Honda CBR1000RR

Check out this fantastic bike at Plymouth. Only 300 miles, Scorpion can plus original. Absolutely pristine. GT Motorcycles are offering this bike for £8,599.00.

If you’d like to take a closer look, feel free to call or drop into our Plymouth showroom, or alternatively you can browse our wide selection of motorbikes for sale online.

Specs

Colour: Repsol
Year: 2005
Mileage: 300
Location: Plymouth
Engine: 998cc inline for
Power: 170bhp at 112,50rpm
Steering: Electronic speed-sensitive damper
Ignition: Computer controlled digital
Dry Weight: 179.6kg
Fuel Capacity: 18.16 litres

Honda CBR1000RR

Check out this fantastic bike at Plymouth. Only 300 miles, Scorpion can plus original. Absolutely pristine. GT Motorcycles are offering this bike for £8,599.00.

If you’d like to take a closer look, feel free to call or drop into our Plymouth showroom, or alternatively you can browse our wide selection of motorbikes for sale online.

Specs

Colour: Repsol
Year: 2005
Mileage: 300
Location: Plymouth
Engine: 998cc inline for
Power: 170bhp at 112,50rpm
Steering: Electronic speed-sensitive damper
Ignition: Computer controlled digital
Dry Weight: 179.6kg
Fuel Capacity: 18.16 litres

Team Suzuki Castrol are the 2005 World Endurance Champions after a sensational walk-away victory at today’s penultimate fourth round at Oschersleben in Germany.

The French-based SERT team of Keiichi Kitagawa, Matthieu Lagrive and Vincent Philippe raced their GSX-R1000 to victory in the 24-hour event, winning by more than 20 laps despite an early crash.

The victory put them 45 points clear of Kawasaki Bolliger in the five-round series with only 25 points available. From the start of qualifying on Thursday it looked as though the race would come down to a four way battle between Suzuki Castrol, Yamaha Austria, Yamaha Phase One Endurance and Kawasaki Bolliger, with only Phase One and the Austrians able to challenge Suzuki Castrol for the championship title.

The race itself was action packed, with Suzuki Castrol and Yamaha Austria both crashing on oil in the opening 15 minutes. Both riders were able to rejoin the race, but Suzuki Castrol rider Philippe injured his left wrist in the fall. With the two fit Suzuki Castrol riders Keiichi Kitagawa and Matthieu Lagrive doing back-to-back sessions both Yamaha Austria and Yamaha Phase One saw a chance to pile the pressure.

Yamaha Phase One paid the price of this blistering pace just before midnight when their engine failed. Yamaha Austria held second place through the night, but a high-side crash by Thomas Hinterreiter in his first session in daylight on Sunday morning left the bike unrideable.

Kawasaki Bolliger and Kawasaki Diablo had been putting in reliable lap after reliable lap. The Bolliger bike made an unplanned stop to replace an exhaust system and another to change a leaking front fork, but otherwise the two Kawasakis ran a perfect race, finishing second and third behind the dominant Suzuki.

Further down the field, Suzuki No Limits & RT Motor Team, Suzuki Bridgestone Bikers Profi and Suzuki Austria Team 76 all completed the race without major incident, bringing the number of Suzukis in the top 10 to seven.

Said Phillipe: “It’s strange to win the World Championship with a broken hand. It’s good that I have ridden in the race; I had a lot of pain but I did five relays so I am happy. I don’t think it is possible to be World Champion if I don’t ride at every race, so I am very happy.”

Team mate Kitagawa added: “First of all I would like to thank the team. I’ve really enjoyed working with them and the other riders. I’m the first Japanese World Endurance Champion so I’m very pleased. Some of my fans have come over from Japan and they have really helped to motivate me during the race.”

Mr Teramoto, Head of Suzuki France said: “One of the most important categories for Suzuki is the sports models so winning World title is very important for us. Today I am very happy on behalf of Suzuki that Suzuki France has won this title, particularly in the 20th anniversary of the GSX-R series.”

(this article was distributed by the Suzuki press team and taken from insidebikes.com)

It’s the first session of the day and it’s still cool on this autumn morning. I shiver in my leathers, not entirely because of the venting in the Dainese suit. The track still has patches of dampness from the fog which rolls in every night off the Dan River, but is drying quickly. We’re helping it along with our laps. The last track day of the year. It’s going to be a good day.

The South Course at Virginia International Raceway has a hell of a long front straight. More than half a mile. Coming out of Oak Tree, the hard right-hander leading into it-where legend has it that years ago the car racers would deliberately rev their motors, trying to shake acorns loose onto the tarmac-I’m in third gear on the GSX-R1000. Deliberately overgearing it, trying to keep down wheelspin. Once onto the straight, speed builds in a rapid crescendo. Even short-shifting-trying to keep the front wheel on the ground-I’m soon on the far side of 160 mph. God’s country.

Some of life’s experiences defy description. Braking hard from those speeds, in what your mind tells you is an impossibly short distance, is one of them. Those HH pads and the six-pot calipers provide what seems to be perfectly fine braking-really powerful braking-everywhere else. Just not here. Past the braking marker, two fingers on the lever, squeezing like the trigger of a rifle, the tips of those fingers feeling for the load on the front tire. The rear end all light and softly shimmying, like the subtly-turning tail of one of those small-mouth holding station in the river over beyond the trees. There are damp patches here, too, and I can’t help but wonder if I haven’t overloaded that front tire as I roll through them. But no, I’m OK.

You never think you’re going to make it. The end of the straight comes at you like the Earth towards a crashing plane. It rises up like an unremitting wall, but with a rush like a cutting scimitar. Only at the very end, just when you’ve nearly given up all hope, does it seem like, “yes, I think maybe I can make that turn.” It always seems a surprise.

Look at a sportbike and you see studied, purposeful aggression. From the flowing bodywork to the race-inspired seating position to the short, stubby clipons, the message is unmistakable. There is power here, and speed. Wield it as you will.

Given that compelling message, we probably shouldn’t be surprised that an entire culture has risen around it; that new converts are assembled every day. And that, as with most cultures, a hierarchy inevitably arises out of the multitude. Unfortunately, for a vocal minority, their place in that pecking order is based on bluster and bravado and denial as much as on skill and talent. It’s often the guy who exudes the most hot air, who’s most in denial about the risks he takes, who lives the largest-at least in his own fantasies.

You see it every Sunday. Everywhere we sportbike types gather together. Along with the coffee and scrambled eggs and laughter, you’ll hear more exaggeration and embellishment and excuses than you can shake a stick at. Everything from how we saved that front-end tuck to why we ended up going wide in that one turn to how come we’re not running up front today. We work hard to fashion that golden image of ourselves.

And then there’s the track.

The track is many things. Obviously it’s fun, like the very best stretch of curvy road imaginable, but without the trees and the traffic and the gravel and the cops, and run over and over again, as if by some miracle. So euphoric that it defies description. A magic place. A legal drug.

But the track is other, more subtle things, as well. It is a teacher and a guide, not just on how to ride better but also serving up lessons in some of the more far-reaching qualities that affect our lives. Thinks like patience and persistence, humility and fortitude. The joy of riding above one’s limits. The satisfaction of doing something better than we ever though we could. Mostly, though, I love the track because of the truth I find there.

Riding a modern sportbike on the street is kind of like leaving that supermodel at her door with naught but a goodnight kiss-satisfying certainly, but leaving much to be desired. Yet to hear many street riders talk about it, you’d think they hit the ball out of the park. Some of them actually try

Sportbikes today are so remarkably good, their performance levels so astonishingly high, that one is able to extract only a small fraction of that performance on any public road. Fact is, riding really fast on the street is a whole lot less about skill and talent, and a whole lot more about simply how big a bet one is willing to place on the table. The bet, the stakes, being you, of course.

Which leaves only the track.

Only there can anything approaching the real truth about how good we really are be found. Only there does all the bluster and bravado and exaggeration fall away to a blunt reality, the certain truth of the numbers on the stopwatch.

It’s the most honest place I know.

(this article was taken from sportrider.com)

It’s the first session of the day and it’s still cool on this autumn morning. I shiver in my leathers, not entirely because of the venting in the Dainese suit. The track still has patches of dampness from the fog which rolls in every night off the Dan River, but is drying quickly. We’re helping it along with our laps. The last track day of the year. It’s going to be a good day.

The South Course at Virginia International Raceway has a hell of a long front straight. More than half a mile. Coming out of Oak Tree, the hard right-hander leading into it-where legend has it that years ago the car racers would deliberately rev their motors, trying to shake acorns loose onto the tarmac-I’m in third gear on the GSX-R1000. Deliberately overgearing it, trying to keep down wheelspin. Once onto the straight, speed builds in a rapid crescendo. Even short-shifting-trying to keep the front wheel on the ground-I’m soon on the far side of 160 mph. God’s country.

Some of life’s experiences defy description. Braking hard from those speeds, in what your mind tells you is an impossibly short distance, is one of them. Those HH pads and the six-pot calipers provide what seems to be perfectly fine braking-really powerful braking-everywhere else. Just not here. Past the braking marker, two fingers on the lever, squeezing like the trigger of a rifle, the tips of those fingers feeling for the load on the front tire. The rear end all light and softly shimmying, like the subtly-turning tail of one of those small-mouth holding station in the river over beyond the trees. There are damp patches here, too, and I can’t help but wonder if I haven’t overloaded that front tire as I roll through them. But no, I’m OK.

You never think you’re going to make it. The end of the straight comes at you like the Earth towards a crashing plane. It rises up like an unremitting wall, but with a rush like a cutting scimitar. Only at the very end, just when you’ve nearly given up all hope, does it seem like, “yes, I think maybe I can make that turn.” It always seems a surprise.

Look at a sportbike and you see studied, purposeful aggression. From the flowing bodywork to the race-inspired seating position to the short, stubby clipons, the message is unmistakable. There is power here, and speed. Wield it as you will.

Given that compelling message, we probably shouldn’t be surprised that an entire culture has risen around it; that new converts are assembled every day. And that, as with most cultures, a hierarchy inevitably arises out of the multitude. Unfortunately, for a vocal minority, their place in that pecking order is based on bluster and bravado and denial as much as on skill and talent. It’s often the guy who exudes the most hot air, who’s most in denial about the risks he takes, who lives the largest-at least in his own fantasies.

You see it every Sunday. Everywhere we sportbike types gather together. Along with the coffee and scrambled eggs and laughter, you’ll hear more exaggeration and embellishment and excuses than you can shake a stick at. Everything from how we saved that front-end tuck to why we ended up going wide in that one turn to how come we’re not running up front today. We work hard to fashion that golden image of ourselves.

And then there’s the track.

The track is many things. Obviously it’s fun, like the very best stretch of curvy road imaginable, but without the trees and the traffic and the gravel and the cops, and run over and over again, as if by some miracle. So euphoric that it defies description. A magic place. A legal drug.

But the track is other, more subtle things, as well. It is a teacher and a guide, not just on how to ride better but also serving up lessons in some of the more far-reaching qualities that affect our lives. Thinks like patience and persistence, humility and fortitude. The joy of riding above one’s limits. The satisfaction of doing something better than we ever though we could. Mostly, though, I love the track because of the truth I find there.

Riding a modern sportbike on the street is kind of like leaving that supermodel at her door with naught but a goodnight kiss-satisfying certainly, but leaving much to be desired. Yet to hear many street riders talk about it, you’d think they hit the ball out of the park. Some of them actually try

Sportbikes today are so remarkably good, their performance levels so astonishingly high, that one is able to extract only a small fraction of that performance on any public road. Fact is, riding really fast on the street is a whole lot less about skill and talent, and a whole lot more about simply how big a bet one is willing to place on the table. The bet, the stakes, being you, of course.

Which leaves only the track.

Only there can anything approaching the real truth about how good we really are be found. Only there does all the bluster and bravado and exaggeration fall away to a blunt reality, the certain truth of the numbers on the stopwatch.

It’s the most honest place I know.

(this article was taken from sportrider.com)

In regards to cars and race tracks, I have a fair amount of experience. In fact, my second time driving a manual transmission, I drove a “Days of Thunder” movie car at the Lowes Motor Speedway. Since then, I have driven street cars, NASCAR stock cars, open wheel racecars, and Grand Touring racecars on tracks like Sebring, Road Atlanta, Virginia International Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Portland International Raceway, and Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Canada. If you couldn’t already tell, I am comfortable on four wheels at speed.

However, when it comes to motorcycles, they scare the living daylights out of me. Well, I should say they use to, because I recently caught the fever to start riding. This fever was brought on by two reasons: one, because as a bicycle rider, I could only image how much more freedom motorcycle riders have, and two, because the babes tend to love motorcycle riders. Having visions of sizzling Betty’s clinging to one’s backside on a bike can help anyone put aside the fear of crashing and burning. If you too have been bitten by the bug, then check out this series on learning to ride.

Long before helmets, leather jackets, boots, or the bike itself are bought, attendance at a motorcycle riding course is mandatory. Well, it’s mandatory if you want to learn to ride the proper way and to learn techniques that could save your life. These courses will also help raise the overall level of enjoyment of riding a motorcycle. Don’t get it twisted though, because both experienced riders and novices like me can and will benefit from these courses.

“These courses are an excellent way for riders to learn the four basic skills necessary to ride a bike, i.e. straight-line riding, shifting, stopping and cornering/turning. It also introduces the student to strategies so that they will know how to handle many of the situations that they will encounter on the street.” Donna Fisher, motorcycle riding instructor.

Most courses are conducted over three days and take place on weekends. The cost for these courses can range anywhere from $125 to $190. These charges include the use of a helmet and the use of the school’s motorcycles. Our course started on a Friday evening with an introduction to your classmates, an explanation as to why they were attending the course, and a text book introduction to the controls of a motorcycle. One of the best testimonies for attending the class came from Steve Elliot, who had recently had a serious accident the first time he rode his bike.

Steve had just picked up his new Harley Davidson from the dealer and was headed for an empty parking lot to get accustomed to his new ride. Another motorcycle was parked on the side of the road, in his path, but was obscured from view by a dumpster. When it did become visible, Steve attempted to swerve and accelerate around it. Steve recalled, “My first mistake was not respecting how powerful and fast Harleys are. Before the accident, I thought that only “crotch rocket” sports bikes were fast and that Harleys were slow.” The combination of loose gravel, the sudden change in direction and too much throttle input ended in a crash. Steve’s accident left him with five broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade, a broken collar bone, and a punctured lung. “I have been an adrenaline junky all my life enjoying high risk activities like scuba diving and parachute jumping. The difference is that I approached them with a level of respect. There is a certain amount of accepted risk for each sport that we participate in, but a reasonable person will try to reduce the risks by approaching these activities thoughtfully.” Steve claimed.

The class was bunched in small groups to read over written material pertaining to the motorcycle itself, riding techniques, accident avoidance, and overall safety. This information and group questions were then reviewed by the class together. The class was then “forced” to watch several videos that must have been produced in Wisconsin because they contained plenty of cheese. While the execution of the videos was pretty bad, the sum of their content was well worth the time. Throughout the evening and the following day, the deadly dangers of motorcycles was brought up and reinforced again and again and again.

Riding instructor Donna Fisher, revealed, “Two predominate causes that are often sited for accidents involving novice/uneducated riders are situations where they run wide in curves and are unable to swerve or stop effectively to avoid objects.” These issues were addressed in the course materials. Consequently, while the morbid videos may have seemed counter-productive, statistics show that motorcycle accidents tend to happen when riders become complacent or overconfident.

Day two started bright and early when everyone was introduced to their new training steed. Although some had never been on a motorcycle, simply being familiar with where the key controls are made a difference. We began by learning how to start the motorcycles and how to ride while using our legs to keep balance. By lunch, we had progressed to a faster pace, with both feet on the pegs. The riding lessons consisted of changing gears, stopping quickly but smoothly, making wide fast turns, and maneuvering the bike through tight slow speed turns.

Both Steve and Robin Grubb attended three day riding courses to improve their riding skills and to become safer bikers. It was Robin who took the course first; a few months before her husband. “Riding classes should be mandatory for all motorists, riders, and drivers alike. These courses will open your eyes to many safety concerns that most riders and especially drivers are not aware of. Drivers should take the course because it would give a much higher level of respect for riders.” She then went on to explain how the course saved her from serious injury during a ride.

The incident happened during a run up to Pilot Mountain in North Carolina with a local Hog chapter. Robin had a little over 1,000 miles under her belt when she took this trip, so she wasn’t an inexperienced rider. As she was taking the last switch back curve just before reaching the top, the frame work upon which her running boards were attached caught the asphalt. “In an instant, the lesson on not braking while leaning or turning flashed in my mind. So I brought the bike back to an upright position and brought it to a stop in a controlled manner just as they had taught me,” Robin
remembered.

Like Robin, her husband Steve also had biking experience, primarily off-road, before taking the class. “After she had taken the course, she constantly preached to me that I needed to take the class, and after her near accident, her preaching hit home,” Steve Grubb remarked, “when riding a motorcycle, your vision is one of, if not the most important, safety elements for a biker. The course made me aware of many safety concerns that I wasn’t aware of before, one of which was looking ahead. Now I am more observant of things that are in front of me, which allows me to react quickly and safely,” said Steve.

Everyone walked away from the course with a new respect for motorcycle riding. They also came away with better skills and will enjoy riding more than ever. “I think that the better you get at what you do, the more comfortable you will be doing them, which translates to more enjoyable rides,” Donna Fisher proclaimed.

Last but not least, if you pass one of these three-day courses, you will not have to take a road evaluation test at the DMV. In addition, most insurance companies will give you a 10% to 20% discount on your policy. If these benefits are not enough to convince you to take a rider course, I suggest that you read this article again.

By the way, if you are a hip-hop music fan, you probably know what the letters RR represent when on a motorcycle. The term Ruff Ryders was made largely popular by rap artist DMX, but it is also the name of the record label that first signed him. However, when you see RR on my Honda CBR F4i, it represents Rookie Rider. Um, um excuse me, Rookie Ryder…..ya heard!

(this article was taken from speedtv.com)

Diversity in motorcycling is maintained as figures released by the Motor Cycle Industry Association show a continuing growth on the year to date sales from 2004 to 2005 in the adventure sport (32%), naked (15%) and custom (7%) sectors.

The registration figures overall show that the total sales of motorcycles during June 2005 are just up by 1% on June 2004, but total registrations, including mopeds and scooters, for the year to date and month on month comparisons are however down by 2%.

By comparison to the car industry, motorcycle sales are more favourable. The car industry saw a drop in sales figures. New car registrations in July 2005 are down 6.6% on July 2004 and down 5.9% year to date.

Interest and enthusiasm for motorcycling is still strong in the UK, and there are approximately 3.5 million people who have motorcycle entitlement on their licence. There is also good news for motorcyclists that riding a bike or scooter, of any type is getting safer.

Department for Transport figures show the number of powered two-wheeler (PTW) casualties fell by 16% in 2004 (585 deaths) compared to 2003. Although PTW traffic fell during this period it resulted in a further improved casualty rate per mile.

Craig Carey-Clinch, MCI’s Director of Public Affairs said, “Motorcycle sales have remained relatively stable this month and people are still choosing a diverse range of bikes to meet their different needs. Year to date figures show that the adventure sport sector is experiencing the biggest growth but when you look at the figures from July 2004 compared to July 2005 the sports/ touring sector saw an increase of 13% and the supersport sector an increase of 10%.

“People’s interest in motorcycling is broadening and there are more reasons than ever for people to either continue riding or start, whether it is for leisure or commuting purposes. Safer roads, avoiding congestion and adopting a cost-effective and convenient way of travelling are just some of the explanations that maintain motorcycling’s appeal.

(this article is taken from insidebikes.com)