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Post by bikesnoopy on Feb 20, 2006 12:54:42 GMT
Bernard asked me "having owned both ZZR1100 & Blackbird,which is best-them being similar bikes" This got me thinking,just what is it that makes you love a particular bike over another-better on paper-bike. In my 40+ years of riding motorbikes,i have owned nearly 100 different bikes & i tried to work out my favourite top 6 and why. It was actually a very difficult task & strangely,the Blackbird isnt in my top six when the ZZR1100 is,although,ive got to admit that the Blackbird is the better bike. There are others that surprisingly didnt make my top six,including such big hitters as VFR750,Firestorm,R1,ZX9R...all fantastic,brilliant,capable bikes that are all probably "better" bikes than the likes of the ZZR. But,sadly,they all lack that certain "something" that you cant put your finger on that makes them special. I wont bore you with my own top six bikes ive owned,or why...but its an interesting thought to try & figure out just what it is that makes a bike special-or greater than the sum of its parts...
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Post by muzzyrex on Feb 20, 2006 13:03:47 GMT
Very difficult that one as there are so many very capable bikes... The Rex does it for me but then again so does the 350LC, a real hooligan tool with that major grin factor at 6000rpm... One of the best bikes i owned was a Kwak SR650..... Cracking all rounder with the semi custom style but not as chop like as the Ltd.... A nice compromise.... Sadly there are not many left now, and the one's in good nick are fetching good money !!!
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Post by bikesnoopy on Feb 20, 2006 13:20:16 GMT
Oh to have hindsight. The bikes youve flogged off for pence,or just thrown away in the past huh...what would they be worth now. . .
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Post by lightspeed on Feb 21, 2006 18:57:15 GMT
"It" doesn't seem to be the technical prowess of the bike, but more the soul - does it "speak" to me. I have ridden wonderful machines, technological wonders that create wide-eyed responses to their trickness, their perfection, but none of them have been on my want to own list. Something about the REX, about my 84 1100 ELR, that seem to talk to me about a genre of motorcycles that were not perfect, required some care, some attention, were not the "beam me up, Scotty" form of mindlessness. I want to see the engine, the workings. I want to have to ride it, not just be transported there in a flash. Seems to be a bit of soul that needs to be there, some quirks that I have to understand and deal with if I'm going to get out of the cycle what it can do. Dunno how else to describe it. . . The plastic bubble bikes don't have it and the "new" naked bikes don't have it. The REX does.
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Post by ZRX Gremlin on Feb 21, 2006 19:33:12 GMT
I kow exactly what you're saying lightspeed.
At the time I bought my ZRX I was also considering the ZZR1200. Until I'd had the chance to ride both that is.
Although the ZZR is a fine bike, in some ways it's too smooth and sterile. It does its job too well with very little effort.
As you say, Rex isn't technically perfect but to my mind that makes it better ;D I have the vague idea that Kwaks R&D department engineer bikes like the Rex to vibrate a little more, at just the right frequency so that it dies "talk " to you. Works for me anyhow. if you can see what I'm gettting at. :bike :burnout:
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Post by bikesnoopy on Feb 21, 2006 20:14:00 GMT
"Smooth & sterile-does its job too well with too little effort". . . thats EXACTLY what i mean between the Blackbird & ZZR1100. . . thats why the ZZR's in my top 6,but the B/B isnt. . .warts & all...the ZZR's got soul...
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Post by lightspeed on Feb 24, 2006 16:55:10 GMT
I know exactly what you're saying lightspeed. . . As you say, Rex isn't technically perfect but to my mind that makes it better ;D I have the vague idea that Kwaks R&D department engineer bikes like the Rex to vibrate a little more, at just the right frequency so that it dies "talk " to you. Works for me anyhow. if you can see what I'm gettting at. Exactly! :hmm:
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Post by maverick on Feb 24, 2006 17:49:34 GMT
Plastic bubble bike do have it...so has the rex....If youve ever been on a ZX12R and cracked the throttle open then its there...the rex has got an edge to it that other retro bikes havent,,It has power with a sheer physical presence that asks you to respect it..It will tell you when enough is enough. I like both and have just swopped back...for a while.. I eagerly await a test on the ZZR1400..I rode a friends ZZR1100 a couple of years back and was seriously impressed with its " arrogance of power"...Ive tried a blackbird too and found it very handleable and so smooth. to me the rex is kwaks taming of the ZZR gene and it works well.... My favourite was the yam powervalve 350s..all or nothing ..Adrenalin rush keeps you alive...or dead if you aint careful...
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Post by oakspeed on Feb 24, 2006 22:49:05 GMT
top six? id have the ZRX on a par with the 350LC. both entirely different, but have "soul". untill youve ridden them, you wouldnt understand. then for me a triumph bonnevile 140V. my first "propper" big bike. in reality an oily, unreliable pile of shite, but oodles of character. (see bikes 1+2). then me old Z1300. big, slow, but it turned heads and empied me wallet. then probably a tie between an aircooled RD400E, and me old TDR250. both mental 2 stroke FUN bikes to ride.
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Post by bikesnoopy on Feb 25, 2006 9:25:57 GMT
Ive never owned a ZX12R like you Mav,but ive ridden my mate's & like you say,its an awesome bike-very difficult to describe to someone who's never ridden one. I had the same feeling on my GSXR1100WR(1995 model). It was er "breathed on" and was truely mental. Every ride was an adventure. It was mad,bad & sometimes downright dangerous & every time i got off after a thrash,i used to look back at it and think "well,i survived another ride". . . priceless memories & memories that put THAT bike in my number two spot. . .
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Post by maverick on Feb 25, 2006 21:55:00 GMT
I ve never owned a ZX12R snoops ...I wish..Its tentatively on my possible shopping list...my mate had one and the various times I used it( Including a phenominally quick 175mph plus on a private stretch in a miniscule distance of road used) decided me in mind that apart from ME WANT>>ME WANT these beasts ie Blackbird,12R and Busa deserve a large amount of respect...I am sooooo interested in this ZZR1400 especially if its relatively easy to derestrict( for private roadway fun you understand)... I thought of another the other day to....My mates X7 suzuki 250..jeeeeesu it was criminal what that thing could do..and tried to do to you as welll...
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Post by bernard on Mar 18, 2006 3:09:42 GMT
..I am sooooo interested in this ZZR1400 especially if its relatively easy to derestrict( for private roadway fun you ... :hmm: Think youve been doing a bit of mind reading ;)mav how do you do that then
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