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Fireblade to F4 1000 S, so many differences?

2K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Rommeld 
#1 · (Edited)
I bought my F4 (2006) in April and are still adjusting to the new bike. Used to have a Fireblade from 1997 and after a good tour yesterday I noticed the following differences:
- The power of the blade comes in very smoothly, the MV doesn't give any power first when you turn the gas a bit, after that it comes in a big burst (almost as a 2 cylinder).
- With the blade only the first gear is a bit unrestless, with the MV it looks like that both the first AND the second are unrestless. Which means that the bike is much harder to drive in the curves in the second gear than a blade.
- The seating is a lot more aggressive. I am 1.92m and I keep on getting pains in my shoulders. Hopefully it will go away, otherwise I have to change something to the seating.
- The MV wants to go straight a lot more than the fireblade, with this I mean that it doesn't want to go in the turns as easily as the blade. (can this be influenced by the steering damping system which my blade doesn't have?)

Would be great to hear your thoughts about these points. Will the points work out by themselves (will get used to them) or do I have to make adjustments.

Penny for your thoughts :yo:

On the positive side:
- The beauty is unmatched
- The sound is amazing
- The amount of power is mind boggling
 
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#2 ·
I had one of the first blades in the early 90's, it was quite compact, obviously quick and (for a Honda) relatively uncivilised. I've not ridden one of the 'modern' ones but from speaking to the owners of such bikes, Honda have, as you might expect, rounded off the sharp corners somewhat. I like my F4 for the fact it's uncivilised, it's quite harsh, the seating postion is aggressive and all in all it is a no compromise machine. To quote the long running advert on British TV 'It does exactly what is says on the tin'

I feel (just my opinion of course) that the new F4 is slightly less radical than the early ones, a bit like the blade in that respect and also if I can make a comparison in the car world, like the VW Golf GTi.

If I want to go touring I'll take my Ducati, if I want to commute in and out of traffic, I'd buy a twist and go ped. The F4 is a track biased projectile that you can enjoy on fast twisty roads if you can't get to the track.

I must try and get out on a new 'blade' to see if they've engineered some of the 'fun' back in!
 
#3 ·
A good set up with a power commander will help the throttle a lot:

MV's tend to sag on the rear end, check the rear height against the std (probably a dealer thing as you need the height tool) that'll restore the turn in and cornering:

Uncomfortable? there's a few sets of bars out there, a little padding UNDER the original pre formed foam lifts the centre of the seat up and stops you sitting on the tops of your legs
 
#6 · (Edited)
Sorry but with all do respect- The hesitation to turn-in has little to nothing all to do with the stearing damper, which should be left alone to do it's job in eliminating head shake when needed later on, or for when you master the tricky power curve and needed suspension adjustments and start powering through and out of corners with your new pasta rocket :)

Seriously though- The problem as mentioned by Mike has to do with the geometry. The MV like any other good superbike is very sensitive to stear and chassis geometry settings, which need to be match now to you- the one yet unknow factor riding on top of the bike.

Both the static and rider sag's, for the front and rear will need to be looked at first. Then base on you're own body weight, riding style, seating position, cumulative road clearance etc might want to either lower the front down through the triple trees a little- (one ring at a time, because this makes a big difference) or raise the rear ride height, which is an easy do-it-yourself operation on the MV- no special tools or skills required and has a seperate ride height bar and adjuster for this very purpose, outside of the shock itself- that's if you don't need a heavier spring to begin with based on your body weight.
Are you over 180-190lbs?

Basics- If you want the bike, any bike to turn in faster or with less effort to intiate- Then the main idea is to get the bike pointed or angled down slightly toward the front.

You probably already know this.. but you may not realize all the factors at play in executing this principle on a new unfamiliar bike. You're body position can effect this greatly too as well. The MV F4 like most fast superbike 1000's tends to respond better to a aggressive head down-flat-attack riding position when pushing and that little adjustment itself may help bring balance back to your ship.

Hope some of this helps a little bit.
MV1
 
#7 · (Edited)
The blade may have been easier to get with and her love not so conditional, but the MV is slightly harder to please and will not reward you until you have commited yourself to her- meaning head down riding position and full forceful body english into the turns.
Plus side- This commitment is rewarded with rock solid, stable tracking through and out of the corners as a result once excuted correctly and you can trade some of this stability (plenty to spare) for faster turn-in later on, by either raising the back or slightly lowering the front, but I recommend you iron out all of the other suspension settings for youself first, then move onto the final geometry settings once that has been completed.
 
#8 ·
Well that might be true but the cornering was transformed. I tightened it back up again afterwards to see - and the issue came straight back again.
I'm no racer on sports bikes (although my background is riding heavyweight tourers quickly) so maybe it's a description/vocabulary thing. All I know is that I couldn't get it to flow round a corner before, now it will.
I've never suffered from wobble/weave/shake on the MV, unlike BMW/Honda/Yamaha tourers.
 
#10 ·
Thanx for the advise. In any case there is still hope to get it better adjusted :)

I will look into adjusting the height in the front and back.

My weigt is 85 kg and a heigt of 1.92 m. I have never been an expert with the suspension settings, normally I had it be done at the track. But I dont think I will be driving on the track this year..
 
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