Hey all,

Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be buying a mint, 3700 mile but 9 year old Candy Blue BB.

This will be my second BB. In 2001, I was finally able to afford a 1997 Blackbird. The Blackbird had been the bike of my dreams since it was first announced. Unlike some, I thought it looked absolutely beautiful right from the start. I loved the power figures too.

I owned BB number one (black) for three years. We had some great times... I put over 32k miles on it during that time. It took the wife and I all the way to Germany with full luggage in a day... whereby I dropped the wife and the luggage off and did three laps of the nurburgring :-)

I sold it when my wife fell pregnant with our first son. I decided that I should give up biking then - too risky etc.

Three years later, I couldn't take it any more. I needed another bike. In a concession to safety, (ABS) I test ride and then buy a Suzuki Bandit 1250SA. It's been a great bike... but it's no BB. It's buzzy. The handling is not as sweet. It has the torque but runs out of puff too soon. And most of all... even with only 7k miles on it, its starting to look tatty.

So today, I pop into a locak Kwak dealer, to take a look at the ZZR 1400. Figured it's just like a BB but with ABS, really. There's the blue Blackbird in there... and the thought of under £4k for a bike I know I'll love versus nearly £10k for something very similar... well, it seems like a no brainer.

Especially when I have a conversation this afternoon about ABS. I was talking about how hard I can brake on the Bandit, because of the confidence of ABS. I'm asked how it feels when ABS kicks in. Truth is, I don't know.

You see, it's just a confidence thing. I lost the front end of an old ZZR 600 under heavy braking in the wet before I got my first BB. Ever since, I have been wary of using too much brake. With the Bandit, I rediscovered how hard I could brake, knowing the ABS would help out if needed. It never has been. So, I don't really need ABS. I know also that the CBS is almost as good at stopping masses of front end weight transfer under braking.

So, tomorrow, hopefully, we'll be swapping the Bandit in for the BB. I'm planning to use the bike much more for commuting this year (change of circumstances at work), so I need the Honda reliability and build quality. Plus the better weather protection...

I found these forums looking for Sat Nav mounts - thanks guys, sorting out a mount now for my TomTom rider 2. Look forward to reading lots more and rediscovering my love for the Blackbird. Also looking forward to seeing what the FI feels like, my old Bird was carb'd.

from Oz,there is definitly nothing who can compare the blackbird.I went today for a ride in one of our numerous national park full of twisties it's awesome how the bird responds over 90 mph and the bike still conering i don't want any other bike

Best Year & color

Welcome, your here b/c this is the premier "we love Birds" site. Don't forget www.superblackbird.co.uk

to the add

did i say this?

Originally Posted by heisti

to the add

did i say this?

Yes

Hello....congrats

lois

G'day ............................ And let us know if you got it

Welcome from the windy city.

Hello, and welcome.

Thanks for the warm welcome all!

So the deal is done, and I'm now looking forward to picking it up next Saturday morning.

Thanks Nutter67 for the mount info - very useful!

A friend bought an R1 this week, and I took it out for a try over the weekend. It's certainly a fast bike... but boy, no way could I live with it. It's buzzy, it's cramped, it's so sensitive - the slightest bump that transfers into a minute twist on the throttle gets it twitching... and generally, it's just a lot more like hard work. I rode it for half an hour and had a headache just from concentrating so hard. It also never felt planted in a corner in the way a BB does, unless it was fully cranked over.

There was a very positive side to this though - made me want the Blackbird even more!

and congrats on "the acquisition"! (I still have my ol' 600 Z!)

Picked it up today. Spent a little while fitting the Sat Nav cradle and power lead, then took it out for 90-odd miles of fun with R1-mate. It's absolutely everyting I hoped for. As soon as I sat on it, it felt right.

Top gear rollons from 50 to something slightly over the speed limit ;-), the R1 and BB were almost exactly together. When we hit some big sweeping curves, I left him behind a bit - he later complained that the front was going light, leading to some understeer ;-) same thing exiting a roundabout with an uphill slip road onto a dual carriageway - left him well behind because when he gassed it hard uphill, the front just lifted and lost grip.

Off on a more sedate but longer (300-mile) trip with the wife on the back tomorrow - we have decent weather in the UK for a change!

Oh, and pics added to profile if anyone wants to see.

Funny thing is... it could be the FI of course, but this Blue one does seem quicker than my old Black one... hmmm...

and congrats for the purchase...i was watching the album on your profile and i noticed that your Xx has black rims.....it looks great and since i have the same blue color you gave me some good ideas......

Originally Posted by addman

Picked it up today. Spent a little while fitting the Sat Nav cradle and power lead, then took it out for 90-odd miles of fun with R1-mate. It's absolutely everyting I hoped for. As soon as I sat on it, it felt right.

Top gear rollons from 50 to something slightly over the speed limit ;-), the R1 and BB were almost exactly together. When we hit some big sweeping curves, I left him behind a bit - he later complained that the front was going light, leading to some understeer ;-) same thing exiting a roundabout with an uphill slip road onto a dual carriageway - left him well behind because when he gassed it hard uphill, the front just lifted and lost grip.

Off on a more sedate but longer (300-mile) trip with the wife on the back tomorrow - we have decent weather in the UK for a change!

Oh, and pics added to profile if anyone wants to see.

Funny thing is... it could be the FI of course, but this Blue one does seem quicker than my old Black one... hmmm...

It is