First Bike Advice

It comes down to two things; self knowledge and skill. Skill derives from experience and car driving does not teach you all the hazards of manhole covers, diesel spills etc., but they apply on any machine. Self knowledge matters most. Are you one of the abnornal 1% who won't 'give it some well' on an open road? Me neither!
Buy the middleweight - you will get into trouble slightly less readily and out of it more immediately. If you yearn for a Speedie then buy a 3yr old Street to win your spurs and after 12 months the trade up will cost you less. It will be less distressing when you drop it...... probably at a fuel pump!

 

Depends ?

If you are new to the roads lacking any experience I would say go for the smaller bike.

On the other hand if you have some years car driving under your belt go for the speedy. Would recommend some advanced training as well. It's one thing passing your test and quite another learning road craft.

When I came back to biking, about 25 years ago, I wasted shed loads of money changing bikes because I got bored with lesser bikes so quickly.

Good luck with your decision making.

 

Good advice. Either will be fine, you'll love them both, just make sure you ride within your limits and all will be well.

 

Every bike has too much power for a newbie...its that right hand throttle you have to control with your brain, and not your balls. Your balls tell you, you are ok going at this speed because i can handle what-ever comes my way, where as, if you use your brain it will tell you, no, you cant make that corner at that speed, scrub some off, no they havnt looked as they wait at a junction, so back off. At the end of the day, i feel more, is the bike too heavy, does it do what i want it to do, and is it what i want the bike for, do you feel intimidated by the bike at all. If the bike feels like its controlling you rather than you controlling it, maybe the lighter bike would help, but remember you are in control. Ive not tried the street, but they are highly praised, even seen people swap bigger bikes for them as they find they are just right.
My first was a bmw 650, found it too tall, so bought a bandit 600, loved it, but found the 1200 not much, if any in weight difference, so changed it not long after for one of them, and never looked back, and have many bikes since.

 

Welcome to the forum Ian.
Test ride again if you need to.
Some good advice given on this forum, but it is always down to personal choice.
As Dozers Dad said, its all in the twist of the throttle.
I hadnt ridden a bike for 30 years but have been more than happy with my Bonnie.
Whatever you choose ride carefully and treat your machine with respect.

 

Welcome buddy. You can hurt yourself on a 125cc but you might walk away from it and learn something and move forward.

I would go for 675 manageable torque bhp weight etc over the monster 1050. No matter what you say to yourself, you will get into tricky situations....target fixation, hot corner entry, filtering n tipping over etc. I feel that 675 is a little forgiving when you get yourself in those situations.

It's not as if you will miss the boat if you don't go for a 1050. You will learn a lot on 675 (which is a mean machine itself ) and then trade in for a bigger cc. As everyone said you can ride these things like bicycle or like a superbike. But I like to think we buy these bikes to do a little spirited ruding. Be sensible and think with your head brother ;-).

Riding and managing other drivers on our road is difficult n treacherous as it is. Let's not make it more difficult.

All the best buddy

Ride safe

 

I find you enjoy a bike more if you can actually ride it close to it's abilities. My first was a 2010 SV650 and by the end of my first 3 years i could pretty much outride the bike and ready to move onto something bigger and faster (GSXR750). But I am glad I learned on something that wasn't 'all that', and then had the joy of getting a quick bike and being able to ride it properly. Personally, I would go for a 650 twin (Kawazaki, Suzuki or similar) of 69 bhp'ish and earn my spurs for a year or more, then move up to a Street.

If you are set on the Speed or the Street, go for a Street, you won't be bored after 6 months and whatever you do get, you'll love it.
Personally go for an older 675 Street. You are going to drop it, every one does and dropping an old bike costs less !!!

A big ol' 1050 will get you into trouble a lot quicker than a 675. It's easy to say just control your wrist, but if you get it wrong, it's going to be a lot more wrong, if your going a lot more quicker.

 

It's all to do with your inside leg measurement Sir!

As to dropping a bike at low speed - getting the balance wrong and having it fall away from you is all part of the learning curve. Or slightly losing your own balance and then having the bike knock you over. Or grabbing too much brake on full lock and doing a mini high side. Or ditto on gravel for the mini lowside.....

Just remember human bodies don't take well to rapid deceleration and ride accordingly.

 

Unless you're a pretty big guy the Street will suit you best.
Very few bikers have not dropped their bike at some point, usually when they get the bike balance wrong wheeling about, nearly always falling away from you (there's no stopping it once it's past that tipping point)
According to MCN the new 765 is very close to the 1050 for power, just less torque. So you'll find it less intimidating due to having to rev it out harder to get max performance.
The big plus is being much lighter it will feel more manageable wheeling it about.
I have a Speed and the wife a Street, so I feel the difference most weekends. (and no the Street is no "girlie" bike, it's a real tool)
In the real world a well ridden Street is probably quicker than a Speed, just requires more commitment.
You're not going to get bored anytime soon!

 

If the dealer's doing his job he should have explained that the Street has different engine tunes (cams etc) for each model. Any one of them has more power than you'll make full use of for a year or three, so look at the specs for where the peak torque comes in. The R is the best road bike, the RS is more track focused, not ideal for the road and probably too peaky for a "newbie".
I'd suggest a more thorough road test of the ones you're considering, glance at what revs you're pulling when it starts to get a bit scary and that will put some perspective on how much of the performance your using.
It's a tricky one, the Street is more up to date and lighter, the Speed has more low down torque and may suit your 6-2 frame better.

So no much help there then!

It's getting towards the end of the bike season, so don't be frightened to twist the dealers arm a bit, should be able to get deal on mirrors etc if you decide to go that way.

 

I just ride for fun.... so avoid the winter months (and heated grips). Heated grips will keep your palms warm, not so good for the knuckles.
Heated gloves do a better job but less convenient with you wired up to the bike.

 

If youre going to use it every day or ride during the colder months as an option I would look at adding a pair of hand protectors as fitted to most adventure bikes as this tends to keep the wind and rain off the fingers and hands helping to keep them warm and most of all Dry !

 

Personally I would recommend the Street as your first bike. My wife had one as her first bike and 5 years later she still rides a Street.

I owned the Speed Triple but still prefered riding the Street. Its just more fun, faster in the corners lighter. Its reasonably placid low in the revs but really quick when you wind it up. I found the 1050 good, loads of torque but easily ran into the rev limiter.

Anyone can go fast in a straight line but a great handling bike like the Street will help improve cornering skills. What ever you decide on take it easy for a start and don't try and keep up with the 'fast' lads.

 

Tis true, there nothing I know of that can beat a nice furry muff.