Couldn't Help Myself

Found a nice one owner 2008 Fireblade in mint condition with full service history and 24,000kms on it, and bought it for $7k. I'll give it a go and see if I can ride it - have always said I should own a 1 litre sports bike before I get too infirm or croak it. It is a very boring colour but I have plans to change all the plastics with an after-market kit from these guys:

http://www.motorcycle-fairing.com/

So for around $600, I plan to change this:



and make it look like this  (less the gold forks and disc rotor supports):



But in my dreams it is more like this:

You might need to keep the dual seat on if that  "bling" on the seat comes with your kit  
It looks in good nick Ewok ...................oh ; and the bike as well 

Nice find Dave. 
How do you find the fit of the bike? I have a friend who bought one but sold it within months, complaining of poor ergonomics as he is a tall fella like yourself.

Bosco15 wrote:Nice find Dave. 
How do you find the fit of the bike? I have a friend who bought one but sold it within months, complaining of poor ergonomics as he is a tall fella like yourself.

Not great Bosco but better probably than the TRX. I reckon I can ride it on a few favourite twisties but I'm keeping the old Bandit for longer distances and touring (and with 85,000kms on it, and some damage from low speed spills, it isn't ever going to bring much).

But if the Fireblade doesn't work out I'll sell it on and bank the experience.

This Blade has one of those fairing kits on it and the rims painted to match, and the seat redone.  It is still on BikeSales but a deposit has been taken.  It is owned by the bike shop mechanic.

Ewok1958 wrote:

 I'll sell it on and bank the experience. wrote:and if it doesn't work out I'll sell it on and bank the experience.

Now that's a phrase I'll have to remember

A mate of mine showed up at my front gate with one of these brand new. He dropped his bike off for a service and he took this bike as a test ride. 350kms later we dropped it back. The shop owner was furious. I rode that mofo for a bit and enjoyed it. First gear wheel stands were a laugh. Felt like a tiny 600 to be honest after the 1250. Not sure if I could deal with the ergonomics over s long period though. Good luck ewok, let me borrow it next time I am over East mate

Well done Ewok, hope it lives up to your expectations.

The 1000cc thing has been playing around in my mind recently. I`ve ridden plenty, but never owned one.

I did the 600 class years ago, and it was still a lot of fun.
If I could get a 1000 at a steal, I`d do it. 

There`s too many bikes flashing through my mind to pick one.  I know one thing for certain, I "need" one of every genre.

Nice buy Dave, I must be getting old, as much as I like the "blinged up" fairings, I love it in Red & Black

Chook wrote:Nice buy Dave, I must be getting old, as much as I like the "blinged up" fairings, I love it in Red & Black

Poor old Bombers! At least Freo is keeping us off the bottom.

A lot of people tour on blades so they're capable of they. 
You'll just need to be prepared to weight your wrists more than the Bandit.
The seat/bars/pegs combo will make sense if you don't over think it.
My VFR is much more forward than the B1250 but it's easier to ride over longer distances without any mods.
I've never ridden bolt upright. 

Can't wait to see it Dave.

2wheelsagain wrote:A lot of people tour on blades so they're capable of they. 
You'll just need to be prepared to weight your wrists more than the Bandit.
The seat/bars/pegs combo will make sense if you don't over think it.
My VFR is much more forward than the B1250 but it's easier to ride over longer distances without any mods.
I've never ridden bolt upright. 

Can't wait to see it Dave.

I thought about riding it back via Gippy mate, but Bev would flip out!

Cut a couple of local laps at your own pace  and you soon work it out. 
You'd get wet down here today.
 We should do Bemm River or Marlo before the weather turns.

Keep an eye on the dip stick Dave. Apparently some 2008 and 2009 blades have issues with burning oil due to an engineering defect. How are you finding it so far?

reddog wrote:Keep an eye on the dip stick Dave. Apparently some 2008 and 2009 blades have issues with burning oil due to an engineering defect. How are you finding it so far?

Pick it up next Sat mate.

Just did some googling of that oil issue - some engines seem to be really bad, others no different to any other. Did not find any sensible explanation for the ones that had a problem though. Fingers crossed.

How ' bout a trip to Wakefield?..I think that June 18 will be a trackday when they get around to posting dates for June.

Dekenai wrote:How ' bout a trip to Wakefield?..I think that June 18 will be a trackday when they get around to posting dates for June.

Not for me thanks.

Very nice !

Ewok1958 wrote:

Dekenai wrote:How ' bout a trip to Wakefield?..I think that June 18 will be a trackday when they get around to posting dates for June.

Not for me thanks.

fair enough...enjoy the Blade...basically the bike that forced Suzuki to abandon the K7/8 architecture after only 2 years...nice!