Testing times?
As mentioned previously I have recently had the opportunity to ride a number of bikes other than the Hornet.
When those little Honda “Red Hot Summer Deals” brochures came out I was positively bombarded with them. The guys at Energy must have been hoping I’d upgrade. After perusing the brochures at length I came to the realisation that if I was to buy another bike tomorrow it would probably be another Hornet. If only so that I could just swap all the fruit salad to the new bike.
This decision making was all done with only the specs and the pictures to look at. Over the past few weeks, however, I have been riding a CBR1000RR, a VTR and finally a CBR1100XX.
The CBRRR was at first a bit intimidating, it was a near new demonstrator and worth getting toward double what my bike cost. It was by no means the torture rack I had imagined, although it was preferable to ride at marginally illegal speeds on the open road so as to take the weight off the wrists. The engine has enough torque to permit a casual cruise but it obviously prefers to be hustled. The daily commute was a bit hard on the wrists and I take my hat off to those of you who commute around the big smoke on sprot bikes.
My passenger asked after a couple of hours, “Are all motorbikes this uncomfortable?”
Next was the VTR. Notwithstanding my earlier comments about V twins on KB I really enjoyed this. The only downside was the limited tank range. Virtually identical weight and horsepower to the Hornet, it’s not at all intimidating, a ton of fun. For the passenger though, it wasn’t a big improvement over the CBRRR.
Last but not least the Blackbird. The words that came to mind were “immensely capable”. It is a big bike but the size isn’t *that* noticeable under way, only when manoeuvring in tight spaces. The brakes were somewhat touchy in comparison with what I was used to, and being “linked” were a minor worry. When you use the brake pedal though, the back brake operates relatively more than the front, so in practice it works just fine in the tight. At anything resembling legal velocities you aren’t even scratching the surface of its true ability. The bike I was riding had one inch risers fitted but it didn’t seem any easier on the wrists than the others. The passenger unsurprisingly reported that this was the most comfortable so far.
When I hopped back on the Hornet, it felt like a pushbike in comparison to the Blackbird. The Hornet though is smoother, and obviously lighter and easier to flick around. The fly screen never looked so tiny. The passenger has yet to have the pleasure of a ride on the Hornet. For myself though, I’m really pleased to be back on my own bike.
I recently read a comment in a Brit bike magazine to the effect that the manufacturers just don’t make bad bikes anymore. (They were discussing the Yamaha FZ6 which is apparently the exception.) My recent experience has made me aware of just how lucky we are, and the guys at the magazine may just be right.
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
Reply With Quote
see you next week @ the last pie'n'pint for the summer
Originally Posted by pritch008
SENSEI PERFORMANCE TUNING 
Bookmarks