Honda's CBR1000RR Fireblade is sweet!!!

[stevnmd]

Where are you, and what tracks do you run?

Oh, and it makes sense for Honda to sell the 600RR and 1000RR's roots in the RC211V. The RC's only THE bike right now, having won the world championship so many times...

IMHO, no other bike manufactures does fit and finish like Honda. Their build quality is #1. Second would be Yamaha. Third would be Suzuki. Fourth is Kawi. So, again, even though my track bike's a '99 GSX-R600, I'm a Honda man.

So, I'll offer help where I may and assume www.sotsyndicate.com super off topic that BigSky and everyone else interested doesn't want to hear my "it's more the rider than the ride" speech.

Honda, Yamaha, and Kawi are all introducing new liter bikes this year. Honda's 1000RR, Yamaha's new R1, and Kawi's ZX10R.

From the reviews and feedback I've seen thus far, the 10R is going to be the lightest AND the most powerful.

The R1 is the next most powerful.

The 1000RR is the third most powerful.

Suzuki's GSX-R1000 (last year's top dog in power) is now low man on the totem pole.

As far as handing, the 1000RR and R1 are getting best remarks. Some give the edge to the R1, some to the 1000RR. It's rider preference. The 10R is compared to a 600 in feel. It is THAT small. I've sat on one. It's one notch above a pocket bike. Feels tiny. Super light. Some are saying it feels TOO tiny and light and is easily upset powering out of a corner. Kawi was even insistant to have Dunlop make HAND GROOVED, special compound tires for Motorcyclist Consumer Review's recent track test. That tells me that out of box handling is not going to be par with the competition. Add to that the fact that the 10R has been delayed 60 days due to continued transmission problems, and I wouldn't buy one this year...

The 1000RR is a dream to ride, from everything I've read. Electronicly controlled steering damper, great ergos, great power, great balance, etc. It's the heaviest of them, but weight is sometimes a GOOD thing for feel.

The R1 is supposedly an incredible machine to ride right now, too. It was pulling the fastest lap times down at Daytona of all four. It's definitely the one to watch this year at the races...

The Gixxer 1000... Well, it's a beast, that's for sure, but it's more than likely low man on the totem pole in handling, too. It won a ton last year, but no wonder, it had a SIGNIFICANT power advantage and could simply power out of the corners quicker.

Again, I'd buy a 1000RR. Honestly MAYBE 0.2% of riders would be able to ride one any faster than the other. The bottom line is it's the rider, not the ride, and these machines are ALL so sickenly fast and capable you have to be an expert level club racer to really benefit from one vs. another. I'm not at that level. I love Honda's engineering, build quality, and fit and finish, so the 1000RR would be in my garage if I was in the market.

As far as getting a bike to "hold you over" until a new 1000RR... What are you looking to do? What type of riding do you want to do? I'd need a LOT more information before I could even make a suggestion.

[tikigod]

Originally Posted by stevnmd

Where are you, and what tracks do you run?

Oh, and it makes sense for Honda to sell the 600RR and 1000RR's roots in the RC211V. The RC's only THE bike right now, having won the world championship so many times...

IMHO, no other bike manufactures does fit and finish like Honda. Their build quality is #1. Second would be Yamaha. Third would be Suzuki. Fourth is Kawi. So, again, even though my track bike's a '99 GSX-R600, I'm a Honda man.

So, I'll offer help where I may and assume that BigSky and everyone else interested doesn't want to hear my "it's more the rider than the ride" speech.

Honda, Yamaha, and Kawi are all introducing new liter bikes this year. Honda's 1000RR, Yamaha's new R1, and Kawi's ZX10R.

From the reviews and feedback I've seen thus far, the 10R is going to be the lightest AND the most powerful.

The R1 is the next most powerful.

The 1000RR is the third most powerful.

Suzuki's GSX-R1000 (last year's top dog in power) is now low man on the totem pole.

As far as handing, the 1000RR and R1 are getting best remarks. Some give the edge to the R1, some to the 1000RR. It's rider preference. The 10R is compared to a 600 in feel. It is THAT small. I've sat on one. It's one notch above a pocket bike. Feels tiny. Super light. Some are saying it feels TOO tiny and light and is easily upset powering out of a corner. Kawi was even insistant to have Dunlop make HAND GROOVED, special compound tires for Motorcyclist Consumer Review's recent track test. That tells me that out of box handling is not going to be par with the competition. Add to that the fact that the 10R has been delayed 60 days due to continued transmission problems, and I wouldn't buy one this year...

The 1000RR is a dream to ride, from everything I've read. Electronicly controlled steering damper, great ergos, great power, great balance, etc. It's the heaviest of them, but weight is sometimes a GOOD thing for feel.

The R1 is supposedly an incredible machine to ride right now, too. It was pulling the fastest lap times down at Daytona of all four. It's definitely the one to watch this year at the races...

The Gixxer 1000... Well, it's a beast, that's for sure, but it's more than likely low man on the totem pole in handling, too. It won a ton last year, but no wonder, it had a SIGNIFICANT power advantage and could simply power out of the corners quicker.

Again, I'd buy a 1000RR. Honestly MAYBE 0.2% of riders would be able to ride one any faster than the other. The bottom line is it's the rider, not the ride, and these machines are ALL so sickenly fast and capable you have to be an expert level club racer to really benefit from one vs. another. I'm not at that level. I love Honda's engineering, build quality, and fit and finish, so the 1000RR would be in my garage if I was in the market.

As far as getting a bike to "hold you over" until a new 1000RR... What are you looking to do? What type of riding do you want to do? I'd need a LOT more information before I could even make a suggestion.

04 Cbr 600rr. Lime rock park, ct has a track day open to bikes they have certifed. Closest track. Btw im nowhere near the level that the 1000rr can dish out.
Pic of track below.

[stevnmd]

Cool... Well, if you're ever heading to BeaveRun, Summit Point, or VIR, let me know... It'd be cool to have two Titans in the pits together.

[Titanic Tiff]

I wonder if BigSkyLLC got anything out of this thread. We motorcyclists can be very opinionated when it comes to bikes. Sounds like Stevnmd and Tikigod are both very knowledgeable and passionate about their bikes. Personally, I don't give advice about what bike a person should buy because sotsyndicate most of the time they already have their mind pretty much made up and they just want to feel better about the purchase if you recommend the same bike. Just my .02

I think it's funny that we can have such differences of opinion on bikes, but we all bought the same truck!

[JasonsTiller]

1000rr = boo. the only thing i like is the electronic steering dampener. the 04 r1 however all i got to say is dayum! this thing will rock ama this year!!!

[pluckyew]

re: '04 r1 vs. '04 cbr1000rr vs. '04 gsxr1000 vs. the kawi what-ever 1000
at this level of performance for among 99.9999% of riders it's the rider's skill (or craziness) that will matter: they're all good