limbimtimwim
21st January 2006, 16:02
Yay new bike!
After a back room deal involving cockoo clocks and nazi spies, I have got a bike I have wanted since I was 16/17 years old.
It's a 1994 Honda RVF400. It had about 12,000 on the clock when picked it up on Wednesday (The 18/01/06).
This machine, if you asked me to to describe it in one word, I would use the word 'precision'. If I were to use many, I'd use the words below.
The handling is just fantastic. Not that I have much to compare it too really; but it feels damn good. And this is with bags of gear and my fat self on board. It doesn't skip when I hit some ripped up tarmac on a corner and tips in quick. I can just about hear it laugh at me on corners. It says to me "Fool! Twice as fast! FASTER!! NOW!!" but I dare not listen on a public road I don't know. None the less, it's quite deceptive, in the Catlins a glance at the speedo revealed a quite naughty speed, with bags of gear, in the wind in the rain, on a corner. I didn't know I've only had it 3 and 1/2 days and already I feel at home on this thing. Coming to think of it, I don't think I have stalled it yet.
It's got gear driven cams, so it makes a crazy whining noise constantly, but that's cool because I can pretend I am in an F16 flying 2 feet off the ground all day long.
Twin discs up front lack bite, but seem quite strong now that I have got used to it.
Clutch is heavy and the high gearing means you use the clutch a lot in town. But the gearbox is so good, now that I have got my clutchless technique down on this thing, I bearly need that lever at all. It's got a slipper clutch ('Back-torque eliminator' in Honda speak?) so it feels right to click it down a gear or two into a corner, it just does what it is asked, no locking up the back wheel. Nice.
It feels so good I jump right out of bed in the morning, because I wanna get on and ride the damn thing. Which is what I have been doing since Wednesday, all around the South Island.
I'll post stuff on that later.
Actually, there was no back room deal involving cockoo clocks and nazis. I got it from Peter at eMoto ( www.emoto.co.nz ) in ChCh. I got him to keep his eyes out for one of these in J Land for me, and he got one. He doesn't have a dealership, he just imports good bikes in good condition at a good price and sells 'em. I like his no bullshit attitude, he's a good communicator.
After a back room deal involving cockoo clocks and nazi spies, I have got a bike I have wanted since I was 16/17 years old.
It's a 1994 Honda RVF400. It had about 12,000 on the clock when picked it up on Wednesday (The 18/01/06).
This machine, if you asked me to to describe it in one word, I would use the word 'precision'. If I were to use many, I'd use the words below.
The handling is just fantastic. Not that I have much to compare it too really; but it feels damn good. And this is with bags of gear and my fat self on board. It doesn't skip when I hit some ripped up tarmac on a corner and tips in quick. I can just about hear it laugh at me on corners. It says to me "Fool! Twice as fast! FASTER!! NOW!!" but I dare not listen on a public road I don't know. None the less, it's quite deceptive, in the Catlins a glance at the speedo revealed a quite naughty speed, with bags of gear, in the wind in the rain, on a corner. I didn't know I've only had it 3 and 1/2 days and already I feel at home on this thing. Coming to think of it, I don't think I have stalled it yet.
It's got gear driven cams, so it makes a crazy whining noise constantly, but that's cool because I can pretend I am in an F16 flying 2 feet off the ground all day long.
Twin discs up front lack bite, but seem quite strong now that I have got used to it.
Clutch is heavy and the high gearing means you use the clutch a lot in town. But the gearbox is so good, now that I have got my clutchless technique down on this thing, I bearly need that lever at all. It's got a slipper clutch ('Back-torque eliminator' in Honda speak?) so it feels right to click it down a gear or two into a corner, it just does what it is asked, no locking up the back wheel. Nice.
It feels so good I jump right out of bed in the morning, because I wanna get on and ride the damn thing. Which is what I have been doing since Wednesday, all around the South Island.
I'll post stuff on that later.
Actually, there was no back room deal involving cockoo clocks and nazis. I got it from Peter at eMoto ( www.emoto.co.nz ) in ChCh. I got him to keep his eyes out for one of these in J Land for me, and he got one. He doesn't have a dealership, he just imports good bikes in good condition at a good price and sells 'em. I like his no bullshit attitude, he's a good communicator.