My Pride and Joys!!

I've now been riding for approx two weeks since last riding a manual bike 5 years ago, I picked up the cbr from the Showroom on a wet muggy day - the worst possible, i could have chosen to take home a powerful sports bike for the first time in my life. My previous bike was a Yam xj 600 diversion which unknown to me at that time, had half the power of the cbr. When the salesman started up the engine, i was so terrified I tried not to **** myself in public. My anxiety triggered and my glasses steamed up, feeling nausea, I couldn't even get on the bike - I had internal dialogue with myself over whether I should just take the bike back and go home embarrassed and defeated

Once my glasses stopped steaming up, I sat on the bike and started the engine - it took a minute or two to deal with the fear of the sound. I then had a practice of putting the side stand up and down to see if I could do it automatically. Then I decided to take the plunge and get into first gear and the bike took off. I was terrified at how powerful the throttle was just in 1st gear and realised it had to be twisted gently. I managed to go the whole length of a street before i had to stop, kill the engine and turn around. More stress triggered and my glasses started steaming up while i tried to push the bike, turning it around to face the opposite direction.

My anxiety started to slowly dip and eventually i was able to get up to 2nd and 3rd gear. After about two hours of riding round the housing estate, my confidence started to come back and my fear level went down some more. I then felt confident to ride the bike onto the motorway and somehow get home. The rain was pouring down and visibility was poor. On the motorway at 45 mph the speed to me appeared too fast and the engine sounded so loud!!

I managed to get home in one piece and felt a huge sense of relief.

For the next few days I would practice riding short distances and every day before riding, i felt a bit of dread and fear as i needed to get my throttle technique improved and tried not to rev so much at low speed.

By the end of week two - my fear had dissipated completely and i felt it was time to start working on my cornering. The sound of the engine no longer terrified me. Two weeks on, my cornering isn't quite there, but my confidence with this bike is 100 percent. I'm back!! I have found that the gears are so light that sometimes if you are clicking into neutral you can accidently click into 2nd gear, but i think this is because I'm wearing really thick boots that are not proper motorcycling boots. I also discovered that if you accidently knock the bike into 1st gear when man handling it, the bike will not move!! Engine breaking is so powerful on this bike that I found that it really is best to break slightly before changing down otherwise you'll hear that engine wail in protest!!

My only nagging worry is that i can't flat foot on this bike so i have to be so careful when on slopes or uneven ground - however I've had the same problem with previous bikes. I also haven't worked out how to view the trip meters but I'll check out youtube for that one.

The CBR is such a powerful bike and needs to be treated with respect. It's my first ever sports bike and although i am just riding to the speed limits, I am thoroughly enjoying each ride, i really feel like i'm riding a premium product compared to my previous bikes. Mine is the 650 and I think it's perfect for commuting and taking you on your holidays. Now, if I were to upgrade what could I possibly choose? The cbr650r feels like to me the perfect motorcycle that is light and powerful and, well, doesn't eat up too much fuel. It's a lovely looking bike that looks like a sculpted piece of art as well as a reliable motorcycle. I've always felt that Honda make nice looking bikes throughout all their range. But to me the new cbr650r is the prettiest of them all!! I don't think it needs modes - it's a sports bike so it only goes in 'scary' sports mode!!

If you are taking your cbr out for the first time and if you are feeling terrified, don't worry - you're not alone - just feel the fear and do it anyway! #bikesforwellbeing

 

Welcome that is a near perfect write-up of your first experience with your new rocket. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing.
I wouldn’t worry too much about not being able to rest flat footed. It doesn’t offer you that much more stability.

 

Welcome and thanks for the pic and the write-up!

Practicing different skills in an empty parking lot can do a lot to boost confidence and ability!

 

Thanks Hamlin6 !!

 

Really nice motorbike !
Not too sharp or angular, it really looks good !
i usualy love the roundness of 90's sportsbikes but this one looks great and the CBR1000RR /SP looks great as well !
Have fun and take care !

 

Thanks Highway to Hell

Well you may enjoy my next blog which i intend to title 'CBR is just too Gorgeous!"

Safe riding!

 

Yes, that ´s true , they are nice motorbikes and the recent models are really beautiful !
Yesterday , i met a guy who has bought the new CBR 1000 RR / SP ( Special edition with Ohlins fork ), the red , blue, with a bit of white and it is really beautiful !
Not sure if i should speak about it here or in a topic dedicated to the CBR 1000 RR though ( although i do not have 10 pages to write about it but just the what the guy told me about his feeling riding it , coming from a 1994 CBR 900 RR Rocca prepared ) !!

 

Hi Highway to Hell!

I've always wondered what it would be like to ride a litre bike - largest capacity I've experienced is 650cc - the cbr1000 seat height for me is out of my range! I'm just on tip toes with the 650. I've not yet even opened up the throttle - I find that sometimes even at the national speed limit I can feel the bike pulling away from me!! So I would not dare try to see what would happen! For me staying alive in one piece is priority. However it would be interesting all the same to experience what happens when you open up the throttle with the litre bike

 

What you wrote made me think precisely about what i wanted to say about the guy i met with his new CBR 1000 RR/SP !
As i wrote , that person had a 1994 CBR900 RR Fireblade Rocca prepared just before he bought that 1000 RR / SP recently and he told me he had hard time to get used to that new 1000 he bought .
He told me the steering angle is tighter on the 1000 , the riding position is less comfortable / more exclusive , resting more on the wrists and also he felt the 1000 is heavier than the 900RR Rocca prepared !
Rocca must have made the 900RR quite lighter than stock weight , which was already light i think; especialy for the mid 90's !
He said his 1994 900RR is 185 kg but it seems really light if it is with the liquids !
The stock one was 207kg if i remember well ( 185kg was its weight without the liquids ) .

As a matter of fact , the 1000 seemed to be too high for him as well , as his feet were barely touching the ground and only the tip of his feet were touching it !
I suppose that's partly why he had hard time getting used to it, especialy when moving it slowly .
That said it is a beaaaaautiful bike ; one of the nicest 1000 on the market !
What i wonder about is all the electronic !
Cause it seems those liter bikes are so powerful that they are barely rideable without all that and not being used to any electronic on my motorbikes , i am not sure of the feeling i would have with it , even if it is made for being the most transparent as possible i suppose .

I am looking for a bike to start riding on circuits and price apart , i prefer to search for a motorbike which has no electronic but obviously it would be less powerful but still some 130 to 150 hp or so , i think .
At least that is the hp of the bikes i am interested in , although i saw some that have 180hp but it might be too much to start riding on circuit .
If i had more experience , i might be looking at the nice 1000 ones with 200hp but i think buying that with nearly no experience riding on circuit ( i only rode a full afternoon on a circuit once 3 years ago, with my ZRX1200R Kawasaki Roadster ) would be too much ( not even speaking of the price and the waste crashing such pricey bike ) !
Either I would not dare to push it for fear of crashing it , or I would take too many risks with a lack of experience and I would end up crashing it !

 

I think that most any bike that is in the 130 to 150 hp range is going to be fuel injected. And with that comes electronics. That's just the way it is.