cb1300

[bludclot]

instead of the Fazer or as well as?

this has been the subject of 2 discussions with the long haired general. in my world it's as well as, but she makes some points that i find difficult to argue away:

- i don't need a second bike when the first is already a toy
- i can't just buy a bike and use it as is and...
- the fazer was sold to her as a quick 2 week clean up and it actually took 5 months and over £1500
- the dining room is not a perfect fazer storage area while another bike gets garage time and space
- i claim to do any bike buying / selling in winter months and now isn't winter

so if i buy the blue one that's for sale near me it will have to be presented as a nice surprise to her or the fazer wil have to move on and, frankly, i'm not ready to move on the fazer for some time yet.

I test rode the GSX1400, CB1300 and ZRX1200 of the 3 I found the Kawasaki was the best mix of handling and performance being least like a sofa on wheels, though they all made me want to reach for pipe & slippers to some extent especially the Suzuki. 

i did ride a zrx1100 from the midlands to the south coast a few years back as a favour, in at least drizzle all the way. interesting bike, comfortable and about 35 - 40 horses at the rear wheel. the brakes needed marginally more stopping distance than the queen mary. i quizzed the owner about it and he was quite proud to have owned it since new and carried out all his own maintenance. he claimed that it only used a litre of oil per tank of fuel through no.1 cylinder and that the brakes were fine. i gave him my r6 to ride and when he returned he just said 'it's fast but the brakes are a bit sharp'. for 'a bit sharp' i pointed out that they worked. when i asked him about torque settings he said that he did everything up 'bloody tight'. perhaps not the best bike to judge the zrx range by.

the cb1300 that i rode was a bit better, but not much. again it had no real go and needed a real shove to get the bars past the dead straight mark whereby it would fall on it's side alarmingly, a combination of extremely knackered head bearings and a very squared off rear. it amazes me that owners seem to think that bikes in such states are 'fine, there's nothing wrong with it'