After picking up my new bike a week ago followed by a week long trip, I have finally been able to take her out for a ride today. Having gotten very comfortable on my 600, I had no idea on what to expect. While I am taking it easy to get used to the bike and to break it in, the following are first impressions on the differences between my '08 CBR600rr and the new bike:

- riding position is more aggressive on the liter bike; distance to the bars from the seat is more and is not as comfortable. As such the liter bike feels bigger.
- responsiveness to counter steering and weight position vs the 600 is as much if not more on the liter bike. This surprised me as I expected the opposite.
- the slipper clutch really works and I can no longer count on engine breaking to help slow the bike.
- I can't tell much if any improvement to the aerodynamics unless I am really tucked in on the liter bike and then it is noticeably better.
- the gear position indicater on the gauge cluster for the liter bike is great. Still have not yet figured out how to get it to tell me how much fuel I have in the tank.

I am looking forward to getting more comfortable on the new bike as it doesn't yet feel like the "perfect glove fit" that my 600 is.

As mentioned above, have not yet put any significant power down yet so from a engine standpoint, not a lot yet to comment on.

 

Sounds like me going from my F4i to a s1000rr. Comments are almost word for word.

How's the steering damper working? One of the complaints among BMW owners is the stock damper is crap and the bike tends to develop head shake under aggressive acceleration.

 

The damper seems fine although I have not yet got on it hard. This afternoon I rode the same set of twistes that I do on the 600. There are some areas where the DOT has added the strips of tar over cracks in the asphalt and the damper on the liter bike seems to help as much as the 600.

 

Good luck with the new bike. I would be interested to hear more of your impressions as you get more "comfortable" with the machine. I own a 1990 CBR 1kf. Not much of a comparison to what you have. lol. This year I bought a 600f3 because I have become addicted to track days and my old girl is not really suited to that. I noticed that the f3 seems to be quite a bit faster in acceleration compared to the old thousand. Makes sense...it has the same hp and is 130lb lighter. Again, have fun with your new bike. I'm envious as Hell. lol

 

Once you hold that throttle wide open to ride line the first time your gunna do what I did when I traded my 600 in for the 1000 and thats yelling HOLY S*%$!!!!! LOL!