Perkle's has what he calls his Test Road. It's got a couple of decent straights and some sharp corners, one of which is banked. So as we had a change of route today we headed for that road so I could have a go on his 10r.
Coming off the upright and comfortable z1000sx makes the riding position seem a bit extreme. The bars seemed to be lower than the seat, which has a decent amount of room for a full on sportsbike. The pegs are in a good position, they've given it some thought.
After a few miles I managed to get my head around the riding position I got a feel for the bike. This thing feels small. Like 600cc small. It also handles like a 600. A couple of times I had to correct my cornering as it turned in quicker than I was expecting. It's very nimble. Perkles told me that it's the easiest bike he's ridden for getting his knee down and I can believe that. It'll flick from side to side and give some serious lean angles but without feeling like it's flopping over, as many modern bikes do.
Don't forget, this isn't my bike and the bigger than me owner was sat right behind me on my pride and joy, so I wasn't going to spank it.
Of course I wasn't
Oh, ok, maybe I twisted the throttle a couple of times.
Fueling is spot on but on roll ons I managed to find a little bit of a flat spot. That said the z1000sx is geared differently so I'm used to being lazy and not having to work for the revs, but that's iif you're chasing new lap times. The engine still spins up quicker than you need. If you want you can ride it like a 600 and use the gearbox then it's even quicker. In fact it seems to respond quite well to being worked hard.
And yes, it's fast. Very fooking fast. But in a laugh our head off I'm on a rollercoaster fast, not a falling off a building fast. The disco lights egging you on don't help to back it off.
Brakes are great, nice and strong with good feel. No sense of grabbing and coupled with the excellent front forks you can probably barrel into a corner and really hammer the stoppers, bang it down a couple of gears then pin the throttle.
Talking of suspension I didn't find it wanting. I know Blade has bought a top of the range rear shock so it would be interesting to compare the bikes, but I didn't at any point today find myself frustrated with the rear. The feedback was there and it was coping with the British roads. I suspect as it's OEM it'll need changing if you're doing track stuff.
I rode it a decent distance and got a good feel for the bike. The damper works really well; you know it's there but it's not interfering. The seat and riding position isn't designed for distances but it is for the quick stuff.
Would I have one? Yep. Will I get one? Unlikely.
I like to work my sports 
