Thinking of getting a blackbird 1300 .currently riding a zx6r .but love the looks of the blackbird.what are people's recommendations on them. cheers chris
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Thinking of getting a blackbird 1300 .currently riding a zx6r .but love the looks of the blackbird.what are people's recommendations on them. cheers chris
It's a Honda, so reg/rec, stator, cct, everything else should be fine, but be aware of linked brakes.
Coming from a 6R handling will feel like a barge sailing through custard. However straight line speed and comfort will be mind blowing.
It doesn't have the agility, brakes or handling of a Fireblade, but that is about as wrong as you can get. I have rode a Blackbird, and though it was meaty, still went well when it picked it's skirts up, and more than well enough for road. The worst handling bike i ever rode, was a Bandit 600, like it had a carrier bag of dog**** hanging off each bar.
Iv ridden busas, blackbirds and owned a few zzr11s, Iv also ridden and owned various 600 super sports and apart from the straight line speed the 600s were far more fun to ride as you really need to ride them, get the gear changes right etc,whereas on the big bikes you just use the throttle, don't matter what gear your in at what ever speed you just open the throttle and things get exciting REALLY quickly.
That said if I was to only be able to have one bike I'd go for a litre plus bike any day of the week just for that sicky scared/excited buzz you get from a litre plus bike when you red line it in every gear.
Ive ridden a 1100 Blackbird and found it was good at what it does, its not trying to be a Blade, its a well powered, comfortable bike, perfect for distance work, but equally at home around town. Just not a scratchers delight
A lot of old people ride em
So you thinking buying Burblers one ?
only thing i found with mine is that she shows her weight and lack of agility in tight twisties but then that reflects on what Mitch an Wes have said, the BB is no Fireblade and is not meant to be
as for the linked brakes the only time i notice any short comings is using the rear brake for stability in traffic etc as the front also comes on. other than that i dont mind them although i still brake as if they were "normal"
I had a 'bird for about a year a while back. The fact I kept it a year is telling how I got on with it. Can't fault the engine (always described as 'Turbine' like), handling was great when on the move (I found it a bit cumbersome around town). I didn't like the heat that came of the engine and found it thirsty on fuel for a bike. Also, I found the riding position too cramped. It came with bar risers on it ( a popular add-on), but I didn't like them and took them off which made it worse. I did the TT on mine which was fun. The journey back from Liverpool to Wiltshire late at night (arrived back in Liverpool just gone midnight) was just a blur - it just ate the miles but required that I topped it up in Liverpool and then again when I hit Cheltenham. Servicing with £20 per spark plug did make me wince a little.
Good bikes really but I just didn't get on with it. Glad I had one but don't miss it.
Pete
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