Just test rode the R1 :-)

Holy moly! Maybe not the latest & greatest but late & great enough *for
me*. An 04 model with 3k on the clock and *mint*. 2 more weeks ands it's
adios SV1000s, hello R1 ))

A few pics I took when I stopped for a coffee...

www.ninjaboy.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk\r1-1.jpg
www.ninjaboy.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk\r1-2.jpg
www.ninjaboy.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk\r1-3.jpg
www.ninjaboy.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk\r1-4.jpg
www.ninjaboy.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk\r1-5.jpg

Roll on summer...

 

That's quite nice.

Why wait until summer?

 

Innit

Well, the local council have in their wisdom gritted the roads this morning
despite daytime temps of ~9 Celcius. When I took the bike back, there was
a light dusting of salt all over it. I asked the salesman if he'd mind
hosing it down and he obliged without question. As soon as they stop
spraying that shit on the roads, I'll be out.

Cheers

 

Get out on it now and ride yourself to the nearest stockist of ACF 50, then
give the whole bike a severe leathering with it. Come the summer, a good
wash and you won't know it's even SEEN a winter.

Don't do brakes or the tyres though, it causes the back end to step out and
the front wheel to stop turning when you grab a handful of brake. A good
wipe with thinners restored my tyres to normal, but I'll need more than
thinners for me kecks.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Aye - I sprayed a can of that on my SV and it lay all winter uncovered and
gained not a spot of rust. As you say though, getting it on the tyres &
brakes is bad news...

I haven't actually bought the R1 yet though I shook on a deal today with the
salesman. 3 weeks today and it's mine I'm only stalling the purchase
due to finances but the dealer is ok with the agreed date. BTW, my brother
works at the shop (in the parts dept) so I got a pretty nice deal.

Cheers Kev, take it easy.

 

Nice bike mate. Same as mine down to the colour. Don't think your be
disappointed!!!


Chris

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Chris Bedford

I am though. Very, very disappointed.

It seems there are still semi-literates out there, prepared to top-post
at the drop of a hat.

Cut to the quick, I am.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in
Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (Falling apart) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

He should have known better but going by previous visits to ukrm he's
a slow learner.

You should try to avoid pulling your zip up before putting your
trouser snake away.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Andy Bonwick

Oh dear.

There's so much to remember, isn't there?

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in
Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (Falling apart) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

Just wash it off, I rode my old R1 through the winter and it was still in
good nick come spring.

 

I rode my R1 today. I'll be riding it again tomorrow.

lovely it was.
--
Adie
(replace spam with nickname to reply)

UKRM FAQ: http://www.ukrm.net/faq/

YZF-R1 : ZX9R-E1
keeper of the FAQ for my sins
MRO#11 BOTAFOF#7 BOTAFOT#130 DIAABTCOD#17 MIB#24 YTC#16 BOB#15 ex-UKRMMA#22 BOMB#11

 

Did you buy the one I was fancying in Fiddlesticks Motorcycles?

 

What's your overall opinion of the bike - how long have you had it? My
impressions after my brief 60 mile test ride are :-

* Nice useable drive down low but not overly torqey
* Easy to ride in less than ideal conditions - the relative "lack" of
torque down low makes highsides etc at low speed less probable than on a
Gixxer thou for example
* Quite slow to turn in IMHO - needs a fair bit of "Jamie Whittam" to get
around corners. I tend to ride a bit like that anyway but found myself
having to muscle it around more than I remember with the SV [1]
* Flat spot around 5k rpm - I suppose nothing's perfect (alright, shut it
you Gixxer bastards!)
* 6.5k up - PARTY TIME. The pull is awesome from here up to the red.
Even in top, rolling on from 100mph will see 160 in what seems like *****
all* seconds
* Brakes - Superb. Actually took me a bit of time to get the hang of
them. I was overbraking big time at first (the SVs brakes are of the 3
finger variety, these are one finger)

{1} The last time I rode the SV, I was 13 stone, I am now 9 1/2 stone so
that may have something to do with it.

All in all a fab bike - can't wait to do some serious miles on it.

 

dunno, which one did you fancy?

I did buy it from flitwick though.
--
Adie
(replace spam with nickname to reply)

UKRM FAQ: http://www.ukrm.net/faq/

YZF-R1 : ZX9R-E1
keeper of the FAQ for my sins
MRO#11 BOTAFOF#7 BOTAFOT#130 DIAABTCOD#17 MIB#24 YTC#16 BOB#15 ex-UKRMMA#22 BOMB#11

 

* Quite slow to turn in IMHO - needs a fair bit of "Jamie Whittam" to

Probably squared off tyres. Buy yourself some Michelin 2CT tyres. Also
check tyre pressures.


Chris

 

Sorry forgot how touchy everyone is here! Wont happen again sorry!

Chris

 

All this cutting and pasting takes years of practice you know. Hows
everyone been? Misbehaving no doubt!!


Chris

 

They had an older one there on special offer.

 

Good suggestions Chris. The tyres are pretty new with no signs of squaring
off and loads of tread depth in the centre. Tyre pressures might be it and
I hope it is because it's a free fix As for tyre make/ type, my SV is
running Michellin Pilot Sports and they've served me very well. They're
squared off now so tend to start flapping a bit on fast sweepers but were
good when new. The Metzeler Sportec M1s fitted to the R1 are reputed to be
a good road tyre with similar or better sporting attributes to the Pilot
Sports. The Michelin 2CTs you mention - are they a more pointy shape in the
middle? I like the flop in kind of feel you get with 16" wheels or pointy
tyres.

My other thought was that maybe the steering damper was over effective and
slowing the steering down too much. I need to google and see if this is a
documented problem...

Otherwise, it's me (and probably is). Bare in mind I've not ridden a bike
since September and I'm 22kg lighter than I was then so any bike's gonna
feel a bit different I guess.

Cheers man.

 

Yeah the 2ct tyres do fall into corners very easily quite a high profile
tyre. I picked my R1 2004 with about 1000 miles of squared off tyre and
noted how horrible it felt. Initially i went with Avon's but they teared up
very quickly. I'm on my 4th set of 2ct and done about 13500 miles including
the Nurburgring, riding there and back plus about 8 laps. I can honestly
say hand on heart that you the R1 should have no problems tipping in with
the correct air pressures and especially with the 2CTs. If and when you get
them fitted let me know what you think.


Cheers Chris