Honda CBR600RR

Even though I was just going to post about Cruiser style bikes, another friend of mine just got one of these. I'm not sure what color it is because I haven't seen his yet, but this is the same model. This is actually the lowest power sportbike that Honda sells. It has a 599cc engine, and a top speed somewhere around 135 mph. Yeah, that's the bottom of the food chain. It has a six speed transmission instead of the usual five for cruisers. The seat height on this bike is quite a bit higher than mine at 32.3 inches, and curb weight of the bike is 410 pounds. As you can probably tell, this bike has a fairly large gas tank - 4.8 gallons. That's good because with an average mpg of 40, you can go about 190 miles on one tank. Of course, if you're gonna be traveling that far, you oughta stop at least once for a break. We can't all be iron butts. Yes, that is a real club. If you're a fan of sport bikes, but don't want one that will leave you sitting in the dust, this bike is for you.

Honda Shadow Aero ('07)

I'm posting this bike for two reasons: First, it's a really nice bike, and Second, because I know someone that just bought one. Lucky. This bike is part of the Honda Shadow Family. Like the V Star Custom I listed yesterday, Shadows come in seven different styles, all just different enough to get their own name. This bike has a 750cc engine and, with a 3.7 gallon fuel tank, can travel around 170 miles before needing the reserve tank. Speaking of which, my bike is going to need a fill up today...
I was suprised to see that this bike has a 25.9 inch seat height - that's even lower than mine! Of course, this bike also weighs 520 pounds, so you'd need to have a firm footing to hold it up.

Yamaha V Star Custom

This is a Yamaha V Star Custom. The V Stars for Yamaha are kind of like the Shadows for Honda - there are like three or four bikes with the same basic "V Star" or "Shadow" name that have minor differences. The V Star Custom is one that I'd like for a second bike maybe in a year or so. It has a 650cc engine, so it would be quite a bit more powerful than the 250cc I have right now, but still not insanely powerful. I just read about a bike three days ago that has a 2300cc engine!! That's insane - I just don't see how you'd need that much power! I mean, a decent cruiser like this V Star only has 650, why would you need almost four times that much? Plus really the more power you put in the bike, the lower the gas mileage goes. Case in point, my Rebel gets (literally) 66 miles/gallon. The V Star gets around 41 miles/gallon. When you compare gas tank sizes, this one will still go about 50 more miles on one tank than mine can, but you see what I mean about the mpg/engine size ratio.

It's still a beautiful bike though. Nice amount of chrome, and you can get it in all black if preferred. It still has a low seat height of 27 inches, so it's easy to get both feet planted on the ground. I sat on a Buell sport bike at a Harley dealership, and could barely touch my toes to the ground. Some people I guess appreciate that, but I couldn't do it for long. A neat feature of the V Star Custom is that the rear shock is concealed. If you take a look at the five other bikes on the page so far, you'll see the rear shocks located below and behind the seat. I don't think they're ugly, and I'm not saying this is better, but it is interesting. Dry weight is 474 pounds, and overall length is 92 inches. All in all, a very nice bike.

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