wooohoooo..... i get to post in here tooooooo.
just as a point of interest before i post. i have a mate who has a 1050 speed triple. he put a buell fairing and subframe and headlights on that for some better wind protection. looked great. only thing that really pissed him off was that the buell fairing was white. made his white bike look cream. re spray came next.
now my post...
guys seriously... relax. we all love our bikes.
and besides if you are going to pay to mod your bike i am sure you can get a lot of bikes to handle pretty awesome. xb and blast included.
all i know and what i like about my xb, is that with no mods (frame/suspension/or brake) and just adjustments of the stuff the bike comes with, my oompah handles everything almost perfect and i can ride around a lot of bikes!
my lady loves her xb cause for hte money spent, there was no other bike that offered fully adjustable suspension in a frame that suited her size. the only close one now is the 675r.