I don't get how people can call this CBR boring. CBR 1000 Fireblade boring - sorry the brain just cannot compute that one - blank stare - honestly no idea what they are talking about !! In the nearly two years of ownership and 16,350 miles of riding it - I cannot think of a single minute when I have been bored with riding it. Even got a picture of it on the wall !
Bland, boring, soulless, whatever. I've heard those and more used to describe the Blade, usually by other riders trying to justify their own purchases, people who've never ridden one or by journo's who have to nitpick to sell mags. Having owned 5 or so Italians, 2 Yams and 7 Blades, I've done what most people call "character". When they leave you at the side of the road or with a large bill you realise how good "Bland" is. Excitement is a twist of the wrist and a decent road away.
Mind you the MCN muppets said the BMW was boring as well in their super test, I don't believe there is a sportsbike out there (or pretty much any bike for that matter) that can be called boring, that's why I can't stand bike journo's, they get given the best bikes on the planet and then nitpick tiny little faults.
Whenever i ride a bike that has ride by wire, i feel like the throttle is somewhat disconnected. I can't seem to get a good feel for it, especially when rev matching or at very slow speed. I think i prefer cable more tbh
The 2012+ bikes with the improved suspension moved it on a fair whack - add some lightweight wheels and a QS and you have a proper flying machine - more so if you change the gearing from all the reports I've read. Remember blasting up one of the Swiss passes last June and my 2014 was epic, I must be getting on a bit as I keep thinking of bar risers or vario bars (I think the 2014 a little more 'compact' than the 2008 - 2013 bikes) It's still a lovely bike to have a blast on - very much like the Gixer thou upto 2016 , Honda should develop a new CBF1000r / CBR1000t for tourer as a Z1000sx rival with the 'old' engine, chassis just revise subframe for panniers and a more upright stance.
Good idea, the CBR1000F, tooling and development is all there, Ducati and BMW do it, trouble is I suspect they wouldn't want to produce anything that might steal Blade sales.
It is, I had this conversation with the sales guy when I tried the 2015 bike I've got now. Compared to the 2010 model I'd had, he was saying customer feedback was for a more aggressive riding position. So they moved more weight onto the wrists and fiddled slightly with the riding position. To be honest I preferred the old position even though there's not much of a change, I just found it slightly more comfortable on the knees and wrists.
Sorry, I've owned two blades (and quite a few other Hondas) and can honestly say they are pretty bland compared to the v twins, v fours and triples that I've owned. (And a few singles as well). That's not to say that they weren't good bike's, probably better than a lot of the other bike's I've owned, but they do lack character. Unfortunately it's a trait of a lot of hondas. As long as you are happy with your bike why would you worry about what others think?
I never mentioned being worried about what people think. But from personal experience - I can assure you that my 2015 Fireblade is not boring
I know what you mean, definitely something more appealing about a nice looking bike, the Italians do it very well but I do like opening the garage to the Blade These were my last two bikes before and while I always liked looking at the blue/white GSXR, the black one never really did it for me, even though it was a better bike, just didn't put a smile on my face when I opened the garage door
Ride it on the road then, if you find it boring riding it round a track......or is that too DANGEROUS !!
i bought my 2016 last year and can only say i luv it to bits..... call it bland or boring,call it what u want but it rocks my world every time i give it a proper thrasing.... above 8k rpm the thing is fast... i use it for commuting and traveling and ride it fairly "normal" most of the time (i am 50..) causse speeding here in holland almost has a death penalty on it nowadays but every now and then i take into germany and cant resist doing a stretch of autobahn where i can ride it as fast as i dare... running it thru all gears till the limiter is such a thrill and the way it takes autobahn corners at 250+ km/h is unbelievable... those who say the old blade is dull clearly havent ridden one or just havent ridden it flat out....
OOPS, sorry , missed that one ! I thought you were saying that it was slow round a track ! Anyway, I hope you liked the Bike Me review if you had not seen it already - watched that loads of times and it still makes me smile - pilgrim !
The only time I've ever come close to considering it slow was next to a ZX-10R which has a ridiculous 207bhp. The bloody thing could power up like a missile on the straights. Drove me nuts though because the guy riding it was shit on the bendy bits - so I'd overtake him on every corner, then he'd overtake me coming out, brake really early for the next corner forcing me to slow down and then I'd have to work to pass him again just to be out-powered again on the straight.
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/kawasaki/zx-10r/2016/ All I know is it was quicker in a straight line!
