ultimate motorbikes

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SykomantiS
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by SykomantiS »

2012 Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade

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motorcyclespecs.com wrote:These are the first photos of Honda’s 2012 Fireblade. Besides the new angular styling, the bike has Big Piston Forks, new rear suspension, new clocks and lightweight wheels.

Those hoping for a V4 will be disappointed, as the engine appears almost identical to this year’s model. Also, there are no signs of any traction control – the switchgear has no extra buttons and the new dash has nothing to indicate there are any S1000RR-rivalling electronics.

The bike in the photos does not have any wheel speed sensor rings, so it seems Honda will continue to give customers the option to do without ABS.

The photos were posted on Honda’s Hong Kong Facebook page, but have now been taken down.

Source MCN

Hmmmmm... pretty. I'm wondering about the decision not to supply all that extra electronic voodoo though.
senile
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by senile »

GreyWolf wrote::shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

WHAT IS THAT?

MORE IMPORTANTLY: WHERE CAN I GET ONE?
I saw it on a bike building championship somewhere. They take cruiser engines and build sportbikes and muscle bikes from scratch on the cruiser engine platform. I want one.
senile
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by senile »

More pics of "The Beast"


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WiK1d
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by WiK1d »

A few weeks ago the direction of Redstar Raceway was changed from anti-clockwise to clockwise. This meant it's an entirely new track to get your head wrapped around. I'm planning on doing a race there over the weekend of 22-23 October, so I had to get some practise in and learn the track.

I got this idea off someone on another forum, it's called a racing jar. I pop all my spare change in there and add some paper money to it if possible. It's still going very slow, but it's going. Donations welcome :P

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On to the trackday. It was a pretty good day in terms of weather, or so it seemed.

First session out I only got two quick flying laps in as I started a bit late, but the session also got red-flagged due to a crash. I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I know which turns were where, but the lines and brake markers were totally unknown!

Session two was better, but I was still struggling really bad. I tried to follow some of the quicker guys in the group but they were too quick. Managed to pick up a line here and there, but I was still very slow. Managed a 2.18 fastest, target for the day was anywhere between 2.15-17, so I still had to improve there.



Session three I managed to get a good session in and made steady progression and saw the laptimes dropping. 2.19, 2.19, 2.17, 2.15, 2.14. Hell yes! Great stuff!



The fourth session was good, had some really good consistency going with the laptimes looking like this: 2.16, 2.15, 2.15, 2.14, 2.15. Very impressed with that. I know I can still improve, but it's a solid ride.



Then for the fifth the weather turned, it looked really threatening, but I still decided to go out. About halfway through the outlap I started see spots of rain on my visor. Decided it wasn't that bad and still pushed on. Everytime I got on the straights the drops would be blown off, so it was clearly not raining that hard. A few laps later on the straights the drops actually became more and I decided to rather bail, this was getting dangerous now. Still managed to do a 2.16 despite the conditions, and this was the last lap, which had the most rain. A bit stupid on my part to be honest.



Then the rain cleared off over the next 20 minutes and the sun came back out. Excellent. Decided to give it one more push and I managed 2.15, 2.14, 2.15, and then a 2.13. Brilliant. I was super chuffed when I found that out. Enjoy this view. There are no transitions, just a head-on view of the hotlap.



As for the track, it is much much more different than ACW.

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Turn 1 is a beeyatch! You cannot enter it tight as you think you should, you have to brake late, keep the bike in the middle of the track, roll off the brakes and then hit a very late apex before getting on the gas again. Entering early will screw you over, as it did me. Stuffed my exit up and spat me off track, I ended up on the super motard track!

Turn 2 is okay, hard braking again, trailing off until the apex, then a quick burst of power to line up T3.

Turn 3 I enter slower, keep really tight and as soon as it starts to open up I pick the bike up, lean my body way over to the left and whack the throttle open to power down to T4.

Turn 4 is the same as T2 really, hard braking, turn, power to the next.

Turn 5 is a bit of challenge. I enter in tight, let it drift a bit wide to the right and then bring it back in tight as there's a kink at the exit. As soon as I hit that kink once again I'm leaned off as far as I'm comfortable and I pick the bike up and aim for T6.

Turn 6 has very hard braking into it. I'm still braking too early, but rather that than too late. You come to almost a complete stop, turn the bike and then pick it up and roll on the gas again, through T7 up to T8.

Turn 8 really tightens up on you as you're on the gas through T7. Trail brake a bit while banked over, leave the brakes and the bike will fall over to the right and turn in tight.

Turn 9 is a bit deceptive as it also has a kink on exit, so you need to enter wide and apex late again to line up T10 properly.

Turn 10 I was taking slow upto the last session I think when someone quicker passed me and showed me the right line. You need to make it a double apex corner. Enter tight, let it drift wide to the left and it will automatically tighten up for the 2nd apex again giving you good drive through the sweep (which is now a kneedown corner) upto T11.

Turn 11 is quite fun actually. You're quick into it, banked over for quite some time, when you see the exit upon apex you start winding up the gas and picking the bike up smoothly to get the drive down the back straight.

Turn 12 once again requires some real hard braking. This section is tricky as you need to enter 12 late to try and get a straight as possible line through the flip-flop to power onto the pit straight.

And that's a lap.

Roll on 22 October!
Rajiv
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by Rajiv »

Wow! Thats amazing - would u have any advice for a newbie?
P.S My mother wants to learn!!!
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WiK1d
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by WiK1d »

Yeah, always wear your kit. Never skimp on protection.
Rajiv
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by Rajiv »

Shot! Thanks!
"Because I don't say it...don't mean I ain't thinking it!"
WiK1d
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by WiK1d »

Honestly, best bet is to actually spend some cash and go to a riding school. You can only learn that much theory, practical experience beats all. I can teach track riding, road not so much, it's something that just came to me.
kabal
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by kabal »

joined this forum just to get some chat in this thread :) seems the online track community is pretty much none existent in ZA.

you joberg guys are so spoilt for track options, us cape town guys have to make due with 1 day a month at killareny....

@WiK1d, have you "upgraded" your steering damper yet? Changed fluids in my K6's. From the factory 2.5WT + air, to 7.5WT no air. Really was a nice notable difference
SykomantiS
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by SykomantiS »

Welcome then :)

Wik1d has kinda hijacked this thread as his own personal blog, but hey, no complaints here :P

Hope you enjoy your stay man, and do post up some stuff if you have any :D
WiK1d
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by WiK1d »

Hey Kabal, good to have you here!

I did upgrade the damping fluid, got 30WT oil in there now.

For anyone interested. It's racing time at Redstar this weekend again. I'll be competing and hoping for a good weekend. Come out for a brekkie on Sunday and enjoy the racing and rugby!
kabal
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by kabal »

Suzuki GSX-R600 K6
Custom Bixenon retrofit
Akrapovic Shorty
+3 rear sprocket
Valter Moto rear sets
Short levers
HEL braided steel brake lines
MRA screen
Metzeler Racetec K1 (The "best" mod)

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HID retrofit
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SykomantiS
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by SykomantiS »

Nice :)
I've always wanted to do one of those, but I just don't trust myself enough to not completely screw up the headlight unit :oops:

@Wik, good luck for the weekend bud. :)
WiK1d
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by WiK1d »

Wow, well done! That mod looks great!
SykomantiS
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by SykomantiS »

A sad time for MotoGP and motorsports in general :(
The Telegraph wrote:Simoncelli, 24, fell from his bike at turn 11 and skidded into the path of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, losing his helmet in the ensuing collision.

The race was immediately red flagged as Simoncelli lay motionless on the track and then cancelled altogether once the extent of the Honda rider’s injuries became clear.

After being transported to the circuit’s medical centre by ambulance Simoncelli was pronounced dead due to “a very serious trauma to the head, to the neck and the chest”.
More in the link...
WiK1d
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by WiK1d »

What an absolutely awesome weekend. The body is a bit sore, but I had a fantastic first ever race!

Saturday

Oddly enough I had a really good night's sleep before the big weekend, so the day started off really well. I loaded everything on Friday, so I just had to hook the trailer and go. Got up at 6am, drank my coffee and we're off to the races. Not sure what time I actually arrived at RSR, but I was going to miss our first practice session of the day either way as I still had to change tyres. Not that big of an issue as I went and practised there two weeks earlier just to get used to the new layout. Put on the used Dunlop 190 (some might recall my issues with 190 tyres) and didn't feel too comfortable riding on unknown territory.

Anyhow, off for FP2 (my first) we go. Took me some time to get into it again, but the Dunlop behaved surprisingly well, I was rather happy. The session itself was crap though, I was about in the middle of the field, so I had all the fast riders coming from the back and passing me and messing about my rhythm, then I got stuck behind slower riders who also messed me up, almost rode into the back of someone. Overall, not that good.



Fastest lap of the session: 2.14.012 - 18th/30 (Results)

The day was really starting to hot up now, temperatures were soaring and I was taking in as much fluid as my body would allow. Had a burger between the practice sessions and then got ready for FP3. This time I waited for almost everyone to go on track before I went out. This was a much better plan. Picked off the slower guys on the out lap and then started winding on the laps. Now I could dictate the pace, not who-ever was in front of or behind me. This is how I like to roll.



Fastest lap of the session: 2.13.611 - 10th/27 (Results)

Next up, qualifying. I was a bit tense for this as the front tyre didn't wear nicely as I definitely stuffed something up with regards to tyre pressures. Didn't have a spare front so I just went for it. Once again deciding to go out last proved to be a better plan. I could set the pace I was comfortable with, brake where I wanted to and so forth. Towards the end of the session I could feel the front pushing through some of the right handers and I knew I should relax a bit and just finish the session on the black stuff.



Fastest lap of the session: 2.12.746 - 22nd/33 (Results)

I was reasonably happy with qualifying as it was my first time out and and and. Could only give my best and that was that. The front tyre was shot, as anyone who's seen it. I didn't have a camera and I didn't bother bringing the tyre back home, but trust me, it was done! Johann then gave me a front for Sunday, which I ended up not using. Thanks though!

Sunday

Once again I had a fantastic night's sleep. Got up at six, drank my coffee and set off to the track. Left the bike and trailer there overnight, so the little Honda was happy to stretch its legs on the open road that morning. Got at the track just before eight, where Grant informed me that someone (Gordon) had a set of tyres to give to me as he didn't like the look of the ones on there. I was going to swap the rear in any case, but he still gave me another one and a good looking front. It was a major rush to get everything off with Gordon and Dave helping me out big time. Rushed out to the tyre changing people and changed the tyres, got the wheels back on the bike, torqued everything (thanks again Gordon), got dressed, didn't even have time to put my contacts in.

Got on the bike, didn't even have the tyre warmers on and set out for Warm-up Practice. Took the first two laps rather calmly just to get the tyres up to temperature and to make sure that all the bolts and nuts I had loosened, were fastened. Then I started winding it up. Bike felt pretty good, was turning a bit quicker again thanks to the 180 rear, but I didn't push too hard in that session as I didn't want to end my day early.

Fastest lap of the session: 2.15.273 - 17th/33 (Results)

Next up was rider's briefing, which was very brief. Then out went Formula Extreme for their first race of the day. I went to go watch the start to see the starting procedures, but then the starting lights weren't working and it had to be a flag start. That didn't make me very happy as I was starting pretty far back and the starter was at the front of the grid. Anyhow, checked how it went and then went back to the pit. There were two race restarts in FX due to crashes, which made the program run a little late.

Two more races before I was on and I started getting ready during the Superbike/Supersport race. The nerves were starting to get a bit tense, but I was ready. SBK came into the pits and I went out to the pre-race paddock, only to be stopped in the sun for about 20 minutes with most of the other BRC riders because there was a crash and the ambulance was out and they had to recover the bike. I was so hot and sweaty it wasn't even funny. Finally we got a move on and set off on the out lap. I went at it hard-ish just to make sure the tyres were still hot when I had to start and lined up on the grid. I couldn't even see the starting flag so I just waited for the 5s board, revved it up and when I saw people move I also went. I had all these plans of how the race was going to go and how I was going to approach it before the start, but when that flag dropped all of that went out the window. Didn't make a fantastic start as a few guys came through on me and then I lost some more places during the next two or three laps. Then I started gaining confidence and saw where I was stronger than some of the other guys. That area was on the brakes. I started passing people everywhere and I was getting ecstatic! Chased down a group and managed to get by all of the them and gapped them. Realised I wasn't going to be able to catch the group in front of me and settled into a rhythm for the last two laps and just managed the gap behind me. I had absolutely no idea where I finished the race, but I was SO happy. Came back into the pits and Cassie showed me on her fingers, 12th. I was like, WHAT! Waited for the results and yep, 12th!



Fastest lap of the session: 2.09.697 (Results)

I was so happy I couldn't even care what happened in race 2. Pretty much the same procedure again leading up to the race, except this time I started in 23rd and I had a grid girl, whoohoo Nienke! I noticed where the COC was this time, so I could watch for the flag. Made a better start into T1, but I still lost some places. This race was much harder as I fought my way through some seriously quick guys. Des had a massive crash just in front of my through the very fast left hand sweep about 2/3rds of the way through. Then came #65 and we had a fantastic dice the last few laps. Sadly I lost that battle as I thought I still had another lap to make a move and held back a bit, but I missed the last lap board and also that position. Not too bad though, ended up 14th in the race and scored some more points.



Fastest lap of the session: 2.08.870 (Results)

So yeah, first race ever and I scored 6 championship points! Finished the day in 13th overall and I am very very chuffed! Body hurts a bit today, but it's actually not that bad.

But sadly, with all this excitement, there is also a bit of gloom. The world lost a fantastic motorcycle racer yesterday in the form of Marco Simoncelli #58. It really dampened the spirits at the track when we all found out that he had passed away. It's such a great loss. My deepest condolences to all his friends and family. He will be greatly missed.

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Here's a video that everyone should watch to see what a great talent this young man was:



Just turn off the sound 'cos the music is terrible!

Anyhow. That's it from my side. Thanks once again to Cassie, Grant, Johann, Dave, Nienke, Pieter, Gordon and anyone who I might have forgotten. Without the help I got from all you guys my weekend wouldn't have been nearly as awesome as it was. Thank you so much!
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Synthesis
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by Synthesis »

Never been a BMW fan until I just saw this:

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Manufacturer BMW
Model BMW S1000RR (Second generation)
Engine 999cc/water-cooled/4-cyl in aluminium bridge frame
Power 142kW @ 13 000rpm
Torque 112Nm @9 750rpm
Transmission Six-speed
Zero To Hundred 2.9sec
Top Speed 300km/h+
Fuel Tank 17.5 litres
Weight 178kg (dry)
ABS Optional; brakes (F) 320mm four-piston double disc, (R) 220mm disc
Front Suspension Upside down forks, 46 mm, adjustable
Rear Suspension Twin-arm swinging fork, central spring strut, adjustable
Price TBA
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kabal
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by kabal »

guy at the trackday on sunday had 1 with all the motorad carbon goodies and bits, it was drool!!!
WiK1d
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by WiK1d »

kabal wrote:guy at the trackday on sunday had 1 with all the motorad carbon goodies and bits, it was drool!!!
Ah but the above is the next generation of the S1000RR. Donovan Fourie of BikeSA tested it Valencia last week and apparently it's OFF THE HOOK! It will be in the December issue of Bike SA.

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SykomantiS
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by SykomantiS »

Old news is old... It still looks the same and carries the same specs- anything that did change is not noticeable enough for me to get excited over.
SykomantiS
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by SykomantiS »

And this is ever so slightly disappointing as well... :(

The biggest changes being the single-sided exhaust and Brembo monobloccs. I was hoping to see a completely new model that might have done to the industry what the first GSX-R1000 did... No such luck, it seems.

Oh well... There's always next year... :roll:

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Motorcyclespecs wrote:The 2012 Suzuki GSX-R1000 sees a modest retooling as the Japanese company’s liter bike most noticeably goes back to a single exhaust can design. Officially dropping 2kg (4.4 lbs) from its curb weight, we assume the weight savings to the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 can be accounted purely from the new exhaust layout, though Suzuki lists a number of small weight savings throughout the Gixxer’s refined design. Despite a bevy of minor improvements, the big changes include the addition of a beefier midrange, better throttle response, Brembo monoblock calipers with .5mm thinner brake discs, and an improved fuel efficiency by 8%.
moar pics in the source
kabal
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by kabal »

probably gonna cost even more a pretty penny than the current model.

it seems to me that bikes are starting to get ugly again. when the new generation FI models arrived in the early 2000's they looked amazing. as the years went by though they got tamer looking, especially the CBR IMO
SykomantiS
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by SykomantiS »

True. Though I must say sharpening the nose of the new CBR does do a lot for its looks in my opinion. It actually looks quite good in the red/white/blue colour scheme. I really hated that it-got-hit-in-the-face-with-a-sledgehammer look of the last few models.
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by Hman »

All the current superbikes look more or less the same, generally speaking. We need something revolutionary, but what can you really do?
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DarkStar
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Re: ultimate motorbikes

Post by DarkStar »

Well....

She's back. In all her 600 Thumper glory, and all the leg cramps that come with kick-starting her xD

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