Why buy a Fireblade?

I disagree the sp1 looks better each to there own...but I do agree it makes the old blade look big but not fugly

 

Update * the anniversary R1 has had an upgrade to a R1M

 

Very nice and good colour combination. Congrats on the acquisition!

Honda is losing many riders to Yamaha and BMW.

 

It’s not really surprising when you hear things like ‘rider error’ when there’s a problem and the historical abs issue to name a few

 

Wow that was a quick upgrade! Awesome bike congratulations

 

Called into my local BMW dealer about when they see the new RR arriving.
They said March 2019 but the manager had visited Germany and seen the preproduction model, with its dimensions and styling finished. He said it's tiny like a 600 in feel and appearance.
Early to be sure but I'd guess Honda are again not going to get a sniff in Douglas.

 

I heard the same thing about the new Bm, and sadly with all the new bikes due out around the same time it looks like Honda will be at the bottom of the pile again unless they are bringing out something special?

 

just been told the new bmw are 215bhp out the crate

 

.....just as the Frenchies reduce the speed limit in France to 80 kmh (50 mph) on your normal "D" Roads.......

 

What's happening here? We have a 'why buy a Fireblade' thread and nearly all are now posting about why NOT to buy a Blade.

Of course I understand the predicament we're all in. I have said many a time the Blade is just about dead. Many members know I am hanging out for a new 'special' (V4 or whatever) but very seriously, if all there is for 2019 is a re-painted 2018 Blade, I'll be taking a VERY serious look at BMW, although not too keen on the above reports of the Beemer being a small bike.

If I'm going to straddle something, I want it to be BIG - a trait I might share with @bradt .

 

yep abs is why i jumped to our german friends . if honda cant be big enough and admit fault they wont ever get another penny from me and ive had a few blades

 

Yes I agree and over here they're using smart motorways to condition is to 50mph regularly.
My own theory and it's just what I believe, is this is in preparation to intergrate driverless cars. I do not believe they think a drone car can safely compute traffic at 70-80mph, and so reducing the max to 50mph with the drone running at say 30-40mph gives it a chance of not turning into chaos.

 

I think it’s to do with reducing speed that low people can’t get on with the pressures of life and work and have to speed resulting in more fines . Kerching £££££

 

@paul1966

In France they had a big blitz on speeding - lots of radar guns handed out to police forces - they raked in a huge amount of money. But drivers learn to slow down and the number of fines reduces as people adapt.

I knew this would happen. They get a big windfall, but everyone adapts, so they have to try something else. They also banned Sat Navs from showing where speed cameras are.

The French motorcycle press is very good at organising protests and explaining what is going on. They even published the statistics on speeding fines and the road crash statistics. They had a huge protest against this 80 kmh law.

The new law I think is a two year trial.

 

With the pricing Honda put on the SP1/2 I suspect a v4 special would be in the Superleggera price range.

 

I think you'll be an even older old man by the time a new Honda V4 hits the showrooms Nigel.

You've got to hand it to Honda, they do stick to their principles. It's like they aren't really interested in going head to head with any other manufacturer's.

Fireblade was evolution not revolution. They kept it roadbike first and oozing quality.... But..... They played it safe let's face it, it hasn't re-taken any crowns.

Think they've got things even worse with the cb1000r. They had the chance to challenge the MT10, Tuono, S1000R and superduke for the bonkers supernakeds, they chose not to. I don't think it even challenges a triumph triple, z900rs, mt09 or gsx1000s in the tier below. Instead they gave us something I'm not sure anybody would have asked for.

 

Yep, fair enough. I perhaps shouldn't have used the word 'special'. Honda needs a bike for the masses. I'm not overly familiar with other makes - to my disadvantage - but it seems Yamaha have made MANY refinements to the R1 over recent years that far surpass those of the Blade.

Quite seriously, the SP2 isn't a 22 Grand bike. What do we get: Wheels, Brembos, different paint, faux-carbon, and a modded motor that wouldn't cost overly more to produce than the base motor. (I acknowledge costs for separate tooling). No one will convince me that my bike has 7 Grand of goodies on it. I bought it primarily because of its exclusivity, but even that's backfired as half the dealers in UK have them advertised on eBay. The damn things won't even sell. The only saving grace is that it's a friggin' ACE bike!!

 

Nigel, furthermore on the SP2- on the off chance I called my current insurance provider how much it would cost me for a quote - full no claims, garaged, minimum mileage, 47 years old (me), the bike would never leave my eye sight if I was out on it, the only time it would see a track is if I put racing on TV on next to it, live in a part of Lincolnshire that makes Monte Carlo look like benefits street. And guess what they said no.

 

I put nearly all the same criteria (save that I am a tad older) to a few insurance companies with similar result that a few weren't interested. I now pay MCE 579.00 for the privilege, although I hope it will be much less next year.

And therein was your problem. As England is a 'benefits nation' you must be seen to be one of the masses and not a class above or below. As a benefits recipient, you are well received by all businesses, special offers, government concessions et al. Glory to my pension!! In twenty years you'll understand my point!

 

At the moment (yes I've been here before) I've convinced myself that this is my last Blade. As much as I like the bike and me using man maths to justify the current manufacturer RRPs, the bike just isn't £5k better than my 2015. I also think I'm done with the riding positions and compromises of the current liter sports bikes.

I used to buy Blades because they were primarily sports bikes for the road, were comfortable for whatever I wanted to use them for, were relatively well built and were decent value. For me the truth of it is that the 2018 just isn't as good on the road for me as the last generation. It's a nice bike, more powerful, lighter, smaller and well built and it looks great, but I think I'll be looking at something like the Street or Speed Triple next time.

Unfortunately, in this case, I feel the search for power combined with Euro 4/5/6 and fly by wire makes for a worse road bike