It can be adjusted, I had mine done but was still soft. But I was manly 2 up but strangely rode better 2 up, the cat used to bottom out on it. Nice torque and power tho, if I was gonna keep it I would have had suspension changed but I got blade instead
ditto went from a CB1000R to a CBR. Great power delivery, torque went on forever. The nakedness keeps the top speeds down. OEM exhaust is way too quiet, needs an immediate decat and can. CB would rather head for the sky than forward. Head was a bit shaky when nailing it, (no damper) Find the CBR a lot more nimble, CB at slower speeds shows the weight. Need to blip on the down shift, - No slipper clutch Didn't get on the handling (suspension was OEM) I'm much tighter with the CBR.
crap suspension . i took it to a local suspension guy and he said he couldn't get it anywhere near where it should be. it always felt wooden to me and the power isn't patch on the blade .
S1000R is the naked to go for,got one on loan at mo, what a bike 160bhp, ABS that works, traction control ( you can turn off if you want) electronic suspension, quickshifter,cruise control and heated grips all as standard and loads of fun to ride.
I do like the Blade but I'm finding it difficult to transport stuff back home from the garden centre. And there's nowhere for my Werther's Originals.
I promise you, you wont be disappointed, just wish I could shake the devil off my shoulder that loves sports bikes with 199bhp ! suppose one day I might grow up or be able to afford both
Spent Monday with an hour each on the CB1000R, 1290 Superduke and bit of a wildcard Diavel as I'm thinking about getting a naked bike. CB was creamy smooth, quiet, massively underpowered vs my Fireblade, very easy to ride but soft as has been said. It has a glowing ringpiece as a daytime running light which may or may not be your bag. Otherwise it would be easy to live with and feels well made, like all Hondas. Couldn't face chopping my blade in for one though. Diavel was very fast in a straight line but felt like trying to lean a barge round the corners compared to the other bikes. I'd definitely kill myself running wide into a tree at some point, so out. Also the mirror bracket flipped in 90 degrees on the motorway so all I could see was my lid, which brought back memories of misery from my last "never again" Ducati ownership experience. Superduke. F*****g hell. What a brilliant brilliant bike for the road. Comfy, massive torque from low down, handles well, electronics seemed effective to stop major panics, lovely crackle on the overrun, brakes are the best I've ever used. Wind protection at speed a lot better than I was expecting. Downsides are the cost and I'm a bit unsure about reliability. Very close to getting the duke.
I've been reading around and sounds like there are a few common issues on the duke (wobbly rear wheel/swing arm full of water/oil leaks/coolant leaks) , none of which I'm keen to experience on a bike of any price. Tuono looks nice. Don't have an Aprilia dealer near me but I'm going to give the BM S1000R a ride and see how that is.
normally I wouldn't mention MPG but.................16-17mpg on the tuono wtf ? the S1000r is averaging 40mpg and trust me ive been wringing the neck out of it
How do you find it after a blade? Really worried I'll miss it. See they do the S1000R in black now....might tip me over the edge.
yep must admit i got 21mpg out of the tuono on road test ,whereas get over 40 on the blade even on the isle of man just going over the mountain and back along the coast road loads of times. i suppose it depends on how many miles you ride per year .. if it is only a couple of thou a year i could live with it but if you do 10000 per year it could get expensive.
Have you considered an RC8R? - cheaper than the SuperDuke and they have been around longer so less reliability issues maybe? Loads of adjustment (bars, pegs, subframe etc.) so really comfy - wish the Blade was as comfy.
