20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

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SteveW
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20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by SteveW »

Long story - short.
I had to do a 60 mile each way blast yesterday Tea Time (Northern English colloquialism for around 17:00/19:00) mostly on the M6 between junctions 29 and 19.
Circumstances dictated that the outward leg was completed on a 1995 CBR 600, whilst the return leg was on a GSA800.
The CBR rev's forever and really picks it's feet up above 6000rpm. It's got a pretty loud pipe on it and wails it's nuts off when it comes on cam, very childish.
I find it interesting riding different bikes back-to-back, you can only get an inkling of a sports 600's performance on a busy Bank Holiday, Late Afternoon on the M6. The 600 only comes alive above the legal speed limit.
The GSA800 on the other hand is making decent power at rpm's that would have the CBR slightly labouring.
Therefore the performance "gap" between the two bikes can be a bit blurry, after all there's only 15 bhp between them.
At the back end of my outward-leg on the CBR I got the opportunity of blitzing a new Audi S3 (that was being driven by a Tit,) up to a 100mph away from the traffic lights on a duel carriageway, very amusing.....
Fat old bloke on an "M" Reg. 600 bike, blasts away from 28 year old bearded advertising executive in 40K sports car, shocker!
Anyhow, I was talking about the relative performance's of two fairly similarly powered bikes.
Unless you've got two bikes side by side it's difficult to judge exactly the differences in out and out performance.
On the return leg I was on my GSA800, the performance is more accessible, it's making it's peak power around motorway speeds and never feels underpowered.
The M6 was being a bitch, Bank Holiday, road works and the inevitable standing traffic whilst a couple of cars are recovered after a shunt.
But after the standing traffic was duely filtered through I found myself on a pretty clear road and I settled down to a 90mph cruise.
I'm smashing past cars and making up time. I'm in lane three getting the job done.
Then I become aware of a sports bike tailing me, so because I'm a dick I wind up the GSA up 120mph and pull over to the middle lane, feck-me! That sports bike flies past me in a blur, but it's a familiar coloured and shaped blur, a 1990's Red and White CBR600! Just like the one I'd been riding an hour before.....go on son!
Bloke in hi-vis and overalls on his way home from work on 20-odd year old sports-nail, smashes Klim-clad adventure bike rider on 10K fashion statement, Shocker!
johnnyboxer
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Re: 20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by johnnyboxer »

Always the rider, not the bike (thumbs)
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micksea
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Re: 20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by micksea »

the hipster in the audi probably lives on tofu and seaweed so wouldn"t have the strength to push the go peddle all the way to the floor,other than that 10 out of 10 for remembering how to be a juvenile delinquent (thumbs)
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92kk k100lt 193214
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Re: 20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by 92kk k100lt 193214 »

He he you were having fun. Nothing like a decent bike on cam to get the adrenalin going.

My son still struggles to work out how his old man on a 1984 bike can get places quicker than his modern V800 Vtec.

Some times its all about 'balance between power and handling' and usable as opposed to theoretical power.

But a racing driver will tell you £1,000 worth of training will beat £5,000 worth of tweaks and add ons.
1992 K100LT June 2010 110,000 miles
1984 K100RT July 2013 36,000 miles, 90,000
1983 K100RS Nov 2018 29,000 miles, 36,400 miles
1996 K1100LT Oct 2020 37,990 miles
1984 K100 Sprint March 2023 58,000 miles
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andrew882
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Re: 20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by andrew882 »

I bought a 90s vintage CBR600 last year as a cheap short termer to see if biking was still for me after a layoff of around 12 years (which of course it is!) and we amazed at the speed of the thing :ohmy:

It laid the way for me to pony up for my GS, which I reckon I'm just as fast on (mainly because I'm a big girl's blouse/have a sense of my own mortality* these days) and unfortunately I don't have the space to keep two bikes, so the Honda will be up for sale.

Completely agree though that in terms of bang for buck, the mid nineties CBRs are pretty hard to beat

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john-g
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Re: 20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by john-g »

Have to agree with you all, the acceleration of my 15 year old Blackbird beats anything I've ridden before, is so smooth and handles well, so for £2K makes a great second bike.
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Re: 20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by Africa John »

johnnyboxer wrote:Always the rider, not the bike (thumbs)
Oh so true :mrgreen:

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Simon_100
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Re: 20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by Simon_100 »

Grrrr I want one! (thumbs)

Regs

Simon
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boboneleg
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Re: 20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by boboneleg »

Nice bike that CBR ;)

Great result for Burnley as well, all in all not a bad weekend for you.
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Re: 20-odd year old 600 sports bikes are still bloody quick!

Post by Teflon Jnr »

And Anthony Joshua won the boxing
Jesus rides a Harley and the devil wears prada

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