Test ride challenge

[L3nny]

Test 11 - 2003 Suzuki SV 1000S 18 Miles
Total Mileage 328

Well this is an SV forum and there are lots of thou owners on here so I won't go into too much detail.

I had a 650 as my first bike, I didn't really like it and wanted to see if the 1000 was any better.

It wasn't

Engine has a very narrow power band, making it hard to ride in town. The suspension is made from marsh mallow and the brakes, well what brakes.

I know a lot of people who are much more talented riders than me are very fast on a thou SV but I just didn't feel in control of it.

Quite disappointed really as I am looking for a second bike to take touring and this would been ideal. Especially as they fetch less than 2k.

[L3nny]

Test 12 - 2012 Suzuki GSX1250F 18 Miles
Total Mileage 346

When getting off the SV and saying I wasn't that impressed the dealer said "we have a GSX1250F demo here if you want to take that out"

Well okay then.

I had never really been interested in these before as it's just a faired Bandit but took it for a ride anyway.

I am not a fan of normal handlebars, i think clipons feel much more natural. However the ones on the GSX made it so easy to manoeuvre at slow speeds and the more upright seating position gives a much better view.

Around town the bike was so smooth, no need to use 1st just sit in second all the time.

On the open road I was really surprised, this thing shifts! There is torque everywhere in the rev range, it's not savage, pull your arms off fast like my Fireblade was it just effortlessly accelerates to silly speeds.

Handling wise it seemed perfect for the crappy pot holed roads. It's not razor sharp, but it will handle bends well and soak up the bumps at the same time.

Wind protection wasn't as good as I would have hoped, but this could probably be fixed with a touring screen and the footpegs seemed really low. I was scared I would grind them at every bend, but I didn't so the clearance can't be that bad.

The best thing about this bike is the price, it didn't do anything worse than the VFR 1200 and it costs 4 grand less.

Another thing I should mention is that that bazuka can isn't just for show. The bike is pretty much silent, which is a bit strange when doing double the speed limit.

[L3nny]

Test 13 - 2011 Honda VFR 800 V-TEC 36 Miles
Total Mileage 382

Keeping on the sports tourer theme I thought it was about time to test ride what some consider the ultimate all rounder.

First sitting on the bike I found the ergonomics pretty much perfect, the position is sporty yet comfortable and everything is just in the right place. I can even get both feet flat on the floor which is rare for my 30" stumps. The seat is a little firm however but I think this is just down to the fact it needs wearing in.

Maneuvering around the car park it did feel a little heavy, but then everything does when compared to a GSXR 600. Once moving though the weight vanishes.

My first impressions as I got out onto the open road was that all the negative reviews of this bike are true. Pinning the throttle doesn't give you the instant whoosh of a 1000cc and revving the tits off it doesn't give you an extra boost near the top like a 600. I was thinking about turning around and giving the bike back after 10 minutes but I had to pay a fiver of my own money to put some petrol in it so I decided to carry on and boy am I glad I did!

The first part of the ride took place on something very rare near where I live, smooth, wide, freshly tarmaced roads with fast sweeping bends. On this type of road the VFR doesn't perform as well as a sports bike. The wind protection at high speed wasn't that good and the engine wasn't happy being thrashed in 3rd.

A little more common around me was the next sight I came across, a gridlocked road with roadworks taking place. Due to this I took a detour down some narrow unclassified roads. Fortunately I soon discovered this is where the VFR is most at home, the suspension, while lacking a but of feel on smoother roads was in it's element here, on the GSXR I would be bouncing up and down, lowering my sperm count with every bank on the fuel tank, on the VFR it was smooth and comfortable. It was also then I noticed the engine.

While not happy being thrashed to within an inch of it's life and without the low down punch of the 1250 above I though it was slow, that was until I looked at the speedo, on narrow roads I would normally only be able to do 50-60 on I found myself doing 70-80 without any fuss. The bike felt planted even hitting pot holes mid bend and while there isn't a huge amount of power there is exactly the right amount, exactly when you need it. Accelerating out of a bend and opening the throttle the v-tec kicks in and wafts you on to the next one. You can pin the throttle as hard as you like and unlike a sports bike there is no drama it just gets on with the business of going fast.

The combined ABS system is also excellent, I am lazy and never use the rear brake so although purists will complain that it isn't necessary and you shouldn't rely on things like this anything that makes a bike easier and safer to ride IMO is a good thing.

The main thing that stands out on the VFR though is the quality, every switch and control just feels so nice to use.

Probably not eveyone's cup of tea but I really like the looks of the VFR as well, in my opinion it's the best looking sports tourer out there, although this is probably down to the fact it's not as fast as most of the others so doesn't need the aerodynamics.





As far as I am concerned this is a perfect road bike and with the optional luggage it's also very practical.

I liked it so much I went straight on Ebay and a few days later this was sitting on my drive

Haha, good review and nice to see how the story ended (or maybe to be continued?).

[L3nny]

It's not the end, I will still try and do some more test rides. Only problem is I am falling out of favor with my local dealer, I have taken 6 of their bikes out so far and not bought any of them lol.

Yes, I think mine is also starting to get a bit suspicious

[L3nny]

Test 14 - 2006 Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa 36 Miles
Total Mileage 418


Even non bikers know the Hayabusa is one of the fastest bikes in the world and coming from mainly riding bikes with less than 120Bhp I was bracing myself for a ballistic missile.

I have never liked the look of the Hayabusas, I know they are shaped in a wind tunnel and I respect that, the fact that it hasn't been styled by some polo necked, rim free glasses wearing designer is a plus. Unfortunately it just looks weird, the Japanese writing on the side makes it look a bit retro as well.

I know this bike was made as a direct competitor to the Honda Blackbird, my mate has one of these and I have ridden it a few times, the Blackbird is a 200mph sofa, it is so quiet, comfortable and easy to ride but when you look at the speedo you are mostly greeted with the shock you are doing 140mph. I was expecting pretty much the same from the 'busa.

However sitting on the bike, I was shocked at how sporty the riding position is, it's not as comfortable as the VFR or the Blackbird, the riding position is pretty aggressive, I assume this is also a product of the wind tunnel.

The bike is pretty narrow, but it's long, manoeuvring it around the dealer's car park shows it's pretty heavy as well, I can get both feet flat on the floor though and I only have a 30" inside leg so was pretty surprised at that.

I head off onto the open road and the first thing that I notice is how heavy the steering is, this doesn't feel like a sports bike, corners have to be planned in advance and it feels like a bit of a bus on the narrow twisty road I started on. My VFR is pretty heavy but the bars are a lot wider so it's much easier to chuck about.

The suspension is pretty hard and I can feel a few tank to knacker collisions going over pot holes. I'm not able to use the power of the bike here, but just sit in 4th and 5th gear barely tickling the throttle.

Finally I am out on a clear A road and I open the girl up, I was expecting a Star Trek type warp speed to happen but it didn't really. Up to 6,000 rpm it's pretty docile, and when you hit that in 3rd gear you're doing 100mph and thinking about the bend on the quickly appearing horizon. I was expecting my arms to be ripped off but it just didn't happen. Tried it again in second and there still wasn't a huge rush of speed, it's a bit like the Blackbird in terms of acceleration, fast, but not exciting.

Sweeping bends on a smoother road are where this bike is more at home but for such a large, fast bike, I was shocked how terrifyingly weak the brakes are. I know this is an older bike, this one had 20k on it, but my VFR has 30k on and the brakes are awesome, maybe I am just used to the combined ABS.

On the way home I decided to ride the bike the way my mate tells me he rides his Blackbird, keep it on top gear at 80mph and just watch the world go by. This bored me so I started ragging it again and the bike just wasn't happy.

I was disappointed with the Hayabusa, it's supposed to be a sports tourer but it's too sporty to be a tourer, especially as Suzuki don't make hard luggage for it, and it's too heavy to be a sports bike. Where as my VFR is a tourer that you can have fun on, this is just a sports bike that's big and old fashioned. Yes it's fast, but you can't use the extra power on English roads. The only reason I could see for getting this bike is if you do most of your riding with a pillion as the rear seat looked pretty comfortable. And your pillion is a fatty.

[L3nny]

Test 15 - 2013 BMW S1000RR 38 Miles
Total Mileage 418

Scoobs' test ride of the BMW here was the main reason of starting up this test ride thread again, I had forgotten just how much more fun it was ragging someone else's bike around.

I don't really have much to say that wasn't covered in that thread. The S1000 is an awesome machine, coming from a VFR I wouldn't say it's comfy but it's not awful. I could happily do a couple of hundred miles on it.

There are however 2 controls on the bike which are unnecessary, one is the traction control setting, on a dry road it made no difference which setting it was in, even in rain mode the power was instant and arm snapping. The other is the gear lever, because 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th, open the throttle and the same thing happens, the thing I was expecting from the busa, warp speed. It really is immense.

From riding the busa to riding this it really shows how much technology has moved on recently, this bike is faster than a hayabusa and handles better than my old GSXR 600.

Scraping the barrel for negatives, it needs 95 RON fuel, the indicator switch is in the wrong place and the pillion perch is tiny.

I do however care what colour it is, this grey is sex. And with that sweet Akra end can. mmmm

Is using standard unleaded a downside? Super is at least 98RON, so you're probably confusing it like I did saying premium in the manual over regular, but the numbers suggest that they mean poor grade fuel when they talk about regular (91RON or less).

Nice to see you doing some more tests. Are you saying your findings were pretty similar to scoobs? What about the other accessories like the heated grips etc? I like the review but maybe give it a rating compared to some of the other's you've ridden. Nice one.