Power Corrupts: Absolute Power...is rather cool...

[onearmedbandit]

You honestly won't comprehend it. I've been riding for 20yrs, had my thou now for 4yrs, and still it blows me away everytime I ride it. From it's totally flexible nature through to the way it twists your perception on acceleration. It is too much for the road, in town you have to be very aware of throttle application, even partial as a slight movement on the throttle will have you going from 55km/h to 90km/h before you've realised.

I wouldn't recommend going from your 250 to one, it doesn't make sense for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the power will intimidate you. There is no two ways about it, it still reminds me to keep my head about myself. What this will mean is you won't get the best that you can out of the bike. Whereas if you went to a 600 or 750 as your next bike it would give you a better grounding for riding a 160+hp litre bike. Secondly you are riding a 20yr old bike with 20yr oldsuspension. Get yourself something that handles well that you can appreciate without it trying to kill you.

Yeah there are those who have gone from a 250 to a thou. But it's still not something I would recommend.

[slofox]

I wouldn't ride one when its slippy and wet :P

On the other side, are the engine management systems on the 2007+ GSXR Thou and the 2009 R1 that good..? e.g if you were inclined to communt in the pouring rain - does the pussy control switch make things more controllable?

Well, my 600 has a pussy switch too and it is pretty effective - pulls the vixen's teeth right out if you want it to. But to be honest, you get just as good control with your right wrist - I mean you do have the choice as to how far you turn the thing. I never use the pussy switch. The K8 600 is very tractable at lower revs. As was the thou this morning. I left it in grunt mode all the time - didn't bother with the pussy switch there either. These are very useable bikes and perfectly tame unless you want to unleash them. Then they take off...my arms are still longer than this morning, I'm sure...

[miloking]

Yeah there are those who have gone from a 250 to a thou. But it's still not something I would recommend.

Yeah but its just sooo much fun Seriously i went from 400cc -59hp to 160hp and within month i was getting power commander and droped tooth on a front sprocket because i needed more acceleration...yes power definately corrupts

[breakaway]

It always gets me how people say that 1000s are 'too much power'. Shit, it's not like it's going to pull a wheelstand and flip right over when you touch the throttle. It only goes as fast as you twist the go handle. Definitely very usable bikes. Until the first power band hits in first gear, which makes you just wanna twist that throttle till the front comes up

[insomnia01]

I had the pleasure of looking after a mates K4 1000 Gixxer at the start of the year ( got a house with it as well ) whilst he was on holidays for a month & the main thing that got me was the weight differance, Scooter with a full tank weighs in @ 240 - 250kg wheres the Gixxer was no where near 200kg I'm sure ( not sure on the weight of a fully tanked Gixxer ) riding out to Kawhia for the virgin ride took some getting the hang of, damn near threw it on the ground going into my first set of twisties because of the lack of weight but managed to contain the power until I had the weight issue sorted & thats when I really noticied the power & how easy it came on. I took sometime getting use to Scooter again I tell you

[onearmedbandit]

It always gets me how people say that 1000s are 'too much power'. Shit, it's not like it's going to pull a wheelstand and flip right over when you touch the throttle. It only goes as fast as you twist the go handle. Definitely very usable bikes. Until the first power band hits in first gear, which makes you just wanna twist that throttle till the front comes up

I agree, they don't have too much power. But if your only experience of riding is a 250 and you hop on a thou, you will most likely be too intimidated to thrash it or you'll get caught out by how quick they do accelerate.

[onearmedbandit]

Yeah but its just sooo much fun Seriously i went from 400cc -59hp to 160hp and within month i was getting power commander and droped tooth on a front sprocket because i needed more acceleration...yes power definately corrupts

Straight line acceleration? Or acceleration out of a corner?

[imdying]

Nice for a quick flick, but I find it an absolute power a chore of self control on the heavily Policed roads around Akl. I personally prefer something pinable and crap NZ roads compliant - rather than a devolved racing machine.

Best ever reason to move out of Auckland

I wouldn't ride one when its slippy and wet :P

Why not? They're as easy to ride in the wet as any other sportsbike, probably easier.

On the other side, are the engine management systems on the 2007+ GSXR Thou and the 2009 R1 that good..? e.g if you were inclined to communt in the pouring rain - does the pussy control switch make things more controllable?

That's the thing, they're not uncontrollable in the slightest, you don't need any of those switches.

I can't wait to get my hands on a 1000cc straight 4 sports bike.

It will blow your mind.

[Big Dave]

Best ever reason to buy a practicle bike,

There ya go.

[SMOKEU]

I agree, they don't have too much power. But if your only experience of riding is a 250 and you hop on a thou, you will most likely be too intimidated to thrash it or you'll get caught out by how quick they do accelerate.

I thought half the fun was riding something with more power than I can handle.

[MSTRS:Me]

I thought half the fun was riding something with more power than I can handle.

You thought wrong.
It's not fun discovering that you can't handle what's under your arse. That realisation usually happens when it's too late...

[onearmedbandit]

I thought half the fun was riding something with more power than I can handle.

Where's the fun in that though? Being able to 'handle' the extra power is where the fun starts. When you've hit the apex and are winding the gas back on out of the corner, feeling the bike respond through it's tyres and suspension, adding a bit more power, balancing the throttle between 'highside' and 'too slow' is addictive. On a 250 or 400 you can just nail it out of the bends blindly, there's no fun in that (to me anyway). All of this is of course track riding, which I do try to get out to do regularly. I still have fun on the road, but not that type of fun. There's no room on the road for leaving no margin of error.

[Big Dave]

Where's the fun in that though? Being able to 'handle' the extra power is where the fun starts. When you've hit the apex and are winding the gas back on out of the corner, feeling the bike respond through it's tyres and suspension, adding a bit more power, balancing the throttle between 'highside' and 'too slow' is addictive. On a 250 or 400 you can just nail it out of the bends blindly, there's no fun in that (to me anyway). All of this is of course track riding, which I do try to get out to do regularly. I still have fun on the road, but not that type of fun. There's no room on the road for leaving no margin of error.

Yeah - but only a reasonably small % of riders are interested in the track. 'Idling' around everywhere on a 160+hp bike is far less fun than caning the bejaysus out of a 50hp job on the road.

[imdying]

There ya go.

Heh, I rode mine to work this morning, and for me, it doesn't get any more practical than that... I don't need to 'move the cows to the milking shed' or anything like that. Sure it would be nice if I could park it in town, but then I don't do that on my 45hp bikes either.

I thought half the fun was riding something with more power than I can handle.

Yeah, it's a good way to get a rush if that's your thing. Problem is, with a 14000rpm redline, and a bike that'll step out at 3000rpm, you can get out of your depth pretty readily.

Yeah - but only a reasonably small % of riders are interested in the track. 'Idling' around everywhere on a 160+hp bike is far less fun than caning the bejaysus out of a 50hp job on the road.

I have some of each, and they're both fun. 'Far less fun' is completly incorrect, there are plenty of days when I simply don't want to cane the bejaysus out of my ride, like this morning, after a late night... quite happy to cruise along, with the odd squirt of the loud handle to wake me up

[madbikeboy]

SloFox - I read your observations with interest...

So, I have a worked GSXR1000 K2, with lots of Yoshi goodness, PCIII, cams, innards reworked etc... It does struggle a bit to keep up with modern traffic, and sometimes I find myself wishing for a little more power going uphill. I've owned Scoot for a long time, and I've ridden everything else, and I still own what I have. 500-800k's out of a rear tire. Chains with monotonous regularity. She eats brakes. She is cranky and tire sensitive, and on cold tires she will light up faster than anything the Soweto Militia can muster.

Scoot has perhaps the best throttle control of any bike I've ridden - loads of set up time and a virtually blank checquebook means all the nastiness is gone. The result is interesting, tire squirm is easily controlled, black lines out of each corner of the track is de riguer. She lifts the front out of second and third gear corners, and it will stay aloft as long as you have the bravery.

Litre containers are wonderful, but as others on this thread have pointed out, it can end in a messily unhappy ending. I've been riding a lifetime, and I have days where I realise that my skill and intentions sometimes get mixed up. I've seen young'ins jump straight from a 250 to litres, only for the inevitable to happen. The gap is much wider than you'd ever imagine, and those who have made the jump either have Rossi'esq talent, or they haven't been spanked yet.

A thought to ponder - I ride a thou, but I race and track day a 600 - part of it's economics, but a big part of it is the recognition that despite loads of training, mentoring, track days, race days, thousands of kilometers on many roads around the world, I don't have the skill to ride a litre bike on the track at 110% all the time.

I love the pint on the track. And I have a love hate relationship with the crack addiction of a litre that sits one floor below me as I write this. But, it's hard to justify the heart-rate increase at 3am when I leather up and ride WFO................