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Bikes are so Gorgeous these days you could have one in your front room as an ornament. :cool:
 
Draeger said:
Strange you should say that about the Duke and V-Twins feeling "top heavy" and thus affecting the handling, kidloco. The Mille is renowned for feeling a little "top heavy" but by god, it's the best handling thing I've ever planted my backside on. I can only think of two occasions when I've managed to get it really out of shape, once on the track at Knockhill on my 2nd ever lap which was purely down to being too cocky for a track virgin and once on the road about 3 years ago whilst being tailed by a mate on a Blade RR3 which again, was down to my own silliness at the time. :cool:

Rest of the time it's been rock solid. I've had goes on a few much more modern and recent bikes which allege to be hugely better in the handling stakes than a 10 year old bike like mine and was left unimpressed. So yeah - good idea to stick with what you know, your benchmark for handling sounds like the R1, mine is the RSV. And yeah, twins are an aquired taste as I've said tons of times before. You either fall in love from the word "Go" or not. 99.9% of folk who get a twin for the first time and initially tell people "Hmmm, I kinda like it but I'm not sure, will need to get used to it" end up selling very soon because they never get used to the way they ride compared to an inline 4. I was 5 mins in the saddle when I bought mine and had already made my mind up that twins were for me forever!!.

Anyway, enjoy the R1, looks like a keeper. Curious, did you trade in the Duke for it or sell it privately then buy the Yam?.

I'm still undecided as to whether to sell up this summer. New baby arrived 2 weeks ago, I'm cycling more and more now in my spare time, both mountain bike and road and the Mille gets fired up and taken for a spin maybe two or three times in a 3 month period. Hardly worth it. But I know for a fact that if I do sell, I'll miss it like hell. :(
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Yep as you say mate. Vtwins are love it or hate it thing. My brother has an SP1 and he would never go back to a inline 4 now. I tried and tried but just wasnt enjoying my riding on the Duke. I only covered 400 miles last year beucase of it :(

I sold the Duke privately. for a couple of hundred more than I piad for it. Guy snatched my hand off. Think I could have got more to be honest but I just wanted rid. Saw the R1 one eBay when I just just browsing for early red and white R1s. Seemed far to good to miss up for the cash. The shop selling it was 40 mins away so went to see it and when I saw how clean it was I bought it there and then.

The price I paid for it I honestly dont think ill mind if I dont use it that much. Even if its just the odd trackday. Where as if I would have spent a great amount on a brand new bike I know I would be fuming at the british summer time passes us by for another year.
 
Sorry to hear you couldn't get on with the Duke. For me I love V-Twins but it did take a while for me to adapt my riding style to get the best from it on the track.

My 999 was the best handling bike I have ever owned but to try to set it up to ride like an IL4 was never going to work to begin with.
 
On my Tuono i rarley see much more than 80 miles to a tank (about 17 quid) but thats with lower gearing .. pc3 ... akros (no baffles) think the best i have seen is 120 miles but big twins are never good on fuel. Im guessing Draeger sees abit more with the fairing but wont be much in it

Persil
 
4T5 said:
Bikes are so Gorgeous these days you could have one in your front room as an ornament. :cool:
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It's a good idea, I tried it years a go with my R1, wheeled into flat lounge and positioned in corner, looked amazing.

Woke up in morning and whole flat stunk of petrol... so carefully wheeled it out and dropped it as I came out the patio door DOH
 
I did not realise big twins were so bad on fuel! once I had my GSXR fueled properly it was faster but I actually saw better fuel consumption! 170miles to about £17 fill up.
 
I don't think anyone worries about mpg, no but as Dogbreath said, it can sometimes be a pain on a long run having to stop slightly more often than your i4 riding mates, especially if you are on a group ride participating in *ahem* "spirited" riding progress. :D

Similar figures to Persil's Tuono - Normal weekly use for commuting I'll see @110 miles worth of riding on the trip meter before the warning light comes on. Fast road use will have that drop to about 80 m or lower. That's with 16t front and 44t rear Renthal gearing, Evoluzione Race Airbox, Rhein Teknic ECU and Renegade twin highmount exhausts.

I recall on a tour of Scotland putting to the test "how long can I ride when the orange warning light comes on?". Came on north of Pitlochry on the A9 with the trip showing 110 miles and I nursed a fully laden with a pillion, expanded tankbag and throwover sports panniers RSV into Pitlochry for fuel where it showed as I pulled up into the petrol station, 135 miles.

It's weird, I never think twice about mpg on the bike, just filling it up when it needs it compared to the car. Guess its because the bike is really just a "plaything". :)
 
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I dont think any sports V-Twin has good fuel economy. My old SP1 was quite good with a PCIII, managed a good 110miles before reserve (Actually got over 140mils before reserve on a motorway stint)

Not all IL4's are good. The wifes 636, barely manages 110 miles before reserve. Thankfully my R1 does 120-130miles (140miles with some gentle riding a few weeks ago)


As for 1000cc VTwins... They are overweight and underpowered. They're roughly the same speed as a newish 600 in a straight line, but much heavier. The torque is good, but a wound up 600 can pull the same imo. I guess it depends on your riding style, lazy or active :) Personally I love keeping bikes on the boil, which is the way I rode the SP1, but a 600 feels good when you do it.

Nothing wrong with a VTwin, but things have moved on and the old 1000cc VTwins haven't.
 
Lazy, easy power delivery is where its at for me as well as the safety factor of thunder, sounding like a Lancaster bomber at full chat whilst popping and banging on the over run always makes me grin like the village idiot. :D
 
MouseMat2004 said:
I dont think any sports V-Twin has good fuel economy. My old SP1 was quite good with a PCIII, managed a good 110miles before reserve (Actually got over 140mils before reserve on a motorway stint)

Not all IL4's are good. The wifes 636, barely manages 110 miles before reserve. Thankfully my R1 does 120-130miles (140miles with some gentle riding a few weeks ago)


As for 1000cc VTwins... They are overweight and underpowered. They're roughly the same speed as a newish 600 in a straight line, but much heavier. The torque is good, but a wound up 600 can pull the same imo. I guess it depends on your riding style, lazy or active :) Personally I love keeping bikes on the boil, which is the way I rode the SP1, but a 600 feels good when you do it.

Nothing wrong with a VTwin, but things have moved on and the old 1000cc VTwins haven't.
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Sorry but what a crock of **** lol .

My Tuono is 179 kg 140bhp at the rear wheel and 85 lbs of torque . Of the lights or up to a ton none (and i mean none) of my il4 riding mates can touch it under 100 (after that the aerodynamic advantage takes over ) and as for a 600 staying with me ..all i can say is rofl .

Daffest statement i have seen in bikes for a long time .. And if we have a group meet up this year (heres hoping) i will happily prove the fact ^^

Im also Guessing that Ducatis vtwin (1198) with 180hp and 100 lbs of torque isnt man enough or modern enough ?

Also which 600 has over 120hp never mind 140bhp and more than 60lbs of torque ?
 
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duc999 said:
Which 'old' 1000cc twins are you talking about exactly ?
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TL1000R, SP1/2, RSV/Mille, 916/996/998/999. They're all roughly 115-130BHP and they're all about 200kg dry.


For instance the wifes 2003 636 makes 115BHP rear wheel and weighs 163kg dry. My R1 weighs 173kg and makes 155BHP, I could hammer my SP1 through the gears no problems but the R1 goes into warp 10 when you go WOT!
 
Persil said:
Sorry but what a crock of **** lol .

My Tuono is 179 kg 140bhp at the rear wheel and 85 lbs of torque . Of the lights or up to a ton none (and i mean none) of my il4 riding mates can touch it under 100 (after that the aerodynamic advantage takes over ) and as for a 600 staying with me ..all i can say is rofl .

Daffest statement i have seen in bikes for a long time .. And if we have a group meet up this year (heres hoping) i will happily prove the fact ^^

Im also Guessing that Ducatis vtwin (1198) with 180hp and 100 lbs of torque isnt man enough or modern enough ?

Also which 600 has over 120hp never mind 140bhp and more than 60lbs of torque ?
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Theres no way a Tuono makes 140BHP rear wheel. My SP1 has been on the dyno at 125BHP RW, which is very healthy, I saw a few other VTwins on that same day, none making over that (lowest was 115BHP) and all the 'head to head' Dyno runs in Bike Mags between the RSV's, TLR's SP1/2's etc show them all pretty much the same BHP. I excluded the 1098/1198 from my comments because that is much lighter and faster than the older generation of V-Twins.

My experience is directly between me having a SP1 and the wife having a 2003 636. Riding them both back to back on the road and on the track, I can go faster on the 636 due to its lighter handling and better brakes. I'm not saying VTwins are crap, I'm just saying they're not they're the greatest of bikes to ever walk the earth. I had a SP1 for 4 years and loved every moment btw, but I feel I am in a position to make a comparison between a VTwin, 600 and a IL4 1000.

I'm a part of a few trackday forums and I think they all agree that a fairly good rider would be faster on a 600 than a VTwin. Dont forget slugging around an extra 30-40kg takes its toll.
 
102 kW (139 PS; 137 hp) @ 9500 rpm for a standard Tuono . which i guess is 125ish at the wheel

My Tuono with full titanium akros (no baffles ) airbox mod and properly setup on the dyno (nearly 6hrs of dyno time for 3 different maps)

The sp1 was 20+kg heavier than the Tuono and 10hp down (at the crank) .

I do have the dyno sheets somewhere for my bike if you want paper proof (not that dyno charts are that accurate) but comming from a Gsxr1000K6 to the Tuono the seat of the pants dyno dosent lie :P

Yes maybe on the track a 636 would give me a hard time but nobody mentioned on the track . side by side roll ons with a 09 plate r1 with 190 bhp at the wheel from 40mph the Tuono munched it to a ton till the r1 got into its upper power reserves but on the road the 0-100 dash is where its all about . Even swapping bikes (me on the R1 ) my mate killed me on the roll on and he must be 5 stone heavier than me (and 4" taller)

I have been riding bikes all my life (now 41 ) and always had il4's but on the street the v-twin is a force to be recond with (still to try a triple)

Persil
 
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