I currently ride a ninja 500r which has served me well as a starter bike for the last 4+ years, but always considered it my trainer. I was pretty well set on moving on to a V until I started reading the reviews on the FZ6R, which have been impressive...Motorcycle Consumer News gave it a 5/5 in their review, in which an er6n and gladius were rated 4/5 and 3.5/5 respectively. Now I'm undecided. Any thoughts on these two choices? :confused: ninjamon

my tuppeny haporth

test ride both bikes
make up your mind, based on your criteria as to what are relevant points
make up your mind as to how those respective bike (and others) match up in how you expect to ride.
there will always be another great bike along (next year, or the year after), but you don't know how that journo's assessment of what makes a great bike matches your requirements of a ride.

Ultimately its your ride. Having said that in my books there is no doubt the Versys is a fantastic bike for the money, although its a fairly capable all rounder, possibly one of the best all rounders its not 'the' definitive all rounder.. I don't think that exists.

it may be that you need to analyse your current ride and try to work out what it doesn't do as well as what it does. from that you can probably work out what you want, then play the market

Depends on what kind of riding you like to do. Put a corbin on the V and it will handle any kind of ride you want to take. It all depends on what you want, as you can see there sure are alot of happy V riders. Goodluck

You're welcome to ask us all what we think, and we'll be glad to tell you, but Headlem is spot on in his comments: who is going to ride your bike? Check them both out and anything else that interests you, then get the one with the best combination of qualities you want.

Then go ride it!

Good points so far. Here are some more thoughts on the issue. My typical ride is a 40-80 mile day trip, although I would not rule out doing overnighters or a week-long tour in the future. My thinking is that both of these bikes are upright standards that can do the long haul if you want to. Do you guys think that on longer rides the fairing would be an advantage for the fz6r? RPMs...the 6r will be spinning higher at a given mph according to the reviews. Does this translate to more rapid engine wear? I see the recommended valve check mileage is 26K miles on the 6r versus say 15K on the V, so I see that as a 6r plus. Also, does anyone have strong opinions one way or the other about Kawasaki versus Yamaha on followup maintenance, warranty claims, etc. Other than those questions I think it comes down to a matter of style preference. They both are in the same league on torque/HP/mileage, etc. Thanks. ninjamon

If you're thinking of longer rides, the Versys gives you more options for setting up a bike to satisfy your preferences for a mile eater. Hard bags, soft bags, top cases, windshields, saddles -- many choices, all made to fit the Versys -- and that's just the start. This had much to do with my decision to get a V.