My new Rocket Ship

[rocket]

So does it go like shit off a shovel then or what ? I've read they are great bikes with a bonkers engine

Yes to put it bluntly it has grunt anywhere in the rev range. With the throttle wound back it feels like the front is floating all the time and I'm getting quite a bit of head shake.Braking and entering the corner is all civilised and pretty smooth then wind the throttle back and it just wants to take off. I thought coming off the v-ywin aprilia it would not have as much punch as that out of corners and have a power band like the zx636. Not the case it maybe the way it delivers the power but it feels hard hitting and constant.

[Blade]

In fairness Its got 40-50 horsepower more than the prilla and there known to be the most torquey il4 litre bike as they have a long stoke motor.

Don't forget the all dominate s1000rr was based in a gixer 5. Hard to believe such a brilliant bike as the gixer 5 is now 10 years old. Still a bench mark for all but the insanely mental.

[Perkles]

So does it go like shit off a shovel then or what ? I've read they are great bikes with a bonkers engine

Yes to put it bluntly it has grunt anywhere in the rev range. With the throttle wound back it feels like the front is floating all the time and I'm getting quite a bit of head shake.Braking and entering the corner is all civilised and pretty smooth then wind the throttle back and it just wants to take off. I thought coming off the v-ywin aprilia it would not have as much punch as that out of corners and have a power band like the zx636. Not the case it maybe the way it delivers the power but it feels hard hitting and constant.

Sounds pukka mate lets get a day at mallory sorted

[rocket]

I got the tyres back from the fitters this morning so got them back on the bike. I also ordered a set of captive wheels spacers for the bike they are BRILLIANT. Made fitting the wheels a dream so much easier.

I went out to scrub the tyres in. First impressions the initial turn in is very good they make turning into a corner very easy with a steady drop in I would say the same if not a little more aggressive than supercorsa's. When on the side of the tyre they offer plenty of grip and the bike was planted. I did not push the tyres that hard on the side or edge. I was not slow on entry speed but made sure i wound the throttle on steady. One thing i was really impressed with is how stable the bike now feels and how well its riding potholes and ruff surfaces. The twitchyness i was experiencing in the earlier ride has really calmed down and ruff roads were i usually have to back off or feel a lot of chatter through the bars had pretty much disappeared.
Really happy with them they need a good run now they have been pretty much scrubbed in.

[Blade]

Sounds good mate, your selling these to me. Turn in better than supercorsa is impressive.

[DaytonAndy]

New supercorsas or well used? I nearly fell off my bike when I put new tyres on it turned in that much quicker!

[Perkles]

I must be the only biker that can't tell any difference in tyres new or used sticky or touring
I had bt10s on my Ducati and thought they were ace ,everyone says they are shit

[rocket]

New supercorsas or well used? I nearly fell off my bike when I put new tyres on it turned in that much quicker!

Understand what your saying but i don't think super corsa's are that aggressive on turn in. Had new and a set of used 10 lap worns.
The tyre looks tall on the bike and i have gone for a 190-55 to aid turn in.

[Blade]

I believe the m7rr is taller than the outgoing m5.

I'm a mine of useless information

[duke63]

I must be the only biker that can't tell any difference in tyres new or used sticky or touring
I had bt10s on my Ducati and thought they were ace ,everyone says they are shit

Maybe you just don't let them mess with your mind.

I can feel immediate differences when having new tyres but not always whether I prefer them or not.

To be honest I'm not sure you can buy a bad tyre anymore ( aside from Maxxis tyres ) only tyres you prefer over another. Track time is the only place I have ever really noticed differences in grip.

[Blade]

I'm no demon racer but I can tell the difference in tyres.

I can notice difference in warm up time, turn in, grip and carcass stiffness and all are pretty obvious IMO.

Maybe you have just had very similar tyres Perkles.

[Perkles]

I'm no demon racer but I can tell the difference in tyres.

I can notice difference in warm up time, turn in, grip and carcass stiffness and all are pretty obvious IMO.

Maybe you have just had very similar tyres Perkles.

Bt10s and supercorsas on paper chalk and cheese but still cant tell the difference

[Blade]

Fooking hell mate, the way you ride I'm blown away you can't tell the difference between them.

I wish I was the same, although I can tell the difference I don't always see it as a positive as sh1t can get in your head after one little slide. If you can just get on and ride hard as you do that's a huge positive IMO.

[Perkles]

It concerns me I can't tell what's going on ,it's great you can't tell warm up times etc,I'm just not there yet
The m7rr is a mighty impressive tyre from what I saw on kwacks zx6r it should suit rockets gsxr

[Blade]

Saying that I can tell warm up times sounds like I'm some sort of expert which I'm obviously not (far from it) but from bitter experience and having the back twitch or slide (probably only 0.1 mm) when the tyre is cold I get a feeling of roughly how long they take to get some heat into them.

The GP Racers I'm currently using take a little while to get some heat in them where as the Rosso Corsa warm up a lot quicker. The tyre that IMO warmed up quickest in my limited experience was the Metzler M5. I guess the M7RR will be similar as they both have a lot of silica and are designed to operate in a wide range of temperatures.

[rocket]

Well every time i have stopped i have felt my tyres and they don't seem to as hot as I expected. I guess the tarmac is not holding lots of heat at the moment with the up and down weather we are having.

I am far from an expert on tyres or suspension for that matter if it holds a line and grips that's a good from me :-)

[rocket]

It concerns me I can't tell what's going on ,it's great you can't tell warm up times etc,I'm just not there yet
The m7rr is a mighty impressive tyre from what I saw on kwacks zx6r it should suit rockets gsxr

I would not worry neither can I. i just put it down to the tyres and bike being far more capable than I am.

[rocket]

So I thought I would update this thread as a bit has changed to the bike.

I had a problem with the brakes I was getting vibration through the lever I contacted the dealer and they kindly sent some new discs and pads. I thought I would upgrade the lines at the same time. I bought hell line kit and fitted that. They have been a swine to bleed but I think I have got them as good as I can. The lever has a fair bit of travel before it bites but when it does there is lots of braking power. I got some after market levers but after trying them they made the the travel worse so I put the standard levers back on.


I bought a Bazzaz unit it is the zfi-tc model which means it can be mapped altering the fuel and has a form of traction control. It came with a switch so I can select what level of traction control and switch between 2 different maps. The quick shifter it came with was not working so I replaced it with the newer strain gauge type.

Installing the bazzaz consisted of taking the tank , air box and the rear seat off so I had easy access to route the cables and plug it in. While the air-box was off a pipercross air filter fell in it. When doing the shifter install I needed a new rod this was not in with the new shifter I bought so I ended up buying some rear sets.

The software for the bazzaz unit is very easy to use. You can quickly load maps and alter them if you know what your doing. There is a auto tune part of the software which maps the bike for you. To use this fuction you need to get the auto tune module from bazzaz which comes with a wide band 02 sensor. You set it in map mode and take it for a ride and it maps as your riding.(i have got hold of one of these units and will be trying it out)

So what's it ride like.
The quick shifter is excellent very smooth shifts. The fuelling is a little off it's not as crisp under 4k but still smooth just needs ironing out which will hopefully be done with the auto tune. I think I have the rear sets in the right place now after the 4th time of adjusting. The brakes are a lot better than they were and are more than capable. I am really impressed with the tyres I would definitely recommend them I can not wait to see what they feel like on some nice dry roads in Wales.
I'm really bonding with the bike It eggs me on , makes me grin and scares me all at the same time.

[Perkles]

Some nice mods there rocket,Looking forward to seeing your bike in Wales

[Blade]

Nice one Rocket sounds amazing and very much look forward to seeing it briefly before you disappear into the distance at warp speed