Rode an 05' GSX-R1000 today

[Wag]

Am I mistaken or does it actually have more to do with the rider, not the bike or bike size?

Must be mistaken. Though it makes me wonder why you never see a Busa in a Superbike race. Is it really that much more work? I wanna drive a litre bike too!

--Wag--

 

[manatrader]

Wag, the Busa is too heavy, too long and too low to be competitive on a race track, but because of those things it can go very fast very quickly so it rules the 1/4 mile.

 

[motorkar]

How about an 05 GSXR750, more power and torque than 600s and only about five pounds heavier, but not as crazy as litre bikes

 

[Jynx]

Am I mistaken or does it actually have more to do with the rider, not the bike or bike size?

Must be mistaken.  Though it makes me wonder why you never see a Busa in a Superbike race.  Is it really that much more work?  I wanna drive a litre bike too!

--Wag--

Might have something to do with the fact that it is 1300 CC's. Same reason you don't see a zx-12 on the track.

As such, there is really no competative class that they NEED to build the bike for. The reason that the busa has more cc's and is heavier, and that they don't try to save weight every place they can, is because both logically and financially, there is no point.

And as we have proven with the Busa...they don't HAVE to necessarily make it lighter and smaller to have people buy it. However, in the ultra-competative 600 and 1000 classes, they do.

 

[Aceshigh]

And as we have proven with the Busa...they don't HAVE to necessarily make it lighter and smaller to have people buy it. However, in the ultra-competative 600 and 1000 classes, they do.

True, and that's why Kawasaki had to bore out another 36 cubic inches on their 636 to compete with the other true 600cc bikes. That is what they had to do to get the competitive edge. Sad really......nice looking bike though.

I rode my buddies '04 R1 and I felt like I was on a thin rocket. Very wobbly steering and I truly hated it. This is after I sold my '03 R6 for the Busa mind you which I loved. The acceleration from a dead start can't compete with the Busa, but a rolling 50mph start and it pulls away.

Another buddy who also has an '04 R1 said another of our friends with his '05 Gixxer 750 kept whoopin his ass by pulling 40-50ft ahead of him from a dead start. I'd hate to see what the '05 1000 can do then. Another buddy just got it 3 days ago.....so I'll be finding out as soon as it's broken in.

 

[Wag]

Wag, the Busa is too heavy, too long and too low to be competitive on a race track, but because of those things it can go very fast very quickly so it rules the 1/4 mile.

And all this time, I thought it was just me!

--Wag--

 

[Mr Brown]

I myself would ride a 1000 or a 600 if I wasn't 6'7" 300lbs. When I ride on one of those I look like I was a pedestrian bending over to pickup a quarter when a guy on a 1000 or 600 ran into my butt. All that is left poking out is a tail end and wheel.

...frankly I dont feel the 600's or 1000's to be very small, perticulary if you see the kind of bikes that you get in India...

I hope the picture proves a point

Yeah, but we were talking about grown-up's bikes.........
600's and literbikes are physically very small. Plenty of power, just small.

 

[DAB]

Just so happens that Motor Cyclist magazine did a comparison of the 636 and '05 Gixxer 1K in a "Bigger is better, or is it?" article. All the test riders chose the Gixxer 1K (as they put it, it's a remarkable machine.)

 

[BulletTrain]

Dont you even miss the toruqe?

As has been said here before, you can teach a chimp how to sit on a bike and twist the throttle in a straightaway. Sooner or later I think most people who come into motorcycling with a passion for blasting straights become somewhat bored with that. At that point I believe they take one of three directions.

#1- They either sell their bike, or park it and don't ride it enough to matter...

#2- They become what some might call a poser. They only ride their bikes to the local hangout or coffee house and they sit or stand around with others that have reached this dead end.

#3- They take the direction I took and they learn to ride the twisties.

Please understand that I'm not knockin' anybody that takes a different direction than I did. I'm just stating an observation I've made since getting into the local riding scene. I could have gone in direction #1 myself at one point, but luckily Trey (Pimpbike) had already introduced me to twisty ridin' before I got to that point.

I've got nothing against the guys who only ride to the hangouts to show off their awesome bikes. I love lookin' at 'em. It's just that my interest is in the twisties.

In the twisties each corner is different and it NEVER gets boring. When I was into the straightline performance thing the torque was awesome but there's really only one way to point the bike down a straight and pin the throttle. Now that I'm into twisties and care nothing about railin' down a straightaway just sittin' on the bike I care nothing about torque.


And yes, a modern 600 should still out corner/out handle a modern litre with equal riders. Laws of physics... The litres are super light these days but the 600's are still quite a bit lighter. I can definitely feel the weight difference between the 10R and the 636. Equal riders should be able to hold more corner speed in technical twisties on the 600. In loose sweepers the litre torque would come into play more. In the tight, fun stuff it wouldn't. All torque would really do there is increase your chance of bustin' your @ss.

So no, I honestly don't miss the torque for my type of ridin'. I can see where you might miss it though if you ride differently than I do.

 

[BulletTrain]

I myself would ride a 1000 or a 600 if I wasn't 6'7" 300lbs. When I ride on one of those I look like I was a pedestrian bending over to pickup a quarter when a guy on a 1000 or 600 ran into my butt. All that is left poking out is a tail end and wheel.

...frankly I dont feel the 600's or 1000's to be very small, perticulary if you see the kind of bikes that you get in India...

I hope the picture proves a point

Yeah, but we were talking about grown-up's bikes.........
600's and literbikes are physically very small. Plenty of power, just small.

The 636 feels physically larger (wider and longer) than the 10R and gives me more leg room. I can move further back on the seat on the 636 as well so it gives me more upper body/arm room as well. It also has a longer wheelbase (per Kawi specs). Where are you getting your information on this? Just curious. I haven't measured the 636's width and length. Nor did I measure the 10. I'm speaking only from feel/appearance/feel... and the kawi spec on the wheelbase. May not be true for all 600's but in Kawi's case it is...

 

[BulletTrain]

Just so happens that Motor Cyclist magazine did a comparison of the 636 and '05 Gixxer 1K in a "Bigger is better, or is it?" article. All the test riders chose the Gixxer 1K (as they put it, it's a remarkable machine.)

Imagine that... Aren't *all* of the mags trying to sell those gixxers for Zuk?

 

[BulletTrain]

I myself would ride a 1000 or a 600 if I wasn't 6'7" 300lbs. When I ride on one of those I look like I was a pedestrian bending over to pickup a quarter when a guy on a 1000 or 600 ran into my butt. All that is left poking out is a tail end and wheel.

6'7" might be a problem but the 300 lbs wouldn't unless you just plain physically won't fit on the bike. I'm 6' and still pretty close to 300 (yeah, I fell off of the good eatin' thing around Christmas) and the 636 will fly with my fat ass in the saddle... I have officially joined the "It's bullsh*t that a big guy has to have a big bike based solely on his size." camp... as long as twisties are your thing. If you want to blast straights then yeah, the torque of the bigger bikes would be nice.

It's all relative... Your choice in bikes should still be based on more than just your physical size as long as "fit" isn't a problem.

 

[Dr Geekenstein]

My .02 cents....It is all in the rider for sure, I ride with several folks on smaller bikes, and none of them can keep up with me in corners and for sure the straights....not that I am that good but the busa can and does corner well too !

 

[BulletTrain]

My .02 cents....It is all in the rider for sure, I ride with several folks on smaller bikes, and none of them can keep up with me in corners and for sure the straights....not that I am that good but the busa can and does corner well too !

Oh yeah, it's ALL about the RIDER... No doubt.

But with equal riders the laws of physics take over.

The busa handles WAY better than most (including me before I knew anything about how to ride) make out like it will. Still, it simply cannot take as much corner speed as a 600.

 

[DAB]

Just so happens that Motor Cyclist magazine did a comparison of the 636 and '05 Gixxer 1K in a "Bigger is better, or is it?" article. All the test riders chose the Gixxer 1K (as they put it, it's a remarkable machine.)

Imagine that... Aren't *all* of the mags trying to sell those gixxers for Zuk?

Maybe, but I read foreign and American bike magazines, and so far every test has tipped in the '05 Gixxer's favor. But I still wouldn't want to own one personally.

I prefer my bike to be a little less twitchy, because I don't spend all my time canyon carving. I also ride two-up and do some highway cruising, and the current litre bikes and 600's can't fulfil that level of flexibility for me.

However, if I decided to buy a second bike strictly for track use, I'd take a very serious look at the 636 myself.

 

[BentValve]

Well I got to take my extended ride on a broken in 05' Gixxer 1K tonight..I left about 6:15 and got back home @ 10pm so it was a good ride.
Here are some pics after we returned:

 

[zxmurphy]

what did you think of it after the extended ride?

 

[BentValve]

The engine is smoother than I though yesterday and that back-torque limiting clutch is awesome.
When just putting along in first, 2nd or whatever ..say 2-3K its rolls along smooth as silk , the Busa is not that
smooth @ this RPM.
The Gixxer has no 5K rpm vibration whatsoever...in fact no vibration anywhere that I noticed. Ive really grown to hate the Busas vibes.. the guy who rode my Busa noticed this right away.

The wind protection was better than I first thought, much better. Its as good as the Busas at any speeds for my natural tuck at speeds that I am used to doing on the Busa. I tuck a little more on the Gixxer but its not an effort.
Interestingly the guy who rode my Busa though it felt way less agressive, he is 6' 3". He really liked the comfort of the Busa.
I however dont feel much of a difference in the seating position as far as the legs and arms go.
The seat however is less comfortable...I can see how it would get pretty uncomfortable for a longer trip...what I did not like is that the seat kind of pushed you into the tank.
But I think I could hack riding the Gixxer for 400-500 miles at a time.

The brakes are incredible on the Gixxer...but I do not dislike the Busa's brakes either...to me its just the way the Busa is...IMO they match with the bike...smooth to go, smooth to stop.


Now for the part that I am going to have to figure out before I can make a decision...
Cruising down the road @ 70mph for longer periods of time I noticed it was kind of an effort
to keep the bike going straight...it could be just that it does not tolerate any resting on the bars
at all. With the Busa I can rest on the bars here and there and it goes down the road perfectly straight.

Cornering:
The Gixxer is too fast for me right now, id lean into a corner and it would lean faster than I though..instead of rolling the
throttle I would let off and correct myself....I need alot more time with the bike before I would rail it.

The Busa corners nice and slow, even just turning off the street onto another street is kind of fun on the Busa, you can throw a bunch of weight over and the Busa just rolls into the corner and you get to feel some nice Gs.
The Gixxer is not as fun for just rolling around corners @ slower speeds....throw that much weight and you better hit the throttle. The Gix wants to hit the corners fast. No cruising the corners.

I ran out first and second and possibly third ...I forget but I know I had it to about 135 indicated.

Roll ons from 60mph in second are nuts...from 9-12 grand or so it just rips....I mean fast. Probably faster
than the Busa.

Its plenty fast and like the Busa you can be in any gear and it has plenty of power....the power band is clearly wider on the Gixxer, it pulls from 5K to redline just fine but it really rips after 8-9K. 1st gear way longer than the Busa's is ..at least it felt that way...second feels longer too and third feels about as long.

Slow speed cornering and even higher speed cornering is fun on the Busa...I am not sure how the Gixxer would be after really getting to know the bike which would take me a good 2K miles.

 

[BentValve]

I want to stress that i love the Gixxer's engine and fuel delivery...this alone could make me buy it. The back torque limiting clutch made a HUGE difference too. Ive never ridden a bike that revved so fast.

Right now there is a 75% chance that I will get the 06' Gixxer 1K.

The Busa's engine sounds awesome but its nowhere nearly as refined as the Gixxers is in runability, not even close.

 

[BentValve]

At this point I only see 3 areas I will miss on the Busa, revised from yesteday:

Its a Busa.
The fun cornering because I can lean hard at slower speeds.(actually I can lean hard all the time...the gixxer corners too damn fast!!...I am guessing I just have to adapt the to Gix, it too will be fun when I am ready to twist the wrist ...I now see how its a crazy cornering machine. Based on the lean and what the bike wanted for throttle ,id guess id have to be going at least 2.5 x the speed the Busa would be at the same weight shift/lean.
The seat comfort for longer rides.

Hmmm, thats it.

The Gixxer has going for it:

engine is awesome
brakes are awesome
acceleration is awesome
nice wide long powerband


BTW the guy who rode my Busa felt the Gixxer accelerated faster...he said the Busa does not have the
violent pull the Gixxer has @ 8K on up.   I have to disagree here to a point. I feel the Busa pulls as hard
but it does not accelerate as fast...especially from a roll on @ 50-60mph.
These are tons of fun on a Gixxer.  
I know my Busa well and I kinda know how much land I can cover from fast passes on the freeway....the Gix launches like freaking mad and id say I am easily 2 car lenghts past where the Busa would be on these short roll ons.



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