ZX-4RR vs RS660 - Novice Rider

New Rider

I'm looking at buying a used ZX-4RR or RS660 for my "first" bike. I have a bit of experience, I did 3000KM on a semi-automatic scooter through Vietnam and about 1200KM on a Royal Enfield Himalayan through parts of South America, but I've never owned my own bike here at home. I'd still consider myself novice/beginner for that reason but not my first time on 2 wheels.

Here's my thought process so far:

ZX-4RR:

  • I like that it's restricted for me at first to just 56hp. Feels like a beginner level of power and as I get better with it I can get it flashed up to the full 78hp so upgrade without having to buy a new bike if I want it.

  • Everyone seems to love the I4 screamer and I gotta admit it seems like so much fun to ride.

RS660:

  • Looks really cool (I'm vain but this is important to me).

  • Power delivery might be more usable with the torque but kind of worried 100hp is too much, but also seems like

  • Price, I can find used ones of either of these in roughly the same ballpark where I am and I'm okay with the price on them.

  • Dropping them, I know they say "you'll drop your first bike" and I'm okay with that. I want something I'm actually going to want to ride all the time and if I drop it and crack a fairing or something it'll suck but I'll get over it.

Riding use case:

  • I live in Toronto which has really bumpy crappy roads, as well as street car tracks. I won't be using it to commute within the city but will obviously have to ride through this on my way in and out.

  • Riding in and out of the city on highways / twisty roads regularly, also want to take it on little day trips to explore.

  • Maybe 1 or 2 track days a year. I'd really like to learn and experience that so would like something that I could learn a lot on.

Posted Aug 10, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

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