Using its full potential...

[Villers]

....and all those cliche quotes when anyone fancies a faster bike!

Why is this old antique pulled out the bag every time? It seems there are different opinions on what it means and Im wondering what the general BCF opinion is on what it actually means??

I was reading another forum the other day where someone had stated that buying a 750 for the road is daft as you 'can't use all the power'. How does that qualify? The same argument included 'never hitting full throttle' and a whole load of other bollocks.

Do some think its cornering potential? Do you need to be at full throttle, cranked right over for the bike to be using its full potential? In which case, if it lets go and sends you into the bush have you exceeded its 'potential'?

Just curious thats all as the whole statement annoys the hell out of me, especially the power one!
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RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[L-Jam]

Who cares, buy the bike and ride it how you want it man.


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Journalist, student, egotist.
Click here if you're a young biker, wondering what to do after a moped/125!
Skp 50 --> GS 500 --> CBR600F with custom HRC paint jobby --> GSX-R 750 K7, beautiful!

[Kickstart]

Hi

Doubt most people use anything like the full power potential of anything over a full power 125.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[D O G]

[Devans]

Doesn't matter what bike people buy, anythings gunna be crazy for the road!

Even the 250cc Ninjas can shift!


It's all about fun i guess!

[Ste]

[Villers]

[calyx]

It means losing your licence in about 3 days if you are lucky.

Why would I use its full potential by the way? I am not racing, I am just trying to get home and have a nice cup of tea...
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Boris - London

[c_dug]

Surely the point of a 1000 on the road over a 600 is the added mid range, no need to drop it a gear or two for overtakes?

Guess it also depends on what you class as using the potential of a bike, I'm sure I've heard lots of people saying that 600's in general handle better than the equivalent 1000 (thinner tyres and less weight) so it can't be cornering potential they are after and to be honest I can't see anybody regularly red-lining a 1000cc in every gear on the road and living long to tell the tail
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[Villers]

I think thats subjective, Im no angel on the bike at all and Ive got a clean licence from 8 years riding. I doubt I'd have that riding how I do on occassions and living in central london however!!

I agree its not a race, but then I wouldnt buy a sportsbike to do 60 in the 60 and 70 in the 70. There are occassions where a twist of the wrist in the correct context isnt automatically certain death, slightly irresponsible as it may be!

I do admit though to sticking firmly to 30's and 40's and the such. Just watched a bit of a propaganda video on TV where some bloke admitted doing 120 in a 30 ffs, thats shocking.
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RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[pinkyfloyd]

i ride a gsxr750, its an old one and not as fast as the newer models and i know i dont use it to its full potential

and you know what?..... i dont want to. the thing is scary fast on acceleration as it is. leans over enough for me on cornering at any speed im doing and it suits me fine.

i dont think this should be a thread about using the bike to its full potential. i think it should be more like using the bike to YOUR full potential.

i ride my bike to my full potential, any faster or harder and i am out of my comfort zone.
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[Kickstart]

[Villers]

No no! The thread isnt supposed to be 'how fast are you' or whatever, I was enquiring about what this 'full potential' actually translates to!



Its by no means a suggestion that anyone is a bad rider/good rider or is wasting their bike etc. Im a big fan of each to their own, hence the thread about the usual critique regarding big bikes. Probably spurred on by a muli page thread I saw on SV.org!
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RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[flumpy7]

Its the ease with which you can harness the power which is nice about a 1000cc.....horses for courses....i like to know i can pass anything (almost) with a slight blip of the throttle, whilst some people like the tension of revvin a bike to its max to get some decent speed up.

Having owned a 1000cc for a few years now, i would not enjoy riding anything less than a 600cc for more than just commuting.

[pinkyfloyd]

i have a big bike because i can.

but it is a nice feeling to know as you sit at X mph that you do have extra power there if you need it.
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[Villers]

A valid point and having oodles of power is something I am a fan of, but what is 'using its full potential'?

Surely one of the common nay-sayers will be along to enlighten us!
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RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[jay12329]

It just seams that biking as with a lot of sport attracts a lot of cocks. Therefor half the GSXR10000, R1...etc are bought so the rider can go at mach 4.5 right on the edge of grip as fast as the bike can go 150% of the time.
The rest of us just enjoy being scared by opening the throttle halfway on their 1000cc bikes and lazy roll on overtakes. And being old so we can insure them fully comp for less than the cost of a good meal for 4!

J

[FURBAR]

I'm intend on keeping my 125 ... with full power and less weight .. ,,, it would be perfect for blasting around town doing odds and ends ...

I would love a 600 cc ... for trying to ride it to my full potential ..
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Fuk um !!

[Kickstart]

[Bendy]

[pinkyfloyd]

[Villers]

Thanks keith, thats one definition at last! Going back to your 125 analogy wouldnt that cause some harm to a full power 125?

What about the handling aspect? My SV650 would bounce and buckle at every opportunity when pushed through bends, does that mean I found its limits?

Im not arguing with anyone here at all, its just one of those things thats often said but rarely explained. Like I said before, one persons idea of it was being able to open the throttle fully!
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RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[Kickstart]

[MarJay]

I think we're mostly missing the point here and that is down to self deception.

If you admit that you want a 1000 because you're lazy/you're e-penis needs it/you like the look of it then fair enough. If you say you want a 1000 because your 600 is boring/too slow/not enough power then you're a moron.

However, I maintain that 99% of people will be faster overall on the road or track on a 600 than on a 1000. If, of course speed is your aim then this kinda negates the point of getting a 1000. If you want a 1000 because you want one, then fine.

Most people that talk about 'full potential' are actually really talking about 'fun' but if they put it in those terms they'll never admit that they should really go out and buy an aprilia RS250. When they say 'you can't use its full potential' they mean 'you can't thrash it and have a huge monkey like grin on your face'. Which of course is true if thrashing is where you derive your fun...

I do think most people who buy 1000cc bikes do so for the wrong reasons, but that doesn't mean nobody should buy them and that they are wrong for everybody.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[stevo as b4]

I never used the full accelerative or cornering potential of my old ZX6R, and come to think of it i doubt i ever got close to the full braking potential either. All these things could only be explored to the edge of the envelope on track with an experienced rider on board IMO!

Slightly off topic, but related to having lots of extra power and lazy grunt, my dad's mate has a ZZR1400 and he likes the bike, but finds it a bit heavy and less agile than he would ideally like. He is not a fast rider and spends 80% of the time with a pillion i would say. Now he said to my dad that he thought something more like a VFR800 but with closer to the grunt and effortless power delivery of the big ZZR would be ideal.

He has test ridden the 2008 R1, and nearly new GSXR1000 2009? He said that the GSXR felt really gutless and had very little roll on mindrange power until 7-8000rpm? Does this sound plauseable? I mean i know that the current litre bikes are now revving to 13k and have exchange a whole heap of midrange power that they had at the beginning-middle of the decade for much more top end. But does a 1litre sportsbike now feel really soft and woolly in the midrange these days? And do they have that manic top end rush like 600's have traditionally had?

I know that the ZZR14 is a huge big grunt monster, (93ib/ft?) but it too has moon shot gearing and the state of tune is still biased towards high top end speeds, as that was the direction it was developed with in mind. All im really asking i spose is can a modern litre sports bike feel really gutless in the low and midrange compared to say a ZZR14 or a Busa, especially when you look at the difference in weight, and the expected higher gearing of these big hyper sports tourers?