Today I test rode a......

Zakalwe · Post by **Zakalwe** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 8:36 pm

....03 CBR900RR3

After the (minor) probs I have had with the SP1 I fancied a go on an IL4, so i popped into Lancaster Honda for a blast on a 'Blade.

Initial thoughts: It was so light compared to the SP1...you could really feel the difference just rocking it from side to side. The seating position is far more comfortable, with an easy reach to the bars. The brakes were fantastic...loads of power and feel (the SP1 brakes are comparable, but are a bit fiercer on the initial bite). The front suspension was a revelation, supple, and when hard on the brakes, loads of feedback. The rear suspension was fine....loads better than the SP1. The steering was light and precise, ans so delicate-feeling.

However, I could not click with the bike. The engine was sooo different from the V Twin......loads of power high in the rev range, but just took a long time to get there. The bike was good fun (I am crap at wheelies...really crap in fact, but wheelies are so easy on a Blade that i could inadvertently pop the front wheel up)

, but it just felt efficient....

Its hard to explain, but I knew that the Blade was loads easier to ride, was faster, had better suspension, cheaper on insurance, better fuel economy...in fact, it was a perfect modern Japanese bike. However, it had no soul, no character. When I was riding it, I felt invisible....just another biker on a Blade. It felt like a tremendously efficient machine, whose sole purpose was to burn petrol in order to move a human being at stupid speeds.

At the end of the ride, I couldn't wait to hand it back. I climbed back onto the the high, heavy, noisy, outdated lump that is the SP1, did a three point turn to get it out of the car park (you can do u-turns on a Blade...I had forgotten what it was like to turn a bike in the road

). After contorting my legs up onto the stupidly high Gilles rearsets, I shot off in in a thundering V-Twin roar.

The new plan is to sort out the suspenders on the VTR ( I have bought a second-hand rear shock and am getting it re-built. Roger can do the forks over the winter).

You can keep your modern Blades for now....

[wishful thinking] Why wont Honda/Japan make a modern V-Twin???[/wishful thinking]

RedStormV · Post by **RedStormV** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:18 pm

Ahhhhhhhhhh

Saved from the brink!!!

Let's know how you get on with the mods mate.

I have a spare rear shock on donor bike, can't decide whether to get it re-built for me or to just get a WP/Ohlins etc.

Good review of the Blade BTW - you could be a Journo!

Graeme.

VTRbob · Post by **VTRbob** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:42 pm

just what i found when i tested a busa,no bottom end kick just smooth power,i expected a fire breathing monster but got a pussy cat,i'll keep the vtr thank you

bluesman · Post by **bluesman** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:17 am

Aren't they full of soul, those twins!
This is why even my second bike is vibey, noisy, HUGE, scary single-cylinder 800 cc thumper called DR800. When I wanted an touring enduro I tried Transalp, Africa, Supertenere and despite the fact that all those 3 bikes are legendary I went for DR800 because it felt fun.

And this is why I am getting my VTR back on the road after accident instead of buying something else.

BTW - you probably right about Blade strong points on suspension and brakes, but interstingly that quite a few trackdays fans that I know swear by SP1 and SP2 (I know - they are different) handling and brakes on race track and only complain about engine (losing to IL4 on long runs). In fact I can quote one of trackday addicts "I want 2004 blade engine in SP2 chassis!"

Seeker 77 · Post by **Seeker 77** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:21 pm

I keep saying it but nobody listens!!! .

TRY A GSXR 1000 K5/6

I know you don't want a four because it has no soul. But purely for the performance, it is so different from any other inline four i have tried. Trust me, i put 14000 miles on my SP1 so i know what a good dose of torque feels like, the GSXR has more, i promise.

I just want someone else to try one, you don't have to like it but you will simply not believe the performance. I miss the noise of my Harris cans like crazy, really i do, and i found myself looking at a new RSV Factory just yesterday, but please don't lump me in the IL4 category because there are IL4s and then there is the Gixxer 1000 K5/6

Post by **sirch345** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:18 pm

Very good write up Zakalwe

Now you must try a GSXR1000 K5/6 as Mellis recommends, it would be good too hear another persons opinion

Although iirc Stratman did test ride a GSXR1000 but I'm not sure if it was the K5/6 model

Chris.

Zakalwe · Post by **Zakalwe** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:15 pm

mellis wrote: I know you don't want a four because it has no soul. But purely for the performance, it is so different from any other inline four i have tried.

I think that that is the point that I am trying to make....I know that there are far higher performing machines out there...ZX-10 anyone? (I know someone that had an 04 GSXR1000, then moved to a 05 ZX-10 and he reckons the 10 is mental). I also know that I would not be able to use the performance, and that I would most likely be killed/banned if i had the extra performance (the spirit is willing, but the flesh is oh so weak

). Virtually any litre bike built in the last 4 years will have better performance than a Honda twin....the point is (based on the test ride of a blade) that it didn't have the character of the SP1.

A modern IL4 makes more torque than the SP1/2, as well as BHP....it's just that they make it in a totally different way. This, as well as the fact that the SP1/2 is a little bit special (it is a RC model after all....think RC30, RC45) and unusual all adds up to give it this amorphous quality called character

If my buying decision was based purely on performance, then the SP1 wouldn't stand a chance. However, it is not. I guess that the gixxer would be another step in performance, but I assume (maybe incorrectly) that the difference between a gixxer and the blade would be an order of magnitude smaller than the difference between a SP1 and a Blade? In my (admitidly limited) experience, the Honda twins have bags of character, which the 'Blade didn't appear to have. I would guess that the Aprillia RSV would probably suit me better than an IL4?? Maybe a Buell (1125 anyone....even with the Godawful radiator guards)

Having said all that, i am gonna try and blag a test ride on a gixxer (purely in the interests of science

). Unfortunately the budget wouldn't stretch to an 05 model

bluesman wrote: BTW - you probably right about Blade strong points on suspension and brakes, but interstingly that quite a few trackdays fans that I know swear by SP1 and SP2 (I know - they are different) handling and brakes on race track and only complain about engine (losing to IL4 on long runs). In fact I can quote one of trackday addicts "I want 2004 blade engine in SP2 chassis!"

Loads of people have said that (with some tweaks) the SP1 suspension is one of the best going...lets not forget that the SP1 was a homolgation special, built to allow Honda to beat Ducati. However, on the road, the suspension is overly harsh, whereas the 'Blade suspension was so supple with loads of feedback. On a smooth track I would probably guess that the SP1/2 would be better than the softer 'Blade

Seeker 77 · Post by **Seeker 77** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:03 pm

Good luck to you matey!

Couldn't agree more with your reasons for sticking with the SP. I am just at the stage in my biking life where i need the fastest thing i can, sad i know but it is my choice and it is my money. I am also fortunate enough to be in a country and environment where i can use all the power of the bike nearly every day on the long way home

Stick with your twin mate and enjoy it, i will be returning to the fold myself at some point in the next couple of years, either on an RSVR Factory or on a 1098

Zakalwe · Post by **Zakalwe** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:59 pm

mellis wrote:Good luck to you matey! I am also fortunate enough to be in a country and environment where i can use all the power of the bike nearly every day on the long way home

Thats the key point...you have the ability and opportunity to use the Gixxer to the full, allowing yo to experience it to the max. Every time I go out on the bike, I swear to keep the speed down, yet every time, I seem to get the opportunity to let it run a little free. Unfortunately, in this overcrowded, speed-camera'd, nanny-state, using a Gixxer to anywhere near it's limits carries the risk of jail-time......

Pete.L · Post by **Pete.L** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:41 pm

Zakalwe
get your suspenders sorted front and rear ASAP don't wait for winter

Stick it on a credit card if you have to and pay that off over the winter instead

You'll love the difference. It's turned mine into what I've always thought the bike should be

.

Pete.l

Zakalwe · Post by **Zakalwe** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 10:08 pm

Pete.L wrote:Zakalwe
get your suspenders sorted front and rear ASAP don't wait for winter
Stick it on a credit card if you have to and pay that off over the winter instead
You'll love the difference. It's turned mine into what I've always thought the bike should be .
Pete.l

Well, I have bought a 2nd hand rear shock (with allegedly 2K miles on it) off egay. This is currently with K-Tech, getting revalved and re-sprung for my not-inconsiderable bulk

The plan then is to get Roger (or K-Tech) to give the front end a good going over (would love Ohlins, but cannot justify the cost

)...Â£1800

Pete.L · Post by **Pete.L** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:08 am

Zakalwe said

The plan then is to get Roger (or K-Tech) to give the front end a good going over (would love Ohlins, but cannot justify the cost )...Â£1800

No Need to go that far unless you're after something really special. All I've done is put hyperpro springs in the front and the bike is transformed. They're great for road riding and dead easy to set up. For only Â£90 quid it's the best mod I've ever done.

Pete.l