My reasons not to buy a Honda Blackbird!

**Bikernereid** · 14th September 2008, 02:05

Well there are about 53 ish of them.....

It all started off with OWNER wanting to take this bike out for a ride...

We pooteled to the local Honda garage to take said bike out for a ride. It started off with the nice man taking OWNERS licence etc and then we proceeded to the bike. Yes it looks very nice and sparkly but wouldn't start!! Flat battery. Nice man from the garage gave a push start after it has been briefly charged and OWNER proceeded to stall it (very 'soft' clutch or something like that

).

We took it out on the highway and yes it goes like the preverbeal but there is no sensation of speed and it is sooooo bloody quiet. It felt like riding in a windy car not on the back of a bike.

It was a pleasant and not too boring a ride through the windy roads to the cafe but when I got there I knew that I didn't like this bike at all and wanted to be back on our Fazer. I was hoping that on this bike I wouldn't be blown around but alas no and I also developed a very cold region and cold top of legs to boot.

Now for the main 53 reasons I wouldn't buy this bike. Being about 53 kilos I do not appreciate or enjoy having to push 224 kilos of bike and about 75 kilos of rider to get the bloody thing going!!

The ride back to the garage did nothing to give this bike a reprieve and nothing to warrant me parting with my hard cold cash to buy half of one.

**Gremlin** · 14th September 2008, 04:31

Stock exhausts are heavy and quiet. A change to an akrapovic full system works, and drops a vast amount of weight, as the entire system weighs as much as one stock can (and the akrapovic is a single can, not the stock set up of two). Just watch the headers protruding from the fairing... not a good look when you put some scrape marks on them (especially when its your bosses bike)

Be aware that sometimes the blackbirds do have issues with the battery, or something related to it (one of the bb owners should be able to say more), but otherwise, it is a fantastic mile muncher, but not much fun around town.

Rode one for 8 odd days straight, some days involving more than 750km, and I gained quite a respect for them, and their strengths.

**Trudes** · 14th September 2008, 06:57

Get owner to push it and all you have to is sit there and get ready to pull the clutch in once it starts, so that's 53 reasons solved.

**Toaster** · 14th September 2008, 15:04

reading that makes me feel very fat at 96kgs.

**R6_kid:Me** · 14th September 2008, 15:50

Originally Posted by Toaster

reading that makes me feel very fat at 96kgs.

pfft, i'm 108kg, quit your moaning

**yod** · 14th September 2008, 15:59

yep, mine has a 4-1 micron and it sounds fookin mint, i also have the factory system in the garage and sheeeit those stock cans are heavy!

carts me and the wife around very nicely

never had trouble starting it

**martybabe** · 14th September 2008, 16:42

Nice to have an opinion from a back seat rider for a change, pillion accommodation is very important if yer gonna taxi someone around regularly.

I've read of battery probs before but it's a very good bike, mind you, I'd be a bit pissed if I had to push it.

8 and a bit stone eh, excellent weight for a pillion.

**Blackbird** · 14th September 2008, 17:14

'birds are at the sporting end of sports tourer (Cue Hitcher's comment: Fat Sprotsbike

) and Mrs B grizzled until I got a Rider brand seat fitted to help with the ergonomics.

The issue with pre-2003 'birds was the rec/reg and alternator stator but fitting later upgrades fixed that.

I think Bikern1mpho hit the nail on the head in that it's very quiet and you can hit indecent speeds without any real indication, other than constantly fixing your eyes on the speedo. However, when you hit 7000 rpm, you'd better hang on and know what you're doing and that wail from the airbox....

. Ooooerrr...pass me the tissues

**Morcs** · 14th September 2008, 17:28

quite nieve to be put of buying a bike because it had a flat battery.

First two bikes I bought in NZ both had farked batteries (one suzi, one honda).
An intelligent person knows its an easy and cheap fix and by no means has any reflection on the bike itself.

**Jerry74** · 14th September 2008, 22:33

Don't buy a honda... problem sorted lol

**Ixion** · 14th September 2008, 22:38

I reckon, don't buy a bike with a battery. Never have seen the need for the damn things. Waste of money space and weight I reckon. Proper bikes don't have them .

**MVnut** · 14th September 2008, 22:49

So what sort of bike you thinking of then?? Hopefully a Kawasaki

**owner** · 14th September 2008, 23:25

Arrr cheeky bitch, Take her out for a ride on a fantastic bike and shes bad mouthing it all over the world!. And to the dealer.

I thought it was a bloody fantastic bike.It was like a big missile on wheels. So quiet and effortless and we did redline it thru 1-4 which had us traveling quite fast.
But the speil from the dealer about all bikes being completly checked over was a bit weak. The battery was fucked!
It was a 2005 and had fancy datatool alarm which I suspect had something to do with the flat battery.Awesome handling and a great HONDA to boot.

**Bikernereid** · 14th September 2008, 23:36

Ok. So I don't belive in blowing smoke up a dealers arse, oh dear.

And I do not think that it is naive to judge a bike on its battery. If I go to buy a car or bike and have to push the bloody thing twice to get it going that is not a good sign. Why would I want to invest thousands of £/$ in a product which may have a recurring problem like this?

If I am going to go travelling on such a bike I do not want to have the potential of getting stranded in the arse end of nowhere cos the battery is fooked. It is one thing to be able to carry jump leads in the back of a car so you can jumped started (as I did for someone only last weekend) but it is another thing to be with a bike with a flat battery.

Another thing that annoyed me was the alarm beeping all the time whilst you are riding it.

At the end of the day money is hard come by and I would rather invest in a bike that I like, enjoy being on, is comfortable than one that just goes fast- when the battery is working.

**The Stranger:Me** · 15th September 2008, 00:01

Originally Posted by Bikern1mpho

Ok. So I don't belive in blowing smoke up a dealers arse, oh dear.

And I do not think that it is naive to judge a bike on its battery. If I go to buy a car or bike and have to push the bloody thing twice to get it going that is not a good sign. Why would I want to invest thousands of £/$ in a product which may have a recurring problem like this?

If I am going to go travelling on such a bike I do not want to have the potential of getting stranded in the arse end of nowhere cos the battery is fooked. It is one thing to be able to carry jump leads in the back of a car so you can jumped started (as I did for someone only last weekend) but it is another thing to be with a bike with a flat battery.

Another thing that annoyed me was the alarm beeping all the time whilst you are riding it.

At the end of the day money is hard come by and I would rather invest in a bike that I like, enjoy being on, is comfortable than one that just goes fast- when the battery is working.

Owner, get your woman under control will you.
IF she does need an opinion, for christs sake give it to her well in advance.