Here’s an unusual day out…!
Went to the Georges Brassens museum in Sete
Wish I spoke French fluently…!
We know some of his story and music and he is rated as somewhat Shakespeare-esque in France
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Now you’ve had the Blade for a while, which one is the better bike. 
Or, less contentiously, what sort of things have you found that you like over the other?
FIIIIIIIGHT 
Georges Brassens was known for his song texts. The poetry hidded some very modern (still now) opinions on society. Some designed him as an anarchist, it’s a bit exaggerate, he just sing about subjects others wouldn’t (“Gare au Gorille” was against death penalty, he often mentioned prostitutes as respectable women, etc).
A very interesting and respectable artist.
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Back from 2 weeks of vacations… Well… kind of… started to build a carport, then temperature rised up to 40°C… then worked on the last bits of organization for the “Grunge festival” in my town (4 cover bands from 90’s grunge scene, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam). Then my cousins and my daughter came home for a couple of days around the festival. We were 15 at home for a week 
Concert day, my main amp broke during the soundcheck (hopefully I have a spare amp). Then daughter and boyfriend should fly back to UK on Monday. drove them to Geneva, come home, and re drive to Geneva to bring them home (UK air control issue) … They finally flew back to UK yesterday.
and now? Well I finally find that back at work is quiet relaxing. 
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Mmm delicious! What time should I come over?
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Too late Dawsy 
Typical! I am either too late or too early (so says Mrs D)
Tell her you’re a wizard!!
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Tough one 
. I love them both, but if I were to be allowed to keep just one, it would be the Street Triple for the very unscientific reason that it is far more “hooligan” in nature and more involving to ride. Trying to be a bit more reasonable:
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Looks - they break even for me here; both are very different and I personally really like the look of both bikes. The Street Triple looks small and agile to me whilst still looking like it could mean business and the Blade looks big (compared to it’s modern relatives) and retro and just like what I think a sports bike looks like.
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Handling - I cannot complain about either of them here, both are intuitive to ride and handle superbly. The Street Triple however is a scalpel to the Blade’s machete - it excels at the more sudden changes of direction on some of the really fun rural roads, whereas the Blade takes a bit more muscling about on those and feels incredible on long, sweeping bends. The Striple just goes pretty much wherever you look with just small inputs. The Blade does sort of “flop” into tight turns like mini - roundabouts.
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Comfort - both are very comfortable to me for a whole day’s riding. The Blade’s seat is a tiny bit more comfortable than the Stripes bench - like perch. The Striple is far more comfortable at low speeds because of the straight bars, whereas the Blade is more comfortable if you end up needing to cruise at speed for a prolonged period of time (e.g., an unavoidable motorway slog) because of the wind protection it offers; it’s less tiring. That said, it isn’t often I need to do that.
I like being over the front wheel with the Blade’s clip ons at speed.
- The performance - both bikes have far more than I can obviously do full justice to. The Street Triple is more useable and I can spend a lot of time with it howling with that lovely induction noise high up in the rev range with the shift lights blinking away at me. It is totally addictive. The Blade I cannot ride quite like that because it delivers insane speed even without being right up in the rev range - I spend more time at lower revs, just in an effort to retain my license. It is horribly easy to be going far too fast in the blink of an eye - I was surprised at my speed yesterday when I looked down having done a series of overtakes and wondering why all the traffic was ,moving so slowly
. I am more aware on the Street Triple because of the buffeting.
Where the Striple really wins out is at low speeds, the Blade is a little more difficult to ride slowly and heats up very fast with the fairing and underseat exhaust. Burns your bum .
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Rider aids - TC and ABS on the Street Triple, plus rider modes. Nothing on the Blade.
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“Character”. The Blade sounds full of intent when you start it, lovely and guttural. Has a lovely roar when it gets going. Delivers everything that you ask of it smoothly, faultlessly and without effort. It is so smooth and so effortlessly fast that the only way I can describe it is that sometimes it feels as if I am in a video game
. It’s a very easy bike to gel with and very forgiving (whilst also making you aware that it will bite you if you get it wrong).
The Street Triple just looks, sounds and feels fun - it’s lumpy - sounding idle, howl when it gets going and crisp handling. It has a real “grin factor” that just eggs you on.
I am lucky; I think that both are excellent bikes 
.
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An excellent reply to a simple, slightly provocative question. 
I wonder whethe
This is interesting. I haven’t ridden the Blade (yet) so the nearest thing I can compare to is my MV. That’s certainly an agile bike and not beaten by the RS. It’s a close run thing, though. Perhaps the relative size and weights of bikes and riders make the difference on the sportsters. The Blade will take a bit more ‘hauling over’ whereas the Street Triple benefits from those wider bars. One of the things I particularly liked about the RS was how it swept so smoothly around the bends. The MV’s rock-hard suspension probably works against it here.
Reminds me of the Panigale. Even with its ability to ‘switch off’ two of the cylinders at idle it’s still like riding a barbecue.
Thanks for taking the time to make an excellent comparison. 
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I think my size probably does count a little, plus reach to bars maybe - the Blade is easy to ride but not quite as effortless as the Triumph. Some of it I am sure is also my perception due to the rider’s weight distribution / position on the bike. The first time I went down a massive hill I have on my commute it felt VERY odd on the Blade indeed! In terms of suspension; the Triumph’s is rock hard compared to the Honda’s - although I have not had the Honda’s set up for me yet.
I would imagine a new Blade would feel very different to my 19 year old as well.
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Lovely write up!
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The fireblades always had a reputation for being a comfortable sports bike, I know a particular chap who bought every new model for the last donkeys years until the latest one. Apparently it got a lot more aggressive. It was enough to make him buy another brand for the first time, a Ducati streetfighter. Bit of a shame really Honda decided to change their approach. Brilliant write up @MrsVisor
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Tried to get a fast lap time around the Monaco F1 circuit.
Lewis and co don’t have the problems
I had
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My '95 RRS was more comfortable than The 750VFR I had before it when I rode down through Spain 2 years on the trot, the 1st year on the VFR, the 2nd in the Blade. It was lighter and the size of a 600 so I was less tired at the end of a long day’s ride. It was also better on fuel too.
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Nice weekend for a change! So got a nice run out and headed down round the Mournes. Bit misty round the mountains but it was dry and perfect temps of around 19c
I was tempted to head into Newcastle where there would have undoubtedly been big crowds of bikes up the promenade but couldn’t be bothered with the traffic, I’d rather stay on nice riding roads by myself so stayed clear.
Great fun was had, new rear tyre required soon!
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On the best weekend weather wise of the year…I am working . Had a decent ride to work and back on the Blade yesterday but have felt very envious of all of the bikes I have heard out and about today!!
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