I've had my Fireblade for nearly 2 years and it is the fastest, best handling bike I've ever owned but it's now gone. I may not be a track day star but I am no slouch by any means but I found the massive excess of performance that the blade offers was getting all a bit pointless. I can come nowhere near using the performance on the road. I have easy access to some beautiful, fast and twisty roads but it all got too easy using even a fraction of the performance. I found myself going much quicker, much more often and strange as it may seem found it all a bit uninvolving and almost boring. Boring probably isn't the right word but it's the best that I can come up with. The Hondas stablemate was an FJR1300 and even going on solo runs I found myself opting for the big Yamaha. Apart from Enduro bikes all my road bikes over the last 35 years have been Japanese in line 4's, the more power the better has always been the philosophy. In the quest for something different I've bought a new Triumph T120 Bonneville - swapped screaming horsepower for low RPM thumpy torque, plastic for chrome and ludicrous performance for something much more sedate. Time will tell if I can live with it or not but I had a decent test ride and found myself smiling a lot. 160 on the blade never seemed enough but 80 on the Triumph seems just about right. Don't get it till August
Well riding bikes is about smiling for sure, enjoy mate... I can't get rid of my grin everytime i ride my "sports bike" though, track and road
If I had easier access to a race track I might have kept the Fireblade. I had over 10 years of trailering enduro and mx bikes around when my son and me were racing and the thought of the 250 mile round trip to Knockhill holds little appeal.
As long as your happy mate,what does it matter. For me though if it ain't a sportsbike I ain't interested
Also found riding my vfr more often. Being able to use the quick shifter to the max in the first 5 gears is just a lot of fun on the open road. Ok it starts to run out of breath over 120 mph. But is that enough for the public roads? Maybe I'm get old and boring
I know what you mean, I still love a Blade but bought ino of these last year and have done more miles than on the Blade. Trying to hustle it down a twisty road is a challenge/fun and keeps the top speed down but it still has instant grunt when needed. This was in Potes last Oct, it also makes a great touring bike.....but the Blade still has a place.
