a slower bike fast than to ride a fast bike slow. I rode a friends R1 for a week, it was stupid fast, but WAY overkill for a street bike. You are constantly checking yourself to make sure you aren't going 150mph and it wasn't as nimble as my 650 or GSXR.

 

[Ramakenzana]

Well I have an 08 250R, 09 650R, and a ZX-10R. Personally I prefer the 650R. Main reason behind that is because not only is it not so much of a back breaker like my zx-10r (im 6'1") or a wrist breaker but the bike is more nimble imo. There is not really that big of a weight difference between the two bikes but the way the center of balance of the bike is makes it seem more light than it is. Yes yes the zx-10r is incrediblely fast, I can shift into second scorching 100 but still I live in texas. I have ****ty roads near me everywhere, so there no point in having a super fast bike to run 150+ everywhere, After owning the zx-10r for over 9 months I found one road which I pegged 5th on and afterwards I wasn't too trilled to do it again. So I decided to give the ol'e 250R a try, yes it was fun to put around on and go place to place on but seemed too gutless for myself. Then I got on the 650R and was blown away by it. Torque on this bike was half as much as my claimed zx-10r was, 80ish (zx10) 48(650R) and I was having more fun on that bike than I ever did on the zx. I dont know, I just think its a mentality thing. People think you have to have the fastest of the motorcycles to hang out with people or you're going to be left in the dust. I can tell you one thing, If you were to take a backroad with alot of twisties I would take the 650R for the low end torque more than anything and I'd leave who ever rode the zx-10R in the dust. Its just impractical to think that just because something doesn't shift into 2nd at 100 that its not a fast nor practical motorcycle. lets see 650R gets what? 50mpg? zx-10R got 32 sometimes 27mpg lolol

 

[steelerider]

Enjoy the 650R, its an awesome bike, no matter what anyone says. There probably will come a day when you will want a bigger bike, and that's ok. You'll see on this forum that many (not all) folks upgrade after a good while riding the 650R. I sold my 650R and bought a 2009 Triumph Sprint St - simply because I wanted a bigger bike for touring long distance with luggage and my lovely wife on the back, and for that, the 650R was a bit too small for me. However, I dont ride any faster on the 128HP Sprint than I did on the 650R, and it pained me to sell the Ninja, if I had space in my garage, I would have kept it. The fact is, you can kill yourself just as fast on a 250R as a liter bike.