6 Litres of fun!

Had the chance to try a few different bikes over the course of the summer and thought you lot might be interested in how I rated them (or not...)

2011 R1:


It's Christmas soon...Dear Santa...
Quite why I have never got around to owning an example of this towering icon of the modern sportsbike I am not sure. Now after a brief stint on the latest example of the breed with the 'cross-plane crank' engine I am even more confused! That V like bark from the engine is just spine tiggling even on standard pipes. Combine that with stunning looks, crushing performance and that certain X factor and you have a compelling package. The £14,000 list price does piss on the bonfire somewhat tough!
The bike was just a joy to ride even at the frustratingly restrictive pace imposed by the outriders that accompaneid me on the 20 mile demo ride from my local dealer. The bike felt like a caged animal was we wandered around some lovely Worcestershire lanes. I loved everyting about this bike, even the somewhat extreme riding position. the engine sounded mean and moody, like a thunderstorm gathering strength in the ditance. the suspension felt taut, poised and communicative, the controls and instruments logical and business like. All focused on speed.


Utterly superb. I REALLY should buy one a some point in my life!

2007 Fireblade



Of all the many Fireblade models marketed over the years, the 2007 is for me the best looking of them all. This is especially true when finished in gleaming black, as is the bike belonging to an old mate and the one I was lucky enough to try this summer.

The Honda exudes an air of finely engineered, well developed, deep-seated quality. The fit and finish is virtually perfect and once you climb aboard all the controls have a crisp, precise action...all very Honda.

Get underway and the precision image only gets more pronounced. The bike is swift and assured. It feels how I imagine it would to weild a rapier, making swift incisive cuts, while bikes such as the rival ZX10R for a example feel more like brandishing a broadsword. The Honda slices across the landscape like a cruise missle locked onto a Iraqii bunker, but so effective are the suspension and brakes at keeping all the power under control some sense of the shear speed you are travelling at can be lost. A quick check of the speedo soon dispells any misconcetions of that notion!!

The balance between all the control inputs; brakes, throttle gear-shift typies the Honda approach to building bikes. However for me this somehow takes a little away from the experience of the mighty Fireblade...massively impressive, incrediably capable and on any logical scoring scale the Honda is virtually perfect, the very epitome of the modern litre sportsbike. For me the bike engenders respect rather than passion, so all Honda have to do is make it worse and I will love it!!

2003 Fireblade



This is the third Fireblade I have ridden and perhaps my favourite. I loved the '95 model and the stunning '07 was massively impressive. But the 03 combines much of the crushing performance of the 07 bike with a hint of the raw edged appeal of the earlier Blade.

My first ride was rather spoilt as the bike has suffering from a common Blade maladies of a dodgy gearbox...but my second ride while over in France recently was really enjoyable. Great performance is a given with a big superbike, and the fruity pipe fitted gives it another edge and dimension. However it was the suspension on this Honda that really suited my riding style perfectly and gave confidence straight away...I felt at home almost immediately despite a riding position way more extreme than my FZ1s. The Blade has a taut, alive feel that belied the 20,000 miles on the clock. This where Honda's fabled quality shines through. The brakes were also imprssive and bike was just a fun way to cover ground very quickly. Ok the later model are 30/40 bhp up on this bike, but the pace would be extremely serious before this bike would be embarresed. Overall a great bike to ride that belies its' 8 years and 20,000 miles.

2003 ZX9R


After over twenty years of loyal service a couple years ago a mate decided to move on from his 86 GPz900R. The bike he replaced it with is perhaps the bike closest in spirit to original Top Gun Ninja...the ZX9R.
Earlier this year he threw me the keys to bike and here are my imprssions of his cool blue machine...
This the second 9R I have been lucky enough to ride and like the 2000 model I rode a couple of times back in 07 the experience was dominated but an utterly brilliant engine. More than most bikes the character of the 9R is all about this grunty, potent motor. In staright line the bike is a missle especially in the mid range to a couple of thousand RPM shy of the red-line. I finding myself just winding on the throttle just to feel the kick...it really is intoxicating, addictive even! What an awesome motor! I think Toggsy's bike was perhaps slightly more manic, but I was riding a 600 at the time rather than 150 bhp litre bike so perhaps the contrast was more marked.
This later bike is more sharply styled too and looks great in the rare cool blue colour. This bike also handled better than the earlier model and I was enjoying myself through bends pretty much staright away. The brakes, so often a weak point on Kawasakis as they age, were powerful and effective with a good feel at the lever. The 9R is pretty comfortable too as the riding position is not extreme like so of the front line sports bikes such as the Gixxer 1000 or particulary the R1 I also rode recently.
Overall the 9R is a class act; powerful, comfortable and fun. A brilliant way to cover ground at speed and very much my sort of bike...I loved it.

Bonnie SE



I have always rather liked the idea of owning on these Hinckley twins, especially the Thruxton, but when a mate rocked up on his recently acquired 2010 SE spec Bonnie I wasn't too fussy that it was not the exact model that I wanted.
The Bonnie SE is a very good looking bike and whilst a completely new and thoroughly modern model it captures the spirit and look of the last Meridan built originals almost perfectly, especially the delicate cast wheels, which are very evocative of the 1970's and reminded me of not just Triumphs but 'coffin-tank' Yamaha RD's in particular.
To ride the Bonnie was an absolute joy...by no means fast, but easy going and laid back with just enough performance to have some fun too. The standard pipes are way too quiet, but that was corrected that later with some suitably fruity Norman Hyde straight throughs.
So overall the Bonnie is a good looking, charming and fun bike, if slightly undemanding. A real honey of a bike that I have enjoyed riding several times, however the Thruxton remains the Hinckley twin I lust over.

BMW GS1200


Small bloke on a HUGE bike

The BMW GS dynasty dates back three decades to the original R80GS that just boasted bigger wheels and knobblies to give it some off-road credability. Through the years the bike was developed and a series of epic results in the Paris Dakar cemented its' reputation as THE adventure bike. However without a shadow of a doubt they really took off in a big way in the UK following the airing of the TV series 'The Long Way Round' when actor Ewan McGreggor and his mate Charlie Boorman used a pair of BMW GS Adventures to battle accross the world. Despite having back-up that would dwarf an American carrier battle group the series was the perfect advertisement for the big (BIG) BMW and sales have continued to climb ever since. The bike has evolved and a series of changes have honed the package over the years, and cranked the price up. The trend in the UK market away from the dominance of sports bikes has helped too and recently a number of other manufactures have launced bikes to take on the adventure, notably Yamaha, Guzzi and soon Triumph.
Against this back drop it has been interesting to finally ride an example of the breed...A mate swappped his 2010 Bonnie for a 2008 adventure. This lacks some of the lateset develops such as the DOHC engine, but is still a very good example of the Adventure series. Despite the comedy potential of somebody as short as me riding the towering BMW I actually found it pretty manageable. As soon as you pull away the impression of size and weight melt away ad the bike is generally smooth and inoffensive to ride. The 1200 motor is not as 'grunty' as I was expecting, especially for a big twin, but still boasts a surprisingly good turn of speed when you crank it on a little. The bike can also be cornered with surprising verve for such a large machine. It is quite good fun to hussle along and the gearbox is excellent for a shaft drive too. The only thing that spoils the effect is the infuriating indicator switch and cancelling layout. It is idiotic and distracting to the point where I actually all but stopped using them. Interesting to note that BMW are dropping their system and adopting the industry standard method on new models.
The bike boasts many clever gadgets, which are all very nice but of little interest to me, but the luggage system is well thought out and very well made. Overall I can imagine knocking up huge mileages on the Adventure enjoying the view from the commanding riding position, it is a great bike but simply too big for me, despite carrying its' mass so well.

My friend is loving it so far and I can see why.

I will be interested to try a Triumph Explorer next year! So will he...



Fun...this is not a word I was expecting to use in relationship to a BMW, especially one based on the worthy if slightly underwhelming F800S. The R has been paired down to be a more basic bike and this combined with more flamboyant colours, redolant on the example I rode of my red, white and blue 1984 RD350YPVS, gives the bike that fun feel normally lacking in a BMW. Once on the bike the RD link carried on with a riding position of classic 80's proportions: sporting but relatively upright.
On the move the twin cylinder spins readily to the red-line and shoves the bike along at a decent rate of knots. Delivery is very top endy. I do not know if the mapping is altered when compared to the S, but it feels fun to thrash! The F can also be thrown about with aplomb and must admit that I found myself really liking it. A stunt rider uses a F800 and it seems some of his spirit has been infused into this fun bike. A Beemer I really like..gulp!

Great write up! Some interesting conclusions from a pretty diverse set of machines.

Just one thing, did you mean "cross-plane" crank for the R1? Flat-plane is the norm for an inline 4.

weasley wrote:Great write up! Some interesting conclusions from a pretty diverse set of machines.

Just one thing, did you mean "cross-plane" crank for the R1? Flat-plane is the norm for an inline 4.

I did indeed! Doh!

I have edited the post now so I don't quite as dumb as I normally do!

Great write up and a very interesting read, thank you!

Great write up.
Appreciate the time taken to do it.

Nice write up radar, very informative.

I keep telling myself i am going to buy a new r1 for my 40th birthday which is getting closer, would keep the cat aswell though

Paul.

Not very envious Tony
Great write up & looks like you had a wicked time.

I need to hang around people with all sorts of different bike now!

Its always fun to try something else, just be sure that you are insured