I recently bought a new Honda CBR929RR Fireblade (A real mouthful). They call them 929's in Australia but all the manuals and stickers that come with it say CBR900RR. I like all the current sports bikes out there so if it sounds like I'm putting them down, I'm not. I would just like to tell you of...
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I recently bought a new Honda CBR929RR Fireblade (A real mouthful). They call them 929's in Australia but all the manuals and stickers that come with it say CBR900RR. I like all the current sports bikes out there so if it sounds like I'm putting them down, I'm not. I would just like to tell you of my experiences and why I picked the Honda. I was seriously looking at the mighty Yamaha R1. All reports indicate it is a faster and more stylish? looking bike but when I found out it had carbys it turned me off. The front looks a bit bug eyed to me and why does it have big holes in the rear wheel hub?. Is that so you can run a chain through the holes? I know we all have different tastes, also style and colours should not be as important as performance and practicality. I could have bought a 2001 model R1 for the same price but I settled on a run out 2000 model Honda that spent twelve months on the showroom floor (it had never been started). The 2002 model fireblade has taken a lot of styling ques from the R1 i.e. little guard over the back wheel, sharp tail piece and those holes on the hubs. I rode my friend's 2001 R1 and the riding position wasn't noticably different. You can tell the steering is 'lighter' as the bike isn't as stable when I shake the steering while riding along. My friend had troubles keeping up with me on the bumpier corners. He used to run rings around me when I had my old 750 and he had the 600 (even when we swapped bikes back then). The Honda just makes riding that much easier. I have a lot of respect for Yamaha's quality or Suzuki's history of reliable strong bikes. The Ninja looks the best to me but I guess they are the cheapest for a reason. The Suzuki looked too uncomfortable. I have owned at least a dozen bikes which include a Ducati 900, Honda CB750, Suzuki 750 Katana and a whole heap of different dirt bikes (It teaches you a variety of skills riding different types of bikes). It's gotta have a motor and you have to do things that drivers couldn't imagine. I love the feeling when ten of us flash past cars (four wheel drives) that are bouncing along at two miles an hour on really churned up dirt tracks and fire trails. Or climbing up really steep hills where you are weaving around rocks that could send you flying off. Anyway to the Blade. I ride 15 kilometres a day to work and back so I needed something to sprint around town and the occasional trip with friends. I drag the car out of the garage if it looks too wet outside, so the bike was never going to lead a hard life. I have the luxury of living and working right on the outskirts of town so I never have to put up with the stop and start of city living. As soon as I leave my house there are open winding roads with 100 kph limits. You can break that speed limit without trying in second gear and first gear will do it too if you don't mind opening the throttle. It's easy to cover 400 to 500 kilometres in a day trip. I'm not going to use this as a 'track' bike, like 99.9 per cent of sports bike owners here, so it was important to get a good compromise with riding positions. Besides, once I take my bike off the road and onto a racetrack, it isn't covered by my insurance. The Honda is really easy to ride. that's not to say I can't ride. It's just that being easy to ride I can enjoy the world flashing by more. Opening the throttle in sixth gear before you know it you're doing speeds over 230 kph easily. You have to be careful opening the throttle too much going over the crest of hills as the front wheel will lift off the ground. Also you can feel the front skipping over the road surface going around bumpy corners. It's not a problem as the whole bike feels planted and solid and you just go on your merry way. The R1 weighs 177kg dry while the blade is 170kg dry. The R1 felt light and short but the seven kilos makes a big difference. Other bikes go fast too but unless you've ridden a sports bike you cannot appreciate how light these machines are,(especially with the petrol light on). The light weight affects your acceleration, braking and cornering (everything!!). It's like riding a toy compared to anything else. Even the next class of bikes, sports tourers are 25 per cent heavier and down on horsepower. The wheels are black, that way you don't see chain lube all over like the white rims on other sports bikes. If you get chips in the black paintwork you need to touch them up with paint. I have got a couple of chips from using a chain. I find a thick cable lock is easier to use without scratching anything. I don't mind lifting the front wheel of dirt bikes as they are made to take bumps and jumps, but I'm not into revving the hell out of the Fireblade and letting the clutch out. I see guys doing wheelies all the time and I'd hate to buy their bikes second hand. I have crossed intersections and if I leave it in first gear, the front wheel will lift off the road. Holding the revs at 6,000 rpm then snapping it open in first gear is enough to get the front wheel off the ground, especially if going uphill. Sometimes I think the clutch is slipping when I take off hard, but my friends tell me they see the back tyre smoking when I do this. The fireblade accelerates smoothly and overtaking cars are done in a second. The gearbox is very smooth when riding. You still get that cluck when you change from neutral into first. The manual doesn't say to rev the engine prior to changing down gears but I still do it from sixth gear down to second. It always seems to clunk into first so I gave up revving into first. All reports say the Honda's footpegs touch the ground first but I haven't found this a problem. The bike steers on rails as I see how close my feet are to the road while trying to get them to rub on the road (I'm one of those middle aged riders having some fun on his toy). My boots do rub on the road now but I still haven't got the pegs to rub yet. It is easy to use all of the back tyre up to the edges. I've come to grief on previous bikes and I don't want to go there on this bike. I've learned to trust this bike pushing it round corners. If I was too concerned I'd be driving a steel cage all the time. I have had a couple of scary moments with the back wheel sliding out while opening the throttle too much while leaning right down. Gravel can be a real worry on the edges of country roads and you find yourself trying to get it upright while trying to stop. I guess they are all hazards you'd expect in the 'real' world. Most the time I am riding between 4000 and 6000 rpm, but when you rev it past 7000 the power comes on with a rush. The exhaust note goes from Blue Thunder 'whisper mode' to a nice roar from the exhaust (I'm used to loud bikes) . There are no fancy emissions controls here so the exhausts are a bit lighter. Most riders fits louder aftermarket exhaust systems but I guess Honda spent millions of dollars in Research & Development designing that standard exhaust system. Update - I was going to stick to the quiet exhaust but I tried running my bike without the muffler and it sounded HOT (as any bike does without a muffler). The standard exhaust is 92db at 5500rpm and the R1 is 88 db. The legal limit is 94db here. So I decided to spend more money by getting a staintune exhaust muffler that just bolts on in place of the original. It came with a restrictor that makes it quieter. The restrictor allows it to be at the legal Db level but it still will not be street legal unless the restrictor is welded into place at the factory and the appropriate stamp is placed on the muffler. Why would you bother changing it if wasn't going to make any difference? The new muffler should get me approx two more horsepower with the standard mapping. Now my exhaust must be 102db. (I cut off the cone on the end of the outlet pipe that is full of holes, you'll see when you take the muffler off). Eventually I'd like to get a better air filter and get the computer remap
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