This is not an attempt at an indepth analysis of this bike, but merely a report of my initial impressions gathered over a 40 minute ride incase its of use to anyone. The bike in question is identical to this http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/6362/gsxr6004li.jpg
I have to say I really enjoy the look of this bike, the only points I'm not sure about is the mono headlight (might a dual setup be a little better?) and the colour design. Not bad, still blue/white seems a little yesteryear somehow. Sitting on the bike, my first impression is the rear seat height. I'm 6' and although it is easy to flat foot, my legs are nearly straight. Reaching for the bars, its pretty clear that this bike means business, though the position is not so aggressive that my pain threshold will be reached within an hours riding (hopefully). At any rate, comfort is not what you buy one of these bikes for. And pain it seems, I'm beginning to like.
The bike starts first pop from stone cold, I like that. In neutral now I spend a few seconds playing with the throttle. Second impression, it becomes immediately obvious that the throttle is sensitive (read micrometer control near idle). Still, this is straightforward to adapt to and proves to be excellent when blipping the throttle or getting on the gas immediately. My third impression was just how freely revving this engine was. The response to throttle input was immediate and very positive and left me wondering what techo trickery had been incorporated in the engine and what the pistons were made of, perhaps some elaborate origami? Pulling away, the engine produced the kind of torque I would expect down low, consistent with what I have experienced on a CBR600F4i. Its not plentiful, but thats to be expected from an inline 4. Up high is where is really shines, anything over around 8k tending to try and separate your arms from your shoulders, though I will admit I didn't really push it hard. In this respect it felt similar to the CBR600F4i. I was expecting the power delivery from the R6 to be perhaps a little more...untamed? At any rate, no complaints. The brakes are phenominal on this bike (a tad better than the CBR) and one finger stoppies seemed a distinct possibility. I made no attempt however as this is someone elses $13,000 bike. The suspension on the GSXR also felt superb and well planted. Even though you may expect to be kicked out of the saddle under rough conditions or slide off the road under corrugations, these sort of problems were minimal. Keep in mind many of the roads in the immediate Dunedin area are crap. The bike turned in quickly, though at times the rear felt a little vague under cornering, I'm not sure what that was about. The note the intake and exhaust produced was an extremely addictive and very hungry, hammering snarl. Transmission was positive and silky smooth, not something you can take for granted. Some of the Hondas I have ridden make a hell of a 'clunk' when shifting at low rpm. Learning to preload the shifter helps, but doesn't always avoid what I find a very distracting feature.
Overall my impressions were that this is one sharp bike. I want one.
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Originally Posted by CBRAero
ermmm MORE POWER!
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