South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

been looking at getting a new bike, i have taken out a few different bike from 600 to 1000

but does anybody know what the Honda VTR1000 SP2 is like?

Best to ask dynamite...although i think he has the sp1 ?

wouldnt touch it mate go for a 1098 everyone agrees its a far better bike

depends what your looking for in a bike, big torquey motor that feels hard to stop then yeah go for it,if you want a revvy light bike with razor sharp handling then no its not for you

I have one at the unit, and it takes a lot of handling, especially around town if its not fitted with a power commander because of its high revving engine.

I have ridden it loads and loads of time, but hate it, but thats me.

To big and clumsy in my eyes, but others wouldnt agree.

speedy(delboy) wrote:I have one at the unit, and it takes a lot of handling, especially around town if its not fitted with a power commander because of its high revving engine.

I have ridden it loads and loads of time, but hate it, but thats me.

To big and clumsy in my eyes, but others wouldnt agree.

mine had a power commander and full akrapovic system and it was still fuelling badly after 3 trips and £600 on the gt dyno wouldnt say its big as itsa lot narrower than my zx10 and the latest r1 is as the ratchet straps where nowhere near the fariign when on the trailer yet were touching the zx10/r1 panels.

Just ride one.

Like all twins excluding the 1098, its heavy but its well weighted and doesnt feel that bad once you are moving, makes similar power to all 1000cc twins too, about 115BHP standard or upto around 125BHP with a good set of cans/PCIII etc

Power delivery is choppy below 4,000rpm...like all V-Twins but massively improved by a Power Commander (naturally with a decent map too) I can happily potter around at 2,000rpm without to much go-go juice now. Still no-where near as smooth as an IL4 but not many V-Twins are.

They're a little harder to get turned than the latest greatest 600/1000's but they're very stable mid turn, suspension is a little on the solid side but overall has well above average quality, gives loads of feedback.

Overall Honda did good with the build quality (except the poor choice of rusty calliper bolts!) almost everything is over engineered.

If its track type handling and speed you want then get a newer IL4 600/1000.

I've always been in love with the SP1 and 2 I love the looks and the racing pedigree. Got to agree it may not be the most practical of bikes but then everything is relative. I'd say just test one and see if you like it, it's probably either that or a fisrestorm or TL.

As most have said... suck it and see.

I can't give an opinion as I've never ridden one...

I suppose really, it doesn't matter what you got, it's how you ride it... I've never seen Gav get left behind...

thanks for the feed back guys. will have to go and take one out and see what i think. i do love the sound of a v twin though.

i'd say have a look at a firestorm, can get alot of bike for your money at the moment. I bought one a while ago and im loving it, never had any problems with the breaks, stops bollocks crushingly hard Only complaint is the stock suspension leaves a little to be desired but a mint bike all-round.

I've got an SP2, love it & won't be parting with it any time soon
Had a Firestorm before it & where as I always felt the Storm was an underated & capable bike, the SP is much better.....as you'd expect.

Dynamight's advice is pretty much spot on, the only thing I can add is that the fueling was improved on the SP2, partly for road use, & I've found the stock bike to be fine. Slightly jerky on a steady throttle around 3000 rpm/30mph, but this can be made better by balancing the starter valves if it really bothers you & is cheaper than splashing out on a PCIII

As others have already said, take one for a test ride & see what you think.

Cb1-Wil wrote:thanks for the feed back guys. will have to go and take one out and see what i think. i do love the sound of a v twin though.

if you want a v-twin then theres only really one to go for..................







aprillia rsvr mille,what a underrated bike,ive owned a sp1,916,748 and a rsv mille and for all round handling,grunt and speed the mille wins hands down and is also a lot lighter and cheaper than a sp2. for the same money you can get a rsv R that comes with ohlins suspension,oz wheels,brembo brakes all as stock and probably some akrapovic cans. definetly worth considering

..... and you also get the Italian parts availability with Aprilia too

the TLR is cheap & under-rated but needs money spending to equal an SP2, but if you consider a Firestorm buy a TLS and you won't regret it


and as for noise, I never understand the fuss about that, you couldn't really tell when mine was on track at llandow

nope couldnt even tell you were at llandow moose

how did i know what your post would have said when i saw your name as the last post