[Gothy]

I've always loved the looks of the SP2,
But I can't shake off the nasty feeling that V twins arn't smooth enough.
And aparantly arn't fast, but I know thats not the case!
But they have heaps of torque and plently of BHP.


What are they like to ride?
I imagine conring must be good, and powering out of coners with the v2 must be quick.

How about top end, Can they beat a blade?

- im interested in track riding, and fast autobahn touring. as well as commuting and sunday rideouts.

My local dealer has 2, they are the same age, and same price.
but one with 12000 miles the other only 8000.
12k one has an akrapovic exhaust system
8k has a standard system.
they both have alarms, and immobilisers.
which would you guys go for?

[catch2otwo]

you wont have any trouble keeping up with anyone. Seeing how your probably not nicky haden or any other gp rider, and of the modern sportbikes will be more then enough to put a smile on your face. cant tell you much about the mechanics of it as im a new owner myself.

one nice thing i noticed during my shopping around for bikes was that the seat area was much narrower then alot of the inline 4s i sat on. not sure how tall you are but im 5'7ish and it made quite a difference.

[Gothy]

thanks for replying,

Im 6'1", so i shoudln't have a problem with it.

Ok here's my dilemma.
I've got a Honda CB400 super four at the moment.
But I've ridden BIG bikes;
suzuki Bandit 1200
Honda cb1300
yamaha fzr1000 exup genesis

And i've been pillion on loads of other big bikes.
Even a pillion can feel that "blow your mind / throw you off the back accleration"

I suppose thats the torque really, and thats the small ammounts of torque that 4 cylinders make! but they have big BHP fiqures for top end.

whereas twins make tonnes of torque and less BHP.

It is this torque and BHP thrill that is making me want to skip the boring 600 stage, i've been on a few, (and my jap import 400 is about as quick as a normal 600). and jump straight upto 1000cc.


I suppose modern sports 600's are about as powerful as the old bandit 12?
I talk too much, don't I?

[catch2otwo]

well the new 600s have come a LONG way from the ones of old. a comparison would be the 98 cbr600f3 i had. Was quick enough to be fun, i thought it was fast. Fast forward to the bikes of tday. rode a 07cbr600rr. it was insane as to how much better/faster/responsive the bike was.

I dont think you can compare the new 600s to an old bandit 1200. not even close with the new suspensions and motors. go ride a new 600, you might not even want a 1000. I rode a new gixer 1000 and it was insane.

[Gothy]

thanks for the advice.

Only problem is Getting a test ride at my age is quite difficult.
im 19.

But I dont get a problem with insuring a 1000, some company's laugh and put the phone down, some have really good prices for me, becuase they listen to what i have to say.

"its an old ish 1000cc or ive got 3 years no claims, i drive a car too, live in a good area, garaged, full comp is cheap."

[cbr900cycle]

Buy it you will not be disapointed. I do trackdays and have no problem passing the 1000rr's and the gsxr1000, it is those damn 600 are the problems, ( jk ) I love mine, I rode cbr 900, cbr 600, gsxr 750, and a hell of a lot more, the rc is VERY forgiving and is very easy to ride, HEAVY though and at the end of the day you feel it too. But worth it all.
Tim

[Jollygiant]

Errrr slight problem mate, your only 19 which means your restricted to bikes with 33bhp till your 21.

[Gothy]

haha no
hold on i will find the link.

[Gothy]

I want a 1994 blade, UK

[Jollygiant]

Tell you what mate, you find me some official documentation of that then i'll believe you. Untill then i'm sticking with how its been for years and what it still says on the goverments web site about it. Website of the UK government : Directgov

[Gothy]

well excuse me, but thats just how it is.
also its in the leaflet you get when you pass your test and when you get your licence. im not lying thats just the rules they update them every so often.

you CAN have a full power bike at the age of 19 as long as your 2 year 33 bhp restriction is up! if you took an 33bhp/ 25kw licence.
If you take your catagory A licence then you have to be 21 to take it, and you are not restricted at all.

[Gothy]

whats this then
a standard motorcycle licence (A), is obtained if the practical test is taken on a bike of over 120 cc but not more than 125 cc and capable of at least 100 km/h per hour. After passing the standard motorcycle practical test, you will be restricted for two years to riding a bike of up to 25 kW and a power/weight ratio not exceeding 0.16 kW/kg. After this you may ride any size of bike

Motorcycles you can ride : Directgov - Motoring

[Jollygiant]

Alright then, i'll let you off.

As for a sp2 be aware that it is a very focused bike. It's basically a racer with lights on, that said they are v.good bikes. Probably the best honda you can buy.

[Gothy]

ha i knew i was right.
(sticks tongue out)

yeah id love an SP2, but im getting a blade in a few days.
but dont worry i'm still getting an SP2.

Im thinking about using the blade for the track, sp2 for road.

[Jollygiant]

you'd be better off using them the other way round. you'll see what i mean when you compare the blade to the sp.
what blade you getting??

[Gothy]

this one
1994 cbr900rr

see attached pic.

[Jollygiant]

Good choice those old ones.
First one i had was a 92 RRN. The original blade. Ace bike, wish i still had it.

[Gothy]

bet that was nice,

This one has a red seat and a purple rear seat! - its so cool. and the boot is huge.

I don't suppose you know what they call my blade? RRW RRS RR2 RR?
its a L reg 1994,
also i think its an 898cc is that right?

[Jollygiant]

Yep it's an 898cc
and the 94 is a RRP

here's a pic of my old one

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...1072006030.jpg

[Gothy]

haha same colour as mine., it looks sweet by the way, shame you sold it.

i just had a look at a website, and from what i can tell from the pics the 1st one like yours the 1992 had seperate twin lights, like mine.

but in 1993 and 1994 onwards they made it with one light caseing, 2 bulbs, going up at the sides a little bit. but mines like yours.

humm, i wonder weather it wasn't registered until 1994 ... Or Or Or ...
its an import, duhh, its an import the speedo's in km/h so it is a 1992 that was bought to this country and registered in 1994.

[Doomwitha929]

What sort of riding do you do the most? I would love an RC51 too but if you are mostly a tight back road knee dragger you may be more happy with a 600 even though the RC51 can do the job. You are a bit taller then I am so true you may be cramped on a 600 but I would check some out first.

[Jollygiant]

Originally Posted by Gothy

haha same colour as mine., it looks sweet by the way, shame you sold it.

i just had a look at a website, and from what i can tell from the pics the 1st one like yours the 1992 had seperate twin lights, like mine.

but in 1993 and 1994 onwards they made it with one light caseing, 2 bulbs, going up at the sides a little bit. but mines like yours.

humm, i wonder weather it wasn't registered until 1994 ... Or Or Or ...
its an import, duhh, its an import the speedo's in km/h so it is a 1992 that was bought to this country and registered in 1994.

Doesn't matter if it was an import or not.
The first blade in 1992 was a RRN
basically the last letter then changes every year.
92 - 93 is RRN
93 - 94 is RRP
94 - 95 is RRR (this is where the headlight change among other things came in. The new headlight setup is called a foxeye headlight.)
95 - 96 is RRS
96 -97 is RRT
97 - 98 is RRV
98 - 99 is RRW
99 - 2000 is RRX
00 - 01 is RRY or for the 01 a RR1
then they became RR2 RR3 RR4 etc.

[Gothy]

cheers Jolly Giant.

Doomwitha929, I'd like both a Blade and an SP2, what do you recon would be best for my many types of riding?
I mostly do commuting on main roads, and on a nice dry sunny days I go for a fast blast along a mixture of motorways, back roads, A roads, getting my knee down when i can (most of the time) on my little 400.

A 600 isn't for me, you have to scream them like my 400 to get any real power, which i dont want to do because I can get the same acceleration with low revvs on a big bike, without breaking them. 600's are ridiculously cramped, ass really high in the air. I've ridden lots of them and they don't have the
"pure adrenaline fueled rush of torque"
that bikes over 900cc develop. And as i've said before I've ridden really big bikes before, and i test rode a blade last week(fell in love) so im not afraid of a blade or SP2's power.
And No I dont want a VFR they are too high.

But I also want a bigger sports bike for touring England for bike holidays, then eventually south of france and rest of eurpoe.

I want to do trackdays, so i want an older bike to do that on, thats big capacity that will keep up with the 600's, because im not spending ££££'s of a brand new 600 bike for the track i just cant afford it.
I will do when i get better at track days and i have more money, in a few years.

I don't know what an SV is like to ride though, so i can't really decide what bike to use for what type of riding. I might go and test ride an SP2 on the 21st. Honda have a open day with rideouts then, so I will see if i can get a test ride.

[Gothy]

I'm thinking about keeping the 400 for commuting.
Blade for trackdays
SP2 for a sunny blast and touring.

what do you recon? good choices or do you recon the SP2 or blade other way round?

[Doomwitha929]

You cant go wrong either way. The SP I think is more race oriented but if you ride a 400 that wont be much of an issue for you. I love my Blade but especially if you are keeping the 400 I would say get the SP and have fun with that V twin torque and thump