Staff Bikes
Upgrades, arrivals, spanking; livin’ the dream.
• KTM 1290 Superduke R • Suzuki GSX-R1000R • Suzuki GSX-S750 • Triumph Street Triple RS • Honda Fireblade SP • BMW S1000R • Honda CB500F • Kawasaki ZX-10RR And more!
I’ve ridden 1,010 miles on the Blade this month and I’ve got the piles to prove it. Okay, so that last bit’s not true, but it feels like the SP1 and I have got truly acquainted this month. Do I like it? I bloody love it! Why? For lots of reasons, but mostly owing to its road-going qualities. Some bikes are just too much for the road. Others are plain disappointing. But the Honda’s proven itself to be an awesome all-rounder on Her Majesty’s highways. We’ve literally been everywhere these past 30 days, with my first major trip being a blast down south to pull some mingers with theWheelie Asylum (read how that went in this issue). The 300-odd-mile day trip saw me take on every kind of road imaginable, fromnadgery backlanes to the delightful M25.
The latter was muchmore of a hoot than I expected, as I latched on to some proper mental riders’ tailcoats and forced my way through the narrowest of gaps conceivable. The Blade’s sleekness proved a huge asset and its surprisingly raucous exhaust note (hearing is believing) had cars parting a path as if Moses himself was lashing out plague threats through a loudhailer. The other eureka moment on that trip was noting and capitalising on the engine braking tech. There are three modes on tap, with the most aggressive option proving a substantial anchor when nobbers in cars decided to squeeze in on me last minute. Those little monkeys!
The other big chunk of Blade time this month was spent up in Scotland with my mate Neil. We booked in with hoteliers and touring supremos Motorcycle Scotland (again, read about it in this issue) and went hell for leather on the derelict and winding tarmac squiggles of Dumfries and Galloway. That’s where the Honda really shone. It proved a right weapon on the relentless twisites we were hitting and, in complete contrast to its tech on track, I was really thankful for its high-tech systems on the road. Having revelled in a seriously glorious day of Scottish sunshine, normal service was resumed on our second day oooop north with downpours of rain having it large. If it hadn’t of been for the torque control function, there’s no doubting I’d be in hospital right now as there were very fewmoments when the system was kicking in and saving my backside.
Still, that’s what you get for fitting track focused sports tyres and pulling the pin on wet B-roads. Having returned from SBOTY with shagged Bridgestone R10s, my Honda was in desperate need of new shoes. Dunlop’s GP Racer D212s took my fancy so I fitted some (myself), and I’ve been genuinely impressed by them. Okay, they’re hardly ideal when the roads are like rivers, but they’re proving to be pretty exceptional in dry conditions with a rapid warm-up time and offering stable, agile handling. I’m gagging to put them to test in their natural habitat, on track, but that’ll have to wait till next month. The other news is that I’ve bolted some protection to my bike, in the shape of GB Racing engine case covers and paddock stand bobbins. In the world of engine casing protection, their products are up there with the very best of them. And they’re also piss-easy to fit. I had to remove the lower fairing on the Blade to get all three engine cover components on, but that proved a doddle to do (simply removing a handful of Allen bolts).
I had the job completed in less than 30 minutes, and I’m pretty chuffed with the finished look. That said, the Honda’s sexy magnesium crankcasings are now hidden from view, which is a bit like marrying a pornstar and then asking her to wear clothes. It’s not ideal, but as we’re so often told these days, safety first and all that.