Well the day is nearly upon me and my new Fireblade is being delivered tomorrow so my trusty much loved 848 is looking sad, think it knows it is going !! Hope she finds a good home, she's mint. A few last minute photos before she leaves for ever.
I wish I didnt have to sell mine but it was just costing me too much to keep best bike I have owned so far.
I traded in my 1098S recently, apart from looking at it in the garage and those few moments where the road was clear I dont miss it ! and I dont walk to the garage in the morning thinking .... is it going to start today ...... But you have to admit the 848/1098/1198 bikes look stunning and there is a lot of time and money gone into that very nice bike, you will be much happier with the blade
Lovely looking bike.... Remember trade in day for my 08 r6 for the blade, I sat on my drive thinking "what am I doing?" Then rode it to the dealers via the twisties and was very very close to riding home and calling the deal off... Even picking keys up to the bike I was half regretting it. So know how you feel mate, but I didn't regret it one bit once I had the blade. But still miss that little r6. Was awesome Phantom, do you not prefer the power of the blade? Or was the 848 quick enough? How much more expensive was it to run? Servicing cost I'm assuming?
Life moves on mate, its only metal and plastic, plenty more will come and go, some you'll regret others you be glad to see the back of them. Nice looking bike all the same.
Jimbo I had my 848 geared down slightly so it topped out At 150 but power wise it could wheelie on the power in Even fifth.it did embarrass a few thou riders as I didn't have The 848 badges on it and when they couldn't keep up around Twisty roads they would pull up and say nice 1098 lol. I had rode the 1098 before the 848 but the 848 was a far Better road bike.the belts need done every 2 years so That along with oil, filter ect was about 120 for parts But then you would get hit with near 300 for labour as they Had the special tools and no other dealers here done it so They had you by the curlys.I just couldn't afford this on My then part time hospital job so it sadly had to go.
Thank Cliff for this thread. I thought I was the only one who felt this way. Jamie, I laughed out loud when I read about you wondering whether the Duc' was going to start. It's well documented that I would only put my kit on 'after' I'd started mine, just to save on embuggerance.
cheers dude... must admit, ive been having a sly look at them and there is a lovely one on biketrader atm, not overly fussed about the lack of power as i never struggled to keep up with bigger bikes on my 600 (that said i think i might with a couple of lads we ride with now days) in fact that R6 was so good i'd say on certain roads i was prob quicker on it. lol however, when i jump on Raff's 600 now and twist the throttle full chat i find myself waiting for it to kick in... and saying "come on... come on" ha ha... think i'd miss the poke. although once up and running, there are huge advantages of a smaller bike on the right roads. you just have to work them harder!
iang - i know one day im going to have to give up my boy for a new model - and tell you the truth - im not looking forward to it because to me all my bikes are far more than just plastic & metal - each one has a individual spirit/character - there are days i swear my boy isnt in the mood to ride and he wants to kick me off other days we are in perfect sync - it is well known that many riders know that there are no two bikes the same, even if they are the same year, make and model. that being said - getting your blade i reckon is the right move.
Your right, sounds stupid but you kinda get 'attached' to a bike that you really like. This one has caused me no trouble at all and until I started to struggle on it because of tiredness ( and age ! ) I would not consider selling it but been there before and it is only plastic and metal at the end of the day and I am sure ( I hope ) that once accustomed to the Blade I will not regret it. Still be sad to see her going into the van though. You are right when you say two identical bikes may not ride the same, my brother had a749 when I had mine and his felt awful to ride compared to mine for some reason.
"there are days i swear my boy isnt in the mood to ride and he wants to kick me off other days we are in perfect sync" In this, we are in complete agreement, BladeWitch. "You are right when you say two identical bikes may not ride the same, my brother had a749 when I had mine and his felt awful to ride compared to mine for some reason." This also is completely true, Ian. My mate has the same bike as me, even colour. We swapped bikes for a run down the coast once but swapped back at the first opportunity. I felt like his had flat tyres and he felt mine was too skittish. Different set ups, obviously but they felt like two completely different bikes. It was embarrassing really. Like we'd slept with each others wives but it wasn't that.....good, and now we had to compliment each other on our choices but were struggling to find something sexy to say about them.
Power wise I rode my brothers 06 gixer 750 and thought it was Slow when I had my 848.it would have been quicker than my blade From 0-120 so that kept the grin factor. The reliability of it was Great and not once did it fail to start or give me a error code. Regarding the track day question they have a 848 cup, check Out the lap times them guys get.I like my blade but I miss the 848, it had more of a grin factor when I opened the garage.
The L twin grunt is such a different dynamic with regard to the sensation of speed to the inline 4 that you 'feel' speed differences where there may not actually be one. The noise, the vibration, the torque delivery is.........I want to say more visceral but I've also abused the throttle of the Blade and have it turn from a pussy cat to a tiger with a rubber band around it's bollocks, so It's not, necessarily more visceral after all. It's so complex to describe it's better if you all just go and have a go on one and see for yourselves, really.
