Having to challenge the GSXR1000 and the R1, the
new Blade has upped the engine to 954cc, about as big as it'll
go without a new motor. Lighter pistons help give a faster engine
response and allow a higher rev limit to squeeze out as much power
as possible. Honda claim a 3bhp increase in max power to 149bhp,
with torque increased by 3ftlb.
The Blade retains the H-VIX system, sort of a Honda Exup, to
boost the midrange.
Frame-wise, not much is changed, although this year's colour
is definitely black, darling.
The
swingarm is redesigned to increase stiffness, with more bracing,
although it's more skeletal in appearance to keep the weight down.
As in last year's Blade, the arm mounts directly to the back of
the engine, where the pivot casting has been improved. Weight
saving on the chassis is 2 kilos and the all up weight of the
bike is a miserly 168kg ... coo.
On the suspension front there is no change, the bike using the
same shock and retaining the 43mm usd forks.
This year the suspenders do seem to be a bit stiffer, though.
In fact, a bit too stiff for rubbish English roads. The bike tends
to get thrown about a lot through the pot-holes and this leads
to a fair bit of slappy steering. Seems Honda may be more concerned
with good magazine track tests than real world riding. A quick
fiddle with the damping rates indicated that you won't be able
to adjust this too much - looks like a decent rear shock and re-valved
forks may be needed.
All the plastic has been redesigned of course, making the bike
a bit sharper to look at. The screen has been raked up and increased
slightly in height to give better protection. The fuel tank is
also changed, bigger cutaways to give a bit more knee room and
slightly shorter to allow the rider to get more weight over the
front.
Same instruments, with an analogue rev counter and digital speedo
with 2 trip meters plus a jolly useful little number at the bottom
showing you how much fuel you've got left. HISS immobiliser system
is still there, which is good.
Tail
light is similar to the R6, using LEDs rather than good old bulbs.
And the Blade retains it's trademark USP, the famous flip-up pillion
seat and cavernous boot. Why don't all bikes have this?
Silencer is a huge titanium item. Shame Honda can't use the same
bloke who designs the dinky GSXR silencer, which is about half
the size of the Blade's. And the R1's come to that .....
Colours? Red/black, white/blue and blue/yellow,
although David had to go through a right old performance to get
a red one. Seems Honda UK didn't order enough, so he wound up
having to get a white one and then the dealer changed all the
plastic bits and tank to make it red.
So how does it go? Bloody well, actually. It may not have the
sheer grunt of an R1 or Gixer but there's plenty of go once the
revs get around 8000. And it steers very well, quick and agile
- a 600 with attitude. Suspension works fairly well but struggles
a bit on back roads. The front can get a tadge lively over bumpy
stuff so a decent steering damper could be useful. Brakes are
good