2009 Fireblade test ride.

A mate of mine handed me the keys to his beloved 2009 Fireblade yesterday (the fool). Just thought I'd give some opinions of the bike.

First things first, it's small and light. Much more than I thought it would be and much more than it looks. I had to shuffle it round on his driveway and did it as easily as I do my little Hornet. The riding position is also not as focused as I thought it would be and is quite comfy. I only did a 15 min ride but that was more than enough to know that it wasn't like the '07 ZX6R I had which was totally track focused and quite painful to ride at anything other than full pelt.

As I set off I noticed how quiet the engine is and it almost feels like your in second gear just pootling round. The engine seems uninteresting at this point which has me worried. Do a few roundabouts and it is very agile, will just stick to the line you tell it to but also needs a little bit of body weight to really get it over. I think this could be due to the huge 190 rear tyre. Finally get her on a really long straight with no traffic and give it some beans. I wind on the throttle...............oh my christ this thing takes off. I go over a brow at about half throttle and the front comes up what feels like about 10 feet. I'm sure it wasn't that high but certainly caught me out. I dare not look at the speedo, sh*t, I haven't got time to look at the speedo. I glance at the rev counter and am at about 11k. Decide that now is a good time to change gear and I get another gear of immense power that just pulls my arms out and propels me at the speed of thought down the empty road at godknowswhat speed. I back off the throttle and get back into 'mere mortal' speeds and a nice long sweeping right hander approaches with a roundabout at the end. The bike glides around both with seemingly no effort from me. Hell, at this point I swear the bike is taking me for a ride and not the other way around, it's almost like it's directly taped into my central cortex and knows what I want it to do before I've even processed the thought. A dual carriedgeway approaches, two empty lanes of heaven. I give it some.

I reach loseyourlicenceandgotojail speeds quicker than I can say "Woo". Another rounabout, all the way round and back up the dual carriedgeway (up a steep hill this time) again, throttle hand says "let's play" front wheel comes up and stays up for what seems like a mile. Finally get into top gear and things are just a blur now. I don't want to think about what speed I've just done (I didn't know by the way). For the last few miles I pootle at normal speeds as there is traffic about. Bike handles both riding styles with ease but really begs to be ridden hard and that's when it comes alive.

Thoughts:

At normal speeds it's uneventful, dare I say dull? But once you fiddle that happy stick it transforms this bike into a thought propelled ballistic nuclear tipped missile, with your licence as the target!

Would I want one?

The dark part of me says yes but for the first time in my entire biking history, I'm afraid. A bike with that much potential is a scary thing and HAS to be respected. Too much for the road? Potentially, yes. But the throttle does twist both ways.........

Either way and amazing experience and the most exciting bike I've ever ridden.

Glad you enjoyed it

Many customers have come back off a test ride on our demo at work and are just gob smacked by its sheer brilliance, one person told me its basicly done what you want it to do before you've even thought about it.

Im only 18 and have another year and a bit till im of my restriction so i can have a go on this bike and see if what the customers tell me is true!

Just be careful, I've been riding a while now and this bike can get you into serious trouble!

[JamesMio]

Got an older one (02 plate) and it's pretty much the same as you've described above - apart from it not being as tiny as the newer ones.

It's comfy (more so than my wee SV ever was), handles like it's on rails and goes like stink, I love it!!

But, like I posted on another thread - I'm genuinely worried that it's only a matter of time before I'm out for a pootle and before I know it I've been pulled in for doing 100+ without realising it. It's far, far too easy to rattle up to way over double any speed limit before it even begins to feel like you're going fast, and at the moment, my license doesn't have much spare room to play with...

I'll probably hang onto it until Spring (it'll not get much when Winter arrives) and decide from there, but I'm slowly leaning towards something a little less of a maniac before it's too late!

Yeah, I always thought I'd love a litre sportsbike but I think it's just too much. The thing I love about 600's is you can ring their necks and not be doing silly speeds. To get the Blade to feel alive you have little choice. Not a bad bike ridden normally, does everything well but it's too easy like you say.

[JamesMio]

Actually, I found quite the opposite of 600's - I tried a GSXR600 & a CBR600FS before I settled on the Blade.

By the time the 600's became 'fun'- i.e. once they've hit the power band, I was already up to 80+mph, so again it was only a matter of time before I got done again!

My (twisted!?) logic with the Blade is that it picks up at pretty much any speed, and at any revs, even at lower revs (3-6000 rpm) it takes off as well as the 600's I tried at 12000 rpm, and when it hits 8000 rpm+ it just goes ballistic!!

I reckon I'd be going faster more often on a 600 than I do on the Blade, it's just that it's far easier to hit mental speeds without realising it on the bigger bike.

Hmm, I see your logic. I think how my mind works is that at full pelt, where I am having most fun, the 600's are a safer option for me!

Sounds awesome- can I have a go please?!

Originally Posted by carty

Sounds awesome- can I have a go please?!

Yeah sure.

It's not my bike.

[Skip]

I know what you mean about the speed thing - thats why I love my SV1000 - it "only" has about 110hp which from the fair few bikes I have ridden in the past 5 years is about the most you need on the road. The Blackbird was too tempting to open it right up whereas I can rev the SV hard and feel like I am going fast but only be doing <100mph(ish).