Well.....What an eye opener that was. :-) Jeanette and I rocked up to Jeffreys Honda in Ferntree Gully and asked for a ride on their demo CBR954. We requested the rear suspension reload be backed off a notch (from 3rd position to 2nd) to give Jeanette that little bit more confidence reaching the ground. I ventured out first after a friendly warning from the salesman about the grunt and the responsiveness of the front brakes (remember, we've been riding a 1995 CB250 and a 1992 CBR600). First thing I noticed, the idiot lights at the top of the dash were obscured by the top of the windscreen. Annoying, but something that could easily be fixed with an aftermarket screen. Jeanette, being shorter, didn't have a problem seeing them at all. The sales guy wasn't kidding about the brakes. I read various reports on these bikes commenting on how little effort it takes to haul the bike up. Barely breathe on the lever and the nose would dive. The throttle is very responsive, and the engine revs seemed to be directly controlled by the throttle. Very little lag between twisting or closing the throttle to the engine doing what it's told. The 600 we currently have takes a while to lose revs. Stalled the Blade a few times at the lights until I got used to how touchy the throttle is. Once going the bike is very light (35kg lighter than our 600) and easily maneouverable. Cutting through traffic at slow speeds was a doddle and balance was sublime. Got in front of the traffic into some clear air and opened the throttle a little bit. JAYSUS!!!!!! Ok....I can see myself getting into trouble with the constabulary if I don't restrain myself. I can also getting into deep shite if I open it up too soon too hard mid corner. This bike demands some respect. Got back to the shop and Jeanette hopped on to see how it rides with a pillion. The bike didn't notice an extra person, and I was pleasantly surprised to notice the rear suspension was still quite firm despite being on a low preload setting. We may not need to compromise too much between each other's settings after all. :-) Of course the bike wasn't exactly designed with a pillion in mind, and that was evident with the lack of anything to hold onto. There's a thin strap across the front of the pillion seat, but it's next to useless. Jeanette was holding onto me. Not ideal by any stretch of the imagination as it put a fair bit of weight on my wrists, and Jeanette's legs were bent up that little bit more to make her feel uncomfortable. During constant speed straight runs Jeanette sat up a bit and felt quite happy with it though, so considering we'll probably be putting a Ventura rack on the back, we may as well get handgrip attachments as well. Problem solved. Then Jeanette took it for a run on her own, and came back with a huge grin on her face. She found it alot better than the 600 in pretty much every department. And if it comes down to it, we chatted with the salesman and he suggested getting a 2nd seat and having it scalloped a touch, so we could have a his and hers seat. That way Jeanette would have no issues with getting the balls of her feet onto the ground. End result, we're definitely buying one. We both feel we could live with it on a day to day basis quite happily. The demo we rode had a Micron can on it, and it sounded absolutely horn (possibly a big reason for us constantly going over the speed limit just to hear it bark). Might have to hunt out a decent sounding exhaust for ours when we get it. :-) Dale Porter
