nikster wrote: John do I see a beastly s1000rr in your profile pic? Did you post a review somewhere, or could you? Sorry totally OT but I am drooling all over my keyboard just now...
Hi Nikster,
I have kept fairly quiet about this one because I sense some people are rather fed up with me getting new bikes. Mind you I had to lose the wife, the house and the car to get this one. (Not really joking).
I fell in love with the bike when I went to see it one too many times in the BMW showroom, the reviews speak for themselves, but beauty in a bike is a personal thing, but this is one I like to have parked in the drive and I really enjoy looking at it from various angles. Unlike the car, or the .............. Of course you do not spend over 1 million Baht to look at only. The decision was between that and replacing the 2008 R1 with a new 2010 R1. Actually by the time I have sold the R1 and look at the residual value I have left, say after 12 months it is not such an expensive purchase. I rode the 2010 R1 and did not find it significantly different for road use than my old one. The new BMW just seemed to be better value and would be likely to remain of significantly more value than the R1 and appeared to be a much more advanced bike which seemed to offer a lot to the normal road user, as I do not intend to go to the track with it. The various modes, the traction control, linked brakes, ABS, quickshift etc seem to make it a safer and more forgiving bike on normal roads, not to mention more horsepower than almost anything else of its genre. The quality of manufacture appears to be excellent and the more you look at some of its unusual design feature, the better it gets.
3750km in the last 12 days and I am absolutely delighted. It is suprisingly easy to ride, very comfortable and flexible. It just seems to hold any line you point your head at. If you want to experience the top 7k of the 14K rev range you need to do it in the lower gears. At 7k in 6th gear, travelling at 165kph open the throttle and it just takes off, you do not need to change down in normal overtaking, but I found I was doing it because it sounds so good at higher revs. I am taking it easy at the moment and relearning my riding habits, but I must say on todays journey back from KK, I found I was overtaking several vehicles at once, rather than just one or two as normal, partly because you know you have the power to get past very quickly and still hold a good line in to the bend ahead. Anything I say is likely to be heavily critisised, so I do not intend to go on to much, but there is no point in reviewing its perfomance around Chiang Mai moat, or talking about how well it accelerates from the lights up to 50km/hr. Its not that sort of bike, it is a beast, but a tame one if you want to ride it that way. I am happy to answer any genuine questions. There are many who feel such a bike has no place on Thailands roads. Well, when it makes you feel as good riding it as it does me, it has a place on my driveway, and it will be hopefully be making me feel good for many thousand Km over the next couple of years at least, and making a better rider out of me. It also helps an old bugger keep fit, and gives him a reason to keep fit. This is not really a review, just an answer to your question. I will ride it some more and if there is an interest write a review from the point of view of an high mileage rider, rather than a racetrack expert.