My friends just bought a 2009 R1, only 1700 miles on it with twin Yosi's. What a bike and engine? Amazing sound and torque from that crossplane lump. Handles perfect and the power delivery is bloody brutal. Made my 04 RR feel like a 125cc after I'd got back on it. I know what my next bike is going to be.
A 2009 blade? Compare the specs, can't see where the extra two grand goes myself. 2009 Fireblade New price £10,975 Engine size 999 cc Power 178 bhp Top speed 180 mph Insurance group 17 of 17 2009 R1 New price £13,399 Engine size 998 cc Power 179 bhp Top speed 182 mph Insurance group 17 of 17
Guess its down to how it feels pete? I would say though bandit, you should compare it to an equal year blade. My 2004 r1 is miles behind 2011 blade. As is the 04 blade. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but things move on mate... I'm finding the r1 is really showing its age now on tour and giving it some hammer time! On roads I know the blade would relish.
I totally agree with you. I'm sure a later Blade would feel significantly better than my 04, don't get me wrong my 04 is fast enough and far more capable than I am but that cross plane engine is an absolute work of engineering genius! The sound that thing makes with twin Yoshi's is gorgeous, just like a big twin and the torque on tap is fantastic. I'm going to test drive a newer Blade when the time comes to sell but right now that thing has ticked all the boxes.
If it floats ya boat then crack on. My mate Russ has one with the yoshis on, sounds immense!! Wouldn't mind one myself, but if I buy new(er) for road anytime soon, wouldn't be the blade or r1 I'm afraid
I'm going to test the new f3 800 next month and also the F4. Apart from those I can't think of another bike to test. I wish KTM brought out a new RC8R though.
I still want to get a run on one, love the sound of them And they are meant to be very user friendly if you are Used to twins.
I'm quite lucky working in a bike dealer, as it means I've ridden just about everything (not bragging, honest). The 09- R1 is about the only bike that's really 'wowed' me, and that's why there's one sat at work with my name on it! Cracking bikes, ignore specs, ride one.
I suppose it's each to their own really, but I'd love to know what makes a two grand difference in price, that's a hundred tanks of petrol, that's ten thousand miles of riding, so is it just the R&D costs for the company, different materials or what? It's not like either the honda or yamaha are premium exotica brands, I can understand paying that bit extra for something rare and probably Italian.
think it was maybe when it first come out it was just a special bike with the different firing order.its the same with most bikes, do something special and you can charge more and at that stage most bikes were going up in price, when I got my 09 848 it cost 11k and it was only the baby brother.
Simple economics mate.... At the time, Yama had obviously spent money on R&D on the thing but being a new bike had no return on their investment, the world was in meltdown and Yamaha were actually struggling quite bad (as we're many others hence motogp drop outs etc) the yens strength against the pound had shifted a fair bit and they could no longer afford to keep them floating around the 10k mark like Honda were. Same reason I got a brand new r6 for 7k in 2008 and 18 months later they are 9k Honda kept their prices low by sheer economies of sale (the more you make the cheaper it gets) and by selling loads of 08+ blades and millions of small bikes globally, with minimal change for 5 years they have rode out the storm... Funny thing is until circa 2009 / 2010 we had never really had it so good, sports bike prices despite huge development in performance and technology prices were not too dissimilar to mid 90's prices. So I'm told
Having tried Alblades Big Bang R1 last night, I concur with the OP. Specs aside; it made my 10 Blade feel very tame. Unlike my sons 07 R1, the power delivery was ballistic from very low down.
I have to join in this discussion on the R1 and blade. I have an 09 with PCV and yoshi and my brother has the big bang with custom remap and akky's and there is absolutely no way the R1 is more powerful. We ride together all the time and the blade can't instantly make progress like the cross plain lump but as soon as it kicks in it pulls harder than the R1 and is the quicker of the two bikes. We've experimented with this on far too many occasions. I think it's just the brutal instant throttle response of the R1 that makes people believe it's faster but the blade's smooth delivery disguises what is actually brutally quick acceleration. The blade also has more power top of rev range than the R1 as even the gixxer 1000 can out do the R1 top end delivery. Also try riding an R1 through town at low speeds which will generally be 1st under 30mph, it's awful and the clutch judder is quite extreme. R1 is so exciting to ride definitely but I always say one is a one night stand the other is the one you would marry PS a blade without PCV and exhaust is awfully tame standard I would totally agree!
In a nutshell, you're absolutely right. And that's exactly what I like about the R1... A few mph means nothing to a mere mortal like myself, it's all about the riding experience. It makes me feel like I've earned my cigarette and the end of a good ride.
Funny you say that!!! As I had a cigarette at the end of each ride on the R1 too! Reminded me of a cigarette after something else.....
Quick note on this, the R1 was cheaper when first launched, sales were strong and price went up, far too high, sales nosedive and price then dropped again. The BMW s1k arrived while above going on.
