2008 R6 Press Bike

This Sunday I had the chance to break in the 2008 R6 press bike at work. Boy my jobs tough. I’ll save you from another detailed R6 ride report because every motorcycle website and magazine will critique/review this bike. Hopefully I can give you a little something to ponder comparing my thoughs on motorcycle classes for a sport bike for everyday use.

I’ve spent a lot of time on cruisers and dirt bikes in my life but the last Supersport I rode would have been a new Ninja 636 in 2003 I believe. Well after about a 500KM day on the R6 I'm thinking I might look good on a black R6. For those of you that know the area me and Matt did a loop up and around the 404 to hwy 48, then across the Kirfield locks to the Hwy 45/503 and back home along the 507 and hwy 7A till I cut down to the 401 to head home. It's a great route to try a bike on as you get some nice winding roads, with a few freeway stints giving you a good feel for a bike with lots of oportunities for gas stops and food. We where greeted with the perfect day for the first ride of the season after the weatherman threatened us with a forecast of Showers. The sun shined all day with those perfect temperatures where you are comfortable in leathers, no complaints of being hot or cold all day. As result we had a chance to make the most of our tying together the countless turns on Hwy 507/503/45 at reasonably fast pace to ensure we’d at least keep our license if we ran into an encounter with Mr. Police Officer during most of our trip.

Personally I’m a big fan of two classes of motorcycles the 600cc Supersports and the 1000cc Standards. The 1000 cc Standards, à la FZ1 provide all the performance you need short of a track day machine, a useable powerband, combined with all day comfort and touring capabilities. On the other hand the 600’s provide cutting edge technology, razor sharp handling, with rider inputs being translated immediately and effortlessly to road, and ultimately a top end rush to keep you giggling to yourself under your helmet all day. If you are on a twisting road or a track I don’t think there are many bikes out there that provide the entertainment value of the current crop of 600 Supersport. As a result when contemplating my motorcycle purchase I keep going back and forth between the above mentioned motorcycles.

A little on my riding style and you'll understand my dilema, I’m looking for a bike that will be comfortable enough for at least a half dozen to dozen 800KM days (a few of which will probably be 2 or 3 back to back days), a few track days, and the rest would be commuting and 300 to 500KM evening/weekend rides. When the R6 is doing what it does best, there aren't many bikes I'd rather be on (the only other two bike I would consider is the Ducati 848 or the GSR 750) . But you pay a penalty with the riding position for day to day riding. Can I deal with those few short commings? I think so! The low bars and hunched forward position aren’t as bad as lot of people say. If you are under 6ft, with some good core strenght, I don't think back pain is much of an issue. Plus if you are going over 110KM/h the wind blast takes a lot of weight off your wrist and I don’t plan on spending much time cruising around under 100 unless it's a really twisty road. The other usual complaint is the lack of bottom end torque, which didn't bother me either. The top end rush is a blast when you can use it. When you need to pass drop 2 or 3 gears till you are over 8,000 RPM and let her rip. I even found having a little less bottom end an advantage keeping my speeds down, since cruising around outside the powerband at 4000-6000RPM doesn’t have all that power teasing you to go faster. My only concern is I don’t have the greatest knees and just shy of 100KM’s my knee starts to cramp up like clock work.

The FZ1 on the other hand is still a blast on a twisty road, could still be taken to a track day even though it wouldn’t be as fun as an R6, but the trade off is you get a bike that’s much easier to live with everywhere else. Personally I find the riding position too relaxed and upright, taking away some of the responsiveness/feel and I even find this position puts a little more pressure on my butt/back. So the solution is probably a little modification to one or the other in the form of either an FZ1 with a set of clip-ons, (I have heard that the Harris Performance high clips or Heli-Bars for a CBR600RR mount quite well), some rear sets, a gel seat, and a Yoshimura Slip on (I just couldn’t live with the look of that big can). The R6 on the other hand would see a seat swap as well and an attempt to find some adjustable pegs that would give me the extra room for day to day, as well as some extra clearance for track days and posibly an Akrapovic exhaust and power commander to liven up the bottem end a little. After a few months if the weight on the wrist thing became an issue for commuting or long trips a set of Heli Bars could always added, but I don’t thing it would be necessary. Only time will tell what I'll eventually buy. Tonight I’m leaning towards the R6, it’s just too much fun to pass up on, yesterday the FZ1 made more sense. Either way I know which I choose as a next bike would provide countless hours of fun.