Honda-Fireblades.co.uk - Product Reviews Page 2

Dynojet Kit & BMC Air Filter. Fitted March 2003
After putting on the Quill T3 last year and got rid of the 5k flat spot, I thought it's about time I got the bike Dynojetted and serviced at the same time, Highside Motorcycles fitted the kit and set it all up, balanced the carb's etc, it's now on 118 main jets (115 std) and the needles are set as std and the gas analyzer say's it's all running just fine. BMC make two types of filter, 'Street' which will run stock jetting and 'Race' which requires a jetting kit, I had previously fitted the BMC street filter and this had made a small improvement to throttle response, and at the time wasn't going to bother getting it Dynojetted, but then changed my mind, probably should have gone for the race filter in heinsight, now it's been jetted properly. The Dynojet didn't make as much of as an improvement as I was expecting the first time I went out, having heard of massive power gains and off the throttle power wheelies from other Blade owners but the more I ride the bike the more it seems to have improved, completely eliminating any flat spot's and giving constant drive and smooth power from about 3 thousand rev's right up to the red line, and beyond some times...Opps. The exhaust note has also got more edgy, even louder slightly, and the intake noise coming from under the tank sound's like it could suck in small birds at will. HONDA-FIREBLADES RATING 9.5/10 Much better than stock jetting, but may possible need further fine tuning.

EBC HH Sintered Brake Pads. Fitted April 2003
I've fitted these to replace the SBK-3 pads I fitted last year, which although were only half used after 6 thousand miles, but I got feed up with trying to stop my bike when these were cold. I decided enough was enough, and decided to get some EBC HH pads, which were recommended to me. And what a difference, the packaging blurb said NEW COMPOUND FASTER BED IN. And after fitting them, went for a bit of a ride to bed them in and scrub in my new tyres, Even just rolling to a stop at the end of the road I noticed the difference, initial bite was immediate and the more I used them the the more bite they had. The EBC HH pads are without doubt, the best front brake pads I've used on any bike I've had, and the braking performance has been transformed from scary buttock clenching moment's to reassuring fade free stopping with no problems with them grabbing when hot like the SBK-3's I had previously. If there is a downside, and I can't see one at the moment, I'd say that they might wear the disc's a little more than other pads, I'll just have to wait and see. Available from most motorcycle retailers, Price about £20.00-25.00 per set. HONDA-FIREBLADES RATING 10/10 Outstanding power and bite, two finger stopping now a reality.

Bridgestone BT-012 Tyres. Fitted April 2003. I thought the BT-010's I had fitted previously were a good grippy tyre, although not quite as outrightly grippy as say a Dunlop D207 Race Replica, but I was happy with the performance they gave. By the time they needed replacing I got just under 4 1/2 thousand miles on my 010's, which I feel is pretty good by all account's. But when they went off they went off quite quickly, and the bike would follow road marking quite badly.
Time for some new tyres then, having heard extremely good reports from other Blade owners with BT-012's fitted to the new Blade, I thought I'd give them a try, as I'm off to France soon (May 03) for a bit of a hoonabout, and wanted some properly grippy tyres. Well these NEW BT-012's as fitted to the 2002/03 Blade's are even better than the BT010's, The BT-012's warm up quickly and the grip is extremely reassuring, even more so than the 010's, especially when your cranked over giving it big fistfuls in a bend, helped I'm sure by the addition of a new Ohlins rear shock but
even so I'm very, very happy with these BT-012's so far. When properly up to working temperature Brilliant, Brilliant grip. Bridgestone have as of March 2003 released the BT-012 in a 16 inch front, If you like the BT010, try the NEW BT-012. I think you'll be thoroughly impressed.
HONDA-FIREBLADES RATING 10/10 Outstanding Grip, just got to see what kind of mileage their going to give, now.

Õhlins Rear Mono Shock. Fitted April 2003.
When I first got my RRV, I had an Ohlins rear damper on my wish list, along with a few other bit's 'n' bob's, well the soft-ish standard rear damper, has finally given up the ghost and stopped damping at all even after maxing out the compression & rebound damping.
So say hello to a new Ohlins rear damper which has now taken it's rightful place, nestling snugly where once the standard Showa lived. Mark the proprietor at Highside, said I would be amazed at the difference an Ohlins would make to the bike, and I can honestly say, he was spot on. The feel and feedback from the rear of the bike has been transformed, so much so that you can now feed on the throttle out of bend's much earlier than before and the rear tyre just dig's in and catapult's the bike out of the corner.
I'm going to have to replace the tired front fork spring's now though, as the front doesn't quite feel as good as the back does, and to be honest the Ohlins literature does recommend doing them as a joint procedure to get the best balance front to rear, all I can say is, if changing the front spring's make's half as much difference as the rear shock has, RRV will be a reborn Blade, I just can't wait. HONDA-FIREBLADES RATING 10/10 I'm still in 'shock' at the improvement, not cheap by any means but well worth the £££££'s supplied by Highside Motorcycles in Slinfold West Sussex.

Õhlins Front Fork Springs Fitted May 2003. Since fitting the Ohlins rear shock, I've fitted some Õhlins front fork spring's these are 10% stiffer than standard Honda spring's. As I previously said in the last review, Õhlins do say it's advisable to replace front and rear as a joint procedure, and the bike did feel a little unbalanced front to rear and fitting the front spring's has indeed made a further improvement to the handling, making the front feel much more stable in tight turn's, while giving considerably more feed back and confidence to the rider, and the whole bike just feels much more balanced and composed with both the front and rear done together and the front doesn't dive for the floor every time I hit the brakes now. A big, big improvement over the standard suspension. I got advice on what grade fork oil to use and was advised to use 5wt oil (10wt std) with the standard air gap of 114mm, in each fork leg, it took about 2 hours to remove the front forks drain them refill with new oil and refit the new spring's and fork's back on the bike. HONDA-FIREBLADES RATING 10/10 Still amazed at the improvement, this simple change has made to the bike. Supplied by Highside Motorcycles in Slinfold West Sussex.

Bridgestone BT-012 Tyres. Update October 2003. Rear Replaced July 2003. As you'll have probably read further up the page, I fitted the Bridgestone BT-012 tyres in April just before the trip to France, well the good news is these tyres are just as good as I originally thought they were, the rear has lasted a smidgen under 4,100 miles which I think you'll agree is pretty damn good, considering it went all the way to the South of France, at silly speed's in both the dry and wet. Hooned about all over France in 30 plus degree temperatures, and came back to the UK. Mind you it was pretty flat by then, and tramlining over bad road surfaces, but still I'm well impressed. The France trip which was wet most of the way to the South showed these tyres to be excellent wet weather performers, giving sure footed grip, on unknown road surfaces, as well as footpeg scraping dry grip. The front tyre is still giving good life and has covered a bit under 5,800 to mid October 03 but will definitely require changing with the next rear. HONDA-FIREBLADES RATING 10/10 Can't recommend the BT-012's highly enough.

EBC HH Sintered Brake Pads. Update October 2003. Fitted April 2003 at 18,550 miles. My initial fears that the EBC HH pads would wear the disc's excessively has been unfounded, I'm glad to report and after covering almost 6 thousand miles with the the EBC's they are still stopping RRV as they were at the beginning, and the stopping power isn't effected by wet whether either. I'd definitely fit these pads again without hesitation. I've also fitted some EBC pads to the rear now. HONDA-FIREBLADES RATING 10/10 A highly recommended set of pads, no more stopping woes.