163bhp and a decent superbike weight, along with handling like a Honda could make it a prime candidate for Mrs Weeksys next track-bike. Prices are strong, but most are at the moment, so no massive shock there. Weirdly, the engine part of the review says 163bhp, then below that in the specs it says 178bhp.... strange.
I guess the only downside is a lack of Traction Control, which would arguably be nice on her next big bike.
iirc it's the 2008-2009 ones that have the crap crank gears and drink oil. That's a facelift one with a slightly more pointy fairing.
The blade was always the tamest of that era's superbikes, usually the reviews put them down because they didn't have the electronics packages others in that class had.
KungFooBob wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 8:50 am
because they didn't have the electronics packages others in that class had.
That's the only minor concern really. Would we be missing out by not having the extra electronics. I guess we'll get more of an indication when we see how much she loves the QS on the ZX6R.
One thing i'm going to try is to persuade one of the Wiltshire crew to throw the keys to their 899 at Pembrey to her.
Things may well have changed with electronics and all but I often found with a 600 I felt reasonably comfortable pinning the throttle out of a corner, on a big bike I feel like it's very close to sending me to the moon. Which then impacts on my confidence.
I'm sure there is more grip than I imagine and someone like Yorick would be able to exploit it, but for me I find the bigger bikes more intimidating which then makes me slower.
Having had on 2 separate occasions someone highside themselves to the moon out of Clark Curve at Brands in front/alongside me didn't help. The bloke on the Blade did a proper job, out of the corner of my eye the bike went end over end at least 3 times and was well over head Hight.
Supermofo wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 10:59 am
but for me I find the bigger bikes more intimidating which then makes me slower.
That was why i'm wary about swapping hers to a big boys/girls bike. The last time we went big was the 2005 R1 in Lava Red, which she didn't gell with because of the excess power. She felt she could ride the ZX6Rs harder and better, so that's why we went back to the ZX6s. But she does have this desire to try harder, go faster and go better... So maybe it's time to step up... the Blade may suit that as they're generally thought of as the easy bikes to ride out of the big boys.
It was the earlier ones with dodgy cranks but I think OCD one was a 2012 so a bit of a surprise. TBH I like these a lot as a good fast useable sportsbike. They are real easy to ride and typical Honda, deffo get one for her
I had an 08, so buying an oil burner was a concern. Never gave the crank a thought tbh. I bought it at 24k miles and sold it at 33k I think. Not a single issue, but the oil did need topping up every 1k miles or so, about 250ml/1000 miles I think - I didn’t think that was excessive.
It was a lovely bike to ride, really powerful but not intimidating and just went where you wanted it to. I changed the shock for one from a 2012 model and had the forks serviced and it was lovely. I bought a 690 to replace it...
