Anyone had a Fireblade ('99) ?

[soho]

Thanx all,
It's a straight bike from a mate who's had it from new ( known him 20 years and I never knew he owned one til now !).
Price is mentally good but It'll have to pass the ULEZ Nox test if I'm to use it. I'll check it over next weekend.
Looks like all I'll be needing is a 17 in the front...............I wish it was black though. ................Now the effin' Buell is playing up !
Nothing ever goes to plan does it.

Happy Daze.

[garyboy]

313 (2) by gary boy, on Flickr


I was really sorry to see my 2004 blade go .. but is had a water leak which I was not prepared to live with .. sold it for peanuts.
It was an incredible machine, though I never really gelled with it, handling wise, but was surprisingly easy to live with at lower speeds.

it would start on bump with a completely dead battery
and pull really well from low revs .. I really miss that bike.

it is still being used btw.

The older blades all look really good still.
I have been fancying an earlier blade, myself .. they are more robust .. the 954 is very fragile as it is pared to the minimum weight, including engine casings, anf often failed, hence the rarity of the 954.
It was the last blade designed by baba wotsit, and the one he liked best.

[daveuprite]

I love the 954, Gary. We raced a 929 for 2 seasons in the KRC Endurance championship and it never let us down mechanically. That's twelve races of either 6 or 8 hours at full chat the whole time.



When we got our confirmed team racing number at the start of our first season with the blade, we christened it 'Herbie'. It's life ended sadly at Pembrey with a spectacular end over end crash into the barriers at Dover bend.

[garyboy]

I always had the impression that the 929 was the toughest of the fire blades and that they got more fragile tbut more interesting towards the zenith of the baba era .. the 954
.. but then after the upgrade to 1000cc plus, they got much stronger and more stable but possibly less interesting???

[chunky butt]

Jeez is that you baby face Dave

[daveuprite]

Jeez is that you baby face Dave

Aye, that's me Stevey. What's amazing is that nearly 20 years later I look even better now...

[chunky butt]

you and me both buddy

[daveuprite]

I always had the impression that the 929 was the toughest of the fire blades and that they got more fragile tbut more interesting towards the zenith of the baba era .. the 954
.. but then after the upgrade to 1000cc plus, they got much stronger and more stable but possibly less interesting???

Well I don't think there is a 'bad' blade. They are just good bikes. The 2008 update was awesome - still highly competitive at club level against the newest stuff.

If I had to pick a favourite classic it would be a black 95 model, I think:



The urban tiger is lovely of course, but you sometimes have to pay twice as much for a good one of those just because of the cult colour scheme, which is a bit mad.

[garyboy]

Amazing how they All still look so good, but in their different ways.
I was never good enough a rider to Race, but used to have impromptu fun doing illegal 'competition ' on the roads, and , however cool I started out the day, Always returned home in a fervent lather from a mind blowing road experience. Lol. .. then waited anxiously for the post, for the next 3 weeks.
The bike actually Made you try for its extreme.
Of course, Comfort was always the great issue, with neck and wrists ending up excruciating. Though I know people that put bar risers on, with higher screen etc.
Strangely, I found the Blade seat the Most comfortable seat of any bike I owned?

[garyboy]

I tried out my nc750 yesterday, (Shopping.. in lockdown Wales) ..a totally different bike, still from Honda, and found I still liked its gentle but torquey power .
even though travelling at less than half the speed of the Fireblade .. I suppose that's old age for you.

And, perversely, am now fancying something like an additional xr125 do it all economical dual purpose work horse.
(For local bimbling and long distance trails )
as I have, timely, swapped my crf250L for an Emtb