zeocen
25th April 2008, 00:05
Welp, I downgraded.
Or upgraded?
Richard Mc F is gonna be pissed at me! But alas, it had to be done. My Blackbird was just not getting the attention it deserved, working 7 days a week, I never had time to take it out and it was sucking me dry on commuting, I had no option but to suck in my pride and let him go. Yes, it was a boy.
HOWEVER, the silver lining turned out to be silver, gold, platinum and every other shade of awesomeness, that is, the Kawasaki ER6F/Ninja 650r.
This bike, is more than a 'step up' bike that people seem to label it as. To say I am gobsmacked at the handling and performance of this middleweight twin is an understatement, yeah I love my kawasaki's, but this.. this is something special.
Do I miss the CBR1100XX Blackbird? I miss it's custom trimit.co.nz seat, that's about it. I covered a mild 308km today on the ER6F and I loved every god damn second of it because I was once again CONTROLLING the bike, I was changing gears, I was weaving, leaning, counter steering, it was letting me do it all, I was working with it and it worked back. I had nostalgic memories of the GPX250, engine knocking around, kicking gears in coming in and leaving corners, just, wow. I can actually do stuff than just stay in 6th gear and get from A -> B in 0.00002 seconds.
Now I really loved my Blackbird, but my current situation, I couldn't warrant keeping it. The ER6F, although the looks are quite love/hate, is an outstanding bike that doesn't get enough credit. I downgraded, to an upgrade in fun. THIS is the bike I will keep until the engine dies, it is *me*.
Things I will be looking at changing:
New exhaust, I don't know why everyone says it's quiet? It's a good volume, but it is 15lbs so I would like to shave a few pounds off and get a nicer tone.
Lower bars, this will be in the farrrr, far future, coming from a ZZR1100 and then a CBR1100XX, the high rise position is a welcomed change.
Front forks, Race-Tech Spring and Emulator Package. Dropping it into the stock forks seems to change the bike radically and becomes a very happy track bike so people say.
Windscreen, the small wind screen buffers on my chin guard which means my already noisy Arai helmet becomes super noisy, I usually wear earplugs anyway so it's not so much of an issue, but something I'd like to do.
Cup Holder, because I fucking can, shut up.
I realise this is a long post, but I actually thought I was falling 'out of love' with bikes, turns out I just needed to actually put some damn thought and rational into my bike purchase. I don't see me going back to litre bikes for a very, very long time.
Please forgive the photos, gijoe1313 was at the helm of the camera and my instructions ("no take the photo from behind the sun! no, there, no, stop, wait, argh!"), it looks much, MUCH, prettier in person.
:calm::hug::2thumbsup:sunny::done:
Or upgraded?
Richard Mc F is gonna be pissed at me! But alas, it had to be done. My Blackbird was just not getting the attention it deserved, working 7 days a week, I never had time to take it out and it was sucking me dry on commuting, I had no option but to suck in my pride and let him go. Yes, it was a boy.
HOWEVER, the silver lining turned out to be silver, gold, platinum and every other shade of awesomeness, that is, the Kawasaki ER6F/Ninja 650r.
This bike, is more than a 'step up' bike that people seem to label it as. To say I am gobsmacked at the handling and performance of this middleweight twin is an understatement, yeah I love my kawasaki's, but this.. this is something special.
Do I miss the CBR1100XX Blackbird? I miss it's custom trimit.co.nz seat, that's about it. I covered a mild 308km today on the ER6F and I loved every god damn second of it because I was once again CONTROLLING the bike, I was changing gears, I was weaving, leaning, counter steering, it was letting me do it all, I was working with it and it worked back. I had nostalgic memories of the GPX250, engine knocking around, kicking gears in coming in and leaving corners, just, wow. I can actually do stuff than just stay in 6th gear and get from A -> B in 0.00002 seconds.
Now I really loved my Blackbird, but my current situation, I couldn't warrant keeping it. The ER6F, although the looks are quite love/hate, is an outstanding bike that doesn't get enough credit. I downgraded, to an upgrade in fun. THIS is the bike I will keep until the engine dies, it is *me*.
Things I will be looking at changing:
New exhaust, I don't know why everyone says it's quiet? It's a good volume, but it is 15lbs so I would like to shave a few pounds off and get a nicer tone.
Lower bars, this will be in the farrrr, far future, coming from a ZZR1100 and then a CBR1100XX, the high rise position is a welcomed change.
Front forks, Race-Tech Spring and Emulator Package. Dropping it into the stock forks seems to change the bike radically and becomes a very happy track bike so people say.
Windscreen, the small wind screen buffers on my chin guard which means my already noisy Arai helmet becomes super noisy, I usually wear earplugs anyway so it's not so much of an issue, but something I'd like to do.
Cup Holder, because I fucking can, shut up.
I realise this is a long post, but I actually thought I was falling 'out of love' with bikes, turns out I just needed to actually put some damn thought and rational into my bike purchase. I don't see me going back to litre bikes for a very, very long time.
Please forgive the photos, gijoe1313 was at the helm of the camera and my instructions ("no take the photo from behind the sun! no, there, no, stop, wait, argh!"), it looks much, MUCH, prettier in person.
:calm::hug::2thumbsup:sunny::done: