Hi Guy's & Girl's. I'am struggling to find a dealer close to Bedford that has a newish blade in stock to test drive. Grafton Honda in Milton Keynes have a CBR600RR demonstrator that i can take out. i was wondering apart from the obvious difference in power, would it give me the 'feel' of a blade etc. I'am coming from a Triumph Street TripleR which is practically brand new & would quite like a sports style bike. I bought the Triumph to get back into biking after over 20 years break. The Triumph is a cracking bike, but think the blade would give me what I'am looking for. I'am guessing on the CBR600RR I would be working the box more; but i would interested to hear if anyone has ridden both & what there main differences are.
I tried their sister company Dunstable Honda & Grafton Honda - neither have any in stock & St.Neots have a used one which they won't let anyone test drive! Bit frustrating. I'am not in a rush, but would be nice to take one out. Letchworth isn't too far to travel - cheers
Wheels in Peterborough are great for that! My brother and I bagged a blade and R1 for a 2hr yet ride together and swapped. Was an awesome test ride and instant comparison
I've got a cbr600rr 05 and a 09 cbr1000rr. Main differences that I noted are; Blade; GOOD= Torque, the Blade has it in bundles, more stable entering corners and a more planted feeling throughout the corner. You can be lazier with both the engine and gear box. The bike will do everything, tour in comfort, commute, weekend blasts & trackdays BAD = Torque, you don't notice the speed your doing until you get use to it The bike is the boss, not you! well, not until you get use to it. C-abs system when it's not working correctly.Removal of fairing panels on 08 onwards bikes. 600rr; Good = Your the boss and the bike knows it cheaper to insure. Easy to remove panels. easier to get second hand parts. It won't highside you as easily as the Blade. Great throwing it into and out of corners. Bad = Can be hard work buzzing up and down the box, pain to cover any long distances on. Don't look as good as the Blade. No slipper clutch.
Which years are you looking at... I had a 2006 600rr for 3 years, and I've ridden the 2008 600rr quite a bit, they were pretty much the same... magazines say the 2012/13 still feels the same so I am probably qualified to comment. I had a 600rr for 3 year before I got my first blade... The 600rr will probably feel slower to 100 than the triple R, and you'll need to work it more. Above 100 it will feel like bliss compared to any naked. Size wise the 2008 onwards blade does not feel significantly bigger or heavier than than the 600rr... maybe only slightly longer. The power difference between the two is completely different, and you'd need to try the two to understand it. I used to enjoy thrashing the 600rr, it was more fun to ride hard... but you had to ride it hard to have fun. The blade is a bit mental no matter what you do.
Great. Thanks for the comments. I'am probably looking at 2011 to present. I think above 70 it will feel like bliss compared to the Street Triple You do get buffeted about a bit on a naked. Sounds like the 600RR was good fun but harder work than a blade. You say the blade is a bit mental. I understand that you have sooooo much power; but people say it is very, very easy to ride & more user friendly than the competition. Also I've heard the blade has much smoother power delivery. I love the agility of the street triple, but dislike going above 70 as you get buffeted by wind etc.
I had an 08 600rr before this 2010 blade and the main differences are: On the 600rr you rev the nackers off it to get it shifting, when I was riding fast on the road or round the track (nurburgring in this case) i always kept the 600rr hovering around 8K revs to keep it on the power band, this aint a problem and the bike is designed to take it but it does get loud and hurts the fuel economy a bit although I could still get 150 miles to a tank. On the blade however you can get it shifting from anything above 4k revs, choosing a gear for an overtake is less of a concern as the 600 and it will pull in any gear (5th and 6th roll on at motorway speeds is quite impressive), so far the most I have got to a tank on the blade is about 140 but havent really been trying, thing is on the blade you can stick it up to 5th/6th and forget about it and still have enough torqure/power to get you out of trouble. In terms of raw power as soon as you hit the power band on the blade it is an ANIMAL. Mine has the PCV and si's custom map and at cadwell I was getting power wheelie's constantly which it will do in 1st, 2nd and 3rd (with a bounce). The power on the 600 is flat upto 7/8K and then kicks in but is always delivered progressive and smooth, the standard blade is like this but from lower revs however by the time you are up into the meat of the powerband in any gear other than 1st you will already be busting the national speed limit. 90mph on the blade really does feel like 60mph on the 600. In terms of flickability, the 600 is obviously a bit more nimble. But having ridden the 6 a lot more than blade I can honestly say that the blade isn't far off it at all. At first switching to the blade it felt like a little bit more was needed in the corners but all I have done to compensate is just flick it in a fraction earlier or shifted my weight a little more to one side. The blade will still handle almost as well as the 600 and to be honest to separate the two in terms of handling you have to be fuckin good. The steering damper is the same on both bikes and works a treat. Dunno if you are considering ABS but I have it on the blade and love it, it isnt intrusive but nice to have there and it hasn't saved me yet but here have been times in the wet were I have emergency braked and not worried about giving it a handful of lever. For touring the blade is by far the superior machine, I did a 3 tours of scotland, 1 of wales and 1 of europe on the 600rr and it was fine. I am only 5 ft 9 and the bike fit me OK. The blade I have just taken round scotland and it was sooooo much better in comparison. There is more comfort, the riding position is less cramped, for some reason the seat feels comfier although im sure it is the same on both bikes, there is more room for luggage etc. since the exhaust isn't underseat and munching miles is so much easier with the torque and linear power of the bike. I think I can honestly say now that I have the 1Krr I will never go back to a 600 sports or anything else. People say 1000s are too much for the street but thats bollocks they require much less effort to ride. So I would say if you are a midgit or are planning to take your roadbike to the track all the time buy the 600, if you plan to spend most of your time on the road and would like more smiles per mile for the cash, buy the blade. It will make you smile everytime you take it for a spin!!
The Blade is only mental if you make it. Tiz quite happy bumbling along at normal traffic speeds all day long. If you can afford the insurance etc then go straight for the Blade as you'll only be looking at swapping out in 6 months anyway when you get bored with the 600. The 2013 CBR600 has had quite a revamp where as the 2013 Blade is basically the same as the 2012 bar paint etc
You are probably right. I don't want to be in the same position I'am in now - bought a new Triumph Street TripleR, only done 150 miles & already looking to move her on. i want a bike that's right to keep long term.
I had a hypermotard between the 600rr and blade and anything over 70 was horrible, I sold it after 6 month. When I said the blade was an animal compared to the 600... What I mean is the 600rr you can ride around full throttle no bother, you can give full throttle out of a corner and not worry (to muc) about it spinning out or sliding. The blade will do it on a 1/4 throttle, sure you can ride it around gently, but it's harder to ride hard if that makes sense.
Bottom line is you'll never find yourself wanting more power on the road unless you have a death wish. It'll leave most things for dead and you run outa road way before you run outa power. These are the things that will ensure you don't get bored.
Small chance I may know of a buyer for the street triple - will find out. Is it the current / new model one.
I tried the 600RR and then the Blade in the same demo session. Loved the 600RR although it felt small and I wasn't used to a screamer engine, found I went through the gears to quick and had run out of gears by about 65mph. Extremely agile and great to throw around, handled like a dream Then I went back to the dealer and asked for a go on the Fireblade Game over! The Blade just felt right, loads of torque and just that bit more meaty. Having ridden the 600RR at Donington Race school (Ron Haslam) they are really great fun I wanted a bike to do some miles on (just done 975 going to Le mans) so went for the bigger option and haven't regretted it. Either way both bikes are superb
I have had both, 600RR is a brilliant bike, the Blade is simply just better. In the end easier to do everything with. If you like Torque then its all over. If insurance is the issue then the 600RR is still a great machine but if it ain't go for the Blade, you will eventually
I had a street triple R, then bought a gsxr600, then bought my current 2010 blade. The 600's are good if you like keeping the revs high. The blade is very similar to the street triple, only with a lot more power, both have great handling, both are comfy on long trips, both have great torque, so you have much more usable power without going down through gears. Where the 600's don't have any of these attributes. So going from a street triple R to a blade would make sense, in terms of power delivery and comfort.
Well, it seems Letchworth Honda are more than happy to let me test drive their 2012 used blade. Yippeee. I have heard lots of good things about St.Neots Motorcycles but not allowing test drives on their used stock is crazy. They have a nice 2011 blade but will not allow a test drive
Used bikes are sometimes on Sale or Return... so the dealership do not own the bike, they are just selling it on behalf of someone else. They can be funny about test rides in those circumstances but I'd have thought they would explain if that was the case.
Their argument was that the bike is a one owner bike & if people wanted to test drive it they couldn't sell it as a one owner bike. I don't think that argument sticks. You wouldn't think about buying a used car unless you have test driven it unless you are buying from an auction. When i bought my used Porsche the dealer was more than happy for me to test drive it. I would have been more than happy to follow the dealer rider out on the blade etc
