Reddit – Dive into anything

Hey guys, I’m looking to pick up my first bike here within the next few weeks. I’m a car guy, no clue when I’m doing when it comes to bikes, so here I am asking for some assistance! I have $6,000 saved, $5,000 for the bike. I want to keep $1,000 set aside for riding gear and the MSF.

I’m want a 600, so obviously it will have to be used. Through my research it is apparent that there are four main japanese brand bikes worth mentioning.

-Yamaha R6 (always wanted one as a kid, apparently reliable)
-Suzuki GSXR 600
-Honda CBR 600
-Kawasaki ZX6R (apparently unreliable?)

How can I choose which will be best for me? Any particular model years I should stay way from? How many miles is too many miles? Looks don’t matter to me, reliability is what really matters. Performance is important too, but reliability is more important.

There is a dealer here with an 06 Kawasaki 636 ZX6R with 400 miles. They had to replace the fuel pump and fuel tank as apparently there had been gas sitting in there for a long time as the bike wasn’t being used. The salesman said he would definitely be able to get me it within my $5,000 budget. Is this something I should jump on? I hear Kawa’s are unreliable.

Thanks in advance for any help!