South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

What would you say are the pros and cons of Naked bikes, and also the pros and cons of Sports bikes?

I will be doing up to 2 hours of city road riding a day, and as I understand it, a Naked bike's riding position is a lot more comfortable and suited to this.

I'll also be stepping up from a 125 Sym Wolf classic to a 500 or 600 and it seems that the lower power of a Naked bike is a more sensible progression than jumping to a Sports bike. Is that a good summary?

Many thanks

Firstly, welcome to the site. Why not say hello in the intro section and tell us a little about yourself?

To try and answer you're questions .....
Sports bikes put more weight on your wrists at slow speeds, but the bars tend to be narrower so fit through tighter gaps.... A more upright riding position will give better visibility, and wider bars possibly greater control.

If this is your first larger bike, you will have to go a long way to beat a Honda Hornet as a sound, reliable, all-rounder. If you need a bit of weather protection you'd be surprised what a small screen can do.

If you can afford a newish bike, the faired CB600F has a few fans here and looks to be a great all-rounder with reasonable weather protection.

Thanks TLS for your reply and I will post up in the intro section too

By a degree of faring, do you mean the first example below?

I do prefer the second photo of the black bike. I don't expect to do much motorway riding either, so wouldn't be riding above 70 mph or so very often re wind shielding.

No I meant the newer one like here - viewtopic.php?f=8&p=241695#p241695" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They did a half faired Hornet that looks nicer than the silver one in your pics, but from what you say an unfaired Hornet would suit your needs well

Good stuff, yeah I really like the unfaired bikes

Can you recommend other websites which are good for bike reviews please? I used MCN and Visor down at the moment

if you go to other forum based sites for reviews then they always going to be biased.

if you type in the comparison you want the answer for into google you will get what you are after - maybe


sometimes you have to spend the day test riding or going round shops and sitting on bikes, some that you might like you simply won't fit on so that takes them out of the equation.


time to do the leg work

As si said just jump on some and see if they fit you,

Also a more sports tourer style might be worth looking at,
More sit up than a sports but faired if you ever did any motorway miles,
(My first bike was a thundercat and was a great little bike)

I now ride a naked z750 to slow me down a bit on the road

Get down your local dealers and sit on a few, maybe a test drive and then make your own mind up buddy. Everybody on forums have their own ideas as what's best! Find your own footing with bikes as what suits 1 rider may not suit another. I have had both and prefer faired bikes and haven't ever had a problem at slow speeds or the legal limit speeds.

Welcome by the way

What about a Bandit 600?

What about a cbr500r? Sports bikes looks, but has slightly higher bars so more comfortable, also light and very good on fuel.



Here's one that I had for a day while my cb500x (same engine) was having a service. Good bike to step up from a 125 too.

Here's my cbx



Slighty taller which is good for me (6"4') also good for commuting, I rode it to cardiff and back at the weekend and found it very easy to filter on thru cardiff.

I like the look and sound of the CBR500R a lot!

Time for me to get on with my DA license and do some test rides Thanks all

Hiya eckardB26354,

Even if you don't do anything more than 70 at the moment, you might later.

A little screen just to keep some of the windpressure off can be good. On some bikes you can remove it if it's blistering (err, not at the moment then...) or swap out for a larger screen should you need more wind protection.

As you say, have a few test rides. Make the most of your buying opportunity!

Deckard478552o0829y45yh...I can see we need to have a chat about that username huh?? (kidding!)

tbh, naked vs sports...its horses for courses a lot of the time. Maybe though, starting out on a naked isn't such a bad thing, folk tend to ride them a little more sensibly (ahem....ok, MOST?) its a good move up in terms of where you are now..

FWIW, I have the best of both worlds here, and I have as much fun on either

As others have already said, pros & cons to both.

personally get yourself out on a friendly ride look at a few talk to a few owners and get down to a dealer or 3 and sit on them.....You will find a bike that will fit you.

Good luck and enjoy life on 2 wheels