Where do I start?
Ok, the looks, well, yeah I dunno. But never really bought a bike on looks and well I aint too sharp myself, so I don't really care too much about looks anyway. Again like me, it's a farken awesome machine, I rather care for that thanks.
Handling, farken awesome. This thing is out of the box and the suspension is very similar to the GSXR (which has Ohlins rear and reworked front) in springing and damping rates. Beautiful whether at high speed or taking it easy in a 50kph area.
Weight feels very low and it is really stable at low speeds, pulling U turns etc.
The most confidence inspiring bike I have ridden whether at low speed, in the wet or giving it some stick out to Piha.
The pegs are both lower and wider apart than the GSXR so at first it felt like I was going to scape a few times, but got used to that.
Bars are wider than a sport bike and I feel that this contributed to the very precise handling and totally predictable high speed cornering.
For anyting other than hard out I would rather be on the Fazer than the GSXR thank you and only because you would run out of ground clearance earlier on the Fazer.
Engine, Power, it is a retuned R1 engine, need I say more? Well I will anyway, excellent pull from almost any RPM, but hit 5 and it starts amping up, at 7 it is pulling like freight train.
Brakes, Wahoo, no shuddering throught the bars under heavy braking - ok I know most bikes don't but that is new to me and so light on the lever to get them working too.
Comfort, well the seating, pegs and bar positions make for a very comfortable body position. The seat is quite wide, which actually gives you good feed back through your butt about the angle of the bike. Bet you never seen that one in any other review aye. But it does I tell ya. Only problem I found with comfort is that the seat is so bloody hard that I find the WR seat more comfortable for a half hour ride. Both the tank and the seat is quite wide, no problem for me, but I think both may be disconcerting for normal or short folk. But Yamaha has the right idea, fuckem, that's their problem.
Build, brilliant, none of this half finished Suzuki look or feel to it. You really feel like you have a quality machine in both the look and feel of everything on the bike.
I feel that this is pretty much the ideal all round bike, light, manouverable, stable at any speed, good seating position for day to day riding and touring, but crank it up and it goes like cut cat. Oh and stops on a dime.
It was the most enjoyable bike I have ever ridden.
If you are thinking of any of the naked (or semi naked) 1000's, out there (and your not a midget) you really should try one of these.
Originally Posted by Tank
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