Bert’s Blade…
My first encounter with the CBR929RR was a very pleasant ride home before a big ‘litre-class’ sports-bike test Bike magazine were conducting on the likes of the Blade, Yamaha YZF-R1, Honda VTR1000 SP1, and Kawasaki ZX-9R at Castle Combe in 2000. Where the R1 and the SP1 could come in for some criticism for almost being ‘too much’ on the road (even back then), the Blade was more easy going, even if the bike still had that legendary quick-turning feel from the original bike. It was the same on track, too – even if it lacked the outright performance of the R1. For many, it and the 9R were the bikes of choice for the wet ride home. I had a red/white/blue RR-Y for a few thousand miles and loved it. By 2001 I was on Two Wheels Only magazine and was lucky enough to get the RR-1 in yellow. It’s fair to say I loved this bike and went everywhere on it: just me and a Givi Voyager roll bag bungeed on the pillion. More than 11,000 miles in around eight months (700 miles a week commuting) revealed a few things. Firstly, yes, that PGM-FI fuel-injection could be snatchy at low revs and a tad hesitant off the throttle. Also, at motorway cruising speeds there were some notable vibes at 5-6000 revs through pegs and bars which could get your fingers tingling, even leading to numbness. Those Nissin brakes were great – but riding in winter meant you had to strip and clean them every few thousand miles. I didn’t really do anything to the Blade (didn’t need to) apart from a double-bubble screen, Pyramid hugger, crash bungs, a bolt-on and an Arrow slip-on can, which worked fine even without a Power Commander. We even did a fair few track-days (mainly at Donington Park and Cadwell) and John Mcguinness even took it around the Isle of Man, but the most impressive thing was the build quality. The standard of finish when I’d cleaned her was impressive. And you could fit chunky Bert-sized waterproofs under the pillion seat.