On 1000cc sports bikes and being nuts!

[Strika]

As some of you may have read, I took Dangerous Daves R1 out for a blat yesterday. I have ridden it before, but only on a 20klm freeway jaunt when Dave first got the bike and I still had my CBR600. Then I felt on my short jaunt that it was just a bigger heavier 600. But now that I have had the chance to sample it on a variety of roads, in the company of other riders, my thoughts are a little different to my initial impressions.

To sum it up quickly and succinctly, I would have to say that those of you who own large capacity late model sports bikes are both......excellent with self control, while at the same time being partially nuts!!

I havn't ridden a high powered bike in anger, since I was lucky enough to sample Marty Craggils factory ZX7R in the 90's. As a comparison, the R1 had more bottom end and midrange, with NO fuelling glitches with an almost as potent top end. (I say almost, but it could actually be close due to the R1's additional midrange perhaps masking it's real top end figures)
It handled nearly as well too.(loads more forgiving obviously)

I was just gobsmacked at how potent this thing was. It had to be treated with the utmost of respect with regard to throttle usage, otherwise it would try and spit you into the stratosphere rather quickly.

Some silly things this bike did........... Exiting a sweeping right in 4th gear at XXX KPH and have the rear spin up (surprisingly controllable)

Cresting a rise, any rise, in almost any gear, at almost any speed required judicial throttle usage to avoid the front pawing skyward. This my friends truly made me giggle in my helmet. A bike that will lift the front wheel off the tarmac over an undulation at over 200 gazelles is mental in my books.

I would love to thrash one of these on the track. just to find out how many laps I could do before it highsided me into the boonies!!!

While I am well aware that my abilities and ambitions are always gunna get mixed up with a litre sports bike , and they are more bike than I logically need, Boy am I keen to try and master one anyway!!!!

I know the 9's arn't quite in the same Horsepower league as a micron equipped and mapped R1 with short gearing, but it won't be too far off hopefully by the time I am finished. plus hopefully it will be lighter too! It is possible that with the fairings removed it might be a little more of a wheelie machine. Once finished I may have to get Dangerous Dave to do some wheelie pics on it for me!

[Benno]

I'm not far from you, but if you're nice to me, I might let you take my bike for a so called "jaunt"

[Strika]

I'm not far from you, but if you're nice to me, I might let you take my bike for a so called "jaunt"

Faark me Benno........I am flattered! But jeees, yr a trusting soul!!! Have you seen me ride? Usually it's people who either A. Don't care, or B. Don't know me who offer me a ride on their bikes

[varden]

Strika wrote: Some silly things this bike did........... Exiting a sweeping right in 4th gear at XXX KPH and have the rear spin up (surprisingly controllable)

I hear ya Strika, did the same on my mates K6 GSXR1000, 4th gear with a heap of rpm on board.....absolutly insane....and my mates wonder why i haven't got one yet.

Cos i lack the self control!

[Aussie Ninja]

Took a 30 min run on a demo zx10 on the weekend. I found it hard not to speed. It was so quick to reach and easy to cruise along at jail worthy speeds. Much more bike than I need but it still doesn't stop me wanting one.

[mike-s]

hmm, well the bike im considering next is 937cc's, and was just ticking over at about 3000rpm in 2nd gear while doing 50, fark, hate to think how easily it'd go into "do not pass go" territory (for those wondering, im lookin at a 'zuki RF900, yes i know its not kawa, but my last 3 bikes have been if that matters any).

[Smitty]

To sum it up quickly and succinctly, I would have to say that those of you who own large capacity late model sports bikes are both......excellent with self control, while at the same time being partially nuts!!
..snip..

Some silly things this bike did........... Exiting a sweeping right in 4th gear at XXX KPH and have the rear spin up (surprisingly controllable)

Strika

nice to see you have found why we like 'em so much
and having got off a century old GeePeeX7fiddy
one of the reasons I like the 12 is..its so controllable
like the R1, as you found


cheers

[Strika]

hmm, well the bike im considering next is 937cc's, and was just ticking over at about 3000rpm in 2nd gear while doing 50, fark, hate to think how easily it'd go into "do not pass go" territory (for those wondering, im lookin at a 'zuki RF900, yes i know its not kawa, but my last 3 bikes have been if that matters any).

Surely a B model ZX9 would be as economical an option as well as having some power, comfort, handling and braking advantages wouldn't it????

A fat arsed Rough 900 Suzuki isn't exactly the most memorable of bikes Mike!!!!! I gues that's my own little attempt at politely sharing with you that it's possibly one of the ugliest bikes to ever grace the planet!!!! IMHO of course

Whats the deal?? Is it a value for money influenced decision, or are you really just looking for one of the most uncomfortable and ugly sports tourers around?

[mike-s]

Surely a B model ZX9 would be as economical an option as well as having some power, comfort, handling and braking advantages wouldn't it????

To be honest, i've ridden an early model zx9 (cant afford a late model one), and it was a top heavy lardarse that didn't really appeal to me that much. Also Michelle doesn't like the idea of being perched up on the split pillion seat.

A fat arsed Rough 900 Suzuki isn't exactly the most memorable of bikes Mike!!!!! I gues that's my own little attempt at politely sharing with you that it's possibly one of the ugliest bikes to ever grace the planet!!!! IMHO of course

The looks i don't mind, they dont do it totally for me either, but sometimes its a give & take situation. Also i've read a few reviews that seemed rather honest about their shortcoings and i've spoken to a half dozen people who have owned one, and i know of at least two (inc the guy im trying to buy this one off) who have bought a second one and did that up, and have sold/are selling off their older ride.

Whats the deal?? Is it a value for money influenced decision, or are you really just looking for one of the most uncomfortable and ugly sports tourers around?

Value for money, the bike has about 90kkms on it and the guy is asking 4500 peso's, i think i can get him down to 4k/4.2k or so.

[edit] I've also been looking at the RF's for the last 9-10 months or so and just weighing up my options[/edit]

[varden]

Go the RF900, bags of torque, i had one with 128 hp at wheel.

Would spin up out of turns in second no probs...

too bad about the brakes and handling tho....

A 98 model upwards ZX9R is a better package, if a little lacking in bottom end

[Strika]

[quote="mike-s"][

Value for money, the bike has about 90kkms on it and the guy is asking 4500 peso's, i think i can get him down to 4k/4.2k or so.

quote]

Fair nuff Mike. I like the value word. And sometimes I will be looking at a something or other, and buy something else due to it being better value. I did that with teh 636 when I was looking for a 10.

They are a hard to sell bike at the moment. Being a little bit of a slow seller has made them a bit of an orphan 2nd hand, with only those really into them who see more value in them than most. With that in mind it may be possible to offer him something silly like $2500 to get his mind right and then work him to $3 or $3.5!!!! Seriously with 90 k's and an orphan they should be a cheap bike!!!

Good luck with whatever you get. BTW, did you like the way the ruff 9 handled and rode????

[mike-s]

Fair nuff Mike. I like the value word. And sometimes I will be looking at a something or other, and buy something else due to it being better value. I did that with teh 636 when I was looking for a 10.

*nod*

They are a hard to sell bike at the moment. Being a little bit of a slow seller has made them a bit of an orphan 2nd hand, with only those really into them who see more value in them than most. With that in mind it may be possible to offer him something silly like $2500 to get his mind right and then work him to $3 or $3.5!!!! Seriously with 90 k's and an orphan they should be a cheap bike!!!

A good bargain is a tempting thought, but still I don't want to insult the guy, he may not want to sell to me then . So i think if i was to go down that avenue, i'd be looking at offering 3.5 to 4 with a max of 4.2 or so.

Good luck with whatever you get. BTW, did you like the way the ruff 9 handled and rode????

Uhm, i dropped it doing a 3pt turn out of a sloped driveway thank god for crash knobs, nuthin aside from a tiny fairing scrape. Thankfully the owner wasnt that fussed i did that. Also i only did a couple k's on the 9, just was a bike i didn't want to be on for long at all, the bike just didn't go well with this lil black duck.

[mrmina]

after speaking to scotty, he reckons the 10 are a toy. The exact words were "its like a 250, when u throw it around".

My bike is fairly heavy and i'm still having problems throwing it around properly. I know the 10 is a very powerful bike (way beyond my capabilities) but hey, i'll give it a go.

[Benno]

There's a number of reasons I bought the 10 over the 6.

I originally wanted a 6, to commute around, the odd track day, and hit the twisties on the weekends. But the 10 has a lot more low down torgue, making it a more well rounded bike in my opinion. The fact that the frame isnt actually much larger than a 6 also helped. I can still throw it around to some degree.

That, coupled with a slightly higher price than the 6, made it an easy choice. If you hadn't ridden both, go try it.

[FrogZ]

Welcome to the world of power wheelies Strika...
Addictive eh?