I sat on a few of them at the bike shop yesterday and liked the riding position (a lot like my 500) and not at all like the GSXR-750 I rode over the past weekened. The ergos and styling is 10/10, fuel-injected is a definite +, and the wheels and exhaust are pretty decent. The seat wasn't terribly comfortable (esp compared to the 500) but it was good enough. The tank sits a little akquardly tall/goofy since the riding position is pretty much straight up. The fuel light is definitely a plus over the 500...

I want to know how much performace advantage it has over the 500 though. It's engine has a 150cc larger displacement but it's still a 2 cyclinder. I'm not expecting the high power-high rev performace of a ZX-6R or anything but since the dealer won't let me ride it I don't know if I want it.

The dealership here has 3 650R's... a 2006 Black with about 2500 miles, and two brand new 07's (Blue and a Red) and I really like the blue one. The sticker on the 2006 is $4,200 and the sticker on the 07's is $6,399 !!! So I'm really thinkin about the black one even though I like the blue. Either way, before I were to make the jump I really wanna know what other people think about the performace.

The guy at the dealership says that it is a nice jump up from the 500, and that he had it at the track and loved it. He says he owns a sv-650 and they are neck and neck right up until the top end of the bikes, where the sv-650 pulls ahead a bit but the 650R definitely has some advantages... he didn't ellaborate.

 

I have had my 07 650r since Sept of 06 and it was my first bike. I had never ridden a bike before, so I had a friend drive it home for me and here is used to larger bikes and he loved it. He has also ridden his wifes 500 and he said that he liked it for the roll on response that it has, which is better than his wifes 500. I love my bike and for a 2 cyclinder bike it has better manners for the around town driving I do, but also decent power for the highway. It is not going to be able to keep up with the four cyclinder bikes on straight a ways, is more than capable to keep up with in the corners. I like the bike because being a new rider I do not have to run around town at 6000-7000rpm's to keep the powerband up, but on the 650r I can run around at 3000-4000rpm's at the bike is really happy and has good thottle response.

 

side note here, I have not seen many aftermarket companies making parts for the 650 just yet either. She is still a new girl in town.

 

That is true about aftermarket parts, but I have have had my bike since last September and it seems like more and more parts are always appearing for them. The bike will never be able to outrun a 4 cyl. bike, but their are still upgrades that can be done to make the bike faster. I knew when I bought the bike I knew I wasn't buying a power house of performance. I like to be different and I think that others who buy the bike are also.

 

Have any of you guys who posted ridden the 500R or 6Rs (4cyl) to compare it to? Besides for the styling upgrade and fuel injection, I'm wondering how much of an actual performance upgrade it is.

 

I just got a 650r and own a zx6r. The 650r is a fun quick bike. To compare it to the 6r though is fair. The 6r is in a whole different class of bikes. It is MUCH faster.