Only 1 more sleep to go ....eeeeee excited Expect some pics of my new baby soon (though they will be Exactly the same as every other standard SP) but hey ho dobt burst my bubble Here's my first ever bike my beautiful 600 from 20 years ago
Well she is here at last and tucked up in her new home. Needless to say I still haven't ridden a blade yet as the roads are damp and covered in that slippy salty crud so she is staying in the garage for now.
I have now officially ridden a fireblade. Just had 30 mins on her in NOT ideal conditions. Roads almost dry in patches and still some road salt about but couldn't wait any longer. Coming off an older zx10r I can say she is incredibly light on The move. Kawasaki claimed a wet weight of 205 to 208kg and I cant believe how much difference dropping to 195kg can make. I was astonished I really didnt think I would notice the weight, just thought yeah yeah it's a bit lighter. However its probably the biggest thing that stuck in my mind, so light and with it so easy to turn. Very smooth couldn't feel any vibes at all so hoping no more tingling fingers on longer rides. Obviously running in so cant open her up properly but the midrange felt nice (still nudged 130 though) , clutch nice and light with good feel. Brakes, still bedding in after all it's now still only got about 30 Miles n the clock! Had a little rear slide coming off a roundabout but almost certainly the cold weather and tyre mould releasing agent residue to blame. Really really pleased and now confident the 2 of us are going to get on fine. Very high pegs but strangely quite comfy again this surprised me. Very little wrist pressure and only noticable in slow town riding. Lovely exhaust sound so very unlikely to bother changing it. I will need to practice with the QS as I messed a few of those up, but def user error I need to adjust down over the brake lever as that is too high for me and fouled on my gloves a couple of times. I am now soooooo looking forward to getting her run in and some decent weather so I can properly use her. Happy days indeed
Welcome and I hope you enjoy the new bike. I have a 2019 SP, but it hasn't seen much road or track yet due to the conditions.
Nice work Paul! Glad you got along with the bike! I've found on mine that you can only adjust the brake lever down so far as it catches on the the throttle casing (and then the lever catches the fairing at full lock) but it's definitely workable at that lowest angle setting.
That's good to know i will double check my clearances after knocking it down a bit . Cant see me getting out again any time soon
Northumberland But its melting away slowly. Frost expected tonight. Oh how I'm missing a warm run out on a bike
Did anyone else see the two sp2 models for sale brand new £13.495 think the dealership was D H super bikes
That would be a really good price if they havent been registered. My only comments are just check the bikes are unregistered as I came across a few SP's advertised as brand new when what they meant was pre registered. Any unregistered bikes qualify for a 0% Honda finance deal until end of March where as pre reg bikes wont. I did a direct comparison on a 2018 SP bike that was pre registered on a 68 plate and I think the price was £12,995. A 3 year pcp was £207pm where as a brand new unregistered bike on 0% was £151pm and of course that went on a 69 plate and a full 2 year honda warranty. There are still a few lying around and worth looking for while the 0% offer still going.
Well the odo is now reading about 50miles and I'm getting peed off. Tried getting out in the sunshine to be forced home within 30 mins after a downpour & hail shower so to cap it off the bikes bloody minging now too. I NEED some time on her and I'm sick of looking at her in the garage not being able to go anywhere. It was dry this afternoon but there is so much salt on the roads the tarmac is just white. My little rant come whinge is off my chest now. Thank you
I've done 42 miles on the SP2 since acquired September, this weather is doing my head in. But at least she is clean an pristine
Yeah go on rub it in. Not only have I hardly ridden it but I've got a couple of hours of cleaning to do too I hate this time of year. I have had enough by now and just want some dry weather to get out and about
Thought I would resurrect my first thread with a little update. Today I had my first proper go on my blade. Dry roads not particularly warm but good enough. Shes run in but hasn't had that first service yet so prob still full of crappy thin oil. Anyway she is still so light compared to other bikes ive had, I cant say enough how much a difference it feels on the road, it's quite remarkable. Maybe I'm old but the riding position is a little cramped even for 5'8" of me. I've eventually got the QS sorted and it's working very well now after some tweaking, loving downshifts the most though Did I mention how bloody quick it is too. Jeez , I was on a familiar road today and one of my favourite bits is a long long bumpy uphill climb which I would normally take at about 135 with my best of 144 on my zx10. Well today and my first time on that road with this ,still unfamiliar bike, and I saw 153 without really trying. I was a bit shocked and it's not that the zx10 was slow but that extra speed can ONLY be the suspension. It was just so easy where the zx needed to be man handled a bit and would buck and bounce on that country road at those speeds yet the blade just did it. I'm sure after a few more run outs I will see 160+ on a stretch I couldn't get above 144 on previously. The only difference is that I knew I was doing 144 on the zed yet I didn't realise I was doing 150+ on the blade, so I suppose the zed was more exciting or I just havent pushed hard enough to find those limits on the blade A little bit of an issue with the throttle when snapping it open but again it could be rider error and learning the fbw system. More testing to be done. I got home after 130+ Miles feeling like I had been through a spin dryer , I was aching across the back of my neck, forearms and shoulders but i havent ridden a sports bike in ernest since Sept time so prob just out of practise at start of season. Only concern now is how I'm going to get the 600 mile service done? I think I'm at 400 plus miles now and no sign of dealers opening up
