Bowing out

[saikee]

Just say bye to fellow Blackbird riders.

After 8 years of owning P reg Blackbird covering 45,000 miles I finally agreed to trade it in for a new Yamaha FJR 1300.

Nothing against the Bird but the age has caught up with the wife and me. She started to refuse to go on the pallion as it is no longer comfotable for her. After 8 years of frantic speeds and mad accelerations I could do with a slowing down as I use the Bird mainly for commuting now.

Had the Bird to Europe twice. The bike was good enough to do 650 miles a day and then 8 Swiss mountain passes in another day. My main mishap was having parked the Blackbird on a side stand on a steep gradient, came out the bike, while watching the stunning scenery of the St Bernard pass (Switzerland to Italy) and then noticed something was rolling downhill! Had a clean driving license for 30 years until the Blackbird gave me 6 points in the first three years.

Rear tyre lasts 7000 miles and the front twice as long. The brake pads were changed roughly the same frequency as the front tyres.

Only two components broke down in the 8 years ownership. The first one went was the voltage regulator/rectifier two years ago. Took me 3 batteries to find out the cause. The last one was boiled like a ballon by the unregulated high voltage knocking out the bulbs as well. The second one was the snapped bolt for the cam chain tension last year. The engine was giving out noises as though it is about to die but was still drivable with no obvious loss of power. Both items cost less than ?100 to fix. Other than these two items the Blackbird has been trouble free.

Due to work commitments to go overseas regularly and so I have not been active in the forum but I have enjoyed the reading all the bits and pieces of the Blackbird here.

Happy motoring to all.

 

[PsychoBikerBen]

She started to refuse to go on the pallion .

But that's when the fun really starts!
You can go ballistic without the nagging.
FJR 13 is ok I s'pose.
Enjoy whatever you end up with.

 

[D.S.]

Ben

SJ had a p/x one and I tried it; you'd be surprised mate; goes really well, planted and most comfortable :bow:

Saikee
Residual values not so good, but if ya gonna keep it as long as ya kept ya barge who cares!

 

[Allan]

Just cuase you're changing your bike dosent mean you cant still visit here, at least you have had a blackbird, thats a lot more than some of the current members have.

Dont be a stranger - come back and lets us know what the diff is between the two bikes.

Buzz

 

[Wolfie]

one has 1300cc engine other has 1137cc
one is a yamaha other is honda
one is a tourer other is a fat out of date bus

 

[Honeymonster]

one has 1300cc engine other has 1137cc
one is a yamaha other is honda
one is a tourer other is a fat out of date bus

 

[saikee]

I shall remain a member here to tell you guys about the fat bus.

 

[PsychoBikerBen]

tell you guys about the fat bus.

I thought you where getting rid of the Bird?

 

[D.S.]

I shall remain a member here to tell you guys about the fat bus.

I found it to be quite lithe for it's size. No chain worries and nice screen too. Remember 130+bhp & fully adjustable suspension too, so not sure about the slowing down bit! :} I've seen the Virgin Taxi boys chuck 'em around town too and some of the Paramedics have 'em.

 

[saikee]

The FJR1300 does carry an extra 28kg (ABS vevsion).

When tested it I suddenly discovered something I have lost 8 years ago. It is called machine braking and comes in every time I roll back the throttle. To slow down the Bird at a bend I have to drop one or two gears. Not a beliver in brakes before a bend myself.

The FJR is fast but nowhere as frantic as a Blackbird. Its screen is nice when lowered. On powered up it becomes more vertical like placing a vertical transparent slab in front of the rider. Then the sensation of someone pushed me forward because the air is sucked out in front of me (just like a Pan).

I find it hard to slow down on a Bird but on a FJR I don't seem to have a problem of following say a Mini.

The power of a Blackbird comes from the engine speed and higher is better. Once above 7000rpm it will go ballistic. It commands respect on a fast lane and as such it does look right unless it is driven to the maximum legal limits all the time.

The FJR has only 5 gears. It can accelerate because of a decent torque of 99 ft-lb but the power doesn't come instantly. One can keep the engine on the boil but the noise isn't quite the sport type. The Blackbird is enjoyable because its rider can "feel" the motor is happy on being revved up.