New Bike Day - Back to what you know....

[mikeycee]

Hi All,

Hope you are all good!

Long time no post for me, Busy with life, work and new sprogs who decided to arrive way to early for comfort!

Happily however, all passed without major incident and now its time to get back to some sort of normality. Part of that normality will get getting out and trying to enjoy some of whats left of this fairly unpredictable summer we are having right now!

Some of you may recall that up until last year I was the owner of a 2013 BMW S1000RR (2nd Generation). I loved that bike, but I was probably riding a bit on the stupid side on the road (Perhaps as a side effect of doing 8-10 Trackdays per year on it also). Also myself and the missus were planning to get some two up time and maybe do some touring round Scotland and maybe into Europe so the RR Was chopped in and I became the proud owner of a 2017 BMW S1000XR.

The bike was a perfect blend of practicality, whilst not loosing its fun edge. It was a lot more calmer than the RR and I could still bat it about at a fair whack but it could also do 200 Miles straight without me needing a walking stick for two days after getting off of the thing. I did a fair few long run outs on it and it was great to ride, I fitted a lowering kit to the suspension linkage to help my vertically challenged frame also along with new bar ends to fix the vibes and also a replacement Hyperpro Steering damper (It tended to get a bit of a head wobble when pushing on) and the bike was exactly how I wanted it.

Then....... Plans changed when we had the news that we had a little person on the way, and the two-up plans went straight in the bin. I was to be fair really looking forward to doing some touring but it was a flat no for the missus and I completely understood and agreed with her decision.

So I rode on with the XR and went through the tail end of the winter, into spring and then did very few miles on it as we moved into summer due to the Little man coming way to early and the missus spending nearly 7 Weeks as a stay in guest of the NHS (The whole thing was a nightmare) but once all of the drama and stress was out of the way and the family was all back together I was able to get back to getting some miles back under my belt.


So I dragged the XR Out after three months in the garage, checked it all over and was so excited to get out.

I was back after about half an hour, and really didn't enjoy it - I cant put my finger on exactly why but it just felt a bit mundane... I put it down to being out of the seat for a while and went with the old 'If your heads not in it, Leave it in the garage' type thing for the time being. Later on in the week I wanted to go out again - But I had a similar experience.

Don't get me wrong - The XR Is not a mundane bike, Far from it... But its how the ride felt.

Twice more brought the same results.... Me and the XR Just were not clicking. I think it had been this way kind of for some time however with our plans for touring etc I was just pushing it away because of the big picture. Now that those plans were out of the window, these feelings were brought to the fore and it was nagging at me. There just was not the level of fun or thrill there that I associate with riding bikes - From the age of 20 I did away with commuting on two wheels so it has been a leisure thing for me for the last 20 Years so this element is essential as its what I do it for. I had to make a change.

So, a couple of visits to the local Motorrad dealer later and I've gone back to the proven formula that I know did the job:







Through no fault of its own, the XR Has been chopped in favour of this 2018 S1000RR (3rd Generation), Managed to hammer out a pretty good deal from the dealer and was offered a decent trade in on the XR and also managed to barter a little with the sale price of the RR leaving me more better off than I was on the deal with the XR which is helpful now I have a 5 Week old cash drain spewing, shitting and burning a considerable hole in my bike fund already

The love for riding is back immediately, I think half of the fun for me is having a bike that does (Just slightly) scare me a little bit, and something that puts a wide, ear to ear grin on my face. The XR was not quite doing that... The only thing that scared me was the likelihood of dropping it at the traffic lights, but the RR has brought back everything I need, and that I love so much about riding.

One owner from new, 2300 Miles and littered with quite a few BMW 'HP' Optional extras. The bike has not been ridden very hard from what I can tell, strangely the shift light was set to go off at 7000rpm - So maybe not pushed very hard I can assume.

First impressions are great, ride feels more refined from the 2nd Generation - Less raw and a little more electronically muted from the previous incarnation... However I have only done 50 Miles on it so far and I also have not had it in Slick mode (Coding plug was not fitted), so this has now been sorted and the next run out will be at full power with electronic intervention restricted so very eager to see how it performs in its slightly more unfiltered form.

I will be keeping a lid on the on road riding twattery from now on - I was warned the new addition would change my riding attitudes and it definitely has, but I will be back to the trackdays hopefully as soon as I have managed to lay my hands on an old shitter to do them on so I can nob around like I think I know what I'm doing with the rest of the inters

I need to set up the rearsets for my knackered knees and also the suspension but aside from that there is nothing I need to do apart from getting out and riding the thing.... And for the first time in a long time, I cant wait to do just that!

[weeksy]

Great post! Epic bike. Can the wife take it to Pembrey?

[Skub]

Happy new bike day.

Ya gots to be honest with yourself if ya wants to have fun.

A friend has had several of those monsters,his latest HP something or other made 206 bhp at the rear wheel after a flash. All he did was put an exhaust on the thing. Even the dyno dude was surprised no work had been done. They are a lot of bike for the road.

[Yorick]

Top bombing

[Supermofo]

That looks awesome. Wouldn't wanna own one, but I see the appeal. I'd love a blast on one though one day, just to scare the shit outta myself!

I sat on the track Gixxer thou when putting it on my garage and thought how they buggery did I ride sportsbikes, the pegs and bars were about a foot too high/low

[Bigyin]

Shift light set at 7000 rpm

Maybe they set it to run it in and forgot to alter it .... happy new bike day and congrats on the new sprog too

[Couchy]

One of my favourite bikes, in slick mode they are awesome, just enough TC and very little anti wheelie I swapped the flip chip over on the rear suspension which lowers the rear and believe it or not makes them turn quicker and be more stable mid corner. It’s worth doing despite being the opposite of what you’d think. Modern litre bikes like to be run flat not nose down.

[mikeycee]

Thanks for all of the replies guys - Much appreciated!

Not had too much of an opportunity to get many more miles on the clock but have managed to get the Slick key in place now so have all of the ride modes available.

Spent the weekend with it in 'Slick' Mode with Traction control set at 7, Then 6, Then 5...... Then 4.... Then 3.... Then 4 Again

Bike runs a lot smoother in Slick, and the power delivery is so linear and utterly mental. The absolute lack of engine braking makes it feel like so much more of a handful also. Handling is (I feel) more confidence inspiring than the Gen 2, and as an overall package I think it really is a massive step forward.

Not tried the launch control yet - Will leave that for a completely dry day when I am totally at home with everything.

Have been working away all week so again unfortunately no opportunities to get out... And with the stormy weather forecast for the weekend I think its going to be garage bound until next week.... But I am actually really excited to get back on it, Something that was not there with the XR So I definitely know I have made the right choice.

I absolutely love this view too!

[mikeycee]

So spent the last couple of weeks getting more acquainted with the S1000RR, and I have to say I am loving every minute so far. Moving back to this from the XR Really is the best thing I have done in terms of getting the enjoyment back from riding.

Also treated the RR to a shiny new set of engine case protectors:





At £130 for the set, they certainly were not cheap - But the consequences of even a low speed laydown on the cases that do stick out a fair way would far outway the cost so I feel the expense worthwhile.

Next on the list is a cheap and nasty track fairing as I really need to get this on for some faster stuff soon Looking at some options at the moment, and should hopefully have a plan in place soon. Seen a set on Ebay which I can paint up myself with a few cans of tough black, but slightly out of budget at the moment, Will see how things go.

So in the meantime, a few more miles on the road and hopefully maybe a trackday or two before the season comes to a close

One of my favourite bikes, in slick mode they are awesome, just enough TC and very little anti wheelie I swapped the flip chip over on the rear suspension which lowers the rear and believe it or not makes them turn quicker and be more stable mid corner. It’s worth doing despite being the opposite of what you’d think. Modern litre bikes like to be run flat not nose down.

I've actually done this Couchy, and it has improved things but not quite as far as I need yet. It seemed a bit heavy pulling it from one side to the other in quick succession (Far heavier that my Gen2) and although this has improved things a little its still a bit slow and heavy to flip side to side.

I'm no suspension guru however, so need to do a little experimentation with this one I think.

[mikeycee]

Evening All!

Hope you are all good.

Just a quick Email on the progress of my S1k, Really squeezed out the miles right up to a couple of weeks ago where the gritters began heading out and its now officially in hibernation until spring

The weather has been so good, there were so many 'one last run out' situations and its been great - I flipping love the thing, So glad that I chopped the XR in and went back to an RR.... Its such a good machine.

So now off the road and I managed to get the bulk of the track conversion work completed ready for next year - Which I cant wait for!

As mentioned in my previous post, The plan was for a cheap aftermarket fairing kit. After investigating a lot of the UK and European options, Even some of the cheapest ones were out of my budget - So I took the gamble on a cheap Chinese kit. If the gamble worked out I wouldn't need to do any painting or anything - Just fit and forget..... I hoped!

Found a seller on Ebay who was offering full kits in a few different designs for £450 Posted from China. He had an offer option on the listing, so after a few messages back and forth I offered him £370 and to my surprise he accepted it. My previous experience with these kits was not great, But thought I needed to give this ago as money is tight at the moment with the sprog slowly eating and shitting its way through my cash reserves

I was fully prepared to get the drill out and do whatever I needed to butcher it in to place, just needed something to replace the expensive OE Panels and I didnt mind if it looked like a bit of a shitter when it was out on the track.

So, 5 Weeks later and Parcel Force drop a massive box to me delivered by Air Freight from just outside Beijing, Via the Middle East and to my door step. Not a bad service to be fair as I was expecting at least two months or more with Covid etc.

Here is most of the kit laid out whilst I was checking for shipping damage etc:



To be fair it was not packed great, certainly not in a suitable way to travel to the opposite side of the world and be thrown about many, many times and there are a couple of panels with some rub marks on them - But all thankfully have cleaned out ok with a little bit of elbow grease.

The item came with a full replacement fairing bolt kit, arse bump stop and also heat shields for the inside of the lower fairings as they sit close to the exhaust - This is the case on the OE Panels also. The kit also came with a tinted screen.

Thats a lot of stuff for £370 - I really was fearing the worst when it came to fitting because it all seemed too good to be true.... Something must be shit, Right?



I've got to say, I'm absolutely blown away by how good this kit is. All of the panels were bang on to within 2/3mm of the original mountings. At the worst requiring a tiny (I mean tiny) shove to line up. I had to drill 4 holes on the nose for it to mount on to the original mirror mounts. Thats all the drilling that was required.

Bad points:

- Rear clips on the tail unit are brittle and one of them snapped whilst I was pushing it into position, This could however just be me being a cack handed nobber

- The Chimney/Spire nuts in the bolt kit are shit and fit terribly - Ordered 25 replacements from Ebay for £6 and they are perfect for the job.

That's it, overall the kit is really good. The colour match is about perfect, the quality of the paint and decals is of a very high standard and to have absolutely everything you need there, posted for £370 is bloody great value. I've had Chinese kits before quite a few years back, one for an RRT Fireblade and one for a 2000 R6 and they were both absolute shit with Mismatched colours and a terrible fit. I also paid over £400 for a UK Made black aftermarket race fairing for my gen2 RR and it was the worst kit I've ever purchased in terms of fit and I had to get a screen and some other bits for that which took it up to about £460 - So to get this for £370 I really am made up with it.

These kits really have come along way - and I thoroughly recommend this one.

I've also got myself an OE Silencer (£45) to bring the sound down a little, the headers etc are all standard with the Cat still in place but the shorty Akra is still too loud and wont get through the noise test (Definitely not at Snett or Mallory anyway), so the OE Can deadens things completely which is sad, but necessary

Other than that, New exhaust hanger and Evotech brake guard and we are ready to go!





I've noticed that No Limits are now starting to load up their 2022 Dates now which is good news - I best start getting the pennies together to get some dates in the diary!

Hope you all have a good week ahead

[weeksy]

Looks bloody ace!

[mikeycee]

Just a quick update on this one as I've been away from the forum for a considerable amount of time through one thing or another

Not had the chance to get many miles in on the RR this year so far, life has been so hectic I don't know where the first half of 2022 has gone to be honest!

However, I did manage to squeeze a day in at Snetterton at the end of March - And it was fantastic. Warm sun, hardly a cloud in the sky and (Surprising for NL), a very quiet track!

Managed to get more used to the Gen3, such a step up from the previous version. Was a joy to ride for the day! Took a while to get my head out of 'Road' mode, especially as I have done so little miles on it / Any bike since last November but managed to find the groove by early afternoon.

Booked in for Silverstone on June 7th - Cant wait!

Not sure what I am doing here