i’ve got a ‘97 thundercat for my daily ride cos it’s quick with supersport dna but with sports touring ergonomic details like the top mount clip ons and the best seat ever fitted to a fully faired bike. it’s the perfect daily ride cos it’s easy in town, it’s great cruising and it will flick in and handle really well. it’s a great all rounder for the money
My Thundercat is my baby. Amazing condition and apart from the front oil line it's never seen me wrong. It's done about half the miles of the one in this video. Only mods are an exhaust, braided brake lines and a general refresh a few years ago (dampers, caliper refresh, new disks/pads/engine service/new radiator/frame and wheels powder coated/panels painted. However. a European rider should note that all the "sport" and "cornering" mentions in this video are very....... American. I adore my bike. But I can shuffle down country roads on a proper 250cc (superbike lookalike) soooo much quicker and with less effort than on my cat. As for "highway cruising". Well. At 70mph it's a windy ride unless you tuck yourself up like on a sports bike. This isn't comfortable. As I understand it. In the USA they are limited to 50mph or something on their big roads. I have a larger screen on mine. Looks horrid but it means I can sit at 70 comfortably. Also the OEM mirrors are rubbish. I got some from China for £39. Which included led indicators (which I didn't use). They look good and the improvement in visibility is fantastic. I think they have probably saved me from 1 serious incident and for sure a near miss that the original mirrors would not have done. In general I can't recommend a good thundercat enough. It's modern enough that it works and will always work. As you'd expect from anything post 1980. It has accurate instruments/gauges that never have issues and all the electrics work without maintenance, as you'd expect from anything post 1990. My bike has went through a strict MOT test 4 years running. Never an issue. Only maintenance in that time. Tyres, oil and front brake pads. An after market silencer makes her sound nice. But the best thing is the noise of the intake. Really old and throaty. Carbs of course are dead and most people under the age of 40 do not know what one is. But to me that "carb induction" sound is the best and most soul grabbing part of the riding experience. Town riding is fine, but you don't sit as high as you'd like given we have so many "off road" type tall cars now. Visibility suffers because of this. My KTM superduke inspire of having twice the engine size, feels easier to work through bad traffic as a result. The seat is huge and very comfy. Pillion comfort is.... Shite. No decent grab handles and the seat is a shelf. But thats not a rider problem 😁. Biggest issue these days is the cat is a heavy old bike. My MK1 Ducati monster 600 was heavy. The cat is HEAVY. I am in decent shape and weigh 70kg. I've never dropped my Thundercat and I pray I never will. Moving it about is hard. Picking it up I guess would be impossible for me. Though it would be fine for a lady rider (I'm 182cm 5'11 and my Mrs is 5'2 and we can both ride it fine)... The weight should be considered. Just remember. This is a bike of the 90s. There is a reason nobody makes bikes this heavy these days - technology moved on. In short. I recommend one to anyone as a all round bike. I bought mine as a first proper bike. I kept it because it's the faithful family dog(err cat) that will never let you down. To add to the above review (copy and pasted, please PM me for references or this forum or if you want to call me names 🤣). Repair and maintenance in NE, contact umbrella Motorsport. My previous/current bikes: MK1 Ducati monster Ducati 998 Suzuki b120 Suzuki gsxr600 MK1 Yamaha R6 MK2 KTM xbow 1190 A buelle I won in a raffle. Looked awesome. Sounded better. Rode like a drunken donkey. Sold after doing 200mi ;( Several BMW tourers. Kawasaki ninja MK1 and 2. Honda CBR 600 MK1 Tried a Honda gold wing on holiday. I don't weigh enough 🤣 Tried a Harley Davidson in America. Very fucking cool. Very boring. Various motor cross bikes. All 2 strokes. A grass track bike (jawa) Mini bikes I do endurance stuff with my mates.
If you don't mind me asking how much was this bike going for when you had it in stock because I just picked up one for $600 and looking to see what I can get out of it
You must be thinking of the older version of the R6 that they kept and made into more of a street bike along side their new and improved at the time R6. That was through 2006 through 2009. The thundercat was also referred to as an R6s.
@@MrKamechan It's also called the YZF 600r lol. But much like people on one side of the state say "soda", and the other says "pop", it's all the same to us.
i just picked up a 2005 with 7000 miles. just clean as this bike . i love this bike
i’ve got a ‘97 thundercat for my daily ride cos it’s quick with supersport dna but with sports touring ergonomic details like the top mount clip ons and the best seat ever fitted to a fully faired bike. it’s the perfect daily ride cos it’s easy in town, it’s great cruising and it will flick in and handle really well. it’s a great all rounder for the money
Great bike for every day for sure.
My Thundercat is my baby. Amazing condition and apart from the front oil line it's never seen me wrong. It's done about half the miles of the one in this video. Only mods are an exhaust, braided brake lines and a general refresh a few years ago (dampers, caliper refresh, new disks/pads/engine service/new radiator/frame and wheels powder coated/panels painted.
However. a European rider should note that all the "sport" and "cornering" mentions in this video are very....... American. I adore my bike. But I can shuffle down country roads on a proper 250cc (superbike lookalike) soooo much quicker and with less effort than on my cat.
As for "highway cruising". Well. At 70mph it's a windy ride unless you tuck yourself up like on a sports bike. This isn't comfortable. As I understand it. In the USA they are limited to 50mph or something on their big roads.
I have a larger screen on mine. Looks horrid but it means I can sit at 70 comfortably. Also the OEM mirrors are rubbish. I got some from China for £39. Which included led indicators (which I didn't use). They look good and the improvement in visibility is fantastic. I think they have probably saved me from 1 serious incident and for sure a near miss that the original mirrors would not have done.
In general I can't recommend a good thundercat enough. It's modern enough that it works and will always work. As you'd expect from anything post 1980. It has accurate instruments/gauges that never have issues and all the electrics work without maintenance, as you'd expect from anything post 1990.
My bike has went through a strict MOT test 4 years running. Never an issue. Only maintenance in that time. Tyres, oil and front brake pads.
An after market silencer makes her sound nice. But the best thing is the noise of the intake. Really old and throaty. Carbs of course are dead and most people under the age of 40 do not know what one is.
But to me that "carb induction" sound is the best and most soul grabbing part of the riding experience.
Town riding is fine, but you don't sit as high as you'd like given we have so many "off road" type tall cars now. Visibility suffers because of this. My KTM superduke inspire of having twice the engine size, feels easier to work through bad traffic as a result.
The seat is huge and very comfy.
Pillion comfort is.... Shite. No decent grab handles and the seat is a shelf. But thats not a rider problem 😁.
Biggest issue these days is the cat is a heavy old bike. My MK1 Ducati monster 600 was heavy. The cat is HEAVY. I am in decent shape and weigh 70kg. I've never dropped my Thundercat and I pray I never will. Moving it about is hard. Picking it up I guess would be impossible for me. Though it would be fine for a lady rider (I'm 182cm 5'11 and my Mrs is 5'2 and we can both ride it fine)... The weight should be considered.
Just remember. This is a bike of the 90s. There is a reason nobody makes bikes this heavy these days - technology moved on.
In short. I recommend one to anyone as a all round bike. I bought mine as a first proper bike. I kept it because it's the faithful family dog(err cat) that will never let you down.
To add to the above review (copy and pasted, please PM me for references or this forum or if you want to call me names 🤣). Repair and maintenance in NE, contact umbrella Motorsport.
My previous/current bikes:
MK1 Ducati monster
Ducati 998
Suzuki b120
Suzuki gsxr600 MK1
Yamaha R6 MK2
KTM xbow 1190
A buelle I won in a raffle. Looked awesome. Sounded better. Rode like a drunken donkey. Sold after doing 200mi ;(
Several BMW tourers.
Kawasaki ninja MK1 and 2.
Honda CBR 600 MK1
Tried a Honda gold wing on holiday. I don't weigh enough 🤣
Tried a Harley Davidson in America. Very fucking cool. Very boring.
Various motor cross bikes. All 2 strokes.
A grass track bike (jawa)
Mini bikes I do endurance stuff with my mates.
Above commented edited from a previous review I did
How would a bike like that with85000kms be, engine wise ?
If you don't mind me asking how much was this bike going for when you had it in stock because I just picked up one for $600 and looking to see what I can get out of it
Don't remember sorry.
Cool bike man um if it’s not to much to ask would u mind giving me the names of the two rubber hose they go into where
Which ones are you talking about?
@@CycleHunters I was talking about the the air duct hoses thanks for your help buddy
Can you tell me if a thundercat fuel tank will fit fzr 1000 exup ru.. thanks in advance
Don't think it will.
R6S is a completely different motorcycle
You must be thinking of the older version of the R6 that they kept and made into more of a street bike along side their new and improved at the time R6. That was through 2006 through 2009. The thundercat was also referred to as an R6s.
@@CycleHunters I own a 2005 Thundercat, (YZF600RT)...and I've never heard it referred to as an R6S. Ever.
@@MrKamechan Well now you have!
@@CycleHunters Just admit it---you're wrong. You got the R6S and Thundercat YZF600r mixed-up.
@@MrKamechan It's also called the YZF 600r lol. But much like people on one side of the state say "soda", and the other says "pop", it's all the same to us.