99 Blackbird

[keithaba]

Sorry this is long....

So I had a delay in getting the blackbird, and just picked it up yesterday.

180 mile ride home. Some twisteis, mostly slab.

Negatives:

Now, I have no freeking idea how Warchild does it, but after about 90 miles, I had to stop and stretch. The bike has VFR bars, which do help with the upright position a bit, but doesn't have a corbin seat, which I think might help. I was really uncomfortable. I don't know if I can do long days on this bike. 180 miles was rough, and thats just getting started on the FJR....

I am kinda pissed about the electronic cruise control... About 30% of the time it works right. The other 70% of the time, you set it to coast, then it cuts the throttle, drops 5 mph, then throttle on. Jerks you foward and accels up to the set speed, then cuts the throttle again, then jerks you foward again, then... well you get the point. Spend about 5 minutes doing that and you cut the cruise real quick.

The seller told me, it surges a little. SURGES MY ASS!!!! IT SUCKS!!! And that was one of the major reasons I went with this bike instead of another one.

The cosmetic appearanc of the bike is rough, but what do you expect for a 99 with 40k? Doesn't bother me too much, but I'm kinda thinking I should have held out for a more pristine one.

The dual exhaust is cool, but it causes clearance issues with the right side peg. The rear of my boot tends to hit the exhaust pipe, although I think I can adjust for that by keeping my foot a little more to the outside of the peg. That will work until tight right handers....

The bike starts up a little rough, but smooths out once warmed up. I think it might need a valve check. I don't even know if you can do a TBS on a blackbird (still learning about the bike) but I suspect thats one thing that may help.

Definately does not have the low end torque of the FJR. Even with a six speed (might be 5 speed with overdrive, I don't know), you have to downshift two, sometimes three gears to really get on it. One downshift with the FJR is usually suffice for passing.

Positives:

It is freeking smooth and fast. I used to think the FJR carried speed well, but holy cow. Got it up to 140 and had no idea I was going that fast. The wind management on this bike is actually very good, you do get some blast in the helmet, but it's clean air and it doesn't bobble your head all over.

There is almost no handle bar vibration. Kinda pisses me off that the FJR is so much newer, yet has substantially more handle bar vibration considering it is a touring bike.

The exhaust sounds sweet.

Wave rotors and new break pads make for very smooth powerful braking.

Definately handles better than the FJR. Easier turn in, less muscle required in the tighter stuff. (6mm shim on rear shock and race tech springs in front probably helped a lot). Looking foward to more twisties on this bike.

Did I mention this thing is freeking fast!!!!!!!! By far the fastest bike I've ever had, and probably ever will have.

Conclusion:

Buyers remorse..... hopefully that will change as I ride it more, but I miss my FZ1 a lot.

I love my FJR even more.

Don't trust anyone, even mechanics, to accurately represent the condition of something they are selling.

 

[Scab]

Dang, man. I'm sorry to hear that the bike wasn't quite what was represented. Maybe mechanically it is still a solid machine. Good luck with tweaking it to your expectations.

 

[Warchild]

Now, I have no freeking idea how Warchild does it, but after about 90 miles, I had to stop and stretch. I don't know if I can do long days on this bike.

What is happening here is a familiar old story: you are using torso/abdominal/lower back muscles that you do not use on the FJR. It's simply a matter of acclimatization (as it would be with most any bike that has a significantly different rider posture that what one is used to.) You will eventually acclimatize and you won't even notice these things after a while.

Still, I bet'cha it gives you a better appreciation of what I went through during BBG Hell Week.

I am kinda pissed about the electronic cruise control... IT SUCKS!!! And that was one of the major reasons I went with this bike instead of another one.

Well, this is no fault whatsoever on the part of the XX; we'll lay this blame squarely on the previous ass-clown who installed it.

The bike starts up a little rough, but smooths out once warmed up. I think it might need a valve check. I don't even know if you can do a TBS on a blackbird (still learning about the bike) but I suspect thats one thing that may help.

Likely enough, it simple needs a tune-up, particularly given the description of the rest of the bike. The chance of a valve being out of spec is remote: in the 175,000 miles I have on 2 Blackbirds, not once did either bike ever need a valve shim adjustment. Ever.

While there is a procedure for a TBS in the Service Manual, it is never done in actual practice. Unlike the FJR, the XX retains its TBS settings for the life of the bike. To this day, I have never needed to perform a TBS on any Blackbird.

Definately does not have the low end torque of the FJR. Even with a six speed (might be 5 speed with overdrive, I don't know), you have to downshift two, sometimes three gears to really get on it. One downshift with the FJR is usually suffice for passing.

Yeah, a tune-up is definitely indicated. I'll step down to 5th on a quick passing situation, but never two gears. Ever.

Positives:
It is freeking smooth and fast. I used to think the FJR carried speed well, but holy cow. Got it up to 140 and had no idea I was going that fast.

Yep, told ja! B) It is much , MUCH worse than the FJR, because of the creamy-velvet engine, you have no idea you are traveling the speed that you do until you look down at the speedometer and you jaw hits the tank.

There is almost no handle bar vibration. Kinda pisses me off that the FJR is so much newer, yet has substantially more handle bar vibration considering it is a touring bike.

There is no inline-4 liter+ size engine that is as smooth as the Blackbird's. None. On the entire planet. It is like glass at all RPM ranges. I am forever amazed every time I climb on the XX after riding the FJR or Busa. Both latter bikes have RPM ranges where they produce noticable harmonics. The Blackbird does not.

Did I mention this thing is freeking fast!!!!!!!! By far the fastest bike I've ever had, and probably ever will have.

Yeah, it goes right down the road with authority.

Conclusion:Buyers remorse..... hopefully that will change as I ride it more, but I miss my FZ1 a lot.

It will change, no worries. I would:

• Dump that stupid electronic cruise.
• Do a tune up, if nothing more than change plugs/air filter ==>
  https://www.superblackbird.com/spark1.cfmHere is how that is done
  https://www.superblackbird.com/spark1.cfm.
• Look at a custom seat (assuming yours is stock).
• Go sign up at
  https://www.cbrxx.comhttps://www.cbrxx.com
  https://www.cbrxx.comand start asking questions.

 

[keithaba]

Scab: I just need to ride it some more. Like Warchild said, i think it's just going to take some getting used to. This is a very different animal than the FJR or FZ1.

Warchild: Thanks for the input. A big issue with position is also that I have pretty short arms. Unfortunately, corbin does not make seats for the BB any more... it's not even listed on their site. I was hoping I could get a corbin close, but I've yet to see one made for the BB.

Thanks for the link! The guy said he put Irradium plugs in about 10k ago. I'll check to see if they are in spec, and if they look fouled at all this weekend. Also will check/clean the air filter. Will replace if its nasty.

 

[Bounce]

Or at least check the install of the cc and be sure there's a reasonably-sized vacuum canister to buffer the vacuum the bike creates.

 

[ionbeam]

..... The guy said he put Irradium plugs in about 10k ago. I'll check to see if they are in spec

You are not supposed to gap Iridium plugs. If you check the gap take a large measure of extra care not to damage the plugs.

Is the cruise a MC or AVCC (or something else)?

 

[keithaba]

..... The guy said he put Irradium plugs in about 10k ago. I'll check to see if they are in spec

You are not supposed to gap Iridium plugs. If you check the gap take a large measure of extra care not to damage the plugs.

Is the cruise a MC or AVCC (or something else)?

Oh, didn't know you don't gap iridium. Guess I'll just check em to see if they look like it's runnin rich or lean.

The cruise is not vacuum based. It's actually a cruise control system for a car that operates on the Throttle Cable.

The guy's response:

"Cruise works best at 85 to 90 mph and you have to set it and hold the gas till it gets set and it woks good

remeber it a CAR cruise control but used it all last year and year before all the way to colorodo."

 

[greg97224]

I have a 02 blackbird, and it is deffinately a different bike than my FJR. Your right about the smoothness and the power. I dropped a tooth on the front gear, and I like that a lot. You will get used to the riding posistion, just put some miles on it. I have a Corbin seat on mine, and I don't like it, maybe Russell makes one for the Blackbird.

 

[rushes]

The cruise is not vacuum based. It's actually a cruise control system for a car that operates on the Throttle Cable.
The guy's response:

"Cruise works best at 85 to 90 mph and you have to set it and hold the gas till it gets set and it woks good

remeber it a CAR cruise control but used it all last year and year before all the way to colorodo."

Sounds like redneck engineering to me.

I think I'd remove it.

 

[keithaba]

I have a 02 blackbird, and it is deffinately a different bike than my FJR. Your right about the smoothness and the power. I dropped a tooth on the front gear, and I like that a lot. You will get used to the riding posistion, just put some miles on it. I have a Corbin seat on mine, and I don't like it, maybe Russell makes one for the Blackbird.

PM me if you want to sell that Corbin seat to me!

I'll take a look at the cruise install and see what it would entail to remove it. I'm not sure how it was installed so I'll have to get into it this weekend.

 

[ionbeam]

The guy's response:"Cruise works best at 85 to 90 mph and you have to set it and hold the gas till it gets set and it woks good

remeber [SIZE=14pt]it a CAR cruise control [/SIZE]but used it all last year and year before all the way to colorodo."

The AVCC is a CAR cruise control, no place does the AVCC manual say motorcycle. Creative people have been using it for motorcycle applications. And, the AVCC is an electronic cruise.

Visual identification aid:

 

[twowheelnut]

And make sure that there is a check valve installed on the vacuum line of the AVCC - if that's what you have. Your fault description is exactly what mine did prior to Smitty sending me (an me installing) the check valve.

 

[keithaba]

And make sure that there is a check valve installed on the vacuum line of the AVCC - if that's what you have. Your fault description is exactly what mine did prior to Smitty sending me (an me installing) the check valve.

I'm going to take a look tonight. See if I can figure what unit it is. He said it does not utilize a vacuum, but who knows.

 

[wfooshee]

He may not even know if it's vacuum operated or not.

OTOH, there are electric CC servos out there, using motors to pull the throttle cable instead of a vacuum diaphram. If it's elevtric, though, the surging is a bad indicator. What do the control buttons look like? The one the Audiovox comes with is in the dead center of Ionbeam's picture. Then again, some folks use there own switches and buttons to control it.

 

[brianm767]

I've owned two XX's both red 01's and my kid has a Canadian Blue 01, I bought my ST1300 in feb of 07, rode my XX three short rides since then, and although it's a fantastic bike, every time I would try to ride it, I wished I'd had taken out the ST instead, so I sold my XX a few weeks ago, some thing I thought I'd never do, I was a HUGE XX fan, that is till I rode the ST1300.

Once you get used to the comfort and convince of a FJR or St, it's hard to go backwards and enjoy a sport bike, well atleast for me and my son it is, he's only 25, and tells me he has no desire to ride his XX any more,

That being said, it probably will get a little more comfy to you when you get used to it,but it's never going to be close to your FJR, we also had VFR bars and you might also want to add the Buell peg mod, very cheap and gives another 1" or so in leg room, big improvement IMOP, my son has a Corbin on his XX and both he and I hate it, if I was going to keep my XX, I was going to send out the seat to Spenser to let him do his magic on it,

Good luck

Hope you enjoy it, you just need to pout some time in the seat and see how you feel, but it's going to be a tough sell, you just might be already spoiled with you FJR.

I never had to drop down more than one gear to pass if I was in the correct gear to begin with, might want to look into that?

And hands down the XX is the smoothest bike I've ever ridden in my life, it almost seems like it has an electric motor in it, if it wasn't for the tach indicating teh engines turning, youd swear it's off and your just coasting. i wish Honda would have made a real sport touring bike out of the Xx's engine, bump it up to 1200 or 1300 cc's and put it in a FJR type chassis, I'd be sold on it.

 

[Bounce]

..... The guy said he put Irradium plugs in about 10k ago. I'll check to see if they are in spec

You are not supposed to gap Iridium plugs. If you check the gap take a large measure of extra care not to damage the plugs.

Is the cruise a MC or AVCC (or something else)?

Oh, didn't know you don't gap iridium. Guess I'll just check em to see if they look like it's runnin rich or lean.

The cruise is not vacuum based. It's actually a cruise control system for a car that operates on the Throttle Cable.

The guy's response:

"Cruise works best at 85 to 90 mph and you have to set it and hold the gas till it gets set and it woks good

remeber it a CAR cruise control but used it all last year and year before all the way to colorodo."

most likely it's the audiovox; a highly popular version installed on bikes. it does a lot of things including pulling on the throttle cable and, yes, doesn't use vacuum as a buffer for the inputs.

 

[keithaba]

..... The guy said he put Irradium plugs in about 10k ago. I'll check to see if they are in spec

You are not supposed to gap Iridium plugs. If you check the gap take a large measure of extra care not to damage the plugs.

Is the cruise a MC or AVCC (or something else)?

Oh, didn't know you don't gap iridium. Guess I'll just check em to see if they look like it's runnin rich or lean.

The cruise is not vacuum based. It's actually a cruise control system for a car that operates on the Throttle Cable.

The guy's response:

"Cruise works best at 85 to 90 mph and you have to set it and hold the gas till it gets set and it woks good

remeber it a CAR cruise control but used it all last year and year before all the way to colorodo."

most likely it's the audiovox; a highly popular version installed on bikes. it does a lot of things including pulling on the throttle cable and, yes, doesn't use vacuum as a buffer for the inputs.

I went to take a look last night, but the cruise unit is installed under the tail cowling. I would have to remove the givi mount, and rear cowl, and rather than do that.... I took it for a ride!

To tell you the truth, the second time on it yesterday, I liked it a lot more. :clapping: I started to get more of a feel for the bike, and it's sick power. Biggest difference was almost all twisties instead of almost all slab.

As for passing and downshifting, I think it was sheer misconception as to the speed.

I also noticed that I keep the RPMs low, and often can't figure out what gear I'm in. The two bro's exhaust often makes me think the RPM is higher than it actually is.

Will get a look at the CC soon and post up to see if I can figure out what is wrong with it.

Like I said earlier, riding this thing really makes me appreciate the FJR even more. They are very very different.

Thanks for all the comments.

 

[mmonroe]

There is no inline-4 liter+ size engine that is as smooth as the Blackbird's. None. On the entire planet. It is like glass at all RPM ranges. I am forever amazed every time I climb on the XX after riding the FJR or Busa. Both latter bikes have RPM ranges where they produce noticable harmonics. The Blackbird does not.

Well I haven't ridden every motorcycle on the planet, bar none, like Warchild, however, I have ridden an XX and plenty of fast Kawi's and I would say that the ZX-11 and ZX-12r are just as smooth as an XX. I have not ridden a ZX-14 yet but would suspect that it is just as smooth as well. Both the Busa (new gen and old) and FJR are quite buzzy compared to any of the above. Every review I have read yet point to the Busa as being buzzy and far less comfortable than a ZX-14 on longer rides.

Random thoughts..

Mark

 

[JoBu]

Now, I have no freeking idea how Warchild does it, but after about 90 miles, I had to stop and stretch. I don't know if I can do long days on this bike.

What is happening here is a familiar old story: you are using torso/abdominal/lower back muscles that you do not use on the FJR. It's simply a matter of acclimatization (as it would be with most any bike that has a significantly different rider posture that what one is used to.) You will eventually acclimatize and you won't even notice these things after a while.

Ding...ding...ding...ding. We have a winner. The Blackbird is a friggin' couch compared to a lot of bikes I ride/have ridden. Don't do push-ups on the clip-ons. Gently squeeze the tank between your knees. I also ride with a bit of an "inverted cat stretch" in my back (pulling my lower back in) when on a more committed bike. I've put 1500+ mile weekends on a '99 Ducati 900SS with minimal time spent on the slab and have been quite comfy. Oh, and for the record, I'm not a light-weight either (225 lbs). Hitting the gym also helps. The more you can strenghten your core, the more comfortable you'll be on the XX (or any bike for that matter).

Best of luck!!

Cheers,

Joe