Rode a literbike today

My friend lent me his 2006 CBR1000RR for a quick five miles.

It was docile as a kitten. The engine was no scarier at a modest pace than the one in a Civic. Ride over bumps was firm, but the chassis wasn't intimidating. The quickshifter made upshifts easy and smooth.

Of course, there's the remaining 9/10 of throttle travel left! When I steadily added power from 4000 RPM in 4th it powered forward like a Southwest Airlines jet. It certainly felt stable and purposeful accelerating out of a couple tight corners.

Then I tried cranking the throttle all the way it would go in second gear doing about thirty. By the time I had the throttle all the way open, it was going a hundred and two miles per hour and the road certainly seemed narrower and shorter than it had two and a half seconds ago. I clicked into third and smoothly took the power off and transitioned into braking. Somehow the brakes seemed less impressive than they had!

I think this ride made up my mind. My next bike will be a middleweight. The ElectroMotiveDivision powerband of a thousand would either make me lazy about my lines through corners and maintaining speed, or I would misjudge the power slightly and briefly be riding the world's fastest dirtbike after entering the cornfield.

It sounds like a hell of a ride.

I got to ride my buddies 2004 (?) CBR1000RR. It was a shorter ride then yours. Never rode it again though i had every opportunity to do so. I think that sums it up.

Luckily, he sold it. I was happy to know my friend would remain alive more and he was happy he had less temptation and limits to test.

Most squids would be better off to lower their sights a bit. The literbikes are well suited to those that have remarkable restraint or mucho experience. It's like sitting on a lit stick of dynamite, exciting as hell until you get your ass handed to you. But gawd,what a rush!!! Even the middleweights can get away from the experienced hand, and get the ticker thumping.

I don't get why everyone thinks a powerful bike automatically kills you. I have always found that an ability to be somewhere else really fast is just as important to safety as seeing everything around you all the time. A lot of available power also keeps your arms/ass/feet from vibrating off from all the furious thrashing it takes a 500cc motor to do the same work.

I think the thousand is safer than a 600, because you don't have to corner and brake anywhere near as hard to make good time, and you don't have to keep the thing constantly on the boil as it will do it itself. The throttle does work, at least on a Honda, so it only goes as fast as you want it to.

Now, a 1000 with a lightswitch throttle and a powerband that isn't as easy would be hazardous.

chaparral wrote: Now, a 1000 with a lightswitch throttle and a powerband that isn't as easy would be hazardous.

A 2 stroke lite bike might be a bit of a handful

Part of me wants to buy the GSXr 1150 motor in my bandit (Yes, a bolt in for 550cc bump), but common sense is holding me back.

I can have fun on any kind of bike. Paying attention to your riding and the people around you is the most important thing, whether on a moped or S1000RR. Heck, a lot of the newer liter bikes have all sorts of electronic safety aids to help ya out. I think you guys aren't giving the middle weights enough respect. They don't have the outright power of a liter bike, but they will get you in trouble nearly as fast if you do something stupid.

If I were to buy a new bike, it'd be hard to pick between a 675r or the new Pearl White CBR1000rr. The Street Triple and Speed Triple also call my name. Then there's the RSV4. Hmmmm

You can get into trouble on any bike.

You can also crash any airplane, but you don't have to fly as far in front of a Piper Cub as you do an F-15.

The new CBR1000RR would look great painted in the metallic blue from the new Insight, with decals in the old script from the '70s CB750. "Honda 1000 Four".

30 years riding on the street legally. A bunch of seasons of roadracing, the last few pretty successful. Within reasonable limits of cost I can afford to ride whatever I want - and what I've kept is a KTM 690 SMC supermoto and the 1979 Yamaha RD400 F Daytona Special I've had forever. The 690 can be ridden at much of it's potential on the street w/o undue risk to my life or license. 65hp, 297 pounds, 120/160 Pirelli Diabolo Corsas. A hard run to 100mph uses 5 gears.

I sold an ex-national championship middleweight superbike GSXR600 which I'd converted to street as it wasn't "fun" anywhere except on a race track. I've ridden R1s and GSXR1000s and I cannot imagine for a second riding one on the street. The closing velocity between you and anything else at the end of 2nd gear is between 50-100mph. Yes, the furious rush of acceleration is addictive - but I've done thousands and thousands of race pace laps and keep my eyes all the way up and know how much brake and tire and grip are available and things happen SO FAST on a 1000 it scares me a little.

My race car has a tired 2002 GSXR1000 motor and it took a full season to get where it wasn't daunting. It weighs 1230 pounds w/ driver and post race fuel load, or double that of a liter bike w/ rider. I'd describe the acceleration as "violent". The braking and cornering can be disorienting. On a bike it's worse.

All of this said, I've been offered a spotless VFR800 in trade for some machinery and I'm kind of excited about it.

I ride a VFR800. It's a great, exceptionally reliable bike. I bought it when I didn't know what sort of bike I wanted, and it taught me that what I want is something that's very quick around town and on back roads, and that I didn't want to go to San Antonio or Dallas on any bike regularly.

With my creaky joints, I kinda wish I'd gone with a speed triplestandard instead of the 955 daytona (45cc short of a liter bike). Like Motomoron says, there's no place to use them short of the track - it can break most speed limits in 1st gear - the rest in 2nd and 4 more gears to go. Just when I think about selling it off, I take a ride, the acceleration and triumph noise is gearhead crack.

I wanted a 955 something fierce for a long time.

My initial post was over-wordy and missed my true intent.

• Very good riders with track experience can ride one on the street and probably not get in trouble.

• New riders gonna die.

• It's more fun - much more fun - to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow.

I like bike-powered-cars. 1230lbs and 175hp sounds pretty good.

175hp and 500lbs sounds dangerous.

The only time I rode a 1000cc bike was when I was 17 and weighed about 135 pounds. It was very easy to ride, except I pretty much had to climb over the bike and hang off the side just to get it to lean. Rode a VTR 996 years later and many pounds later and it was a lot more fun. Still more power then I would ever safely and legally use. If SWMBO ever let me own my own, I would probably shoot for a 600cc. Like mentioned, that kind of power seems useless/dangerous on the street.

It's a little pedantic, but the top of 1st (!!) gear on an R1 or similar is over 100mph...

Whether it's in a car or on a bike, when I want a quick shot in the arm of acceleration, I like to roll on the throttle from about 5 mph (or as soon as the front wheel(s) are straight) to the top of first gear. In the focus, 1st gear tops out at about 40 mph. On the SV650, I think that number is closer to 45 mph. It's a bit depressing knowing that I couldn't even experience the joy of topping out first gear on a literbike without running the risk of a guns-drawn traffic stop.

What I liked most about the bike was the super-nimble chassis, the stable feel around turns, and the nice linear brakes. It felt flingable in a way that my VFR800 isn't.

The engine in one of those bikes is a church organ. Capable of subtle, light movements and smooth steady crescendos to window-bursting volumes, and with inexpert movement can throw you right out of the building.

I think it all depends on how you like to run.

I always felt that if I was being chased, I'd want the ability to quickly navigate city streets and country roads, but fling it off road down a farmers field.

Modern sport bikes are well...a bit too race oriented. They are at home on sweeping corners, long straights, and smooth surfaces.

I can totally understand why MotoMoron ended up with a supermoto.

My bike is over a liter (1100cc) and is pretty manageable.

PHeller wrote: I think it all depends on how you like to run. I always felt that if I was being chased, I'd want the ability to quickly navigate city streets and country roads, but fling it off road down a farmers field. Modern sport bikes are well...a bit too race oriented. They are at home on sweeping corners, long straights, and smooth surfaces. I can totally understand why MotoMoron ended up with a supermoto.

That is why you need this (R1).

I always loved the Hayabusa that had studded tires for snow and ice.

I once loved traditional race bike Ducatis...until I saw this.