Had bad luck with two new European motorcycles bought new or ex demo. Thinking of going back to Honda because of build quality and reliability. There is a new vfr800 out this April, but it doesn't really get me excited and the vfr1200 is hideous so wondered what the Fireblade would be like to use 4 days out of five? Want to use it for everything from commuting (70miles round trip) to track days. Any experience?
My brother has one that was intended as his sole do it all bike. After a few months he got a Deauville for daily use as the Fireblade was a pain. Still has the Fireblade for his weekend toy and won't part with it for love nor money.
No, but as a fast commuter you'd be hard pushed to beat one of these:
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Put 20k on it in under a year, with only tyres, pads and servicing plus near 60mpg (90 mile round trip commute)
Although a few bikes previously I ran a ZX9R, and that was a brill commuter too (and better than both the Fazer 1000 and Tiger 1050 that then replaced it) - and pretty much (one of) the fastest road bikes in its day.
+1
ABS
Last two bikes have had, and so would any bike in the future.
Daisy duke. I don't use it for commuting and it's not the abs version but I do have a 2012 blade that I rode all the way to Italy last year. Very comfortable indeed. OH was an a S1000rr and we ended up having to swap bikes from time to time to give him a break. At one point we went from Southern bavaria to Folkestone (via Chunnel ) in 12 hours. No issues with comfort at all.
Absolutely love this bike. I too always loved italian stuff but will not consider it now. OH has a panigale now. No doubt he'll be complaining about comfort again this year.
Cheers guys.
Julzm, I did consider S1000rr. I was hoping it would be easier to live with than a blade, so interesting reading. Coz it always rains here in North Wales, abs is defo. I would like something with traction control. Is it easy to ride in the rain? What's the tank range out of interest?
