I bought this bike new about 6 weeks ago. I bought it because I liked the looks, the reviews were awesome, and I wanted to ride the ultimate sports bike.
I think I am just begining to get a bit stiff and sore on sports bikes as I get older and this will probably be the last super sports bike I have. WHen I saw one in my local dealer I traded in my ZX9r and took the plunge.
So how is it? Well to be honest I am still a bit undecided. There is no question that this is one fast motorbike. There is also no question that I am no Rossi! I have had it on the track twice, I use it to commute to work and take it out at weekends for rides so I guess I have got a pretty good impression of it.
SO let's break it down.
Engine: Fast, big top end, reasonable grunt. Light vibes at cruising speeds, but just builds power progessively, above 7000 rpm it gets ferocious all the way to about 12500 rpm. I have actually done power wheelies on this bike, and beleive me I can not wheelie! In every gear accelerating hard the front end goes light and start to skip along the tarmac, or actually comes up and inch or so. So yes a good motor. The first time I gave it some stick after I ran it in, it took my breath away I actually giggled in my helmet like a silly school girl.
Gearbox: occasionaly notchy, and the occasional false neutral. Generally slick and positive. FIrst gear is VERY tall, in my opinion too tall for the road, though good on the track.
Brakes: everyone raves about these brakes. To be honest I think they are average, feel is ok, power is ok but not earth shattering by any stretch.
Handling: On the track the bike obviously has more ability than I. I find though that the suspension is very firm on the road, and if you soften the suspension for the road you do loose that sense of being "wired." I am a little supsicious of the front end, yes it is flighty under hard acceleration , and it does flick about when you hit cats eyes etc, but that is no biggie. I have had a number of little front end slides (surely one of the most unpleasant feelings in biking!) which I find disconcerting. To be honest I put this down to the tyre. It is a dunlop 208 and is supposed to be super sticky but I think it is too slow to heat up and get sticky and if it is wet or cold it loses heat too quickly.
Comfort: The position only makes sense when you are on the pace, otherwise it quickly becomes uncomfortable. I have riden more extreme bikes in this regard, but it is still pretty weight forward and legs tucked up etc. Wind protection is virtually nil unless you tuck your helmet into the very low screen.
Other stuff: Pillion forget about it. Fuel economy is allright, the looks are cool. Induction roar at speed is neat. Carrying luggage is difficult. The instruments are excellent. Fuel injection seems to work very well, no choke etc, always starts first press of the tit.
In conclusion: I am still undecided about this bike. In order to have fun or make true sense of this bike you have to go fast! I mean fast. This is what it is designed to do. As soon as you come off the pace (which is most of the time), it turns into a slightly uncomfortable means of transport. If I lived in Germany or some other country with autobahns, loads of long sweepers etc this bike would make more sense. In NZ with single carriage roads, often with grit, cows and bad drivers not to mention the inordinate amount of speed cops, you feel in the danger zone (for license and health) as soon as you give this bike some head.
I am already begining to look at those water cooled Ducati monsters as a possible future bike.
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), and I have. Only thing is, the pillion scratches the beautiful paint around the pillion seat (which is very small). So, advice to would-be 04R1 owners, put some of that vinyl/clear coat stuff around there if you plan to ride 2 up. That way you can remove it, leaving it good as new. Oh, pillion must know how to ride 2 up, supporting themselved on the tank, or you're family jewels will suffer 
Originally Posted by StoneChucker
, I too kinda have a curvy figure which makes it worse beacuse im a guy. Well the waist kinda goes in and the bum pushes out. When I was in college the girls in my year would slap me on the arse and squeeze because apparently it is firm, tight...
I wear jeans
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