In this month's edition of Practical Sporstbikes (Performance Bikes section) there is an article about the 2017-2019 Fireblade. Just wondering if anyone has read it ? In short - the new one had some issues on track when it came out in 2017 - but it is all right now.
I know, I wasn't sure about mentioning it. I had a big argument on this forum about it at the time - but there it is. I just thought I would mention it in case anyone is interested.
Even shorter - the ONLY problems are if the stock gearing is changedon the stock bike or the controls are not operated correctly. So unless Practcal Sportbike actually experienced the issues they are full of shit and regurgitating heresay and nonsense If they are equating the Honda UK race bikes to the stock bike then they are just idiots. *edit* Fireblade Fixed, the electronics nightmare is over. That's the headline? If they are speaking of the street bike then they are full of BS. I really want to read the article now. There was nothing broken in the stock ECU that needed fixing other than we need a calibration method to compensate for gearing changes. If they are talking about the race bike HRC ECU, then they are also full of it as since September late 2017 the HRC ECU has been used in series racing all over the world with great success - the 2018 HRC ECU does have changes in the code that improve the various torque management behaviours,, but at no time was there failing HRC ECUs in customer hands. Honda Racing UK where an earlier tester and adopter and suffered the indignity of that fiasco.
Ok - just bought the digital version. Who is this Chris Newbigging twit. The entire piece is a contrived bucket of tripe. He starts by blagging on the old bike and then glosses over the fact he only rode it with the wrong fuggen tyre on it. The bike ships with a 190/50 S22, why change it to a 190/55 just for the supposedly objective track test? Surely you FIRST subject the bike to all your tests using the STOCK setup, then go mess around with it? And if they where serious about grip, use the RS10 in 190/50 size to further stress the stock setup. Then go try a 55 series. And sorry to disappoint his ill informed self but the P1 mode of the SC77 SP1 (and base and ABS and SP2) has always been 1:1 throttle input in P1 mode in the upper rev ranges. Further more I have compared the 2019 Throttle Body to the 2018 and it is the same part using the same part number throttle body motor, so Honda claiming its new are just as full of it. They may have programmed in a faster response, but it is not a new Throttle Body - it cant be - WSBK and BSB homologation rules would not allow it without completely new type homologation certification. Both series mandate stock Throttle Bodies and the same part is interchangeable between 2017/18/19 bikes. As for the WC in the 2017/2018 bike, only the SP2 had WC0 option and it is auto selected by TC1. In the SP1 the TC1 included WC1. So all Honda did was expose that table and allow you to manually choose WC0 through 3. How about he now goes back to a 2017/18 SP1 with the correct fuggen S22 and redoes his same happy little tests. The SC77 is a very flawed packaged and far from perfect, but the least he could is actually research the real issues and write an accurate article that critiques the actual flaws, rather than just regurgitating the same Honda Marketing BS that suckered us into buying the dame 2017/18 bikes int he first place lol
I appreciate that you have considerable expertise with bikes, mapping and electronics - but much of these arguments are beyond my level of knowledge. I do not doubt that you have considerable technical expertise. So the average person has to wade through all of this information, reports from road testers, reviews and even stock racing results. It seemed to me that reviews of the road bike were fine when the bike was ridden on the road - I tested one myself. But it seemed to be equally true that "issues" arose when the bike was thrashed on a track by the likes of Performance Bikes in their testing. You might not want to listen to Chris Newbigging who wrote the article - but you might want to look up Michael Rutter, he also tested it for PB, taking 2.8 seconds a lap slower that the rival litre bikes. From the original article :https://www.magzter.com/articles/12613/256335/5a5dd8e5e91c5 I really do suggest you look up Michael Rutter: "It is the only bike Michael Rutter has refused to ride in fear of a crash." Some videos of Michael Rutter in action, on stock bikes. If he refuses to ride it then as far as I am concerned it is case closed. Michael Rutter in action... V4 Speciale round the TT - stock bike... ,,,,,,and on a stock GSXR, with standard road tyres........ https://www.facebook.com/Performanc...r-tt-winner-michael-rutter-/1418136978279836/
They rode the fuggen bike with non-stock profile tyres. To what end? 190/50 S22 and 190/50 RS10 are exactly what they should have been running if they where testing a STOCK street Blade on track. We told them that was their problem but it doesn't make for sensational magazine articles to be honest does it? People who track the bike in stock form don't suffer the issues they did - and quite frankly these testers and riders did NOT know and understand the issues we OWNERS discovered and published as the REASON behind what they felt. The article is a crock of shite. I will gladly say that to any of these full of crap road testers in person. Notice how none of them have repeated their "horror" test with stock sized S22s or RS10s. That should tell you all you need to know right there. And Micheal Rutter is full of shit. Refuses to ride the stock bike on stock sized tyres? That statement is stupid. Not wanting to ride the race bikes that threw John and Guy off is one thing, but to stupidly say he wont ride the stock Blade in stock form is moronic. You want me to parade 10's of aggressive fast US track riders that do NOT experience these issues when the bike is piloted in the correct form? The simple answer to ALL issues with the bike is for Honda to provide a calibration to cater for changes in tyre size. But they refuse to. Calibration is exactly what that locked out Sport Menu on the stock Blade is for. That is why the calibration component is the first thing you encounter when you turn on a 2017/18/19 Fireblade with the HRC Sport Kit ECU. The HRC dash and ECU is the street Dash and ECU with the Calibration menu Enabled. *edit* p.s. that PB test with the 2.8s slower lap times was a base CBR without the Quickshifter. Over a lap the gear shifts alone could have accounted for 2 of those lost seconds.
What we got to remember is these journalists are paid for by bike manufacturers, so everything they Write must be taken with a large pinch of salt. The simple fact is the bike is fine with stock tyres sizes and gearing. Mess with these and you lose the blipper and the traction control has a mind of its own. Just wish Honda would read our begging letters to unlock that software. But I ain’t holding my breath
Michael Rutter full of shit ??? You come back when you have a video of yourself riding a stock V4 Speciale round the TT flat out in 6th gear......
I did not say his riding was shite, I said HE was full of shite. He's too scared to take a stock Fireblade on track at speed? <-- This statement of his is obviously dramatically rhetoric.. That is why I question its sincerity and I say he is full of nonsense! He is not scared of the Fireblade, he is just full of nonsense He is full of nonsense! Not a single other stock Fireblade rider (including Ron Hasam at his riding school) at speed on track has his "fear". He is full of nonsense. *edited for language*
. . . and at 47-years-of-age can still mix it with, and beat, all the newcomers. So, those years of experience are borne out not only as a rider but as first-hand impressions of relevant machines.
1. If it is not on the standard sized tyres and he is trying to provide constructive feedback for regular buyers then he is doing himself and every punter a diservice. 2 I guess he is a scared little pussy when compared to Ron Haslam then - Ron Haslam not only rides the stock Fireblade on track, he conducts a fuggen school using a fleet of them - so on second thoughts every one of Rons students is braver than Micheal "I'm too Too Scared to Ride a Stock Fireblade on Track" Rutter. He is full of nonsense. The bike is not the death trap he makes it out to be.. *edited for language*
Gone off on a little bit of a tangent here chaps, the crooks of it are that we as customers have been told a big porky and now Honda have proved it with the 2019 bike update. What I really would like is us to work as a team to bother the duck out of them and pray that it might get resolved. P.s. I’m braver than rutter
