Do you ever envy those rocket ships with 1WD?

[CorvetteConvert]

At a car meet recently several sports car owners said that although they don't ride bikes and likely won't, they quietly envied the sheer performance, the 0-100, the bang per buck, if you like, that sports bikes give you. Or are 2 wheels just not the real deal for you?

[CorvetteConvert]

phil1979 said:

Apart from custom chopper bikes, I can't stand the things. The transport of hooligans, if you will.

Then I saw this.



I am very envious of those rocketship riders now.

I ride the later version of that bike. For £16,000 new i got a 1285cc Ducati, achingly beautiful, capable of (virtually) race-bike handling, brakes and speed, yet for the price of a used VW Polo GTI.
205 bhp and 167 kgs will tell you what it goes like...

[CorvetteConvert]

I always use one-piece Ducati leathers when riding but would never criticise someone in jeans and a lightweight jacket. Their choice, their risk.

[CorvetteConvert]

marcgti6 said:

Bikes are fking ace. If you ask me, every 'petrol head' should experience the acceleration of a 1000cc full fat sportsbike at some point in their life.

This is true, they should. My wife rides a 2014 Triumph Street Triple R, a 675cc 3-cylinder bike with no pretentions to be super-powerful.
But even that recently made a Renault Megane RS 265 look as if someone had fueled it with porridge.

[CorvetteConvert]

What he said above, Ski-ing is incredibly risky. We only go twice a year (to Chamonix) and keep it fun rather than fast but the emergency services are forever whisking away people with broken limbs.

[CorvetteConvert]

For me, bikes are an incredibly cheap way of experiencing the performance that 99% of cars will never approach. I sourced a bike for a friend recently, £4,000, bulletproof reliability, easy to ride, will be worth £3,500 in 3 years' time so little depreciation and it will do 50 mpg on a run.
0-60 in 3 seconds flat, 100 in 6.5 and a quarter-mile in 10 seconds. 190 mph top speed.
Kawasaki ZZR1400.

[CorvetteConvert]

trickywoo said:

CorvetteConvert said:

For me, bikes are an incredibly cheap way of experiencing the performance that 99% of cars will never approach. I sourced a bike for a friend recently, £4,000, bulletproof reliability, easy to ride, will be worth £3,500 in 3 years' time so little depreciation and it will do 50 mpg on a run.
0-60 in 3 seconds flat, 100 in 6.5 and a quarter-mile in 10 seconds. 190 mph top speed.
Kawasaki ZZR1400.

Splitting hairs but a 14 will easily do 0-100 mph in the 5 second bracket.

Yes my bad, i meant 5.6, tested by Cycle World magazine, who i used to work for.

[CorvetteConvert]

VFM, thrills per £, call it what you like, but bikes certainly float my boat.
At a bike meet last week a guy had spent just £2,400 on a Yamaha R6 with a little cosmetic damage and high (for the model) 32,000 miles.
He had a small and light machine which revved to 15,000 rpm and it had a spine-chilling scream when he caned it on our ride-out. Fantastic handling bike, too.
That's a lot of smiles per quid, imo.
The mode of transport i never HAVE understood are trikes or bikes/sidecars. I know there are plenty of fans of these, but for me it's the worst of all worlds. You are stuck in traffic AND you get drowned! You surely want one of the two, the warm and dry or the ability to scratch round corners and get through traffic? Off road trikes and quads make perfect sense and i have had several sand machines, car and bike based but a bike and sidecar on the road? Why would you?

[CorvetteConvert]

Car drivers who may be wondering about trying a bike. Spend maybe £4,000 and get yourself something like a tidy Honda CBR600. Dead easy to ride, much better PTW ratio than a Ferrari 458 and plenty of fun.

[CorvetteConvert]

My R500 Superlight is the nearest car to a bike, pretty much.
But a bike still does things no car will ever do and it's the VFM that i really love.

[CorvetteConvert]

Good on you. So many great buys out there. Something like a Ducati 749 for £5000 is astonishing value and keep it nice and it will fetch plenty when you sell it. Just like a good Honda CBR1000RR. Pay about £5000 for one and years later they will fetch £4000.

[CorvetteConvert]

I had a Ducati 999R and the first day i got it, it stalled every time i engaged first gear in front of a load of bikers at Matlock Bath.
5 minutes later i realised the side stand had to be up to select a gear.

[CorvetteConvert]

£16,000 new. What's the sportiest car that amount of money will buy you i wonder, right now?
Fiesta ST might be around that mark?
It buys my bike, a Ducati 1299 Panigale (actually 1285cc, go figure!) and the best quality everything, from the no-frame design, through the top notch suspension, to the classy lightweight wheels and bodywork. You get an absolute gem of an engine, a huge 205 bhp v-twin that nevertheless revs way into 5 figures, plus looks to die for and a soundtrack made in heaven.
Bikes are so cheap compared to cars, bearing in mind the performance and the quality.
This bike will make 60 in under 3 seconds, pass 100 in 5.5 seconds and top 190 mph up top. A better rider than i would post some seriously good times at the Nurburgring or Brands Hatch.
The previous 1199 Panigale is around from £9,000 now and an absolute steal.