Hmmm...

?
It's very narrow

 

They're not wide until you fit panniers and 'gigglesome' they
certainly can be.

If it's crashing you want then a ZX10R is the weapon of choice.

 

Apparently it's ok now and was simply that the connector block for the
reg-rec had come loose.

I can actually believe that because I had a little incident on the
tunnel returning from Chimay when one of the centre plates on the
carriage floor flipped up as I rode over it and dug lumps out of the
area where the reg-rec lives. I hadn't ridden it since I got home from
that trip and the battery being flat tied in about right when you
consider the timescale.

 

TDM850 or 900

Excellent with a pillion and great in town as you are sat upright and high
up so you can see over cars.

 

Same as this: http://tinyurl.com/mc55pq

Not the best colour scheme they ever came in IMHO, but better than the
red and white so many early ones came in.

The best schemes they did (IMHO), were the earlier ones in silver over
yellow, and the later ones in R6'esque met blue.

Anyway... I will sort some pics out of it later this week.

Ok... I suspect this will be the case, so gimme a shout if you want to
have a look at it once I've done all the work stated further up the
thread, to it.

I'm going to give it a service (1), and balance the carbs as well.

Ok... well I'm 6'3" - 'all body and legs', and have bloody long arms
(2).

I'm finding that it 'nags' my wrists after I've been riding it along
back roads etc (3) for a while, but see above for why this is almost
certainly the case.

The actual riding position is good though, and it handles nicely.

Bar a set of bar risers, I reckon good investment would also be a
double bubble screen for anyone on the tall side running one of these.

At the risk of infuriating the anti pipe and slippers brigade and
having reacquainted myself with them recently, I still really rate
late VFR750s - they really are a bloody good allrounder, and have a
peach of an engine.

I've had some early VFR800s as well, and these don't have quite as
much character (IME, anyway), but they're better on fuel overall
unless both are nursed.

Both handle pillions very well for something on the sporty side, as in
I can normally keep my feet up on the pegs when stationary for a while
when I come to stop in traffic on one of these.

If 'aving it large' throttle wise is your bag, they're much more pokey
and flexible than CBR600s and Thundercats IME, as in I tend to find
the latter really need to be worked hard with your head down if you're
going to venture much above 130 (4), whereas you can sit bolt upright
on a VFR, with or without a pillion, and they'll show an indicated 150
to 160 given enough road.

The main downside to that is they don't feel like they're going all
that quick by comparison to a 600 being whipped to within an inch of
their life, so in that respect they're a bit more likely to bring
about the premature death of your licence... and it has to be said the
only bike I've ever been nicked for speeding on was a VFR. ;-)

(1) Oil, filter and plugs, and will change the air filter as well if
it's that filthy / beyond being cleaned out with an air line.
(2) To the point that I've gone shopping for biking jackets etc in the
past, and found they invariably fit nicely... bar the arms.
(3) As in, on and off the throttle and brakes constantly.
(4) On a private track or autobahn, of course...

 

I may try one in due course, but the more I think about it, the more I
want to go back to a VFR750.

The Blackbird is meant to be pretty boring to ride though, isn't it?

Although having said that, so are VFRs. ;-)

 

No, but I tend to use my bikes for scratching more than anything, and
the 'ace has a reputation for drinking fuel as well when you're caning
them.

 

I think that if you compare the fuel consumption of a Thunderace
against a more modern litre class bike they're not bad at all but I
suppose it depends on how hard you're pushing it and exactly how pikey
you are.

If you want 170mph performance then expect to pay for it and if you
don't want to pay that price then buy something more frugal.

 

Bollocks it is. It's predictable, yes, but it also goes like a greased
shit and scratches round bends well for a big bike.

I took mine on the Corden weekend, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself ...

Paul.

 

Indeed. But it's all so... antiseptic, somehow.

Hasn't stopped me considering one, mind.

 

The two primary complaints I would level: for a GT type bike the riding
position isn't relaxed and the fairing is woefully short of sustained
100+mph protection.

It's 20kg too heavy. The weight distribution isn't good and the linked
brakes are horrible.

 

Pretty sure I read that opinion in here 'some time ago', tbh.

 

"Don't believe everything you read on the internet ..."

I've owned one, I liked it, so do others on here. Champ doesn't like
them, but at least he's ridden one to form his own opinion ....

e.g. He likes the 'Busa, I don't, I preferred my 12R.

Cheers,

Paul.

 

The particular comment was boring. HTF can something kicking out 150
(even Japanese) horses be boring FFS.

All of these aren't really complaints, more that your particular body
doesn't fit the ergonomics of the bike. I could level lack of fairing
protection at a few bikes (e.g. ZRX[1]) but the BB with a DB was
perfect for me.

It may be a bit heavy, but it carries the weight well and down low,
considering the tank is actually the tank rather than a dummy one.

CBS, let's just /so/ not go there ...

Paul.

[1] I'll not include the 10R, who's fairing is also pitiful, as you're
referring to GT's

 

Well I've certainly ended up with the latter.

Filled the Thundercat up again today and despite my best throttle
abuse efforts over the last couple of days, it's returned 45mpg...
which IMHO is pretty good given the poke on tap, and by comparison
with other 600cc bikes I've had in the past.

Maybe it's not so bad after all... ;-)

 

'Blackbird and 'busa...but which one is better?

Only one way to find out... FIGHT!'

 

Ask thecCunt at Honda who's in chage of the "character removal
department"

 

Yes, your views are well documented, and we know they differ from
mine.

Therefore, they're not relevant

Paul.

 

Making a bike handle superbly and do exactly what you want is *not*
character removal. Not everyone is a riding god and having a bike with
those characteristics really is a good thing for a lot of people.

 

Nice summary. Having a bike that behaves predictably leaves you free
to concentrate on your riding, rather than fighting the foibles of the
bike..

Paul.