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Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:01 pm
by bigtwinthing
podman wrote: Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:03 pm
sirch345 wrote: Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:09 pm
podman wrote: Fri Jun 08, 2018 7:27 pm

Finally managed to take a S1000 R Sport out today for an hour-ish.

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I was pretty much convinced I was going for the Yamaha but after today I think the "better" bike is *maybe* the BMW.

Was a few weeks ago I rode the MT but by chance, the BMW dealer had a secondhand MT in stock to make a comparison with.

The S1000 felt lighter, handled better(lighter steering and a quicker turn in, felt more a sportsbike ) and had way better initial bite and feel from the brakes.

The engine felt buzzy and vibey at 80-90ish but super smooth elsewhere, the throttle wasnt as snatchy as the MT and it felt quite a bit faster, maybe it just has more of revvy, top end feel and doesnt really make any more HP(MT 160 claimed Vs the BMWs 165) but it seemed more vivid acceleration wise.

Looks are subjective, some areas of the BMW look better than the MT and Vs versa, ill call that a draw.

I thought the BMW Sport was better value(£12,000) when you look at the electrical wizardry it has compared to the base MT10 and equaling ( I think?) the SP at what, £13,500-£14,000? I was also offered a stonking deal on the BMW and the local Yamaha dealer is, well, a bit of a miserable b'std to be honest.





Character is a hard thing to define and I can see why some people criticise the BMW over the MT for that as its "another IL4" but is a snatchy throttle Vs a smooth one annoying or "character"?

Apart from the awesome noise and instant wheelies of the MT, it has no advantage, the BMW offers no lack of fun, it drives hard from very low RPM in any gear and with both the up/down quickshifter, made some great noises whilst working...

The MT is slighly more upright with a little more leg room but the BMW certainly wasnt uncomfortable.

Mmmm....in a bit of a dilema now aint I........! The other curve ball is a like my luggage nowadays and the Sport doesnt seem to cater so well for the traveler, MT10 touring could be more suitable for my needs! Aggghhhhh!
An interesting read that, good to hear your opinion on the two bikes.

Good luck in making a decision, it looks like you're going to need it :wink:

Chris.
Thought I owed the Triumph Speed triple a test ride and comparison to the MT10 and S1000R, so I took one out for an hour or so this morning.

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IMHO its the best looking and finished of the super nakeds and I would have loved to have bought British, unfortunately, for my tastes, it has the worse dash, fiddly switch gear and by far and away the worse gear box.

No quick shifter on the base model either.(£375 plus fitting costs extra).

It has a slight top heavy feel and the has, compared to the other two and previous bikes ive owned, a sensation when cornering at low/medium speeds that the back takes a fraction or two to follow the front on line, im sure its something you would get used to but its defintley more road bike than the other two. It has enough wallop in the motor but it offers less bottom end than the MT , nor the vivid top end of the BMW.

Not particularly overwhelming or inspirational...nor as much of a fun bike.

The real kicker is, the base model offers less kit than an MT10 for around the same price and a shed load less than the BMW for £700 less....and Triumphs daft PCP finance rates meants it costs £40-50 a month more for less bike..

You'd have to be really committed to the brand or not test rode any of the other 2 to buy one in my opinion.

I think the BMW will hold its value better too. I actually didn't like but do now ive seen it, is the new Honda CB1000R. not so much poke though. The diaval was good. Until I tried the VFR

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:46 pm
by fabiostar
popkat wrote: Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:22 pm
fabiostar wrote: Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:40 pm tore the gear linkage off the blue one.. infact iv only got one now :|

so tore the gear linkage of mine and put a motox CR125 gear lever on to run race shift and hopefully free up the gear change as the rearsets always made it a bit hard to shift properly into neutral. seems better now.

but tomorrow tells the tale, after taken advice from a few folk as dvla and the mot stations over here are useless im turning up tomorrow for mot with nothing but ,a horn and a number plate.. lets see how that goes. :eek2 :eek2 :eek2

it seems gone are the days you could turn up with the indis removed along with the switch and still pass having just front and rear lights :eek2 .

so iv my lights unplugged and covered up, il be amazed if it passes but lets see.the rules are a little grey to say the least
Clear to me :wink: there used to be an advisory for no lights fitted but they removed it 2 or 3 years ago, now you'd either get a manual advisory or non at all. if they get funny ask them to check the inspection manual.. but as I said chat to the tester before he logs on just to make sure he's happy, he should be and if he's not he doesn't know his job.


cheers poppers. i did contact two centres to check and i may as well told my cat lol...so yes i chat to the tester before i start and what uv told me checks out... lets see saturday lol


.

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 3:27 pm
by mik_str
went for a ride on the bike with the new ABM bar and find the new ergonomic set-up more favourable than with the previous Renthals. The riding position is slightly more upright, but the nicest part is the bend, which feels more natural. FWIW, I had to play around with the bar angle and location of the master cylinders to get everything to clear the fairings but the end result is positive. So, all good, and I added more carbon in the process too... woohoo!!!!!! :thumbup:

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:05 pm
by grumpyfrog
Photos of the bars please
Prity please :D

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 7:05 pm
by KermitLeFrog
Took the little KTM for a thrash. I've personally put 400 miles on it now. The suspension is very basic and non adjustable but it seems fine to me. I honestly can't tell the difference between Ohlins and Indian OEM. Not sophisticated enough, obviously....

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Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 7:11 pm
by KermitLeFrog
Was cleaning it when I had the dreaded "old guy that used to ride bikes" attack. He told me aaaaaaalll about it. I was very polite, just incredibly bored.

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Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:41 pm
by grumpyfrog
What happened Ian, caught a glimps of yourself in the mirror???
Go get yourself a vino and enjoy it.

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 9:27 pm
by mik_str
grumpyfrog wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 6:05 pm Photos of the bars please
Prity please :D
will do; am leaving for vacation shortly but will post when I return.I will have to find a new photo hosting site too, since Photobucket is now uncooperative...

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 9:34 pm
by KermitLeFrog
grumpyfrog wrote:What happened Ian, caught a glimps of yourself in the mirror???
Go get yourself a vino and enjoy it.
I don't keep mirrors in the house. Nasty lying things. Still on the feckin wagon. Scan scheduled for 11 July. Originally on the 19th but I whined and pleaded and they found an earlier cancellation. That first wee malt will be ambrosia

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Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:11 pm
by Kev L
I fitted the BMW mosfet reg/rec to the bike. Really simple job thanks to the good advice from MacV2 and Frank.
Bike giving 14.5 v so seems ok.
ImageImageImage


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Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 11:31 pm
by fabiostar
turned up at the MOT centre this evning to some head scratching and funny looks. along with you want a what type of MOT.???

big girl sailed through on a daytime MOT. rode round the corner. uncovered the lights and rode off with a years ticket... chuffed as.. :D

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:54 am
by AMCQ46
grumpyfrog wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:41 pm What happened Ian, caught a glimps of yourself in the mirror???
Go get yourself a vino and enjoy it.
Too funny :lol:

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:43 am
by KermitLeFrog
AMCQ46 wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:54 am
grumpyfrog wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 8:41 pm What happened Ian, caught a glimps of yourself in the mirror???
Go get yourself a vino and enjoy it.
Too funny :lol:
Scottish gits, the both of you.

Mr "I used to have a BMW" was older than me and nowhere near as pretty.

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2018 1:30 pm
by tony.mon
Mot'd the SP2 yesterday, it passed but Paul at Slipstream picked up a bit of play on the shock linkage.
So I pulled it all out, glared at it and smashed all the bearings out.
It can have a new set and seals.

Bloody unreliable Honda's........I only ever treat it gently and with respect.

I wouldn't mind, but I pulled them out and regreased last year at Al McQ's workshop day.

Re: what have you done to your "bike" today

Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2018 8:32 pm
by bigtwinthing
took the shock linkages out, cleaned and lubed them and all back in, did I notice the difference, maybe a bit, but happy how its going. I did manage 139 miles today on 1 tankful, then light came on, that was riding it reasonably. its better faster lol. That was yesterday, today, ive done my favourite roundabout and small link road about 25 times this morning at 0545, really quiet and getting the handling a bit suited to me. The brakes seem bloody amazing, loving the power of this thing.