Blackbird Ride

[Fozzie]

Went for a spin on the blackbird, I have a Drift HD camera and I usually only use it to defend against bad drivers.

Never really recorded many leisure rides! So I gave it a shot.

I don't go nuts or super speed, bike isnt mine so I kept it at a steady pace through out.

I comment very little during the video, but I think all I comment on is you may see a few corners I brake as I enter the bend, the pegs too easily hit the floor and its not my bike so I'm not hanging off like a gibbon! Other than that I think I only mention a car I was worried about being stuck behind (dont let the wide angle lens fool you there is NO place to overtake). And I thought a bunch of cows were going to hold me up for ages!

Other than that, its just a ride through some country roads I learnt to ride on that I've gone back to after years away!

Thought I'd share so here you are

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[geoff90]

too fast

[Tango]

Nice one Fozzie.......in the market for a Blackbird now then mate?......

[techno]

too fast

????

So what did you think of it fozzie?

[Stu]

too fast

????

 

[Fozzie]

Too fast as in me or the bike was too fast? As I said I was at a steady pace! Remember it was filmed, and how it looks is very different to how it was.

I have use of it for the week, ending Saturday while I'm away off work for studies so I get out for an hour or two per day as a break.

Its an odd one, but its a bike I both love and hate in equal measure!

I love it as it is smooth, well balanced, feels light, pulls like a train in all situations and feels planted. I don't like it as it doesn't have an exciting rev range, it hit the pegs as it did in the video with about 2/3rds of the lean I'm used to going to and it can feel lumbersome in a quick set of bends. So it feels light, to a point!

So far I've ridden a Kawasaki Z1000SX, a Triumph Speed Triple, a Yamaha FZ1 and so far the last two in that line up were in my opinion better than the Blackbird.

Im in the market for a 1000cc machine, if I cant find one by a deadline of my 23rd birthday next month I am just trading in for a new CBR600 to play the safe bet!

[Boothy]

too fast

 

Clearly trolling

[mealexme]

too fast

looks like he was doing 75/80 max on the straighter bits of road and a lot slower through the corners. Thats not even fast enough to get banned, for a 1000cc that IS slow haha

[Fozzie]

Apparently (heard this a lot) the wide angle lens of the Drift makes it undesirable for track day recording as the bike doesnt look to be going as fast or lean as much as it actually is. However this works out very well for the vlogger not wishing to be busted being naughty.

Its a narrow, bumpy road covered at times in gravel or farm debris. You can't really go much faster so it made it ideal for videoing! I still managed to grind the left peg when I misjudged a bend and just cracked it over to get round it.

In a video I did the other day I mention you really need a supermoto to get the most out of those roads! Then couldnt put it up as on some big proper roads the Bird did another thing I keep finding it does, when it feels like I'm doing 70mph the bike is probably closer to 130. It's just mad how slow it feels but fast its actually going

Thats the problem with 1000cc+ machines including this 1100. They feel slower than what they are actually doing. And its not really a perception I like so I may stick to 600cc machines or maybe a 1000cc nude bike for the time being.

[Stu]

Fozzie you dont have to explain yourself you ride how you want to ride not what people expect you to riding a thou like

[Chrissb6]

Apparently (heard this a lot) the wide angle lens of the Drift makes it undesirable for track day recording as the bike doesnt look to be going as fast or lean as much as it actually is. However this works out very well for the vlogger not wishing to be busted being naughty.

Its a narrow, bumpy road covered at times in gravel or farm debris. You can't really go much faster so it made it ideal for videoing! I still managed to grind the left peg when I misjudged a bend and just cracked it over to get round it.

In a video I did the other day I mention you really need a supermoto to get the most out of those roads! Then couldnt put it up as on some big proper roads the Bird did another thing I keep finding it does, when it feels like I'm doing 70mph the bike is probably closer to 130. It's just mad how slow it feels but fast its actually going

Thats the problem with 1000cc+ machines including this 1100. They feel slower than what they are actually doing. And its not really a perception I like so I may stick to 600cc machines or maybe a 1000cc nude bike for the time being.

Fact big bikes are a nightmare for sucking you into silly speeds. You need one eye on the road and another in the clocks just to keep your licence lol

[Guest]

Sold my '05 Blackbird 3 weeks back after owning it 4 n half years.

90% of the time it was ridden with a pillion but I never got the pegs down despite having next to no rear chicken strip, not sure what tyre pressure you're running but 42psi is what the 'bird runs at best.

I found when on long motorway trips when your mind 'wanders' that the 'bird would default to cruising at 93mph! Relax yes... but keep an eye out for cops

It's all you say it is... smooth,planted,pulls like a train and it feels light. except it isn't light tho and this is what wore me down, that and the need for very little input from the rider to ride it fast.

I can see why people like/love them and indeed buy more than one of them but to me it was just a super refined machine that took you from A to B as fast as you liked without taxing the riders brain or ability too much. Fine if you want that but not if you want some excitement in your ride.

Riding the Norton 961 has made me appreciate 'motorcycling' on a whole new level over the last year. I took it out on a Monday evening, did 100 odd miles on A/B roads and came home buzzing from head to toe, by mid morning the next day I was still buzzing from the ride!

Me n the g/f went out Wednesday evening on the 'bird and did a similar 100 miler with chips on the seafront. Next day I figured the chips were the highlight of the ride

Exit Blackbird, enter 2yr old Ducati Multistrada......... now there's a bike that makes the Blackbird seem like a dinosaur

[geoff90]

Sorry for quick short reply!

I meant as in the bike... looks like a fast bike.

Nice vid.

[Fozzie]

I wish I recorded day two on this thing... But was advised against it for obvious reasons!

A friend of my Dads saw the video and asked me to come out. Had the best days riding ever.

Went through the Yorkshire Dales for the first time and was blown away by them. Also after the first stint I was feeling confident and able to control the bird. Next stint was the quickest I've ever dared cornered.

I never "try" to get rid of my tyre edges. My 600F is down to the directional markers and I find it just happens. As any sod can get rid of them at 30mph round a tight enough bend. And likewise I won't ride like a stabbed rat when filming!

I did fall in love with the bike to an extent... I was up against a Kawasaki ZZR1100. At points we were like a pair of ferrets shooting down a set of pipes.

I focused, accepted I was the week link in the equation and pushed it. And I reckon this one day out left me 10% better as a rider. I can enter bends with more speed just from being shown how to go quick while still letting the bends flow.

So even after 7 years of non-stop biking. I'm still picking up things!

But I came down south only to find I disliked my Honda. I test rode the new CBR600F and with the RR engine nestled in there it was such a nicer bike than my 600. So as I fancy a change and can't yet justify a 1000cc, might move onto the new one and have some fun with super motos as a second bike for a couple of years

Feeling confident with my biking future now... I went quick without being a prat, it was all smooth, controlled... There is no toe slider left (tyre at the back is 42psi) and likewise the guy I was following was just shifting it through bends, each one kicking up sparks from his pegs.

Best bit, he said he reckoned he'd get 50mpg out of his bike. The quickest riders he goes with get his bike down to 41, and I managed to get him down to 42mpg. On a bike that isn't mine and only ridden half a dozen times I was chuffed.

I always thought after my accident and a string of silly things I'd never be the rider I wanted to be... Safely can say today I'm actually heading in the right direction. Feeling 110%!

[mealexme]

Just dont become one of those riders with a 1000cc... The majority of my mates have thous now, which is annoying because they think anything under 110mph on roads with a 60 limit is slow... Its a pain in the ass and its made me stop riding with them. Its fine every now and again, but not EVERY ride..

Personally I still dont see the point of owning a thou for road use. Glad to hear you had a lot of fun though!

[Stu]

too fast

looks like he was doing 75/80 max on the straighter bits of road and a lot slower through the corners. Thats not even fast enough to get banned, for a 1000cc that IS slow haha

 

so your laughing that its slow then you complain about others riding too fast!!

 

Just dont become one of those riders with a 1000cc... The majority of my mates have thous now, which is annoying because they think anything under 110mph on roads with a 60 limit is slow... Its a pain in the ass and its made me stop riding with them. Its fine every now and again, but not EVERY ride..

Personally I still dont see the point of owning a thou for road use. Glad to hear you had a lot of fun though!

 

oh by the way anyone can do 110 in a straight line! where you loose out is getting to the speeds as quick as them it takes you twice as long

[mealexme]

too fast

looks like he was doing 75/80 max on the straighter bits of road and a lot slower through the corners. Thats not even fast enough to get banned, for a 1000cc that IS slow haha

 

so your laughing that its slow then you complain about others riding too fast!!

No, the laughing wasnt laughing because it was slow, it was laughing at my own comment to show that wasn't a serious one. And I was trying to defend him from a comment about it being too fast, I wasn't bringing up the speed he was riding just to be a dick, which is what it looks like out of context

 

Just dont become one of those riders with a 1000cc... The majority of my mates have thous now, which is annoying because they think anything under 110mph on roads with a 60 limit is slow... Its a pain in the ass and its made me stop riding with them. Its fine every now and again, but not EVERY ride..

Personally I still dont see the point of owning a thou for road use. Glad to hear you had a lot of fun though!

 

oh by the way anyone can do 110 in a straight line! where you loose out is getting to the speeds as quick as them it takes you twice as long we dont usually ride down roads that have long straights, but I see your point, the acceleration is great, but surely the added weight means that cornering is bad? I have a mate that went from an SV to a blackbird and is thinking about getting another SV purely because of the handling

[Stu]

we dont usually ride down roads that have long straights, but I see your point, the acceleration is great, but surely the added weight means that cornering is bad? I have a mate that went from an SV to a blackbird and is thinking about getting another SV purely because of the handling

 

you cant compare a SV to a blackbird for handling

and added weight? yeah my 1997 model so old weighs 191kg an sv650 weighs 169kg

I really cant see the weight been an issue there

[Fozzie]

I've had a 2004 SV650

In terms of handling, The blackbird is planted, firm and has a slower but given its size quick turn in.

The SV is softer, it is more spongey but it's very easy to ride even at quick speeds.

I've owned a 2008 CBR600RR that could not in a million years go down the roads as quick as the Bird did in the video, the bird absorbs bumps and glides over them, the RR would do them but you'd be knackered so quickly you'd slow down out of choice. Which is why I don't understand some people who buy them, as they are great for the Sunday blast on smooth roads, but crap at everything else! But I would still say have one so you can have the T-shirt

All in all told, in my videos I wont care too much about what people think of the speed. I know in the biking world, I'm no Valentino Rossi, but I'm able to keep pace and have fun with riders on 1000cc. They all do mad speeds, just mine takes longer to get there

And Stu a TL1000 came up on sale near me for £1900, mint condition, all the needed mods done. Tried to tear his arm off but got beaten to it

[Chrissb6]

Horses for courses. The blackbird is a mile eater as fast as you dare in comfort. Its for sure not a back lane scratcher.

[techno]

we dont usually ride down roads that have long straights, but I see your point, the acceleration is great, but surely the added weight means that cornering is bad? I have a mate that went from an SV to a blackbird and is thinking about getting another SV purely because of the handling

 

you cant compare a SV to a blackbird for handling

and added weight? yeah my 1997 model so old weighs 191kg an sv650 weighs 169kg

I really cant see the weight been an issue there

I have said this many times before the same rider will be faster on a thou than a 600 on all but the tightest of twisty stuff but deffo on the road, I've been faster than slightly better riders because you get to use the higher torque out of every corner. Last time I went out with a friend on a 6 he was pissed off me and my r1riding mate didn't need to change down for overtakes he was always dancing on the gears which leads into the other good thing about a bigger bike its less tiring.

Oh and if you think you lose out on cornering on a big heavy bike follow someone like Keith 2 up full luggage on an fjr, half a tonne versus your sv

[Fozzie]

I was following an old ZZR1100 which was his second hand hack!

You dont need to tell me weight makes a difference!