advice on new bike

i'm ready for a new ride and would like advice from people with experience.currently i have a superhawk with the normal mods.(exhaust,jetted,geared down) and while i love the midrange,you have to work alot to really keep the rpms perfect.in it's peak ,power is just fine & fun,to little or to much rpm ,leaves me wanting more.the chassis sucks but i've leaned to ride around it.i dig the v twin,easy to ride, but want a broader spread of power and a better chassis.i tried a 05sv 1000-better everywhere but the motor was boring.tweaked? is it time for a inline?  please don't recommend 150hp beasts-not man enough.i will only buy used,or leftovers(no payments) ideas ?  

Sounds like you might be happy on a first or second generation R1.  I've had the chance a few times to hop on and off an '01 R1 and a '02 RC51 for an entire weekend.  I always wanted to and thought I'd like the RC51 more, cause I love the sound, love the feel of a v-twin, etc...but every weekend I found myself wanting to ride the R1 more and more after the newness/novelty of the RC wore off.  That's not to say everyone would feel the same way or even you, but I thought the R1 had pretty good scoot downlow and in the midrange.  Maybe the very tall gearing of the RC51 and it's somewhat peaky nature didn't play to the V-twin motors strengths but I absolutely loved that R1's motor.  Keep it in the midrange and the thing has some good managable stomp, let the revs get up a bit more and the thing just flat out takes off!  And this was on a 2001 100% stock R1, so it probably had 150hp at the crank and 130hp at the wheel.  I'd say you could look at the '02-'03 R1s too, they have slightly power all over but the '04s changed the engine design to a shorter stroke and it did lose some of it's downlow and midrange power.  I had the chance to ride an '04 for 10-15 minutes one night, the shorter stroke combined with the taller gearing could really be felt BUT it was still a literbike so I thought it had good midrange pull, but man was it geared tall.  Can't say if it was as punchy in the midrange as that '01 I rode since there was so much time inbetween but the '03 GSXR1000 I rode that night also had noticable more midrange.

My friends '01 R1 was blue too, my first bike was a YZF600R in that same Yamaha blue and I think thats the best color for sportbikes imo, it just looks great.  I'd put a blue '01 R1 right up there with a red Ducati 916/996/998.  But if you have to "ride red" they also made the first generation R1s in red.  A bike like that would be more cramped though, I know those Superhawks have pretty good ergos.  

Four letters. Three numbers.

Try a newer vintage GSX-R750.

Have you ridden any modern sport in-line four?  

thanks,the r1 to rc1 comparision is just what i wanted.managable torque is just what i need,and more of it.don't really care about a big hp number,just make it smooth.which brings up the 750 gixxer-smooth it ain't.i rode awhile back with one on our local "track".on the slower corners 2nd was almost perfect for me.gsx man had no power in 2nd but 1st had him right on the power spike.he had to fight wheelspin or wait and pick it up onto the middle of the tire.killed me on the straights though.i have not rule one out though.i know someone with one who will let me try it i'm sure but i hate to ask-he hasn't offered.don't want to impose.no i have not ridden a 4 in awhile.i tried being a grown up after my first kid,lasted 10 years,but it didn't suit me.anybody tried a triple? power looks good on paper.  

Manageable is relative to rider throttle control and sensitivty and how the rider manipulates the go-stick. A ham fisted rider can spin up the wheel or highside themselves about as readily no matter the number of cylinders.

To rehash the old cliche, "user-friendly" power delivery,it really depends on what you've grown accustomed to. Sporting V-twins typically have always had a more "user-friendly" feeling power delivery. There just isn't the same level of output compared to the open-class multis.

The latest -R1 and its ilk all push ~150 - 160bhp and your "man enough" comment had me recommend the 750 since it has more power than a Superhawk, is significantly lighter and yet does not have the sheer savage output of the open-class bikes.  

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Manageable is relative to rider throttle control and sensitivty and how the rider manipulates the go-stick. A ham fisted rider can spin up the wheel or highside themselves about as readily no matter the number of cylinders.

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i understand and agree.everything is relative.my thought is to avoid a bike with rapid power spikes.it's not really the amount that concerns me on the 750.it's the 2 stroke like hit.my idea is a older liter bike(98-01) might be easier to ride hard.not much of a hp gap between the milder ones and the 750, just a little smoother coming off the lower revs.i tend to keep my crap for a while so i'm trying to think it through.i appreciate everyones input.  

That's what I meant by a rider "tailoring his riding style to the engine's powerband." In reality (despite what you witnessed from a rider in front of you), a GSX-R750's powerband is anything but a "two-stroke hit" (I know what you mean, because I grew up riding two-strokes, and raced them for many years). If you don't carry momentum on any bike, it's always going to be struggling for traction off the corner, whether it's a 750 or a one-to-three-year-old literbike.  Ride the torque curve by coming into the turn a gear higher, and you won't have to be resorting to theatrics coming out of the corner; you'll be mostly upright, carrying more speed, and in a better position to deal with meat of the powerband as it comes on.

I suggest finding a way to get some saddle time on a 750 before you write it off based only upon what you witnessed from a detached (not riding the bike) perspective.  

If I'm not mistaken, RC51's are widely regarded as the most difficult twin to ride fast.  Honda built the RC to beat Ducati at its own game, but they tuned to it to deliver power much like a four.  Close attention to engine speed is needed to keep it making good power, or so I've read.

My suggestion would be to look at an Aprilia, either the Mille or the Falco.  The biggest difference between the two will be the ergonomics.  Engine wise, I think they are pretty similar.

Of course you could always just pull the trigger and go buy the sporting twin by which all others are measured, the Ducati 998.