Topic: ex-CBR1100XX Blackbird (pics added 12 Dec 08)

[Raul CB750K1]

I'll give you my completely uninformed opinion simply based in what I know from others.

Gixxers seem to be pretty good sports bikes, but I have another Suzuki and I woved to myself it will be the last due to the poor aftersales service.

VFR's are probably the most all-round bikes ever, good for fast sport-touring, commuting or travelling.

I have ridden pillion in a 1100XX and, as you know, they are fast. A great sport-tourer -no sport bike at all-, but it eats tyres for breakfast. I once met a guy with a Blackbird at the tire service and he told me the tires lasted him 5000 km (about 3000 miles) in average.

Leave the gixxer for stunt riders and keep the VFR. That single side swingarm is sexy too. I would love to have one of the early models, early 90's but I'm very biased towards the inline, transverse four.... -and 5 bikes in the stable are enough already-

[DarkRider]

Ok after looking at the pics of the 1100 that Paxton got im getting the itch....I mentioned wanting to buy a Blackbird to some of my friends and they think its a bad idea without having ridden a 600 supersport before it...The way i look at it is this..thats just an attempt to put some more fear into me towards the larger machine..theres already a bit there i dont need them trying to scare me away from it as well...I suspect once i owned a Blackbird i would simply have to adjust to the extra Hp of the machine. (its about the same weight as my VF750F so the weight isnt the issue with me)

[azuredesign]

OK after looking at the pics of the 1100 that Paxton got im getting the itch....I mentioned wanting to buy a Blackbird to some of my friends and they think its a bad idea without having ridden a 600 supersport before it...The way i look at it is this..thats just an attempt to put some more fear into me towards the larger machine..theres already a bit there i dont need them trying to scare me away from it as well...I suspect once i owned a Blackbird i would simply have to adjust to the extra Hp of the machine. (its about the same weight as my VF750F so the weight isnt the issue with me)

You should see if you can take a ride on one. I have a feeling what you'll find is that the power is fairly easy to modulate, you don't have to go fast except when you want to. Good luck!

[paxtonpony]

Exactly.  It has plenty of torque so you can ride it all day long from 2000rpm up to 5000rpm without breaking a sweat.  Now you start moving up the rpm band and the pace gets quick very fast.  But it's all so smooth and managable, nothing peaky like most sport bikes.  And it is a big bike but if you're used to riding a CB750 you won't have any problems.  It's easy to ride even at slow speeds.

[paxtonpony]

And now for a few tantilizing pics of my new toy (the paint is flawless but the black reflects everything):


Hard to resist:

[inline4]

I had a Kawasaki ZX11 for a while.
Frighteneing FAST, but I've always lusted for a Blackbird.
Congratulations on the great score! I'm envious.
Beautiful CBR.

[DarkRider]

Great looking bike man!

Not used to a CB750 due to my never getting a chance to ride the one i had..however as said before the VF750 i have is a heavy bike as well as you can more then likely remember from having your VFR paxton. So now i think im in the hunt for both a newer VFR and a Blackbird...

[paxtonpony]

Lots of bird riders stepped up from the VFR.  Really fits right in the same mold of sport-touring (leaning towards sport).  The one thing that really stands out is how incredibly smooth the motor is.  The thing doesn't vibrate at any rpm.  As much as I loved my 95 VFR, this thing has all but made me forget about it.  Not a bit of regret selling it after I started riding the bird.  Trust me, when I first sold it I had a really sick feeling in my stomach but it all changed the next day when I bought the bird.

Hard choice on what to take to work.  The bird always wins though.  It's funner and way better on gas.

[DarkRider]

Figured the Bird was a logical progression from the VF/VFR bikes...allows me to have the speed of the supersports along with the long distance capability of a sport tourer..

[paxtonpony]

So Steve, you might find this funny.  I now own a 2000 Triumph Legend.  Great motor!  At any rate, I was missing my old Honda and started looking for another.  I found my Legend for $2500 in almost mint condition.  Too good a deal to pass up.  I threw on some drag bars, now she looks right.  Being tired of having multiple bikes in the garage, I sold off the Blackbird.  Probably a bike I'm always going to regret selling but I may a few bucks off it so I'm happy.  When I feel bad about selling it, I just go fire up my triple (with off road mufflers).  What a great sound!!!  Anyway, she's a real fun ride and reminds alot of my CB.  It actually stops, handles better, has more torque, more HP and looks hella better... but for some reason it reminds me of the CB.  Maybe because I have fun riding it at any speed and people always have a story about their old bike.

At any rate, just an update.

[paxtonpony]

Forgot to add the pics:
OK, here's what I sold.  Man, now I'm beginning to miss it again...  I need to go ride my bike.


Here's the only picture I can find right now.  This is the night I bought it.  Still had the dorky bars and windscreen.

[DarkRider]

Why didnt you sell the Gixxer 750 instead of the Bird?

[MJL]

I think you should get the CBR1100 and SELL me the VFR 

Cheers
Andy

I was going to say that.   




 

[paxtonpony]

Oh yeah, I sold the gixxer about the same time I bought the bird.  Believe it or not my beloved stang is about to go for sale.  Had it for 11 years (and $12k in mods) but I think it's time to let it go too.  Gas is cheap now so I should be able to get rid of it.

The funny thing about the bird is the what I miss the most.  All the storage I had.  I could fit a full size helmet in each of those bags.  And I could put a huge amount of groceries in those plus my other tail bag.  Oh well, I needed a bike with more soul.  The Triumph has what I was looking for.  I'm still in search of another project though, preferably a SOHC CB but something smaller this time.  Either 400, 500 or 550.  I think the 400 is my main target but the 500 and 550's are still affordable.  400's seem to be climbing out of the price range I want to pay for an old jap bike.  I really want to build something with a full Avon fairing, plexi nose cone and everything.