09-22-2016, 05:34 AM
I had a ZX12R for a while. It made about 180hp. I always wanted to try out a top tier hyper bike. It was a nice bike, very docile and frankly comfy at lower speeds. It was kind of a big sporty tourer more than super sport. But sweet Jeebus, when you laid onto the throttle and kept it on after about 7,000 it was terrifying. If you had to balls to keep the throttle pegged for a couple of shifts, you would hit 150-160 in third gear so quick you almost didn't have time to look down to see your speed. Seriously, you could ride down an empty on-ramp and be at 160mph when you got to the highway. The howl of the wind would let you know you were going dang fast. It was a hoot to have all that power in a bike that was fairly well behaved at lower speeds.
BUT, the bike was heavy and I was never really able to dance with it in the curves (I have seen people do it, it just required more force than I like to use) and outside of the rush of all that power, it was kind boring. Living and riding in the city, and not wanting to expose the general public to dumba**ery, I almost never got to use the "fun" part of the bike. The occasional Sunday morning ride when the roads were empty, or a trip to the mountains, when there was a huge open straight were you could see for a couple miles were the only time it got to do it's thing. Weeks would pass, and I would realize I hadn't tapped into the power at all. I realized that while the bike did it's thing well, the thing it did not jive with how and where I ride. I sold it and do not really miss it.
I like the CB1100 a lot more. The accessible torque, comfort, softish suspenders, and great brakes work perfectly in town. The bike is fast enough to keep up with my friends on their sportier bikes, but more comfortable and I feel like the CB gets to do it's thing every time I get on it. And honestly it's not a slow bike. I am sure I am running sub 12 second 1/4 mile times on mine and that's plenty fast.
BUT, the bike was heavy and I was never really able to dance with it in the curves (I have seen people do it, it just required more force than I like to use) and outside of the rush of all that power, it was kind boring. Living and riding in the city, and not wanting to expose the general public to dumba**ery, I almost never got to use the "fun" part of the bike. The occasional Sunday morning ride when the roads were empty, or a trip to the mountains, when there was a huge open straight were you could see for a couple miles were the only time it got to do it's thing. Weeks would pass, and I would realize I hadn't tapped into the power at all. I realized that while the bike did it's thing well, the thing it did not jive with how and where I ride. I sold it and do not really miss it.
I like the CB1100 a lot more. The accessible torque, comfort, softish suspenders, and great brakes work perfectly in town. The bike is fast enough to keep up with my friends on their sportier bikes, but more comfortable and I feel like the CB gets to do it's thing every time I get on it. And honestly it's not a slow bike. I am sure I am running sub 12 second 1/4 mile times on mine and that's plenty fast.