New Blade

[boomer]

How the hell do you touch the ground with short skinny legs like those!!!
Very nice, although for some reason I've always found the looks of the thou blades uninspiring. Still a very nice bike and good choice though. Good on ya.

well thats not saying much.. you like pink

[imdying]

well thats not saying much.. you like pink

He's got ya there.... Here's some Zen wisdom for ya; 'Man with pink bike got no fucking taste'

[_intense_]

that is the horn. *sigh* space reserved nxt to the f4 for a blade one day :

[Postie]

thats the best looking CBR ever, its the best looking Honda ever.
I was looking at one of these in the shop last weekend, exactly that model and colour. I wanted to lick every inch of it.

Enjoy away matey.

[bistard]

yes,nice bike!!
Just ask MarkD about wheelies on CBR1000s
By the way the Micron,he has also sounds great

[Paulus]

Well its a proud day when you get a new bike....

PICTURES HERE

I've done 60 miles or so... and I am bloody impressed. The engine is silky smooth and bloody powerful..... you just ride on a huge wave of torque most of the time but there is also unbelievable power when you ask for it. The gearbox is snick-snick perfect. Beautiful. The handling is just fantastic. You just think your way through the bend.... bang on accurate.... effortless. The front end is so re-assuring and confidence inspiring. The brakes are also fantastic with loads of power and very little dive. I thought my 2004 R1 was the absolute bollocks, but this is a big step up.... I'm totally blown away. Brilliant.

I'm interested to hear you say this as I just spent a bit of time on an 06 R1 and an 04 ZX-10R and thought that they weren't much of an improvement on my (admittedly well sorted) 98 R1. They were definitely better but not by anywhere near as much as I had expected (given all of the hype in the magazines). I still want a newer one though.

[Mort]

I'm interested to hear you say this as I just spent a bit of time on an 06 R1 and an 04 ZX-10R and thought that they weren't much of an improvement on my (admittedly well sorted) 98 R1. They were definitely better but not by anywhere near as much as I had expected (given all of the hype in the magazines). I still want a newer one though.

I'm with you on that mate.... I was happy enough to keep my 04 R1 but it made no sense to ship it here from the UK. Once here, I reckoned there was no point getting an 06 R1 because it would be very similar to the 04 R1 and getting the same bike again tends to have diminishing returns in terms of expectations. After 6 months off a bike, I've found the Blade to be different enough and good enough to justify the change....

My choice of bike was far from straight forward... Admittedly though I didnt ride any of the bikes being considered first.... There were other parameters in the "which bike" question. The GSX-R was a very close second followed by the R1, the ZX10R and the the Triumph 675. ...(All, in my opinion, great bikes) Price, good looks and a few other non-tangibles also played a part. In the end it was the bike which ticks the most boxes which does it... Anyway, I'm happy enough...

[V Twin Raver]

Congrats on the bike there mate. Good choice!! Maybe see you out there sometime. Wanna swap swing arms?

[jade]

yea thats a nice bike dude

[Edbear]

I'm interested to hear you say this as I just spent a bit of time on an 06 R1 and an 04 ZX-10R and thought that they weren't much of an improvement on my (admittedly well sorted) 98 R1. They were definitely better but not by anywhere near as much as I had expected (given all of the hype in the magazines). I still want a newer one though.

You've hit the proverbial nail, there! The modern sports bikes are far more capable than most of their riders! It takes a very skilled rider to get near the bike's limits and therefore the incremental improvements year-on-year are only noticed by said good riders.

I have enough trouble getting the best out of my 18-year-old 600-F! Morts "ticking boxes" is about the way to go, or just whichever one looks best in your opinion.

[Fatjim]

On the other hand Ed. The new bikes allow lesser bikers to ride faster, more safely then those of 6+ years ago. I know I don't get the best out of the VTR, but I know I'd go a shit load faster (on the track of course) on a '06 thou.

Nothing pissed me off on the Manfeild track day the other week than some guy on a k6 thou pulling away from me with ease out of every corner, only to have to go round him the next. Now I'm not saying I'm good, just that if he'd been on a lesser bike I would have only had to overtake once or twice.

Nice bike BTW

[Paulus]

On the other hand Ed. The new bikes allow lesser bikers to ride faster, more safely then those of 6+ years ago. I know I don't get the best out of the VTR, but I know I'd go a shit load faster (on the track of course) on a '06 thou.

Nothing pissed me off on the Manfeild track day the other week than some guy on a k6 thou pulling away from me with ease out of every corner, only to have to go round him the next. Now I'm not saying I'm good, just that if he'd been on a lesser bike I would have only had to overtake once or twice.

Nice bike BTW

My old R1 will pull away from both those newer 1000s in top gear roll ons from low rpm. Once the revs get up it's all over but the old bike can still be a few bike lengths ahead by 200kph. Not much use on a track I guess but an interesting example of where the power is now situated.

[Edbear]

On the other hand Ed. The new bikes allow lesser bikers to ride faster, more safely then those of 6+ years ago. I know I don't get the best out of the VTR, but I know I'd go a shit load faster (on the track of course) on a '06 thou.

Nothing pissed me off on the Manfeild track day the other week than some guy on a k6 thou pulling away from me with ease out of every corner, only to have to go round him the next. Now I'm not saying I'm good, just that if he'd been on a lesser bike I would have only had to overtake once or twice.

Nice bike BTW

LOL!!! Doncha just hate that...!? You're probably right though, if I was on a Gixxer thou you'd probably only pass me once or twice, 'till I fell off underestimating the speed at which I was arriving at the corner!

When I picked up my old 'F' it was twice the power I was used to, ('73 T500), and it gave me a moment while chasing an Audi over Waiwera hill - got to the top rather more quickly than anticipated and fortunately the brakes were also streets ahead of the old 500, otherwise I'd have been on first-name terms with the scenery! Something that has impressed me is how hard I can brake into a corner if I do misjudge my entry speed. Amazes me each time, though with experience those times don't happen very often, nowadays...