First impressions of riding my vintage SP-1

[mrgrn]

you are on the wrong forum

[robfromsc]

I think you guys have your panties twisted, didn't sound like the OP was dis'n the RC... He called it what it was, or am I missing something. It is a classic bike, make no mistake. Having some good handling characteristics. But it is also heavy and slow. It is what it is, classic and very cultish, but fastest down the block its not.

[canuck51]

(RC51 is) slow

I have to laugh at all the posers. IIRC a stock RC51
was tested when it was new by one of the magazines
at 10.5 seconds in the quarter mile.

Just for comparison, who here currently drives a car
on the street which is quicker than 10.5 through the
quarter? I'll bet not one blowhard here does.

"Slow" my *ss - from the drivel here, you would think
an RC51 would have trouble keeping up with a Model
A Ford, going from stoplight to stoplight.

An RC51 is plenty fast enough for the street, thank
you.

[nomo]

^ Don't waste your time canuck . I wish this thread would die but it's cold here so what the hell . No long standing member of this forum makes direct comparisons between the '51 and the current crop of SS's EXCEPT the OP , yet somehow we're all deluded and defensive . I bought my RC new in 05 even though the faster GSXR1000 , R1 , and Ninja 10 were MUCH cheaper b/c I want and appreciate what is IMO a legendary race bike with amazing racing success . Yeah , the RC's a 10.3 second bike but SLOW b/c the Inlines are 9.8 second bikes .

[06450F]

No place in this thread did i make any mention of giving any care to why anyone purchased the RC 51 (including me).

Simple fact be stated the RC51 is a dated machine!

Everything else anyone is adding is implied, and or personal opinion including the defensive stance some take to their purchase.

Comparisons aside the RC's spec sheet shows its age!

[dstewart]

Originally Posted by 06450F

Maybe you last two posters should read each response to this post i have made.

"I enjoy my RC!" Its a hell of a bike!


Just stating the fact as some have challenged that the RC is not dated when in all reality the recent 2 year model revamp has put bikes of even lesser years "dated". I suppose if Honda were to release a 2010 model RC67 it would make it clear just how much bikes have progressed.

Same argument goes for most all of the bikes. Look at CBR600's, CBR1k's, GSXR1k's, GSXR600-750's, ZX10's, R1's, R6. Go three generations back or into the 2000-2002 era. Are the bikes slow,,,no, are the bikes obsolete,,no.....but what they are is behind in many areas of improvement including power, weight, handling, brakes, current design trends. All still great bikes though.

Maybe some owners would benefit from riding a modern bike and realizing the advancements and stop justifying their purchase. Key here is "some owner."

I dont know, I road a race prepped 2005 GSXR-1000 at the Street of Willow a week ago Monday and a race prepped 1098 at Big Willow this last Saturday. I can get in to details of the differences between both and my RC51 but in the end I feel I could turn equally fast laps on all three.

Given any similar sportbike 95% is up to the rider. Most people will never fully utilize the hardware they have anyway and certainly not on the street. A blanket idea "you will go faster on new hardware" is terribly naive.

[dstewart]

Originally Posted by 06450F

Maybe you last two posters should read each response to this post i have made.

"I enjoy my RC!" Its a hell of a bike!


Just stating the fact as some have challenged that the RC is not dated when in all reality the recent 2 year model revamp has put bikes of even lesser years "dated". I suppose if Honda were to release a 2010 model RC67 it would make it clear just how much bikes have progressed.

Same argument goes for most all of the bikes. Look at CBR600's, CBR1k's, GSXR1k's, GSXR600-750's, ZX10's, R1's, R6. Go three generations back or into the 2000-2002 era. Are the bikes slow,,,no, are the bikes obsolete,,no.....but what they are is behind in many areas of improvement including power, weight, handling, brakes, current design trends. All still great bikes though.

Maybe some owners would benefit from riding a modern bike and realizing the advancements and stop justifying their purchase. Key here is "some owner."

I dont know, I road a race prepped 2005 GSXR-1000 at the Street of Willow a week ago Monday and a race prepped 1098 at Big Willow this last Saturday. I can get in to details of the differences between both and my RC51 but in the end I feel I could turn equally fast laps on all three.

Given any similar sportbike 95% is up to the rider. Most people will never fully utilize the hardware they have anyway and certainly not on the street. A blanket idea "you will go faster on new hardware" is terribly naive.

[Jami6989]

Originally Posted by canuck51

I have to laugh at all the posers. IIRC a stock RC51
was tested when it was new by one of the magazines
at 10.5 seconds in the quarter mile.

Just for comparison, who here currently drives a car
on the street which is quicker than 10.5 through the
quarter? I'll bet not one blowhard here does.

My car will run mid to low 12's all day long, weighs 8x's more than an RC and only has 3.5x's more HP. The RC is 10 years old and quite slow given what new bikes can do.

[twin-nut]

06450F,
the point seems to be that nobody would disagree that the
RC is dated in the sense iit is almost 10 years old, but you are clearly coming across as passive-agressive, belittling several peoples favorite all time bike by saying that is is not as fast as 9 year newer machinery knowing well that this is not the general motorcycle topic section, but a dedicated section for one bike. Just because you can state an obvious fact does not mean it does not have the impression of sarcasm, like if you said "I love the RC51 and cannot believe how great it rides for such an old design with so much less HP than my Kawasaki neon turd green 1000cc 4 cylinder squid mobile that I get to Starbuck's in under 10 seconds on." Oh, wait, did a fact I wrote sound less than flattering to a current/former owner of a Kawasaki who might really love it for what it is. You do understand.

[canuck51]

95% is up to the rider

Finally some reality in this poser-fest.

99% of the people reading this (including
yours truly) couldn't keep up to Rossi on
a Ninja 250 through Deal's Gap, regardless
of what late-model rocketship they rode.

[wingnutt]

I like mine

[BRod]

Once upon a time there were five happy, healthy, reasonably mature, somewhat intelligent sportbike enthusiasts from Minnesota who took a trip to Arkansas together. Two rode an R6, one a GSXR750, one a 1000RR and one an RC51, three different manufacturers and four different motors. All five were reasonably skilled riders and tended to ride the 'pace' style. All preferred tasty twisty mountain roads to freeways or drag strips. Contrary to a common rumor that newer and bigger and lighter and more technologically advanced equals faster, none of these riders stood out as much faster or slower than the others. The bikes were all different, yet the pace was the same for all. None were willing to give up or trade their ride for another, except that a few wished for a newer version of what they were currenly riding (I was not one of those). Imagine that! The End.

[06450F]

Put Ben Spies on a bone stock SP-1 and a bone stock 2000 GSXR750 and i would beg to bet times would be comparable. Replace the later bikes with 2010 model.........im pretty certain that lap times would drop a fair deal. I raced expert class with WERA and GLRRA for 4 years in the mid-west region and am capable of a good deal of corner speed......and do admitt I am not Miguel Duhamel or Colin Edwards, nore do i claim to be.

One thing is for sure, i do agree that the pure love some have for this model has them blinded or nieve to the reality of the truth that Honda has moved on and left the RC51 untouched while the 1000r's have seen recognized advancements. Same debate many had regarding carbs and FI system comparisons awhile back.

To each his own opinion, mine being that the RC51 is a great bike; but for sure holds more clout in company of machines of equal eras. For sure would have liked to see an upgraded RC51 (or TL1000R for that matter) as its a fun bike to ride as it is.

[BRod]

Originally Posted by 06450F

One thing is for sure, i do agree that the pure love some have for this model has them blinded or nieve to the reality of the truth that Honda has moved on and left the RC51 untouched while the 1000r's have seen recognized advancements.

In addition some of us realize that the limiting factor of faster laps isn't the horsepower or technology of the bike but the skill set of the pilot and we're just all too happy to have a bike that's fun as hell to ride.

[canuck51]

It's simply incredible how many people have absolutely
no clue as to why people ride motorcycles.

Hint: it's not only to have the lowest lap time / biggest
pecker of the pack.

Not all of us are obsessively and insecurely trying to
compensate for undersized personal equipment.

The poser rhetoric seems to be that if you don't own
this year's flavour of the month AND the lap record of
the local track, you should give up riding entirely.

[mrgrn]

FWIW, i had a deposit for 9 months on my bike back in 2000 as the dealers were only getting allotments of maybe one or two if they were high volume dealers and i would have waited longer too

then sold the bike for another 4-5 years and now it has resorted to this