😀 😀 😀
Took out a Valedaro to start with (it was cold, wet, salty and its been a while since I've ventured out). Nice enough bike, got me back into the swing nicely. Decided I don't like tall trailies and the first nail was laid in the V Twin coffin. Moving quickly on....
Next up the new VFR1200. Looks far nicer in the flesh than the photos. Its fast, very fast, it took a bit of time to summon up the courage to open it up. Handles very well though can skip across fast bumps. Its smooth and refined, so much so that its a bike that would definately get me into trouble. Across a range of roads and speeds, whenever I looked I was doing +25% of the speed I thought I was! Nice bike, very expensive.
Then the main event, Fireblade time. Christ it goes! Absolutely superb, not even that uncomfortable a riding position. Didn't even scratch the surface of its potential, couldn't bring myself to fully open the throttle, even so the back wheel span up twice under power. Breathtaking, but utterly bonkers! Jumping back into the diesel Mondeo was a strange experience, like someone had slo-mowed the world.
Anyway, back to bicycles, no good can come of this.....
Ive been on the motorbike twice this week. checked tyres, oil.. wound the preload of the forks out three notches for a bit more comfort and i was off.oh no,the indicator had been knocked off against shed door. (fixed it) Then i was off.
It felt like i hadnt been off it at all although its been sitting there since start of november-ish. tried out a new riding position to help steering and comfort and it felt good.i agree with something i read from a magazine.. at last!
The new Blade's stupidly good... Ugly mind, looks like a clenched fist but it goooooooooes. But like the old 06 R1 you can ride it slow and it works perfectly. If I cared about going fast I'd have one, or maybe an older one, but I prefer going slow yet feeling like I'm going fast 😉
Thats it, I ride bikes for the fun and thrill of it, that thrill seems to kick in at 90mph on a Blade, for the sake of my license I need to keep riding something that's fun at 60mph. Of course, mountain bikes kick in at about 20mph!
With you 100% on that daveh. The fun comes in thrashing them. Supermotard if its just short thrashes? Enfield India? Get that footrests to the ground at 65 mph you know you are going fast.
I was told a long time ago its more fun to ride a slow bike fast than to ride a fast bike slow.
(Mr MC posting)
havent ridden the new VFR but looks, design and spec wise it is the disappoinment of the decade. Honda had hyped the second coming of the V4 and they have built some iconic bikes with that engine. This isnt one of them.
I currently ride an 05R1 and it is fantastic, but like posters have observed thrashing bikes like that means criminal speeds.
Possibly my age but I am taken with the CB1300S in retro white/red and also really like the CB1000 naked. Should be fun at sensible speeds. Going touring this spring on the R1 with a phalanx of VFR800 riders, which could be a catalyst for a change of bike!
My dream bike is the current Fireblade in Repsol colours (sadly dropped for '10), but I don't have £10k spare and my ZX6R isn't a year old yet and is a bl00dy good road tool; only (!?!) 108bhp means it can actually be thrashed properly (albeit only on early morning, quiet, non-policed roads....)
i'm about to (very regrettably) sell a decent sp1 joey replica, harris titanium pipes and all that, if you want a stunning to ride honda for not a lot of cash.
Sold my Tiger last week 😥