The day had to come ....... it's
the road test!
Wolf takes the new bike out for a spin ....
OK, so there I was at Ling's in Harleston
today (10 May 2008) chewing the cud with Paul Stephen and discussing
the forthcoming Donington trip. I happened to say that when I left
Lings I was going up to Norwich, and Paul said 'why not take the 2008
demo bike'?
Well' what's a guy to say...?
So a few minutes later and I have the
keys to a black 2008 Fireblade in my hand, and on the warmest day
of the year so far with dry tarmac and less plod about than on a Sunday.
Its a hard life but I felt I ought to take it for a run, solely for
the purposes of reviewing it for this site of course. You understand..?
The first thing that struck me was the
lack of height and bulk compared to my RR1. When I fired it up the
noise was, initially, disappointing with a fairly quiet tickover but
open the throttle under 4000rpm and it develops into a nice burble.
I set off out of Harleston heading for the sweeping country roads
to Norwich, and I was amazed at how neutral the handling was. The
steering was solid into tight corners, with no evidence of the front
twitching under braking, and it leaned into the long fast corners
almost of its own accord as if I wasn't on board. Compared to my RR1
it was a real pleasure to ride and so easy to fling about.
The engine is an absolute screamer.
It accelerates from a standstill to licence-losing speeds very quickly,
but what was more impressive was the mid-range torque that picks the
bike up in almost any gear and simply throws it forward at lunatic
velocity. It has to be the best blade engine every produced, and over
4000rpm when the dual valve exhaust opens up it howls as you test
your right wrist. What I also liked was the engine braking capability
that enabled me to reduce speed easily without needing the brakes;
my RR1 doesn't engine brake like that so I'm always covering the front
brake.
And talking about brakes, the fronts
are superb. Very powerful but you always feel in control. I imagine
the power could be an issue in the wet, but in reality there are probably
few new owners who will ever know unless they get caught out by a
summer shower. A commuter bike this is not! The back brake, in keeping
with Fireblade back brakes, is a pedal connected to very little compared
to the fronts, but its useful to keep the bike in a straight line
when braking hard. But don't expect to rely on it in an emergency.
So anyway, a great blast through the
twisties up to Norwich, then round the dual carriageway outer ring
road. It was a real pleasure to ride and less pain in the wrists that
my RR1. At Norwich I enlisted the help of mum-in-law to take the necessary
photo (but then needed another hour to explain how to send it to me
via email..!).
So,
was it perfect?
Well, no actually. While it was easily
head and shoulders above my RR1 in terms of handling, braking, and
power output, the lack of 'bulk' compared to my RR1 gave it less of
a 'presence' on the road somehow. I'm sure its something I'd easily
get used to, but on the test it was noticeable.
The other thing that I found annoying
was the console unit. It has a large rev counter which is great, but
then a fairly small digital speedometer which was often impossible
to see in the strong sunlight (maybe this won't be a long-term problem
in the UK!). Next to the speedo is the temperate readout which could
have said anything as it was so small it was almost impossible to
make out.
The really odd thing though is that
there is no gear selector display. How hard would it be to fit it?
Throughout the test I was constantly trying to snick a 7th gear which
of course wasn't there. Paul and I discussed this and his view is
that you should know which gear you are in. I see his point, and on
my RR1 I can tell by the revs and speed, but this bike hardly changes
note in the higher gears so its not so easy to tell what gear you
are in. I could say that it also revs much higher than my RR1 but
that may give the impression I was ringing its neck which of course
I wasn't, officer... so I plead the 5th on that issue.
Lastly on the gripe list was the woeful
underseat storage which struggled to contain a single birthday card
for sister in law! Honda, what's the point in that?
Overall impressions were very favourable
and I was extremely reluctant to hand it back a few hours later. It
has a fantastic engine, great brakes, and I love the neutral handling
that leans easily into corners at any speed (my spanners will be out
tomorrow to change the settings on my RR1 to try and get somewhere
close to the new blade). This one in black looks the best of the mediocre
colour schemes available, but I'm still hoping Honda decide to give
it the Hanspree race paint like the CBR600RR.
So, I suppose the question is would
I buy one?
Lings have the new blade on sale at
£8600 give a penny or two, which is a keen price to be sure.
If I had that money to spend on a bike would it be the new blade?
Well, yes I think it would. I'm a die-hard Fireblade enthusiast, in
a great Fireblade club, and I like the new bike. So why would I choose
anything else?
But
here's the thing - I love my RR1 so much I'd never want to part with
it. So unless I could have both the new one will probably have to
wait unless I win the lottery.
Sure the RR1 is a little slower, especially
in the mid-range, it needs to brake a lot earlier (a whole lot earlier!),
and it handles like a dog (....I've now decided after being on the
new one) but it has something I can't put into words. Something that
makes me smile when I see it, that makes me eager to get it out of
the garage. Something that warms my blood. Lets
call it 'Soul'? I guess the new
one will develop that as more riders sing its praises which will certainly
happen, but its so good at everything that its just too easy to ride,
and too easy to ride fast because of that. It almost outdoes itself
by being so perfectly suited to the rider.
Its certainly an impressive piece of
Honda engineering that sets new standards that other manufacturers
will struggle to match in all departments, but the limitations of
myself and the RR1 mean I ride within my limits (mostly) as I'm wary
of getting it out of shape, but on the new blade I found myself pushing
much harder simply because I could on such a forgiving bike. It never
felt that I would get something wrong, or that the blade would not
cope with it if I did, and was so confidence inspiring that its an
easy way to lose your licence!
Don't get me wrong I like the new Fireblade,
and I'd love to own one. Its a fantastic bike, and the bike press
all have it as one of the best new bikes in recent years. If
you have a new blade I envy you for sure, and I hope you have fun
on it while the sun is shining, but maybe I can make you an offer
for it when you are banned and can't ride it any more....?
If the 2008 paintscheme seems drab,
take a look at the next page for what Honda could have done ........
Page 4
2008
Fireblade review page one...
So, what do you think? Come on over
to the
forum and have your say.......
