Yesterdays sport bikes todays sport tourers

[D.S.]

As the Sofa was in for service today, I rode the girlfriends Blade (RRY) to the orifice today (that's from S.London to Bedfordshire) and I was amazed how comfortable it was; not a twinge or moment of discomfort, yet back in 2001 when I owned my barge the Blade was a balls out, totally focused sports bike
Oh well...............back to me numbers :m

 

[Cyclops]

Have to agree John

My blades a RRT and with heated grips a DB screen its a very able distance bike

 

[gypsy]

Shame you arn't then Cyclops !!!

 

[Fat Bert]

OUCH!!

Shame you arn't then Cyclops !!!

Cutting remark Gippo - you been taking diplomacy lessons from the Dwarf from Wakefield?

 

[Gerrard]

Sports Tourers

Blimey the ZX10 should be interesting then.

 

[D.S.]

Blimey the ZX10 should be interesting then.

think you could have a point there Graphite :} But you'd be surprised how comfy say the K4 GSXR1000 is. The latest R1 is well comfy too & so easy to ride. Apparently the K5 Gixer is as small as the 600 but offers as much comfort as the K4 version (now that's a tad contradictory :dunno - might get a chance to dem-ride one when I pick up my sofa tomorrow :yo:
Tell ya what is a hoot; the Burgman 650 - shifts 'an all :-:

 

[Samster]

Burgman :}

Looks like they corner too.........hope you abused it in the traditional dem-bike styleeeeee :-:

 

[D.S.]

they handle quite nicely.....I was surprised just how good

mate, I wearing a one-piece, dark visor and knee sliders when I rode the thing. I even went round the outside of ZX6R round the Mickleham bends nr Dorking on it............you should have seen the look on the bloke's face - priceless :}

 

[Gerrard]

Tourers

Dirty Sanchez.
My favourite was always the ZX9, top draw me thinks.....My Blade lacked grab rails which is the only down fall of the Gixxer 1000.......If I were to ride solo a lot, the Gixxer 1000 would be my choice though.

 

[Cyclops]

mate, I wearing a one-piece, dark visor and knee sliders when I rode the thing. I even went round the outside of ZX6R round the Mickleham bends nr Dorking on it............you should have seen the look on the bloke's face - priceless :}

You boaster you

Not only are you able to take the bloke on the outside of a bend on a scooter wot you have only just got on






But then you have time to turn round and look at the bloke wot you have just done over :bow: :bow: :bow:

 

[D.S.]

You boaster you

Not only are you able to take the bloke on the outside of a bend on a scooter wot you have only just got on

But then you have time to turn round and look at the bloke wot you have just done over :bow: :bow: :bow:

nothing to boast about; I'd been riding it all day and the bloke was obviously so stunned he rolled off the throttle plus let's just say I know those bends quite well, just ask Dave T :}

 

[Wolfie]

HE DOES TOO, YOU KNOW. :bow: :bow:

 

[mikew]

Dirty Sanchez.
My favourite was always the ZX9, top draw me thinks.....My Blade lacked grab rails which is the only down fall of the Gixxer 1000.......If I were to ride solo a lot, the Gixxer 1000 would be my choice though.

Yup, the ZX9 is/was an fantatsic tourer .. for a sports bike! daft thing is though, on the last incarnation of it, they removed the grabrails! WTF?

And with the addition of an aftermarket rail, my Ace tours beautifully, in fact we're off to Dresden in a couple of weeks.

mike

 

[10MEN]

I found the 99 zx9 a great and comfy bike to ride, Allthough i did'nt like the way you had to really pull it down in bends if going quick. %$fan


The new zx10 is an awesome bike to ride and 2 of my mates are currently riding em on some big rides out around wales and the lakes, They are usually very uncomfortable after a few hours hard riding without stopping but i think its no worse than most sportsbikes of today.

Going the other way i used to have a heavily modified gsxr1100 slingshot and allthough running at the same level as the standard bike (i.e not raised or lowered front or rear) I found it the most uncomfortable bike on the wrists in the world, Maybe thats why i used to be wheelieing everywhere to take the weight off the wrists :} Could have just been a youthfull fearless mind though c7u8

 

[Gerrard]

Tourers

To be honest I can't ever see myself ever having an out and out tourer they are way to big and heavy for me, I think it would allways have to be an older sports bike.
For me it's all about mileage and pace, and if I'm in a hurry the bigger type tourer (BMW-Pan-FJ) seem to struggle at the cruising speed I want from a bike - I'm talking a 1000 miles plus a day. They seem to be OK for a tank full but they loose the appeal after that, of course that might be down to me and not the bike?
Hopefully the Bird will fit the bill if I need to do that sort of mileage again as its very similar to the riding position of the ZX9 which is the bike I have used for most of the high milage tours I've done.
IMHO the best bikes for doing over 750 miles a day have been ZX9, ZX6, Fireblade, XJ 900 - I have riden all these 2 up with luggage.

 

[D.S.]

I'm talking a 1000 miles plus a day.

jeezus.......... you working as a courier in Spain? :dunno: :} 1000 miles of twisties in a day would be a tad tiring I reckon! :} I did 4 days at the Cartagena track last November and I was shagged for a week :blush:

 

[Gerrard]

Millage

Hi DS.
I've got to say nearly all of the 1000 miles a day trips we have done have mostly been on motorway type roads - but not all though. So of course the roads have land contour bends more than twisty corners
The most I ever did on my XJ 900 (when I was dispatching out of London) was 1033 and 1071 miles in a day which was'nt bad for an old plodder of a bike!
I think you are right in what you say though track days would take far more out of you than cruising journeys, as for the courier thing.. if I was 20 years younger I might have given it a go over here.. but you know us semi-retired folk, we just want an easy life!

 

[D.S.]

Buenos dias

but you know us semi-retired folk, we just want an easy life!

too right; as soon as Chez Sanchez in Catalunya is flogged I'll be doing all I can to join ya. Looking at areas around Los Burgos, Alora & Teba and signed up with a few real estate agents a couple of weeks ago when we were over there :beer:

 

[Gerrard]

Looking at areas around Los Burgos, Alora & Teba

I know Alora and Teba well but not Los Burgos. The view of Teba as you come from the Antequera side is something else. We looked in the Alora area when we were coming over but it was a bit to steep for our pocket as we needed as specific kind of big house to live in and wanted to buy two others as rentals to keep the income going 'till we retire properly and found everything we wanted in this village. Will be interested to hear where you buy in the end.. good luck with the sale and the hunting.
Zippo