New to a litre bike. Any suggestions?
Discussion
Hi All,
I put a deposit down for a gsxr1000 yesterday and will be collecting it in a couple of weeks time. This will be my first time on a super sport of any sort and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions/tips on what to watch out for or how to approach riding a bike with this much power and such little weight for the first time.
Worth pointing out that my current bike is a Bandit 1250 and until last year I also owned a Honda Blackbird and have been riding motorbikes for over a decade.
I put a deposit down for a gsxr1000 yesterday and will be collecting it in a couple of weeks time. This will be my first time on a super sport of any sort and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions/tips on what to watch out for or how to approach riding a bike with this much power and such little weight for the first time.
Worth pointing out that my current bike is a Bandit 1250 and until last year I also owned a Honda Blackbird and have been riding motorbikes for over a decade.
Atlas 12v said:
Surely the Blackbird, once fasted bike on the road, is a Supersports?
Yeah its a sports tourer but as you say at one point it was the quickest bike one could get. The thing is that the Blackbird is quite a long and heavy bike coupled with a very smooth and easy power delivery so it is not easy to unsettle unless you are really silly with the throttle.A modern day litre bike is probably 50 or more kilos lighter and much shorter wheelbase therefore one assumes easier to get into trouble.
Just go out and ride it dude - I find 1000s easier alot of the time than smaller bikes due to the torque
Start off with the electronics a little higher and a softer map and I probably wouldnt be pinning it until you feel comfy given the temperature is dropping
I went from an 800 triple claiming 140hp to a 1100 v4 claiming 175hp - for me the hp wasn't such an issue but more the torque and keeness to punch through the revs especially after the decat. That took me maybe a week or so of riding once/twice a week to get used to as it was very grunty
This will be your first bike with ABS, TC etc so again with settings quite high in a straight line and where clear start pushing on the front brake, see where the ABS comes in. Mine is very different from ABS 3 to ABS 1 with 3 being stupid and always coming on and 1 needing a good hard pull on the lever
TC is a little more tricky - I wouldnt risk that one but having it on max setting and doing a normal ride you may see it flicker, as you get more confident and start opening up more you'll see and possibly feel it kick in. When you get the confidence (depending on ability) you can bring it down a bit and find somewhere you are happy
I think thats about Id care about - other than that happy thrashing
Start off with the electronics a little higher and a softer map and I probably wouldnt be pinning it until you feel comfy given the temperature is dropping
I went from an 800 triple claiming 140hp to a 1100 v4 claiming 175hp - for me the hp wasn't such an issue but more the torque and keeness to punch through the revs especially after the decat. That took me maybe a week or so of riding once/twice a week to get used to as it was very grunty
This will be your first bike with ABS, TC etc so again with settings quite high in a straight line and where clear start pushing on the front brake, see where the ABS comes in. Mine is very different from ABS 3 to ABS 1 with 3 being stupid and always coming on and 1 needing a good hard pull on the lever
TC is a little more tricky - I wouldnt risk that one but having it on max setting and doing a normal ride you may see it flicker, as you get more confident and start opening up more you'll see and possibly feel it kick in. When you get the confidence (depending on ability) you can bring it down a bit and find somewhere you are happy
I think thats about Id care about - other than that happy thrashing
. I think I'll set the electronics to a softer setting initially as suggested and adjust based on confidence.
Some advanced road training should be default if you spend most of your time on the roads. What is called "advanced" standard should really be the basic standard every road rider aims to achieve. That will help your confidence if you have had a break.
Edited by bogie on Saturday 11th November 11:50
trickywoo said:
As many track days with tuition as you can afford is the answer.
The new GSXR 1000 is super smooth and stable so its not going to throw you off on the road. The key is your confidence in the bike and using it to the best of your ability which track time will help with.
The new GSXR 1000 is super smooth and stable so its not going to throw you off on the road. The key is your confidence in the bike and using it to the best of your ability which track time will help with.
I took the new GSXR1000R out for a few hours a couple of weeks ago and I have to agree with this, it's very smooth, it actually feels a bit gutless, I was expecting the variable valve timing to give it some top end go but it doesn't really happen. Way less fun than a ZX10R but in reality probably a lot safer and probably quicker on the road and certainly nothing to be afraid of.
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