So i went to have a looksie at the 08 CBR100RR

[pritch]

Theres a DEMO one coming to Christchurch, .

There's a demo here, I've been offered a ride and may well take it, work and weather permitting...

The dealer still has two of the old model sitting on the showroom floor alongside several new ones and when I asked the obvious question I was told there is a significant price differential.

The looks are not great but then BIKE said it weighed the same as one of the sports 600s (Kawasaki? can't check, the dealer's got my copy of the mag).

For some time now there's been a cliche about 1000s that handle like a 600. BIKE says that's now reality.

Sure it is a bit of an ugly duckling, but then you do get top build quality by way of compensation.

Whatever turns your crank...

[DonaldH]

I managed to squeeze a test ride on one yesterday courteous of Cyclespot in Takapuna. I must say that Grant there is a real star. I have had three test rides out of there including a run on his own CB1000 a while back without any hassle.

Anyhoo the bike. Great in sweeping bends but for me just lacked a little soul. Dimensions wise it is a little taller than my GXR1000K6 but narrower in the tank area. It also felt a little taller in the front and it certainily has the bum in the air feel.

Brakes were on par with the GSXR and as I mentioned it would certainly give the GSXR a run for its money in speedy sweeping bends. Where it missed out was grunt. When you open the throttle on the GSXR it growls and there is a sense of urgency (and foreboding!). With the Honda, although the delivery was very smooth, it a much more sanitized experience.

This is not a Honda bashing as this is only my personal opinion and I am not a professional road tester.

[skidMark]

I managed to squeeze a test ride on one yesterday courteous of Cyclespot in Takapuna. I must say that Grant there is a real star. I have had three test rides out of there including a run on his own CB1000 a while back without any hassle.

Anyhoo the bike. Great in sweeping bends but for me just lacked a little soul. Dimensions wise it is a little taller than my GXR1000K6 but narrower in the tank area. It also felt a little taller in the front and it certainily has the bum in the air feel.

Brakes were on par with the GSXR and as I mentioned it would certainly give the GSXR a run for its money in speedy sweeping bends. Where it missed out was grunt. When you open the throttle on the GSXR it growls and there is a sense of urgency (and foreboding!). With the Honda, although the delivery was very smooth, it a much more sanitized experience.

This is not a Honda bashing as this is only my personal opinion and I am not a professional road tester.

Good opinion mate, i didn't sit on the 08 cbr.

Are you quite slung over the bars? i found the bars really low on the gsxr's found i was having to lean far forward just to grab them, and i'm 6 foot tall.

I found the kawasaki's and Yamahas to be alot better though i wasn't so slung over.

Admittedy the yamaha r6 soes make you leave forward a bit but i think it would be bareable.

[AllanB]

Where it missed out was grunt.

Now this is interesting as the 4 magazine reviews I've read all praised the bottom & mid range saying it will give Suzuki a run for it. Must be a few side by side comparos about to appear in the mags soon.

The sanitised thing about hondas is a often comment - too good a build - maybe they need to build in character or a rough spot in them. The much commented on ZX10 head shake over the last few years (pre 07/08) would not be tolerated on a Honda. It would be character on a Italian bike!.

Want more 'soul' - shove a pipe on one - immediate attitude. I'd recommend any shop setting up a demo sport bike pops a pipe on it - quicker sale and I'd suspect another grand in a pipe as well (or do a 'deal' with pipe).

[Forest]

I managed to squeeze a test ride on one yesterday courteous of Cyclespot in Takapuna. I must say that Grant there is a real star. I have had three test rides out of there including a run on his own CB1000 a while back without any hassle.

Anyhoo the bike. Great in sweeping bends but for me just lacked a little soul. Dimensions wise it is a little taller than my GXR1000K6 but narrower in the tank area. It also felt a little taller in the front and it certainily has the bum in the air feel.

Brakes were on par with the GSXR and as I mentioned it would certainly give the GSXR a run for its money in speedy sweeping bends. Where it missed out was grunt. When you open the throttle on the GSXR it growls and there is a sense of urgency (and foreboding!). With the Honda, although the delivery was very smooth, it a much more sanitized experience.

This is not a Honda bashing as this is only my personal opinion and I am not a professional road tester.

One of the American mags did some experiments a few years ago where they changed the pipes on a test bike but made sure that the engine's performance characteristics were unchanged.

The test riders all reported that the bike performed better with the louder pipes ... even though there was no measurable difference in performance.

[AllanB]

Yeah they added that thing we call 'soul'

Bit of a crack-up really - they do 'sound' faster with louder pipes!

Mind you there is nothing like tooling along in the car on the open road and have a quiet bike buzz by at 140 plus - scares the be-jesus out of you!