Staff Bikes.......................................
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Making lots of noise.”
The Blade’s stock exhaust sounds awesome. If you haven’t heard one yet, go find one and indulge in the sweet symphony that does its best to perforate your ear drums. It’s madness, considering bikes of late have been made to sound like sewing machines, that such an exhaust can meet Euro 4 standards and be perfectly legit. But hey, I’m not complaining. I wish every bike sounded this good. I also wish the SP’s end can wasn’t the size of a small child. It’s not necessarily ugly, but it is enormous and it weighs a fair old chunk too. Changing the can has been up there on my agenda ever since I got this bike, and I’ve finally made that desire a reality. It wasn’t the most straight forward of jobs, owing to a lack of knowledge on my part, but within an hour I’d replaced the standard 3.4kg unit for Scorpion’s featherweight (0.96kg) RP1-GP end can. Was it worth it? From a sheer aesthetic point of view, definitely. The bike now looks a hell of a lot sleeker and tidier. And the noise has also been cranked up to the next level, even with the baffle firmly in place. It sounds a lot more raucous at tick-over, which is the kind of sound I like, but it’s not deafening on the go.
I specifically didn’t want something too loud because I like my trackdays too much. 105dB is plenty, but if I ever want to piss off my neighbours, losing the baffle should do the trick. Man, that thing’s loud, especially when you’re at full chat and riding the redline. In terms of performance, there’s no change to the engine’s output, but that’s okay. Likewise, there was no need to go putting the bike on the dyno, as the brainy ECU just altered the fuelling accordingly, and the bike feels absolutely mint.
In other news, I’ve also fitted some R&G Tank Traction Grips. They’re not the prettiest of additions, reminding me of that retro opaque glass finish you see in 1970s bathrooms, but they’ve proven to be a real asset when riding. The Blade’s tank is tiny and, with the downward angle of the seat, it’s hard to not smack your nut sack on the fuel cell when you get jolted forward by road imperfections or during heavy braking. For the sake of my future children I needed to do something about that and these tank grips are proving a godsend. I went out for a blast just after I fitted them and felt so much in control of the bike. I’ve got a couple of trackdays coming up in the next few days, which is where they’ll really earn their crust. On said trackdays, I’m planning to ditch the fuse for the ABS system and see how much better the Blade performs on track. The physical performance of the Honda’s anchors is decent, but the ABS just ruins track riding. I’m also planning to get physical with the manual side of the electronic suspension to see just how good I can get the Blade working.
Right now, the A1 mode is the logical selection to go for on circuits, but it’s not a perfect option for me. The bike can feel a little slow to turn and I’ve found it has a tendency to run wide on corner exits; as if it’s sitting down at the back. I’m sure I can improve that feeling, and also eradicate the occasional tank slappers that have been coming my
way. We’ll soon see.