[.OrgOwner]

So the new 08 CBR 1000 has been with us a few months now, the test reports have been favourable with the Fireblade coming out the winner in just about everything I have read to date. Opinions on the looks of the new machine are still a little divided and seeing one in the metal and throwing a leg over goes a loong way towards convincing you that this machine is a big step forward. At the end of the day Honda builds motorcycles to make sales, this is the bottom line, so does the 08 fireblade tick the boxes and do you think it will draw loyal riders from other brands?

[Maholli]

I will say no.. Trust me Im not here to knock the 08 blade, I have had every honda since the 900RR and while the 08 is a step forward in alot of things, Honda really did slack on the quality issue.. Almost every 08 blade has paint issues as well as the lower exhaust turning white, which IMHO makes it look cheap.. Also they burn oil alot too.. As far as performance its slightly better than the 06/07 models.. I have had both bikes on the track and the 08 does handle better, and just is more modern feeling.. It is a step forward as far as the technology that's in the bike and the way the frame is made as well as other things.. But I have never owned a Honda that had such poor quality in the build.. But in the end that's all I will buy a Honda.. And it is a great bike..

[.OrgOwner]

You would expect Honda to fix these issues wiht the 09 fireblade then. I often wonder if Honda visit forums like ours looking for exactly this type of feedback. To me it makes sense that they would.

[splatty]

A lot of recent forum posts are making me nervous about my Blade.

TBH she is a weekend toy, and covers little miles and is generally pretty pampered. After most rides I wash and wax my bike ( especially as I have the white one ) and so far she has seemed to have burned no oil. I admit I don't use my bikes as much as you guys, but the two main problems people seem to be reporting aren't happening to me.

My bike has just gone through 1000 miles, and the exhaust is whitening.

I asked my dealer and they have had no problem with any bikes burning a lot of oil. They did comment that they only use semi-syth oil rather than full which some have commented may be an issue. When I went to buy a litre bottle for top ups, they asked me what I wanted one for !!

What's the possibility on a dodgy batch of Fireblades ??

[aardvark1614]

I road tested all the litre bikes then made a decision to buy the 08 Blade on engine performance( particularly flexibility, fuelling and midrange grunt ) plus handling. The front brake was as good as and better than all bikes tested.

I was impressed by the 750 GSXR but the component quality/finnish was a letdown

No exhaust problems but I suspect the paint is soft as the tank shows marks easily but is a black tank and can be polished out. It does use small amounts of oil but has fully synthetic in and will probably needs several thousand miles befor it seals off, my BMW NEEDED 14000 OF THRASHING before it stopped eating oil. I think that's a problem with modern synthetics in that they are so good thEy do not let wear to happen and seals to occur.

Its a very competent and ballistic bike. WE will have to see how mileage impacts on finnish quality.

aardvark1614

[rjarrowman]

I would have to say no as well. Honda has always been the leader for quality from the ground up with a serious eye on fit and finish. I have owned more Honda's than any others combined.

As for the 08 1k, I feel that Honda seemed to be a bit confused with the finish of the bike. The body is a puzzle in camparison with earlier models. The colors are boring and lazy on their part. The finish is lacking about 2 coats of clear. The biggest thing is what's with all these little but annoying problems several people ae having with them? This is so unlike Honda.

I am a die hard Honda guy all the way. I was so looking forward to the new 081k but after hearing of many issues and seeing them in person I could not bring myself to buy one. I did about 40 miles on one and must say it handled great for stock. The power was there but it did not feel as smooth as I had hoped. This being said I had planned on father's day to but one and instead bought an 04 from a bank repo with only 3k on it. It's flawless. I like the look of the 04-07 better and lets all be honest, the power difference is minimal and unless you are club or pro racing who is going to be able to honestly use it.

[spiral]

I don't know if it will be a big seller. The looks put so many off the bike. I've had mine since february. It has burned no oil to speak of. Its coming on for its 6000km service. And so far no probs at all. Its an amazing bike I would recommend to anyone. BUT. There are pitfalls and they are pit falls I never even considered as I am a Honda man. And Honda is, make that WAS known for its build quality.

The pitfalls are the finish quality on the bike. Simply put, Its crap. Paint on my bike has not really started to go off but I don't hold much hope of it looking good after a couple of Irish winters. It seems to be the done thing for many riders to respray their bike in the states, but here it raises crash questions, and buyers don't really trust the bike if anything other than the exhaust has been changed. This leaves me wondering what I'm going to get trying to trade in a two/three year old rust bucket with a great engine and chassis?? In any case re spraying a new bike should be to paint it a crazy colour which the buyer thinks is the nuts!!! NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO IMPROVE THE FINISH ON A BRAND NEW BIKE.
Also my exaust has turned white. It looks terrible. Just like the cheap heap of crap that it is. The rear hugger is a joke. Come on, this is a flagship model!!!.That hugger does nothing at all. The underside of the back end and the shock is covered in crap after most rides, not good.

Over all I'm happy with the bike. BUT Honda have clearly gone down the we don't care about our customers road. This has been proved by the companys consistent denial in a problem with the finish, and a claim that the whitening on the cheap, rubbishy, piece of mild steel crap exaust is to be expected!!!!!!!!! Ask me again in a year or twos time and I may well be posting on ''Yamaha R1 forums.com.'' I want my very expensive bike to look good 20 yrs from now, let alone a lousy 2 years from now. The price I paid I deserve it. As does any other owner.

[Maholli]

Originally Posted by spiral

I don't know if it will be a big seller. The looks put so many off the bike. I've had mine since february. It has burned no oil to speak of. Its coming on for its 6000km service. And so far no probs at all. Its an amazing bike I would recommend to anyone. BUT. There are pitfalls and they are pit falls I never even considered as I am a Honda man. And Honda is, make that WAS known for its build quality.

The pitfalls are the finish quality on the bike. Simply put, Its crap. Paint on my bike has not really started to go off but I don't hold much hope of it looking good after a couple of Irish winters. It seems to be the done thing for many riders to respray their bike in the states, but here it raises crash questions, and buyers don't really trust the bike if anything other than the exhaust has been changed. This leaves me wondering what I'm going to get trying to trade in a two/three year old rust bucket with a great engine and chassis?? In any case re spraying a new bike should be to paint it a crazy colour which the buyer thinks is the nuts!!! NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TO IMPROVE THE FINISH ON A BRAND NEW BIKE.
Also my exaust has turned white. It looks terrible. Just like the cheap heap of crap that it is. The rear hugger is a joke. Come on, this is a flagship model!!!.That hugger does nothing at all. The underside of the back end and the shock is covered in crap after most rides, not good.

Over all I'm happy with the bike. BUT Honda have clearly gone down the we don't care about our customers road. This has been proved by the companys consistent denial in a problem with the finish, and a claim that the whitening on the cheap, rubbishy, piece of mild steel crap exaust is to be expected!!!!!!!!! Ask me again in a year or twos time and I may well be posting on ''Yamaha R1 forums.com.'' I want my very expensive bike to look good 20 yrs from now, let alone a lousy 2 years from now. The price I paid I deserve it. As does any other owner.

.. Very very well put..

[splatty]

Just as an aside regarding the hugger

Skidmarx UK Ltd - Motorcycle Road & Track Bodywork, Screens, Huggers, Fairings, Belly Pans, Mudguards, Undertrays, Accessories

They have a gloss black for £69 or a carbon option for £129.

You might not find it on the site, but if you want the details PM me and I'll forward you the e-mail that they sent me. Shame as I would like a colour coded one. Wonder how much it would cost to match the pearl white paint and get it sprayed ??

Sounds like if I'm gonna get that done I may as well get the whole bike re-done though

[Rich22]

YES, Jeez boys what are you on!!!
This bike is fantastic i sold my 07 R1 for it and what a good choice. I did try previous blades but none came close to the R1 untill now.
I have 1800 miles on it 1300 of these ridden very hard with plenty of back wheel and knee down action. This bike handles faultlessly and has a faultless power delivery it trounces my R1 in every way with great EASE. Mine has used no oil and has no finish issues, yep ok the pipe is going white but so what it still looks fine (most pipes go blue or rainbow so whats the problem). The bike looks amazing and when parked up with my mates "all have R1s but not for long" the bike that turns heads and is asked about is mine (white/black). Maybe the USA bike is a different thing with regards to finish and power as mine has none of the talked about issues. In short its a GORGOUS BIT OF KIT FANTASTICLY ENGINEERED WELL DONE HONDA FOR MAKING THE BEST BIKE ON THE PLANET TO DATE.

[splatty]

Cheers Rich.

The finish on my bike seems fantastic. Like I say, I do tend to pamper her, but I was worried that I might notice a difference as I rack up the miles eventually. I only probably do about 3-4k a year, so maybe I won't have a problem. You should have seen the finish on my previous Aprilia. It wasn't the great to say the least, and was only matched by the Piaggio dealer network !

Or is it USA models that are suffering more ?!

Good to hear yours isn't an oil burner either.

Maybe me and you got the two perfect Pearl White/Black bikes mate ?

[spiral]

Rich agree with everything you say, about handling, and engineering. Bike is amazing it turns heads, admittedly some to say its ugly, but most to say 'man that looks good in the flesh, how I wish'. However build quality is not up to normal Honda levels. Give it time. Looking at my baby the finish won't stand up to much from the elements. The paint is no where near as deep as previous blades. The clear coat is crap!!! If this bike is to stay looking good it most certainly will demand more polishing than any bike I've owned before.
RE the exaust the black paint on that part of the bike should stay black, I've had bikes with cylinder blocks painted black and that paint didn't whiten, why does this paint on the exaust whiten.? The blue on the exaust down pipes is unavoidable thats the way the steel is. IMO it never looked bad. But this exaust looks terrible, its not all whitened together I have patches where its whiter than others it looks very poor.

Ohh yah I've no oil burning issues, and have the meanest paint job they do White and black its pure class!!!!

[Maholli]

it trounces my R1 in every way with great EASE

Not sure which previous blades you have owned, and sorry to say the 07 R1 isn't that good, in most shoot-outs it finished 3rd behind the Blade and the GSXR for 07.. Most Blades dust most R1's atleast from 06 model blades and on.. The R1's don't have anything down low and all the Blades from 06 and up had much more mid-range as well, of course at speeds above 130 the R1 does gain ground, but most peoples blades won't ever see a track.. And to be honest I have done numerous roll-ons against my 07 and it handles my 08 everytime(on the track at 130+ it might be different).. And my 07 has almost a 10rwhp advantage over my 08.. The 08 does alot of things better than my 07 but it isn't quicker.. Of course I have a full system on my 07 and a slip-on on my 08.. But with all that said the finish and quality is much better on my 07.. and it looks a hell of alot better too.. And of course the paint issues and man the whitening of the exhaust is CRAP, totally the wrong material for that area.. Why put alot of technology in the bike and a great motor only to put poor craftsmenship all around that great motor and technology? Honda stands for quality and craftsmenship and a bike that can last for the ages.. At the rate my 08 is going (7600miles) its gonna need to be sprayed by next season.. And if I didn't replace that CRAP lower exhaust area it would look terrible.. If you look at all the pics of the 08's in the thread where everyone posted a pic of there 08 you will clearly see almost everyone has the exhaust problem.. It will happen to all of them, its from the heat of the exhaust that makes it turn white(IMHO).. And it stands out over everything.. IF your not gonna race at least at a club level then quality and looks mean alot, heck quality means everything to me.. I want a bike that lasts, finish and all... Sales on the 08 blade aren't what was expected(but they are good), people want all the great performance like the 08 has with the finish and quality that makes a Honda a Honda.. Just like all the previous blades.. Honda will make some changes for 09..

[Rich22]

Splatty, Spiral white/black were the daddy's
Maholli, No blade before the 08 would dust an R1 end of (plenty of mates with both and on the road that is how it is). The 06/07 blade looks nothing compared to the 08 or any R1 else i would have got 1. Just my opinion dude and probably a lot of other 08 owners. If your 07 is faster than your 08 you got a bad 1 dude coz that is not how it is, my 08 is quicker than an 07 R1 and the 07 R1 is quicker than an 07 blade by some way. The pipe discolour could be a headache to some and should not happen but the overall build quality compared to Yam, Suzuki and Kawa is way better. Love your blade its a hell of a bike mate

[MACI4LIFE]

The truth of the matter is that we all love the looks of our bike. It's the first thing that makes us fall in love with it ( love at first sight). Honda has dissapointed us in the looks department and looks sell. For the impulse buyer, no amount of performance charts will convince people to buy this bike. This honda failed in the most important selling factor; looks.

My 929 stays on for another year, and i will wait for the release of the S1000rr, 1098, or the new honda ( new paint scheme) to make a decision on the next bike.

[Maholli]

Well I guess we will just have to disagree, but I ride regularly with an 07 R1 and almost all the bike test have the 06/07 RR over the 07R1, I do think the R1 is one of the best looking bikes around but every dyno graph I have seen shows how seriously bad the low and midrange is in the R1, it is a great track bike though.. I do love my 08 but numbers and real world experience to me is what matters.. Im glad you got rid of that R1 for a Honda. Here are some numbers which show how close the bikes are, but I guess the guys you know had slow ones..

Yamaha Motorcycle Performance Numbers & Yamaha Street Bike Quarter Mile Times at Sport Rider

Honda Motorcycle Performance Numbers & Honda Street Bike Quarter Mile Times at Sport Rider

1KRR ('07) 9.89@146.4mph
YZR-R1('07) 9.86@147.0mph

Roll on times 60-80mph and 80-100mph
1KRR 2.76sec 2.58sec
R1 2.79sec 2.87sec

[RLVampire]

I RIDE my blade, its the replacement mean of transportation for my 18 year old Chevy truck and it shocking to see the paint job chipping and I haven't even had it 6 months.... I dont abuse her at all and I shook my head when I ended up snapping the rear tail section holding the license plate, when I lost my balance at a stop sign and dropped us hehe. Plastic, is plastic, but still I have to many friends of family who own Honda's. Even people who dont own a Honda product vouch for them, I'm lucky that this is my first bike only because I knew from the get go that I would be repainting her and adding a new exhaust in the future. On the up side, take into account this is a newbie talking. But! In all honesty I am pleased with my purchase. Her handling and inner craftsmanship is bar none and that's why I bought her in the first place; she gets me from point A to point B in the most efficient and timely manner. Even though I do like how other bikes look, my Fireblade is all I need!

[splatty]

Maholi

Isn't Rich noticing different traits to yourself as the Euro bikes make more power ?

Apologies if I am wrong, I thought that is what I had read.

The Blade doesn't have the low down grunt of my V2 Aprilia, but once spinning that engine makes seemless smooth grunt. The gruntiest midrange of any litre bike according to most mags I read ( and believe ).

Like I say, my low mileage Blade that is waxed to death has perfect paint finish still. Maybe that will change over time. In terms of the exhaust, Deathace seems to know what he is doing with paint. I might shoot him a PM and ask how easy the exhaust comes off, and if he knows roughly how much somebody would charge to paint/powder coat the exhaust with proper heat resistant paint. I would consider getting it re-done in matt black as currently it is the only part of my bike that isn't perfect.

TBH it doesn't bother me too much at the moment, but we'll see.

Still got over 18 months warranty left so I'm not stressing about it.

[Maholli]

Isn't Rich noticing different traits to yourself as the Euro bikes make more power ?

Lucky you guys didn't get the neutered blade.. I did the $600 part to fix my US version.. I love my 08 its just out of all the Honda's I have owned Im not used to having issues's with quality.. As far as power the 08 is great, I did have both my 07 and 08 on the same dyno the same day and my 07's numbers where better, only because my 07 has a full system.. I do think once Honda fixes a few things then everyone will be happy.. I also wish I could get the Pearl Sunbeam White Honda, both mine are the red and black.. We shouldn't have to be taking about respraying or painting anything on a bike that is new.. Like I said in the end its a Honda so I do love it..

[Maholli]

This chart is a good example the R1 and the 08 Blade seem almost at the bottom in performance when compared to other bikes .. Thats why I dont buy much into all these charts but I just wanted to give an example.. But seems like if the new Blade was so much better than everything else it would show in this chart.. It still is at the bottom end according to this chart.. Of course these are just straight line numbers and the new Blade does handle better than anything out there.. The chart also shows how really close all the bikes are, and it comes down to the rider most of the time.. And of course the R1 is dead last in 1/4 mile times and 100-180 as well.. Can anyone tell I hate Yamaha's...

SO really if Honda want's the new RR to take the market share and if its such a big step forward IMHO it should be 1st in almost every aspect of this chart instead of almost at the bottom or close to the bottom.. I do think Honda has made a step forward in handling and flickability and the overall size and feel of the bike. But quality and over all class leading performance numbers just aren't there IMHO, and of course there is the way it looks... Which still some people hate it and some people love it.. And one more time I love the new blade, it just wasn't quite what I expected.. And everyone has a different opinion and this one is just one persons views.. Im waiting for a V4 160-170rwhp beast that hopefully Honda will come out with.

[turbo911]

hi,i have owned my blade for 7 weeks now done 1400 miles and i have no issues with build quality whatsoever i have after market paint job (rothmans replica ) no probs with oil consumption these bikes are awesome on ride outs with mates,allways comments on the blades brute power (again awesome) as a pretty novice rider i came to honda from 2 previous ducatis, honda just don,t make crap bikes, i have fitted arrow slipon silencer with baffle removed and struggle to keep front wheel on the tarmac in 3rd,4th gear pinned i can,t compare to r1s or gsx,s but i do have one problem with the blade it gets embarrising at dealerships and bike meets with the amount of people stood around admiring my bike ................... i,m more than happy with mine thanks HONDA ONE VERY HAPPY CUSTOMER............................

[Roadrunner17]

I'll start by saying I don't own one (can't afford it), but I would love to get my hands on a 2008 blade. At first I was kinda neutral on the bike but after seeing one in person and sitting on it I think it looks great and stands out among the other 1000cc bikes. I've read every mag. review and comparison I can get my hands on trying to learn more about the bike. I appreciate everyone's comments about their experience with their bikes. A few magazines did comment on build quality. One mentioned during the press launch that they had a lot of trouble with shifting, but were told the fleet of bikes were all pre-production models. Then I read about it again in another magazine that was suppose to be on production bikes. Have any of you had any issues with shifting or the transmission or clutch? I hope to own a new blade next year, but until then I'll keep happy on my 600.

[Rich22]

Gear box is as smooth as! but i did have a gear box failure and they gave me a new bike no probs with this 1

Maholli, i see the charts but in the real world the difference can be made totally by the rider and the riders weight. The looks of this blade depend massively on colour scheme and the looks grow on you when at first you are unsure. Stand it next to an 07 R1 which is a good looking bike i challenge anyone to say the R1 looks better than the blade, my blade in black/white is a biker and non biker crowd puller i have had people taking pictures of it when parked up next to 3 mates with 07 R1s. Glad you love it man

[haiboat]

I love my 08 1000RR in yellow.

[a954girrl]

You guys are nucking futts! I love my 08 cbr1000 (blk/blk) i thought nothing would top my 954...and before that i thought nothing would top my... you get the picture. Seriously, white stuff on the exhaust??? let me call the waaambulance...no, wait if you're just into looking good then get an akrapovic. I did. it looks HOT!!!! and i guess now i don't have to worry about white stuff on my stock exhaust. I'd love to show you pictures but it wont let me on here so try www.myspace.com/cbrgirrl