It's a tricky one I guess, I think the bikes good it just needs tweaked, arguments of not having enough time are BS, Suzuki are a lot smaller outfit and they've managed a superstock 6th place on a new bike and a superbike senior win, yes I know the favourite came off and they had time to tweak the bike but so did everyone and that's racing for you. Ultimately this is a Fireblade forum and if you want to big up the Suzuki then the appropriate place is probably the Gix forum but I think the superstock is where it lies for me, it's a road race on a "near enough" road bike, I still think Honda should have ran one, a top 10 finish would have shut me up personally. as for the riders I think Honda went for names and that was a mistake, they should have picked a couple of relative unknowns and used this year as a testing/dat a collection exercise, personally I think Mcguiness just crashed (it does happen in racing), Guy Martin I'm not so sure, he was always going to be off pace but yeah I don't think he was best choice. Anyway I reckon give it a year or so and it will be a cracking bike but I still won't be forking out £19k for one. Ride Safe
to me it shows Honda don't trust the bike, I wouldn't personnal trust it around the tt course, and they put "named" riders on it to pull in the crowd and they can ride a bike so have a better chance of being higher up the table. Yes this is a fireblade forum but not ever member owns a fireblade any more. And how would it look f some one died on the blade just to get time on track? Honda look pretty bad already.............
I still think they should have run the bike at the nw. Might have found some data on the 'false neutrals' and sorted it to prevent the shambles of the tt. End of the day people crash bikes and riders tend to find excuses..... Guess we will never know all of the truth. So not in a position to judge, its riders lives at stake so can't knock em for having balls to pull out. As for Suzuki, MD has been at every round of Bsb racing that bike, clearly not interested in results as looks like he's just doing his own thing. Grafting!! Maybe the ground work he's put in has made the result possible and not the bike??? Where as guy has hardly ridden and JMcP was in the Ducati hospitality a month ago at oulton having a pint.... Not that you'd ever right them off winning at any TT race. Guess my point is always more to it than meets the eye.
Still thinking I might sit this one out for a while, at least this year anyway. In fact I'm now thinking that my 2015 non-ABS might be a keeper, but we'll see.
Got to admit that's one of the bikes I'm looking at, that or S1000r or MT-10, but I'd prefer a half fairing at least. Be interested to know how you get on with it
Agreed the MT-10 is a little bit too naked for me - look at it and think how are you going to keep all that clean ! New Fireblade is too expensive really, too small a fuel tank and less wind protection for those long trips away on continental motorways. The new GSXR - do not really need that kind of power, delivered like that, for what I am doing. The GSX-S1000F has usable road power, is still quick, reasonably priced, some bodywork protection from the elements, has a fuel gauge and reasonable fuel tank, has a basic electronics set, can put some after market luggage carrying capacity on it, will sound nice with a Yoshi can, upgrade the rear shock, add some sticky Dunlops - the thing will be a blast ! The only other serious contender was the ZZR1400, but that is a bit too big really. The Suzuki will do the distance trips away but still be a more agile bike all round. The other important points are that Michael Dunlop just won the Senior TT on a Suzuki - and the girls sitting on the Suzuki bikes at Intermot bike show were the best ! Sold.
One of the guys I go for rides with has just bought the S1000RR but he's a bit disappointed with it as he's just jumped off a 1199 Panigale, he says the BM is a bit soulless in comparison, I can understand that as completely different bikes but I sort of agree with you about the power thing, just to much for road use, he is also on his second ZZR1400 which he mostly uses for touring two up, I've had a go on both and the ZZR is blisteringly quick, I was quite surprised at how agile it was as well, it's still a big bike and you know you're on something bigger but not at all difficult to get round corners and the steering feels quite light, also our local dealer has a new black/green model for £11000, now that's a lot of bike for that money.
Don't think anything else needs to be said after Jason's comment on the throttle response issues... It’s not perfect, and I’m not sure it ever will be, but we’re getting close enough now where we can ride to a pretty good level.” If it ain't broke don't try and fix it springs to mind.... I remember the transition from carbs to fuel injection and that took long enough to refine ..... I'm just so happy I don't have any of that bulshit electronic wizardry to worry about... just loads of smooth power on tap that I can control, not some bloody IMU 6 axis processor connected to a load of sensors trying to intervene in my fun! And cables that run to the throttle bodies not some fly by wire module that try's to second guess what I'm planning to do next.... rant over
An unbeliever in the magic of Electronics - especially those that have the special BOSCH markings that make it 'JU-JU magic' beyond all question and doubt. Anything so marked BOSCH shall have special 'JU-JU powers' and be beyond the criticism of man And if the electronics spit you off into the ditch, because they do not happen to agree with what you are doing, then do not reach for a lawyer but praise the 'JU-JU magic' for it has saved you - really. ...rant over
funny how they likes the Aprilla the best but MCN put it last and some other mag also put it last just goes to show you shouldn't pay too much attention to journalists
