Sad day.....

[RadarRick]

Well, it was coming. My bro and i have decided to sell the CBR954RR that we are 50/50 in. At the moment, 2006-7 ZX10R's or GSX-R1000's are it's possible up-grade, eventually. Thought i'd let your guys know the news
RR

[AirMoore]

Yeah, the Fireblades were an amazing bike, they were (In my Opinion, one of the last-[previous]-generation bikes)... that focused on a silky smooth riding style.


Now all the current generation SuperBikes, all weigh within a few pounds of their Supersport counterparts, (have ~60More HP) and are twitchy as all heck, they are (IMO)... less fun to ride.

It certainly is a bummer... they never were that popular because they were surrounded by true litre bike at the time of their creation.

I would say go with the ZX-10R, then again I am partial to Kawasaki's... in my defense though it did win/is placing over the GSXR-1000 in the world Masterbike shootout(s).

[RadarRick]

All true AM. Apart from 'other' issues, that bike was twitchy as an epileptic crack junky My brother can ride well, but the other day he nearly lost it large entering a fast section of motorway. He came home and said "f*** this s***"......it's going. Asking why, he said, "i'm over it".
Yeah, i have to agree with him, this bike is very nervous all of the time on less then ideal road conditions. We could spend more cash on getting it right, like on a steering damper or RaceTech-ing the shocks, but no, it curtains on the Fireblade.
RR

[AirMoore]

Yeah, under less then Ideal conditions the 954 did have some problems... but the reason for that was (IMO) as follows:

It didnt have the Power of the true 1000cc litre bikes at the time, so they made the bike as rigid as possible, which made it handle like a charm under good conditions, but under less-then-perfect conditions it would throw the bike right off.

In other words since the 954 didn't have the power it needed spot-on handeling, and spot-on handleing in good conditions on sportsbikes normally means squirmish handeling everywhere else... plus it was getting lighter which makes the handeling more squirmish.


Though, the same goes for all todays 1000cc litre bikes, their handeling is extremely twitchy, heck the ZX-10R has been coming with an Ohlins steering damper stock&straight from Kawasaki Heavy Industry, because of how twitchy and squimish these 1000cc animals are, especially under accelartion between corners as the rider shifts their weight.

It seems as if the older sportbikes Mid-late 1990's had a different riding style to them all-together, they couldnt transfer as quickly for switchbacks, but once you had them planted into a corner, they wouldn't become unsettled on you. The older sportbikes... when you came out of a corner and got on the throttle.... instead of the front end lifting, the rear-tyre would simply spin up... granted niether is fun, a little tail slide is a bit easier to control then setting back down a front tyre to the pavement... well still at a lean angle from the corner.

Older bikes that come to mind like this are the: ZX-7R's, ZX-9R's, late 1990's GSX-R750's, 900RR Fireblades, and most 600cc supersports throughout the 1990's.


You or any of your buddies still hitting the track, I know you had to retire from actual racing at your old age , but do you ever visit, to catch up with the blokes?

[RadarRick]

Funny AM. Most of the guys i used to race with are still doing it, but on more of a budget. They only ride once every 2 months, not every 2 weeks like the good 'ol days :? I still say hello occasionally.

I can't believe how well my old ZX-9R used to ride, like it was on rails. You would think rather modern sports bikes would improve over the years, sadly, Honda has gone backwards, well 2002 anyway. As for that 2006 ZX-10R i test road, it was magic, so settled and easy to ride fast. Then again, i'm very rusty too and need around 50 laps of the track to get some balance and throttle control back?
RR

[AirMoore]

Funny AM. Most of the guys i used to race with are still doing it, but on more of a budget. They only ride once every 2 months, not every 2 weeks like the good 'ol days :? I still say hello occasionally.

I can't believe how well my old ZX-9R used to ride, like it was on rails.

Its good you go back and see the guys though... always nice to catch up with buds.

I hear you about needed some time to get back in the saddle... its certainly a skill.

The old ZX-9R was a planted bike, I think most of that simply came from them being a bit heavier then the newer bikes, they were just a bit more 'solid'... in all actuality the newest frames are more rigid, but I am saying because the weight they just had that 'riding on rails' feeling to them.


The newer bikes... IMO are much twitchier, but easier to ride faster for a few reasons, power, weight, aerodynamics.

They have gotten lots more powerful, weigh a lot less, and cut through the wind like a hot knife through butter... I think that just translates into speed. The newer bike makes you feel like you are going much slower because they are so drastically engineered, so you really go much faster, well not even realizing it. With that said... thats one reason many people get into trouble on the new bikes.

[RadarRick]

Agree totally AM. The limit of race bike and road bike is a gap that is closing every year. With race bread technology the way it is, what you see on the track is almost on the show room floor a year later, not five. Where will it end, my guess never, but considering what you can get now, it's amazing enough to say in brackets,
"We, as a reasonable manufacturer of high quality road motorcycles, recommend you do a minimum of 100 hours rider training and buy the best protection you can afford before riding this motorcycles....or serious injury or death could result. Enjoy"
RR

[AirMoore]

Agree totally AM. The limit of race bike and road bike is a gap that is closing every year. With race bread technology the way it is, what you see on the track is almost on the show room floor a year later, not five. Where will it end, my guess never, but considering what you can get now, it's amazing enough to say in brackets,
"We, as a reasonable manufacturer of high quality road motorcycles, recommend you do a minimum of 100 hours rider training and buy the best protection you can afford before riding this motorcycles....or serious injury or death could result. Enjoy"
RR

Yeah, its really something else out there these days...


The technology of the road-going material is literally on the heels of race tackle.


Previously to measure the performance numbers or lap times between road going material and race tackle... you could use a calender to note the difference in lap times, now you have to be on the stopwatch cause even a slow hand could make the road-going tackle look worse then they are.


I really think racing and road tackle are getting closer for a few reasons:

2 main ones:

1st: The companies want the appeal of the most Bad A$$ machine on the street plain and simple, this is best illustrated with the speed wars, until the 186MPH agreement... Now its just who can get from 0-186 the fastest. Whos gonna have the Highest Redline, the best 0-60, 0-100, 0-186, 1/4mile, the most HP, the lightest weight etc etc. I mean When the ZX-10R broke the 100MPH wall in first gear (out of 6 for non-riders) and had a few MPH's left before a shift was needed, that really should have made the 4 Japanese companies take a step back and think... whoa... who can handle this, and when would this ever be applicable for the street? They didn't though, other companies simply followed suit. You know what they say... "S*x sells" and the numbers the 1K Superbikes put up are darn S*xy.

2nd: The racing community has something in mind: Safety, the racers are already on the edges limit as far as the performance of these machines (you know that RR)... its not like in a car where you have something around you, besides your body to take up the impact in a crash. So putting restrictions down... has been key to the safety of drivers... minimum weights, and limited HP specs are a must. The sport is dangerous enough as it is, should the bikes be allowed to go unlimited in racing, the gap in performance would increase yet again. I mean, can you imagine all these 1000cc rockets in racing form right now... except 10-20pounds lighter, and a turbo bolted on upping HP probabaly to near 285HP numbers race-ready, even low 300's if seperate qualifying motors are used... Im sure given unlimited access, we could be there in less then 5 years... probably 2.

[messenger13]

...Just read through this thread. And I'm sitting here scratching my head wondering how it went from a post about RR selling his FB for a ZX10R or a Gixxer1K . . . to bashing the manufacturers for releasing such bikes to the public. Hhmmn... :? If you're saying that the manufacturers should NOT be selling these bikes, than perhaps people should start taking a stand and refuse to buy them.

Whatta ya say RR?
Still gonna buy that ZX10?!
That's what I thought...
Enjoy.

[RadarRick]

...Just read through this thread. And I'm sitting here scratching my head wondering how it went from a post about RR selling his FB for a ZX10R or a Gixxer1K . . . to bashing the manufacturers for releasing such bikes to the public. Hhmmn... :? If you're saying that the manufacturers should NOT be selling these bikes, than perhaps people should start taking a stand and refuse to buy them.

Whatta ya say RR?
Still gonna buy that ZX10?!
That's what I thought...
Enjoy.

Not exactly M13 and i'm sure you misunderstood me :wink: What i meant to say is that most sports bikes now go so hard and handle so well, what will it take to be too much for the average Joe Public. I have no issues with how they are being produced now, in fact after a ZX-10R test not long ago. I could of sworn it was better then my track bikes i used to race during 1999-2003 seasons, even out of the crate :shock:
No dramas here, just want to palm off the FB and may be the R1100GS and get into it again, big time :twisted:
RR