well after a little bit of fettling over the last couple of weeks I bolted the new old bird back together for an evening ride.
I can’t recall my first ride of my brand new 96 Blackbird but back then I was moving up from a 900 Trophy and so it would have been quite a shock to have some proper power.
This time, I immediately noticed how much smoother and calmer the engine seems in contrast to my Busa and also my ZZR1400, clearly it’s making a lot less power than the ZZR’s 200+hp, it feels turbine smooth.
Oh dear, the bars are too low for my geriatric back around town, getting better at 60+ when the wind blast helps as it’s still on a stock screen.
The bar grips seem smaller and smoother to what I’m used to, I’ve got big hands and I’ll try a pair of spare Stomp grips I’ve got stashed away. My years of drag racing and land speed racing made me need to use short levers to allow 2 fingers to always grip the bars and so the stock levels seem quite alien to me. I’ll look for some cheap shorties from China.
The Jaws lowering pegs have proven very useful, but the mirror extenders show up the inadequate mirror size - my elbows look really nice in them.
A nice easy gear change and a light clutch, without a first gear clunk. Not quite in the Busa class of smooth, but a change from the Kawa kerrunch!
The brakes work reasonably well after a good cleanup, but are definitely old world and they need an early alarm call when their services are needed.
I didn’t get to use the lights in anger as it was still very light, but the instrument lighting seems a bit lacking. Oh well, it’s hardly going to get much night time use anyway.
Lastly the suspension, the front is very much of its age and may well be improved with the Jaws kit, whether I bother or not depends on how much use I want to give it. The rear is also a bit harsh and I don’t think I improved it by adding a shock spacer. I had some 1/4” alloy plate lying around and made a spacer, but I think at 6.25mm it’s too much. It will have to come out and I’ll use some 1/8” 3mm for the next one. The bars felt just a bit too keen to flop into corners. Perhaps the old Metzelers dont help much too.
I’ll tolerate the plank seat!
Along with the shock spacer, the next job will be to put a new chain and sprocket set on it, maybe at the weekend. The one on it is only a couple of thousand miles old but it hasn’t been looked after and is rusted to buggery, a nice gold DID set will brighten it up nicely. Perhaps I’ll put a spare scotoiler on at the same time.
I can’t recall my first ride of my brand new 96 Blackbird but back then I was moving up from a 900 Trophy and so it would have been quite a shock to have some proper power.
This time, I immediately noticed how much smoother and calmer the engine seems in contrast to my Busa and also my ZZR1400, clearly it’s making a lot less power than the ZZR’s 200+hp, it feels turbine smooth.
Oh dear, the bars are too low for my geriatric back around town, getting better at 60+ when the wind blast helps as it’s still on a stock screen.
The bar grips seem smaller and smoother to what I’m used to, I’ve got big hands and I’ll try a pair of spare Stomp grips I’ve got stashed away. My years of drag racing and land speed racing made me need to use short levers to allow 2 fingers to always grip the bars and so the stock levels seem quite alien to me. I’ll look for some cheap shorties from China.
The Jaws lowering pegs have proven very useful, but the mirror extenders show up the inadequate mirror size - my elbows look really nice in them.
A nice easy gear change and a light clutch, without a first gear clunk. Not quite in the Busa class of smooth, but a change from the Kawa kerrunch!
The brakes work reasonably well after a good cleanup, but are definitely old world and they need an early alarm call when their services are needed.
I didn’t get to use the lights in anger as it was still very light, but the instrument lighting seems a bit lacking. Oh well, it’s hardly going to get much night time use anyway.
Lastly the suspension, the front is very much of its age and may well be improved with the Jaws kit, whether I bother or not depends on how much use I want to give it. The rear is also a bit harsh and I don’t think I improved it by adding a shock spacer. I had some 1/4” alloy plate lying around and made a spacer, but I think at 6.25mm it’s too much. It will have to come out and I’ll use some 1/8” 3mm for the next one. The bars felt just a bit too keen to flop into corners. Perhaps the old Metzelers dont help much too.
I’ll tolerate the plank seat!
Along with the shock spacer, the next job will be to put a new chain and sprocket set on it, maybe at the weekend. The one on it is only a couple of thousand miles old but it hasn’t been looked after and is rusted to buggery, a nice gold DID set will brighten it up nicely. Perhaps I’ll put a spare scotoiler on at the same time.
