General topics » 6k service and S1000XR loan bike

Took the RS for its 6k service to Pidcock’s yesterday.......check over, oil and brake fluid change. Quick shifter now shifting better and brakes sharper. They also replaced the clutch lever under warranty as the paint has worn off the ball end. All good.

Now to the S1000XR

Good points

Jeez it’s fast....above 7k revs
That engine.......loads of bhp
Good visibility
Very quick quick shifter ..... better than the RS
Lovely exhaust sound when in dynamic mode
Top gear roll on from 80mph plus
Proper built in hugger

Not so good

That engine, lacks torque at low revs
I was in 6th by 30mph and looking for another 4 gears...
Rubbish cable clutch
Unfeasibly wide handlebars
Very uncomfortable (was fitted with low seat) with little room to move around
Engine vibes
Constant noise - a bit like riding with a swarm of hornets have a fight with a gang of chain saws in your helmet.
Brakes not quite as good as the RS
Felt like lower quality than RS

Thanks but no thanks, would not fancy doing any distance on it. Good fun for a short time.

Getting back on the RS was like putting on an pair of comfortable brogues - just right! Much better balance, bottom end.....and much quicker for less effort over long distances.

Hard to beat a good pair of brogues! I spent the day around Staffordshire and Derbyshire Peak District today, I just love this bike, it does everything I ask of it ! Nice to have your comparison with the S1000XR, that surely confirms we made the right choices, brogues over stilletoes any day.

Zitat von Boxerboy im Beitrag #3

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Hard to beat a good pair of brogues! I spent the day around Staffordshire and Derbyshire Peak District today, I just love this bike, it does everything I ask of it ! Nice to have your comparison with the S1000XR, that surely confirms we made the right choices, brogues over stilletoes any day.

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You just wait til we get 150bhp 1250 vvt

Zitat von Bravo im Beitrag #5

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You just wait til we get 150bhp 1250 vvt

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Good luck to you Graham,if your looking for a sensible,level headed young rider to run it in for you look no further.....

Hard to beat a good pair of brogues! I spent the day around Staffordshire and Derbyshire Peak District today, I just love this bike, it does everything I ask of it ! Nice to have your comparison with the S1000XR, that surely confirms we made the right choices, brogues over stilletoes any day.

Zitat von GordonH im Beitrag #4

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Zitat von Boxerboy im Beitrag #3

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Hard to beat a good pair of brogues! I spent the day around Staffordshire and Derbyshire Peak District today, I just love this bike, it does everything I ask of it ! Nice to have your comparison with the S1000XR, that surely confirms we made the right choices, brogues over stilletoes any day.

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“Brogues over stilletoes” - love it!

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Zitat von Boxerboy im Beitrag #8

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In which case I suppose the GS is a pair of wellies!

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Zitat von Bravo im Beitrag #7

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Good luck to you Graham,if your looking for a sensible,level headed young rider to run it in for you look no further.....

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When I test rode the XR, I really wanted to love it.
After all, it has the same amazing engine as my wife's R, and I had thought that it would be a great all-rounder (since I would never consider touring on the S1000R).
But while it was thrilling and fun to ride, I just couldn't see it as my daily ride.
For me the main thing was being unimpressed with the suspension. It had an odd characteristic of feeling spongy and wallowy (is that a word?) at the front, but then hard and crashy at the rear. So the front end would hit a sharp bump and pogo for a bit, while the rear hit the same bump and seemed to want to throw me out of the seat. I didn't like the sensation, and getting back onto the RS was sheer bliss in comparison.

I liked the rear suspension on the XR I rode. Much better than my RS. Didn’t like; the seat (locked into one position), the wide bars or the high screen. Got back on my RS and it felt like a small sport bike in comparison, which I like.

Speaking of suspension: I recently rode my friend's 2015 R1200GS and its suspension is a lot better than the one on my RS. It just soaks up bumps, while the bike remains stable and it has 5 levels of suspension damping adjustment, instead of just two. Plus, the instrument panel is much easier to read and the wind protection was better. What I don't get is that BMW already had these components, like the better ESA suspension and a more useful instrument display, why did they have to dumb them down when they designed the new RS model? I keep getting the impression that BMW really doesn't have their hearts into designing and marketing their RS and (F800) GT models.

That's what you get if you have a bike with "longer legs". But 5 settings is too much credit. We owned a 2016 and 2017 full option GS before the RS came into our lives, but the GS has 3 different suspension modes, soft, normal and hard. It does have multiple riding modes like rain, road, enduro and (optional) dynamic and enduro pro and these modes use the 3 suspension modes.

Then again, we do miss the longer spring travel as Holland is terrorised by speed bumps. With the GS I didn't care about them.