Hi chaps, Looking at getting a new blade possibly. I know theres some good deals at the moment, george whites have brand new 2010 ones at £9975 with 4 years 0%. Fancy the repsol or new HRC. Anyone else know of any good deals about? What have people paid for theirs (if they done mind sharing?)
Cheers Remal. Seems there are some good deals to be had. I saw the new HRC and I really like it! It does look like an 80's shellsuit, a bit retro and a bit different!
Just been negotiating potentail deals with Honda dealers, I'll PM you some current offers. Cheers Rich
James/Remel Please would you PM me current deals on new CBR1000RR. Currently I can not send PM's as I have less than 5 posts!!! Many thanks Richard
Wait a minute.....so you've traded in your 10 for an 11? Why? I thought you hadn't had it very long? P.S. Good luck keeping those white wheels clean
The 10 has gone. 5500 miles in and I fancied a change. Also I wanted a non abs + I got an amazing deal on new with loads of free parts. Tip for wheels. Wonder Wipes. Search eBay for them, they take literally minutes to get the wheels factory fresh. And they are cheap unlike specific bike cleaning products.
Interesting on the non-abs point. I steer clear of it as an option, but that might be because the last abs bike I rode was a VFR VTEC and the abs nearly made me crash. I was under the impression the CBR abs was perfect in every way (except for that issue where it was draining the battery or something). Why have you chosen to get one without it?
Hi mate. Here are my opinions of the C-ABS Fireblade. I am a road rider, occasional track day rider, sunday blasts with mates type of biker. I am by no a means fast or very skilful but have been riding now for 14 years on and off. I've completed 5500 miles on an C-ABS CBR1000RR between October 2010 and March 2011, commuting 65miles a day. Before that I had a 09 non ABS CBR1000RR and did 6000 miles on it. In the garage I have another non ABS blade that I am being loaned that I am riding 65 miles a day on and will pick up my new non ABS Blade tomorrow. Other than the battery draining issue (now resolved and recalls issued in some countries) here are my findings: The C-ABS on the blade is a little different to most ABS bikes i've ridden. The C-ABS on the blade is almost a full brake by wire system, in that the ECU controls how much pressure to apply to the pistons for both front and rear, monitoring wheel speed at approx. 200 times a second and adjusting the load on the calipers based on the wheel speed. This has both good and bad points (to me) What is good: What is great about this is that in certain conditions (wet, poor surface etc) you can completely rely on the ECU to determine how much force to apply. It will guarantee that your wheels stay at a constant speed. There is never any pulsing through the lever. The wheels will never slow or lock. Ever. You can slam on the front (or rear) and because they are linked you will find pressure is applied at the opposite end too (ie slam on the rear and the front will dive). Slam on the front and you can feel the chassis move (almost a very fine judder, nothing extreme) when the rear comes into action. I got to the point where I would completely trust the system for any situation. It is sublime. What is bad: As sublime as it is, it is not without faults and is noticeable on a sports bike where performance counts. All the reviews I have read state that you can not tell a difference between the ABS and non abs blade. I beg to differ. In normal conditions the the bike will not slow down as fast as a non abs bike. Fact. I have done side by side comparisons and the power of a non abs bike is better. I also rate it not just a little bit better but very noticeably better. The feel through the lever is also better on the non abs as you are in direct contact with the caliper. On the C-ABS system you are in contact with a servo and pump and do not get the same 'bite' you get on a non ABS. The killer for me is that I can feel the ECU take over when hardcore braking in the dry. The braking force reduces when the ECU senses the front moving at a slightly lower speed that the rear and your braking distance increases. I never got that balls on the tank 'shit this thing stops quick' sensation that you get with the standard blade. There is a reason for this reduced braking in the dry: Bikes need a certain amount of wheel 'slip/skid' in order to get the most out of braking. This in laymen's terms is the front wheel skidding ever so slightly upon hardcore braking. This frictional force of the wheel slipping against the road is what slows you down the quickest. Unfortunately for me the ABS blade, as far as I can tell, does not allow for ANY slip. The ECU will not allow the wheels to move at different speeds and compensates to account for this. Therefore the result are that your braking is slower than a non abs. This is immediately obvious when travelling at high speed and slamming on the brakes (I mean 120,mph+ speeds). First off you get nice braking then the ECU takes over and the braking force reduces considerably. The ABS blade allows for ZERO slip. I found a guy recording this at the track on YouTube. He calls it 'Brake Fade' but in fact it is because he is braking so hard that the ECU is reducing pressure on the front caliper because it is 'slipping' as described above. So there you go, my experiences from both non abs and abs. I don't think that the Honda is quite there yet. It could be though. And quite easily. All it needs is the slip amounts to be configured based on conditions, a la mode selector on the handlebar. If you could configure the amount of slippage the blade allows in the dry the abs would be formidable. Until then I will stick with the non abs and have to go back to 'old skool' braking in the wet. And prey that I'm never in a panic break situation and lock the front. Of course, all the reviews state it is awesome and you can't tell the difference. We have to remember that these reviewers are jetted across the globe, wined & dined and generally treated like royalty. All at the manufacturers expense. EDIT: Also read a review online that under extreme heavy braking the rear wheel can lift slightly. The ECU reduces pressure to the front as the rear has started to rotate slower than the front. Again, there is a noticeable reduction in braking force and could be what I experienced above.
A very interesting review, i had been looking at getting a 10 plated C-ABS Blade. I use my bike all year round to commute which of course means bad weather and good weather, it's not nice that you have to choose which conditions best suit the bike and then buy that bike.... the damm thing should do both excellently. The panic brake situation in the wet would be the main reason for me to get it, but i don't want to lose the '' feel '' that all of us are aware of when braking in the dry. Poor show this.
Hi Hudson. It might be worth trying a test ride to see what you think as it really is only apparent when braking really hard, but it is noticeable compared to the non ABS. What made the difference more apparent to me was because I rode so many miles on both then rode them literally back to back.
I think what Rob is saying that we are all different, in that we all have different levels of experience, skill and needs from our bikes. I for one agree that those cosseted journo's taking in the hype and handouts may well be a little too quick to jump on the "It's the all new Must Have" bandwagon. Real world people, who live and ride on real roads are the one's who count, and I for one appreciate any input or comments from owners of such bikes with new features or technology. I have NO experience with a c-abs equipped Blade or any other bike for that matter, but I certainly would not dismiss buying one at all, I would however have to ride one, and try to ride it in the manner that I ride my own(not always possible). But again, we are all different and if something like the c-abs made me feel safer then I would consider it! But don't forget that the c-abs was designed and added to the bike as an effective anti-crash system. The purpose being to give you back control whilst under Emergency Braking, allowing you to negotiate a hazard! So, if this very system would then interfere with shall we say a rather quick and flighty Sunday Run, or a track day, then I think it wouldn't suit me, until they fit a switch which effectively turns the thing off! It is one thing avoiding a hazard, and another thing spoiling my damn day!
Thanks 1000RR, I couldn't have asked for a better narrative. Like many things, the devil's in the detail - the principle of ABS is fine, but I (and many others) place a LOT of value in the overall sensation of riding and I don't necessarily like things which affect that sensation.
JM1 - no probs. Back to the question asked by the starter, here are the deals that I managed to find out. Hope this will help someone... Farnham Honda - Doing the best deals (beat George White) and the Performance Pack they do is exceptionally good. Basically they add Gilles Rear Sets, Yoshimura slip on, ASV levers, R&G tail tidy & genuine Honda high screen for £645. The downside is that they keep the original bits. Not too much of a problem though as you can always buy the original bits for peanuts of eBay if you want to put it back to standard. I opted to take the hugger & seat cowl instead of the exhaust as I already had the Akrapovic from the old blade. All in I paid £10500 OTR with all the goodies listed above and 0% over 36 months with 10% deposit. Not too bad considering there's over £1100 of extras. I also know of others who have had very similar deals from Farnham Honda.
Hi guys Just bought a new unrgistered 2010 bike in black/white today for £8999. £1,900 depost and 0% for 3 years. Initially was going to get a 2011 REPSOL but thought this deal was too good to turn down. Currently dealer has all 2010 colours in stock apart from the black/white which was the last one. Dealer is called Wayne Bowen Motorcycles (Tel 01443 776060) Otherwise Farnham Honda are doing best deals on 2011 bikes !!!
Amazing deal and pretty much unbeatable as far as I know! 0% too!! With the Blade still amoungst the best why buy anything else? Saving £3k on the BMW, R1 and ZX10R.
