Well I just think that it wasn't as good as its made to be craig all that hype and not much glory it's nice but not fabulous ! See you on the flip side starring at the stars !
Can the dealer set the map in the ECU, to limit it as a demo being run in, surely the engine has not got slower.
I agree the blade has one of the best mid range tourque engines going, to say it is gutless suprises me to say the least. After all its the same bike basically as most of us are riding already and the one thing that made me buy the blade was its stonking engine Will have to book a demo ride they have a HRC at my local dealers and see what going on, as far as I know they dont cap the engine power by map with the cbr1000rr ??? anyone know differently ??
No test ride for me until the summer I wont bother until the roads are dry and warm, if I have to ride it like a CB500 I would rather be on a CB500.. I would think its just as sharp as before, smooth bikes are fast, but they often feel slow...just the way it is.. Ride my 125bhp Z1000 you would say its 180bhp the way it rips the front into the air and spins up the rear..on the other hand after mapping and the AT200 my Blade is Suuuuper smooth but feels slow (well it dont tbh..lol), plus good suss it feels soooo smooth but its fast, fast all over into corners mid corner and out there is no way you can open the throttle mid turn on a harsh motor like my Kawasaki.. well maybe you could if you look like this.. .. lol
I will book another test ride in the sping, and i will look forward to it as i want this to be a blinding bike. i have also read lots of reviews and i think this is why i expected more, every review i have read says this bike should be outstanding. Funny enough i had wondr'd if the bhp could be caped as this would explain the lack of omth, plus i did also take into concideration that it wasn't run in yet so the engine would have been tight. Hopefully on my next test ride the engine will be run in and the roads will be warm and i will be silenced. As i firebalde owner i will say this, the fireblade is the greatest sports bike ever built. Honda were the first manufacturers of a super sports bike so they have usaully been one step ahead of everyone else, so i do hope my next ride will pursuade me to buy one.
this might not go down well....lol dont agree with that mate!! it changed the game and raised the bar in 92 and is one of the best legacies in sports bike history (gsxr aint my cup of tea but certainly rivals the blades) and the first model blade is one of the reasons i ride today. Poster stuff of dreams but since the 98 R1 came out, 916, first k1 gixxa followed by the K5/K6 model, the blade was playing catch up right up until 2008 IMO .
lol, at the end of the day each person is different, their ride is different and each persons ideal style and look of bike is different, However i will agree the gsxr k1 and k6 were very good bikes, and even say the ride of the k6 was better than the blade but personaly i didn't like the look of the k1
Sorry i meant the k6, i didn't like the look of the k6. the k1 was a good ride and a good looking bike
LOL love discussions like this. The 98 R1 moved the game on, but the 929 shoved honda's nose firmly back in place, followed by the 954 that was far better than the R1, the K5 GSXR then monstered everyone until the RR7 blade came around, at which point it breifly led the way, then the BMW arrived and has done for power what the K5 did, but handles like a wallowy turd and has chocolate gearboxes, the engine is too peaky and it looks awful, for all round ability nothing beats the blade currently, yes there are more powerful bikes with gizmos all over the show but the blade still does hyperspeed without being compromised.
me too!! right on the 954, but really on the 929? always thought it was way out of its depth compared to the R1 and Gixxa at the time as a sports bike?? as the sp1/2 was flying the race rep flag for honda. totally agree with ya on the K5 but think it wasnt until the new rr8 model came out it that the fireblade was a class leader again. never got the fuss over the bmw, test rode it early doors based on journo reviews but found it a bit bland, clinical and the electronics done my head in!
when i first saw the gsxr k6 i couldn't stand the triangle exhaust or the daft mirrors with indicators built in, in fact i didn't like the style of the k6 at all, so what does honda do in 2008, dodgy mirrors and triangle exhaust so suzuki must of been doing something right. One thing i will say, is that in my opinion the fireblade has always been forgiving, which is more than you can say for some sports bikes (R1) i've only rode the r1 a few time and yes the power is emense and on the track i can only imagine how much fun it would be, but on the road i think the rider needs to have faith in his/her bike. At the end of the day we're only human and sometimes mistakes happen, i know i've F*%$*d up in the past and my blade has come to the rescue lol
Thing is with the blade, is that you roll it on, and it's so smooth and quiet and feels very planted and safe, until you look down and you're doing 150! But, if you use all the revs in anger, it feels fookin fast, and is fast as hell, and the front comes up easily. It's just that its soo smooth, it really doesn't feel fast, even in the twisties in comparison to other litre bikes, it feels slow, until you realise you are up the arse of the bike in front and rolling off. The midrange is fantastic, not lumpy anywhere, and linear all the way up. Some people call this boring, i call it perfect. The best engine out there for road, the chassis is fantastic and lets be honest, only a few can reach its potential on track, none on the road. How anyone can say 180 bhp and 81lb torque is slow is beyond me.... Standard form too.
I had the 954 2002 in red and blacb which i loved great handling bike , took the bike all over Europe hundreds of people always came over to look at it, then went for the underseat exhaust R1 2004 in Lava what a great handling bike above 8000 revs such a sweet chassis... blew up 1 engine at 10k not happy with that Yamaha did pay the bill for a total rebuild which was about £3500 drove it for another 20k absolutely gutted to let it go but now it has 30K ,,,i hated the new R1 Austin Maestro exhaust and all..... so i looked at the fireblade took a test drive and came back with the biggest grin in the world you have to really think about looking at the clock with this bike its amazing when i drove the bike the first time i thought i have got a MOTO GP bike and have never look back ..... as i said before if Carlsberg made bikes they would make the Fireblade
Completely agree with what you say about the new blade, I had it high on the back wheel just accelleratimg through the gears it properly surprised me but in such a polite way I realised what was happening in enough time to carry on doing it and enjoy it lol. Now I had a 954 blade for about 18 months I hated it so much I gave up bikes for about h18 months, traffic bobby and track day instructor had the same bike and said the same he hated it!!! All the write ups however said it was the bees knees!!! I rode K5/K6 gsxr 1000's, I much preferred my K8 and my L0 is a league above again, the journo's say what they need to say. I buy the bike that is a joy to ride but as importantly I gotta lust after it when I look at it, the RR-8 didnt do that when it landed I just didnt get it at all, but everyone said they are an amazing ride. I have been watching them and they have really grown on me about 12 months ago I though I want one of them for on track, I absolutely love mine now, the design was obviously well more up to date than my taste!!! I used to love it when each year their would be a new offering from the top 4(Honda, kawasaki, yamaha, Suzuki) and their would be an out right winner, but now the market prices of bikes in the same supposed classes is so vast anything from 9-20k some raw with none of the electrics(my preference) then the 1000RR and krapasaki full of track toys that I believe belong on track not road bikes. The markets not as fun as it used to be I wish it was simple again!!
I'm a new ish rider as I've only had my full licence 5 years and I think the Blade just feels safe and does seem more forgiving. I've only ever riden Hondas though I had a CBR 125, 600FS, 600RR and the Blade.
