I took a standard RR out for a test ride today, many thanks to Newcastle Motorcycles for letting me stick nearly a 100 miles on their demo (mind you they did charge me £20 for the privilege) First impression, riding position feels very similar to my 15 plate but once you get moving you realise how narrow it is, almost Ducati narrow I'd say. Dash seems a bit cluttered I think but everything is there I'd just like to see the speed a bit larger, that may be changeable I'm not sure. Clutch is very light but it's new so I'd expect to be. Brakes are really good, much better than mine and certainly on a par with say the BMW, plenty of feel, plenty of stop and didn't find any sign of the ABS which I know was sometimes and issue on the outgoing model. Engine pulls much harder lower down which means everything under 100mph is now as much fun as everything over 8000 rpm on the old model, standard exhaust sounds good as well, has a nice metallic rasp when you open it up. Gearbox was perfect and changes were slick with not a neutral in sight other than the one that's meant to be there Handling is spot on, I think this is where you notice the weight loss, it holds the line perfectly and turns in much quicker than mine, was on a series of dual carriageway and twisty A & B roads and the suspension coped very well with the lumpy road surface without getting out of shape, I do think the rear tyre was inflated more than I usually like as it did bump me over a couple of times in ruts. I did flick about with a couple of the preset modes except the wet mode, I couldn't really say I noticed the electronics hampering me but it was dry and I wasn't on a racetrack so I wouldn't really expect them to. The fly by wire throttle was quite good as well and gave a reasonable simulation of a cable throttle except at low speed which I mention later. Negatives (but not really) Fookin horn I must have beeped about 20 people in the first ten minutes. Seat is much harder than mine, again might be a comfort seat option available so no biggie. A bit less wind protection than the outgoing model and I could feel a lot more buffeting on my helmet (ooh-err) I guess it has a double bubble option which would help. Probably the thing that struck me most was the low speed throttle, particularly pulling away, seemed to take a lot of revs to get moving and was a bit stuttery through villages at 30, I'm sure that can dialled out with settings or maybe someone tweaking the map so again it's not a deal breaker just different. Sooooo Is it a good bike, yes, very good. Would I buy one, yes definitely. Will I buy one? Here's where I found a snag and it's not a criticism of the bike, it's a criticism of the knackered old bastard that was riding it. My last bike was a 12 plate GSXR750, I loved it, light, quick and always put a smile on my face, but it was rock hard and starting to become a real problem for my neck, back and other arthritic joints. The new Blade felt amazing when I was on it, I was grinning from ear to ear when I got back to the shop, I'm sure the bloke thought he had a definite sale. But I could feel all those aches starting to came back, my neck is clicking now as I'm writing this and I don't get that on my current Blade which is why I changed to it in the first place. I'm not ruling it out but I think when I come to change in Jan I'd want to give it another run out just to see if it was nerves/excitement making me cling on a bit more that's got me on the ibuprofen Finally I think Honda have made a brilliant sports bike and let's not forget that's what it is, they had to sharpen the old blade to do this and that will always be a problem for some ( including me) but technology moves forward and your flagship model has to keep pace with everyone else. I'm off for a hot bath
Just shows how different a bike can feel from person to person as my mate says his sp1 lacks bottom end compared to his old 08. Hes put the full akra on this weekend to eliminate the euro4 gubbins.
Bet that's quiet Definitely agree, bikes like most things are very subjective, I think most people would advise taking one out if you're interested and form your own opinion.
The problems with ABS, crank issues, oil consumption so many people posted about previous model makes me reluctant to upgrade to 2008-2016 models. I hope they fixed it all in 2017 model. New model isn't particularly good looking. Maybe the paint scheme is to blame.
They turned it off as it isn't standard fitment, I wanted to give the gearbox a bit of a run through anyway just to check it out, as I said it seemed fine, very positive and easy, quick changes.
It was a brand new bike so obviously everything is shiny and new, haven't heard of any issues with this model other than the race bikes which is irrelevant really, all I can say is that I didn't find any major issues in 80 odd miles of riding it, I always tend to give new bikes a miss for the first year anyway to iron out any problems. I'm with you on the colour scheme though, I'm not struck on either of them.
No I didn't try it, I've used them before, useful for racing but I don't find them particularly a must have option.
The QS and Blipper are awesome, the new bike is way ahead of the out going 2016 I had , I am not a lover of all the electronics etc but its here to stay now. Theres 2 annoying things for me the bloody horn is in the wrong place but I only hit it once on Sunday so I am getting used to it, and the seat isn't as comfy as the out going model. The bike to ride is lush it changes direction so easy and you can feel the weight difference between the 2 bikes. The colour scheme I was not sure but the matt black in the flesh is lovely and if the comments I got from mates and people while parked up is anything to go by a lot of others like the matt black. My mate on his very shiny MV 800 f3 was gutted his didn't get a look in ha ha
Yeah it was just opposite to the Blade I'd just stepped off so instinct hit the horn when going for the indicator, was only a problem for the first couple of mile or so.
If they address the tyre suitability / FBW / fuelling issues it will surely lead to a lot of disgruntled 17 owners as these are surely issues that should be addressed via recall rather than a new model release.
I can't see the tyres making a difference?? As for the fueling it's spot on if you leave the very expensive titanuim standard exhaust on the bike, manufacturers are spending thousands of pounds on these exhaust systems to make the bike run spot on by taking them off what do we really expect??
