I'm lucky most local dealers know me so where ever I go I am always offered a brew and a chat.....only one I don't really like is BMW as to much like a car dealer the Honda dealer I use the team are fantastic...
The Yamaha dealer JTs in Bridgend are the same, huge urn at the rear of the store with free coffee and tea. Either help yourself or if it’s quiet they ask if you’d like a cuppa. They discounted my yearly service last month on the MT10 from £192 to £150 “because it’s quiet just now”! It was on the lift for well over 3 hours so it wasn’t just a case of whip off the oil and filter wipe it with a rag and send it back out. The mechanic Mark also mentioned how seamless the QS was on the test ride and that it must have been run in to the book, (it was!).
I have to agree with Wozza, my Honda dealer is a family run business who are always willing to give you a cup of tea/coffee along with a good chat and some good discounts on parts especially Tyres
Popped into my local Honda/Triumph dealer yesterday, always offered a drink and a chat. They've got two Honda sites and have asked for six Blades per site, the MD said he's not sure he'll get them. They were defensive over the price and caveated the it with "we really don't expect to get many and don't really expect them to sell well". Thinking my Street RS is looking like a bargain at £10,300, especially with the deal I got.
It was a semi unplanned change, I did a deal on the return of my Blade that I'd only had for 15 months. I'm paying Triumph £9100 but the Blade wasn't clear of finance so I got that written off as part of the deal. I'm not 100% now 6 months on but I think it was the equivalent of £1500 off. Some off the Street and the written off finance. Took it for a stroll earlier and its a really nice bike on the road. The dealer was telling me there's supposed to be a 1200cc Speed next year. Think that will definitely be in the test ride list if it appears.
Yes I've heard there's a Speed Triple 1160cc coming out next year too. Guessing they need to make it euro 5 to carry on selling hence the capacity increase. No doubt it will sneak up to 160bhp too. I've tested the current speed triple and really like it, just felt it was a lot of money once you'd added quick shifter and heated grips. The Street has now got my attention, mainly because it's such a bargain and arguably a more fun bike than the speed.
I rode both in the spring and it was actually the owner and sales guy that convinced me to take the Street out again. They then asked me if it was worth the price difference. I did a deal on the Street RS before I left. I mentioned the 1160 when I was in yesterday and the owner actually said it was announced a while ago to the dealer network as a 1200. Could be that 1160 is close enough for Triumph.
I rode the old Speed back to back with the standard Street 675 back in 2015 and traded my 09 Blade in against the Street R. They are a phenomenal tool.
Press rides are coming at the end of Jan in Qatar apparently. Very interested to see what the reaction is...
It needs to be as quick as the V4 to be as good as Honda claims. The longer wheelbase and extra weight will lose the bike its status as the "lightest quickest turning Fireblade ever" - so if it is going to become a point and shoot muscle bike, it better bring the muscle. This is the difference between a well tuned and tweaked SP2 and a similarly tweaked and tuned V4 - head to head. Even with a missed shift the V4 simply chases the SP2 down and demolishes it.
I'm sure the Ducati would out muscle the blade regardless...BUT...in that particular video the tuck on the Fireblade pilot won't be helping. At those sorts of speeds you need to have your chin on the tank to reduce drag. It's the aerodynamics that inhibit you at those huge 3 figure speeds not necessarily the bikes muscle.
Both riders are similarly built and sit much the same way - they also swapped bikes halfway - results ended up the same. But yeah, if either where sized like Marquez they could probably pull a bit quicker. There was consensus that the SP2 had a stronger mid range and anything below 150mph could hold its own - but the Panigale really rules the top end. It does have an amazing sounds doesn't it? What smarts even more is that V4 is running a bloody tune that Ducati provides for race use. If only Honda would be so obliging.
If the new blade has been designed for success racing then it might be that the changes are mimicking the way Moto GP riders ride - as little time in the corner as possible, and then squirt to the next one before pivoting the bike hard again. Nice that you can post that kind of riding online in the states @RC45 - if you do that here you get busted by the cops, they don't even need to see a speedo! Here's an example at much less dramatic speeds: https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/police-use-video-google-earth-17120315
That's their claim, so it better be able to run with the other big HP bikes. I wish it was me, I don't have the brass knackers to pull shenanigans off like this Not even sure where these lads are riding to be honest.
That's sort of what I'm getting at, the frontal area on the 17-19 blade is tiny, you've got to be willing to really tuck in to make use of the aerodynamics. If both of them are riding it like the guy you can see in the video then they aren't taking advantage of the blades only advantage (lighter weight and smaller frontal area) and the V4 is going to just out muscle it at those high speeds.
no offence but the guy on the blade doesn't look like he is trying that hard to be fair and his riding position is terrible just saying
However none of the above negates the fact the Fireblade is underpowered. In stock geared and faired form it cannot pull the speed the other bikes in its class can. This has been shown previously. The SP2 even in proper de-restricted form can barely pull past 180mph. There are no woulda-coulda-shoulda stories here. Just what happens when the rubber meets the road I am sure there is no offence taken and far be it from me to either defend or condone these lads hooligan behaviour on the empty back roads of the Mexican country side, but this is the first time I have seen the SP2 pitted up against a V4 in an Irish Roads style amateur punter showdown. This is what happens when 2 6ft 210lb in gear lads head out for a bit of thrash through the Manx country side. Its not a sterile magazine article or a press release - this is very representative of the real world comparisons when mostly stock bikes go head to head. The real story here is that if the SC82 RR-R does NOT deliver the needed horsepower in usable form then Honda have failed before they even start. 2 areas I am concerned about the SC82 are 1) the finger follow with shim on retainer valve train design and 2) the engine mounted upper shock mount. Honda have had over 20 years to refine the existing design and we know Honda has a poor track record for reliability with newly introduced technology.
100% the V4 has more muscle, I'm just not reading too much into the gaps gained in that video as an accurate representation of the differences between the bikes.
