honda 954/929 over the gsxr750???

[ajaxguy]

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The question is why are your options only CBR929/954 vs GSXR750, and not GSXR1000? The 750 does have a slight power and torque disadvantage over those CBRs but it's not a night and day difference and the 750 is likely lighter. If you include 01-04 GSXR1000s on your options and BINGO! you've got your answer. It's a better bike than both 929 and 954 and cheaper too (including the 750). There are virtually minimal differences between the GSXR750 an the 1000 of those years, other than the 1000 being up on power. And this is an advantage to own a GSXR from early 2000s, you can find cheap used parts to maintain your bike easy everywhere. 01-05 600, 00-05 750, 01-04 1000 most parts are interchangeable, that's 15 years production worth of parts. You should be able to find an 01-04 GSXR1000 for $3000-3500

Highly unlikely to find an 01-04 gixxer 1000 for the price you mention. They should be that range, but will never find it for that. I doubt you can find one for under $4000

 

[omnivore]

If you aren't tall, the Honda fits way better than pre-06 GSXR's.
I am extra short, and the 2000-2005 GSXRs are too long a reeach to the bars for me to be comfortable.
I spent a day on one at FAST school, and even at an elevated track pace, I hated the riding position. COnsequently, when Suzuki drastically revised the seating position, I got an 06 GSXR1000- It was a fantastic bike, and I toured all over on it.
The reason I ended up with a 929 is because of that GSXR. AFter selling it, I regretted it. But because it's tough to sell a litrebike, I sold it cheap. Then when I regretted it, I tried to find one, and they were all $3000 more than I sold mine for, so I did some research, looking for a sportbike with the closest riding position to the 06 GSXR1000 as I could find, and I was looking for as much torque and a light bike as I could incorporate into those same set of parameters. Using the online ergo calculator, I discovered that the 929 is nearly identical in set height, bar and peg relationship to the 06 GSXR1000, so I bought one.
I also got a KTM 950 SM at the same time, and fell in love with it, so the 929 sat in the garage for 2 yrs....where it became a racebike.

 

[Rossi86]

Highly unlikely to find an 01-04 gixxer 1000 for the price you mention. They should be that range, but will never find it for that. I doubt you can find one for under $4000

found an 03 3 yrs ago for less than 4 grand in mint condition with 30 000 kms. He should be able to find one now

 

[Kevin Vandevenne]

I had a 00 929 for about a year and a half. I've had all the other 1000cc bikes of that era (00 R1, 01 R1, 02 GSXR1000, 00 ZX9R and 02 ZX9R) as well. The 929 did everything well, but nothing great. It just lacked any form of 'personality'. I think each of the other bikes has advantages over the 929 in one area or another. My favorite of the bunch was the 01 R1, I think it was the best looking of the bunch. In terms of performance though the GSXR stomps all.

 

[tonster1980]

Thanks everyone. I am going after bikes under 05 for price wise. I just looked at the 1000's as not being able to snap around corners as easy. I just like the look of the 929/954, I even love the rc51. something about Honda, but I do think the gsxr 750 is a great bike. As for seating position I rode my buddys 2010 gsxr600 and felt comfy on it.. anyways I have some research to do.. thanks

 

[JohnnyP636]

There is one little engineering feature on both the 929 and 954 to be aware of ... it's not really a problem for day-to-day use, but it's just one of those things that if you ever have to deal with it, you may end up cursing whoever designed this bike. The swingarm pivots on the back of the crankcases instead of on the frame.

Day-to-day use ... Makes no difference. Ultimate handling limits on the racetrack (beyond anything I can dish out), perhaps the extra mechanical connections in the load path might add some extra flexibility in the chassis. So be it. But if you ever have to remove the engine from the bike, the whole thing has to come apart. Swingarm has to come out which means the rear suspension has to come apart. Aside from adding some extra work, it also means you can't remove the engine with the bike on a paddock stand ... the bike has to be supported by some other way since the suspension has to come apart. On a street bike, or even on a track-day bike, one would hope that engine swaps aren't a day-to-day occurrence. But "never" is a mighty long time ... I've had to do the odd last-minute engine swap and I've sure seen others do it at the track now and again.

Obviously, since Honda doesn't do it that way any more, they realized that this wasn't such a good idea.

That design also became a problem when they tired to make high power race and street bikes, apparently the swingarm mounting to the engine cases become the limiting factor to how much power you can make on that bike before the engine cases cant handle the loads...

And like you said, having worked on the 954 a few times its a bit of a pain in the *** compared to regular chassis design.

 

[kwtoxman]

That design also became a problem when they tired to make high power race and street bikes, apparently the swingarm mounting to the engine cases become the limiting factor to how much power you can make on that bike before the engine cases cant handle the loads...

And like you said, having worked on the 954 a few times its a bit of a pain in the *** compared to regular chassis design.

Forgot about that. Honda did it to maximize the swingarm length as part of the suspension handling philosophy (as in a longer swingarm well designed can improve grip). Beyond what has been mentioned there are examples of where people crash the bike and end up breaking the engine cases where the swingarm mounts. Not good. Honda doesn't do that design any more as mentioned.

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