There has been a lot written in the motorcycle press about this bike, but I do wonder how “real” some magazine reports really are. It seems many magazines are happy to produce a report on a bike after running it round the block, or doing a couple of laps of a race track somewhere. It has to be said that I have read more than one article about the Blackbird where it seemed that they had not actually ridden it all. When it comes to getting an honest opinion of a bikes capabilities, performance and general reliability, you would be best speaking to someone who owns and rides the model of bike you are considering buying.
Hopefully this is where I come in!
Last year (October 2001) I purchased a brand new Honda Blackbird (red) from an official UK Honda dealer. In the past 12 months I have covered over 11000 miles in all weathers and on all sorts of roads. I have serviced the bike myself and have replaced parts as needed.
The bike has been totally reliable, as you would expect of a bike of this age. I have left the bike pretty much standard, with the exception of a “double bubble” screen. I’m 6’ 1” tall and quite long in the body and I found the standard screen obscured the view of the clocks and directed the wind blast straight at the bottom of my crash helmet. The replacements screen has helped solve both problems.
I am just about to fit my 3rd set of tyres. The original Bridgestone BT57’s lasted 5000 miles and were under the legal limit when taken off. I found the BT57’s to be ok in the dry warm weather and reasonable in the wet. But as they started to wear they really upset the handling of the bike and started to make it very “vague” when the road was wet. I fitted a pair of Bridgestone BT020’s as they were recommended by the supplying dealer (They are now standard OEM fitment by Honda). They improved the general feel of the back considerably, and have lasted 6000 miles and they still have about 2.5mm to go. I’m going to change them soon for another pair of BT020’s. the 020’s are about the same as the BT57’s in the dry, but considerable better in the wet, they warm up quickly and feel as though they can take any weather in their stride. They are only just starting to loose their grip, the rear is now squared off and feel a bit “vague” at speed or when turning into roundabouts.
I have changed the oil and oil filter every 3000 miles even though Honda say every 8000 and my dealer says every 4000. The cost of an oil & filter change, with fully synthetic Castrol oil is less than £40 if you do it yourself. The whole jobs takes less than 1 hour and you do not need to remove any fairing panels to do the work. The oil filter is a bit tricky to remove, but other than that it’s a really easy job. I always change my engine oil on bikes every 3000 miles, my view being oil is cheaper than engines!
The linked brakes take a bit of getting used to, but are plenty powerful enough to stop the bike in a hurry, even with a full 16 stone on board! The rear pads are just about ready to be changed and will probably be done at the same time as the tyres.
Other than routine servicing I have not had to do any other work on the bike other than cleaning. The bike gets cleaned about 4 times a year, which is not really enough. The finish on this bike is holding up well and it still look good even after riding though the winter and not really cleaning it much. Front forks are the only area to start looking tatty, seems to be a common problem judging by other Blackbirds I’ve seen parked.
So what’s it like to ride. Well it goes without saying it is a fast bike, 160bhp getting interesting, especially in the wet! The power is produced cleanly with no real dips, except perhaps around 4000rpm, where there is a little hesitation. It runs smoothly to the redline and produces power all the way, yet still has enough power low down to run along at 40mph in top without any sign of a struggle. The fairing is good, and keeps most of the water off in a shower. The headlight is OK, but the low beam is a bit poor. It’s bright enough, but the focus of the beams seems to spread out, leaving the centre of the road in a sort of shadow. Not the sort of thing you need on a bike this fast.
Over all I would say anyone looking for a touring/sports bike, who is looking to cover great distance in a day, would be more than happy with what this machine has on offer. BUT, and you know there just had to be one! I find it a bit bland, it is so good at what it was built for it gets a bit boring. My previous Kawasaki had less power, but felt faster. It had a real power band that would bring a smile to your face when the revs hit 7000rpm. Don’t get me wrong, the Honda is one powerful bike, but it’s power delivery is so smooth it feels characterless.
Fuel consumption is around 40pmg, it was around 30mpg for the first 4000miles, still running in I guess. (Honda do not recommend using synthetic oil for the first 4000 miles, this may have been why mpg improved around this mileage).
Overall a damn good bike, well built, fast and reasonably economical on tyres and petrol, for such a big bike.
To give you an idea of performance in the real world. Never had any car get close to it’s acceleration 0 – 100. even the big boys toys like Ferrari’s. It will pull in front of an R1 (just) from 30mph out of a round about, up to about 100mph. I’ve upset the same guy about 5 times now!
It will cruise at any speed all day, in comfort.
Insurance is not to bad, well for me anyway. I’m 34, 7 years no claims and live in a reasonable non city postcode area. This years premium, £550.00 including protected no claims bonus. This is fully comp, with £800.00 excess.
Would I buy another one? Well, even though I sometimes find it a bit bland, I think I would buy another one. It does everything I want, is plenty fast enough and is perfect for all year round use.
Hope you find the useful.
More details
Purchase Price
£8000
Performance
Good
Reliability
Excellent
Customer service
Good
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