Today was the day. I went and picked up my K7 Gix Seven Five Oh. How exciting was that!? Best day of my life, right? Well...sort of.
Got to the dealer at about 11AM and signed all the necessary paperwork, changed into my gear and headed for home. Happy as a lark except for a screaming headache.
The bike: As stated, it's an 07 Gixxer 750. It has 6800 miles on it and is damn near cherry. I saw a couple of contact scratches on the tank. That's it. It is very clean (except for the rain on the way home) and runs great. Newish rear Pilot Power and a new Shinko 005 on front.
Handling: Very quick even with the Shi7ko tire up front the bike handled very well. Flickable, light....ah hell...it's a Gixxer, of course it handles well!
Power: Good grief! One could get in trouble in a hurry on this thing. I was behind Kristy on 151 in a long, open straight and we were going about 50MPH or so and I decided to gas it in 2nd. I reached around 9000 RPM and shifted up to third. Before I knew it I was looking at 105 on the clock and I really didn't stay in it that long. Crazy power. One thing I don't like already is the throttle response. It lurches when you come on throttle. I hate that. I was able to remedy it by using a taller gear in the tight sections, but it's still annoying.
Ergos: Here's where I am having some trouble. While this bike is far more usable than the 2003 CBR600RR I rode, it is still no Katana. I ended up with about 120 miles for the day and I am whooped. I can't really see doing all-day rides on it, yet. I am guessing it is something I have to work on. Build up to it. I also think my headache and being very tired today didn't help. I haven't given up on it yet.
All of these things combined make for a very nice super sport bike, but....I am still not sure my motivations match this bike. While on the way home, I got to thinking about it -- probably too hard.
I am not one for straight-line speed. I feel that 100MPH feels like 120 and 120 feels just about like 135 (which is the fastest I have been thusfar on the Katana). I don't need to go 140MPH. It's silly, it's dangerous and the stakes are way too high as far as I am concerned. I am not knocking anyone that likes to go really fast, it's just not my thing. My thing is smoothness in tight corners. Low stakes, fun and it takes a level of skill. I will be able to pass through Deal's Gap, for instance, a lot faster with a lot more ease than with the Katana. However, I will not be nearly as comfortable on the beautiful ride over there and I will tend to fatigue a lot quicker. I will be able to accelerate a lot faster on the Gix, but I will also have to put a lot more gas in it and will eat tires like candy.
I am not saying I made a mistake. I am saying I will probably miss the Katana when I ride the Gix. I did today and that's way too soon to be missing an ex when you just hopped on top of a super model by comparison.
Me + Katana = true love
Me + GSXR = it's complicated.
Got to the dealer at about 11AM and signed all the necessary paperwork, changed into my gear and headed for home. Happy as a lark except for a screaming headache.
The bike: As stated, it's an 07 Gixxer 750. It has 6800 miles on it and is damn near cherry. I saw a couple of contact scratches on the tank. That's it. It is very clean (except for the rain on the way home) and runs great. Newish rear Pilot Power and a new Shinko 005 on front.
Handling: Very quick even with the Shi7ko tire up front the bike handled very well. Flickable, light....ah hell...it's a Gixxer, of course it handles well!
Power: Good grief! One could get in trouble in a hurry on this thing. I was behind Kristy on 151 in a long, open straight and we were going about 50MPH or so and I decided to gas it in 2nd. I reached around 9000 RPM and shifted up to third. Before I knew it I was looking at 105 on the clock and I really didn't stay in it that long. Crazy power. One thing I don't like already is the throttle response. It lurches when you come on throttle. I hate that. I was able to remedy it by using a taller gear in the tight sections, but it's still annoying.
Ergos: Here's where I am having some trouble. While this bike is far more usable than the 2003 CBR600RR I rode, it is still no Katana. I ended up with about 120 miles for the day and I am whooped. I can't really see doing all-day rides on it, yet. I am guessing it is something I have to work on. Build up to it. I also think my headache and being very tired today didn't help. I haven't given up on it yet.
All of these things combined make for a very nice super sport bike, but....I am still not sure my motivations match this bike. While on the way home, I got to thinking about it -- probably too hard.
I am not one for straight-line speed. I feel that 100MPH feels like 120 and 120 feels just about like 135 (which is the fastest I have been thusfar on the Katana). I don't need to go 140MPH. It's silly, it's dangerous and the stakes are way too high as far as I am concerned. I am not knocking anyone that likes to go really fast, it's just not my thing. My thing is smoothness in tight corners. Low stakes, fun and it takes a level of skill. I will be able to pass through Deal's Gap, for instance, a lot faster with a lot more ease than with the Katana. However, I will not be nearly as comfortable on the beautiful ride over there and I will tend to fatigue a lot quicker. I will be able to accelerate a lot faster on the Gix, but I will also have to put a lot more gas in it and will eat tires like candy.
I am not saying I made a mistake. I am saying I will probably miss the Katana when I ride the Gix. I did today and that's way too soon to be missing an ex when you just hopped on top of a super model by comparison.
Me + Katana = true love
Me + GSXR = it's complicated.
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