Ridden 3 bikes today

.............the usual Blackbird (mine) , an 07 Fireblade and an 07 Goldwing.

Loved the exhaust and induction noise from the Fireblade. Great brakes
although rear felt useless compared to the dual circuit on the Blackbird.
Light and lively but rock hard suspension and vibey. I couldn't believe the
on/off throttle FI stutter - a million miles away from the smoothness of a 7
year old Blackbird. Handling was great but the performance wasn't anything
like a step change from the Blackbird.

Then the Goldwing. Easy to handle at any speed and the low speed
manoeuverabilty was a pleasant surprise. Liked the lazy pull of the 1800 6
cylinder but I think i'll wait until I'm in my 50's........The helmet
buffeting from the non electrically adjustable screen was horrendous - worse
than any other bike I've ridden at ant speed. £17k and no electric screen.
FFS.

When I jumped back on the Blackbird I expected it to feel old and tired but
it was actually the best compromise of the lot! Certainly the most
comfortable at 90 mph cruises. Managed to get 204 miles out of a tank today
as well!

Maybe the new Hayabusa will sway me!

Mark

 

Who's blade was it?

 

Demo bike from Bridge Motorcycles, Exeter.

Mark

 

Mark wrote:
-snip-

-snip-

Clever riding - I've never got more than 164 miles out of mine (that's
when I ran out of petrol heading back for a ferry....) Don't know how
you do it, apart from *very* gentle riding.

 

Sshh! You can't say good things about Blackbird brakes on here! They'll
call you a heretic and try to burn you!

--

Paul.
CBR1100XX SuperBlackbird (Buen mueble de patio)
And a pushbike of some sort.
BOTAFOT #4
BOTAFOF #30
MRO #24
OMF #15
UKRMMA #30

 

I wouldn't say so............i've become accustomed to running it well into
the red warning light (1) and usually get about 150 miles before it comes
on. I've found the consumption is so much better if you use the whole tank
in one or two goes. Revving to around 5k and no more than 7-8k got 175 miles
before the light.

Mark

(1) Usually about 25 to 30 miles

 

Not sure what your point is. I don't just use it for a blast. I
commuted 24k miles/year for 6 years, a lot of that on Blackbirds, as
well as often riding to France & Spain. I'd hardly call the Blackbird
a "sports" bike - it's a sports tourer. 'Blade would be the sports
bike. Much of the mileage I've done has been two up with some luggage
and I'd much prefer the Blackbird to the ZZR (actually why I bought
the first one in 1997) when I compared the CBR with the ZZR, which
seemed to nearing it's end, whereas the CBR had recently been
launched, and is now approaching the same number of years of
production as the ZZR1100 enjoyed.

 

Not to mention that the 'Bird brakes aren't actually dual circuit, but
linked. Two very different things.

 

And that's how to go so far, obviously. Ride a big powerful bike as
if you're mortally afraid of the size and power. FFS, man - it's
barely ticking over.

Motorcycling is not a matter for concerns over fuel consumption. If
it is, get a CG125 - but that, of course, isn't really motorcycling,
is it? Well, neither is riding a 'Bird without getting into the
power.