UKjasonm

Like most S2k drivers bikers are a very friendly bunch towards each other and courteous car drivers. When riding the bike I would say 90% of bikers give each other a nod regardless of what the bikes are. I always raise my hand in thanks when a car pulls over and opens a gap particuarly when filtering through traffic.

M@verick

A close friend of mine based in Exeter rides a Honda CBR600 F, he also loves the S2000 - whenever we get together there is always some petrol head based fun to be had.

Last time we met up we decided to take the S2000 and the bike out (we spent the day before taking turns in the car), around some B roads he knows very very well. I should point out that Mark is an experienced biker who has done all kinds of advanced motoring training, and track tuition on his bike - hes pretty safe, but very quick with it.
We spent an entire day blatting about, and god what a rush. My findings (coming briefly back on topic ) were that in a straight line I couldnt hold him, I was very very "on it" 6000 rpm all the time, on the power waiting to go at every corner/straight/overtake, and I was cheating slightly by watching to see when he hunched over as I knew he would be accelerating hard shortly afterwards ! - id get on the power early. It was never a case that the bike would leave me for dead, but it would pull on me on the straights until it was a bloody long way ahead. However as zero says under braking and on corners I found I had to back off to avoid getting to close for comfort. To be honest the main problem i found was that Mark could zap two or three cars safely and nip back in, whilst I needed to wait for a significant straight to catch up. As always there were too many other cars on the road

In the evening over a few beers whilst winding down, but still wired on adrenalin (we were chattering like idiots at raver like speed) Mark remarked how impressed he was with the S2000 - he said "I kept looking in my mirrors to check whether you made the last overtake, or to see how far you were behind after a burst of acceleration - and you were right there". This was nice to hear considering some of the cars he has run against in the past. A couple of his other comments were spot on too - after I followed him - "for a car, the S2000 is bloody fast", and after driving the S round some twisties himself - "that was bike-quick".

Theres definitely no way Id "race" a bike tho, one way or other the S would lose its just a matter of time, and it gets into silly speeds too quickly. Great fun day tho, especially when we stopped for a cuppa by the road side with a load of other bikers, the S2000 was well accepted, and there was plenty of quick bikes to look over and ogle at.

R.

ps - Oh yes I forgot to say we only ran once from a complete standstill and he murdered me. The S has to be rolling, in gear, and on the revs waiting to go, to get near a bike - but as long as you are both careful and arent "racing" per se - its damn good fun chasing a sports bike in the S.

zero_to60

I was up against 2 bikes at the 'traffic light GP' they were racing each other (not me obviously) When they went for it I dropped the clutch and pursued them

From noise perpective 2 bikes with sports cans plus me with the HKS sounded pretty damn good

As it happens they pulled out around 10 car lengths on me which sounds a lot and I guess is but it seems that the bikes are more compromised by traffic than cars....they seem to need to get just the right entry and exit to be really quick whereas me in the S2000 could 'chuck' it around a bit more

I suspect that on the normal roads not withstanding overtaking performance it'd be pretty much even stevens between a fast car and a fast bike

cerberus264

Yep, agreed.!

Bikers appreciate good car drivers who indicate properly and notice whats going on around them. If on the bike I always put my hand up (unless I'm doing a tricky manouvre) to acknowledge appreciation. The downside is that there are loads of car drivers who are pretty slack with their driving and they are more likely to get the finger.

Take it that a 1000cc bike will be able to do over 100mph in the time it takes most good sports cars to get to 60mph. The brakes on an R1 will pull me to a stop quicker than my mind can cope with! The feeling of braking so quickly (with the back wheel in the air) is more exhilarating and mind blowing than the acceleration of 0-60 in less than 3 seconds!!

The S is good but not that good.

UKjasonm

Yeah, the S2K's fun but for pure adrenalin and feel you cant beat the bike, coming onto the M56 this morning from the M6, its a nice curve and youve got the bike cranked right over at about 80, the feelings amazing, then its a quick glance back across the 3 lanes, theres a car in the fast lane about 1/4 mile back but he's well out of the equation, stand the baby up and open her up and 3 figures are on the clock before you can blink your eye. Your so much closer to the road and the feeling is much more intense and satisfying.

The downside is the weather plays havoc with you, going home one day last week I was wiping the visor with my gloves every couple of minutes cause of the rain and spray, thats when you want the car.

zero_to60

when I nearly spun on diesel yesterday all thoughts I had about learning to ride a bike went out of the window........

Mole

So in summary.
On B road corners and braking S wins.
From standstill to 100 Bike wins.
Rolling from say 50 onwards, Bike wins but not by a massive amount. Say 5-7 car lenghts over a 1/4 mile.
I wonder what would happen if you got say a CBR 600 and an S around Donington,
From standstill and rolling.
Anyone done it/got a lap time?

M@verick

Nope - not in my experience Col. From 50 the bike just piles on speed sooooooo quick itll be more like 20 - 30 car lengths (maybe more I forget) ahead on a long straight, and its only the corners that let me catch up. That was against a CBR600, christ knows what it would be like against an R1 or a blackbird or something with more cc's and torque.
It wasnt out and out braking that gave me back a little either I dont think - as Stu says the bike hauls speed back off quick (I have been out on the back of said CBR, it scared me witless ) Im sure a bike could out brake an S too (look at the size of the discs compared to a car, then think about the lack difference in weight/velocity that they have to stop). I put the corners down to the fact that this was real world - the bike had to deal with the road surface, and bumps, debris, oncoming traffic possibly being round the corner, etc etc etc - this is all slightly less of an issue when you have two extra wheels to distribute the weight over, and balance the vehicle on . Personally I would think on a track with a smooth road surface the gap would be bigger if anything - the bike would be able to push harder, both braking and accelerating.

Different buzz tho - and I dont think I have the brass balls to ride a fast bike personally. Im happy to pillion tho (I can shut my eyes when the street lamps blur into straightlines that way).

R.