whats the difference to stock ?

Hotters
Yes its eerily spooky cos I recently traded my 12 plate GS for a 14 plate speed triple !, to sit alongside my fazer...I tested loads out there tbh. Probably made some folk bored by it all...but really found nothing which floated me boat ( under £12k in any case ! )....so went back to my second love which is triumph triples. I was tempted by the street for sure, but being a bit on the large side, the speedy offers a bit more grunt to haul me round !   ...I think I got a reasonable deal , just had to offload the GS as it was approaching end of warranty...that's a long story , but suffice to say I wouldn't want any bmw without a mega warranty !!

fazer is all prepped ready for the 3k mile tour of Europe starting next Friday ! 

I bought mine july 2001..import  for £5995, about 2k cheaper than official price. It had just as much power as my mates gen1, both dynode at rencullen.

don't think they came out in January 2001....so that could be a white lie if anyone reckons they had one then !....march would be around the earliest. My bike was Y112 LNN.

couple of points-
1. with power comes responsibility !..160 bhp at rear wheel is a huge figure. IMO much of the time it will need tcs to avoid wheelspin .Personally where do ya draw the line ? ..is 170 bhp better ???..would that make 160 bhp bikes " crap" ?

2. yes bmw warranty is good, but after my awful 2 yrs with the GS, it bloody needs to be. I have met so many people with beemers  especially the LC GS and K1600GTs who have had dreadful problems. Now then, what do you do when the bmw warranty runs out ? Aftermarket ones are not as comprehensive, but the problems wont necessarily go away.I hope the 4 cylinder bikes are better , as they are based on the 05 gixxer ...maybe so. But I have been put off bmw sad to say. Are they just trying too hard with so many new bikes .They never offered me extra warranty on my bike, after all my complaints and warranty claims  about vibey engine and failing electrics...maybe they knew something I didn't ! I have to say I have never had so many issues with any other new bike I have owned, and that is a fair few...

I was very impressed with the chassis and kit on the S1000R , but I just felt it too intense for my road riding these days...never thought I would ever say that ! Even on lowest power mode it felt fast .All other traffic seemed to be in slow motion ! It is a bike for adrenaline junkies, and those with  a lot of self control !..I wonder how long rear tyres will last !  ..with my two other super nakeds I owned it was only 1500 miles on sport rubber , this bike has 30 bhp more...
However I am keen to see just what the " adventure bike" will be. It kinda rubs up against the whole GS thing , so maybe it will be more a flat barred faired sportsbike alternative ??..they also are bringing out a R1200ST again so it seems...or are folk getting confused over new models ?

I also wonder just how the other manufacturers will react to BMW dominating the power end of the market ?

Its a thing we all will face at some point. I have owned gen1s since 2001, when I bought my blue Y plate. Did 38k on that. Sold it for sprint 1050 in 2005, quickly realised it wasn't  a direct replacement. Bought another gen1 in 2008 with just 8k on clock. That now has 42k up, and just been serviced , including some work by dealer. Who praised the bikes power and handling. That's 1990s technology against 2014 current bike range....so it kinda makes one think 2 questions ...
1. Is there a bike out there to replace the fazer ...kwak sx1000?...maybe new s1000R ( faired)...whadya think ?

2.If not , how long will it keep running ?...my only concern is the exup valve, as dealer reckons its wearing , and is reluctant to touch it ! I can see some rethreading being needed this year ( again ! )..it still works , but is getting loose due to end wear. But that could be a blessing in disguise...as it wont probably seize.

We don't know the exact circumstances, but 6 bikes all crashing suggests no distance between them. Frontal damage to the car suggests bikes crashed head on or swerved to avoid and hit the wall...but in the photos it is on its correct side of the road.. Exactly why  hard to say , but looking at the tight bend, one or all parties were on wrong side of road. 6 bikes going down a narrow road should have been strung out , so unlikely if that so, why all 6 crashed...
The only lesson I take from this is  don't ride in tight  groups, and always ride for yourself....give enough room to be able to stop etc. TBH speed wasn't necessarily high for this type of accident to happen...its likely to be road positioning and too close together.
Tragic  all the same...

typical, I am off to Europe on my bike then !

But it looks cool.

I do sincerely believe this topic clearly shows how hyped up the whole issue of so called racism is in this country. Can anyone actually say they are really discriminated against in a realistic way any more?...how can we compare slavery , torture, and such terrible treatment of people ( of all colours) back through history ...with a slip of the N word on a private video... ! Take a step back, the issue is preposterous.
And before VNA begins his dissection of what people are writing ...look at what they are saying instead.

My own proposition Is that a large number of indigenous UK white people now feel threatened and even discriminated against by all the racial slurs made against them..rather absurdly usually by white people , rather than the people who actually  are claimed to be discriminated against .Hence the growing support for parties like *KIP.( better not write the full name cos it probably will upset someone.)

Plus, sort this one out....a polish friend of mine  condemned the Bulgarians and Rumanians as thieves and vagabonds...and is most upset that they were able to come to the UK...is that racism ???....or is this OK because they are not UK white ethically??

IMO its now time in such a now multi cultural country we need to redefine just exactly what is racism...

I might be able to make it , love to see planes .Thanks for the tip.

well done Karlo. I should be there too. cheers

I chuckle a bit when folk call the OE shock rubbish. It isn't , its just got way too weak a spring . Ktech  and others did a rebuild which actually worked quite  well 10 yrs back. The full monty K tech is as good as anything out there.... they claim up to ohlins standard..... The OE shock in the picture is maybe 10 to 12 yrs old, never cleaned, never looked after .  Hope you look after the RR one.
Incidentally , just why are so many RR shock about ?...is it leftovers from racers  fitting decent stuff like K tech shocks !   

But if its cheap and you like it , go ahead. Personally the weakness in all this fitting of shocks from other bikes is setting yer bikes up, and hoping you have the right spring to get the sag right. You have to get the sag right before you even consider damping adjustments. I do applaud ingenuity and perseverance. But do remember if you have  a knackered shock on yer bike..ANYTHING will feel marvellous. But it could still be far from ideal. Ask me how I know !

Dreams eh ??

Love the blue RD400...that was my dream bike in 1976. I liked all the triple engine suzis and kwaks, way out of my price league back then. Then they got killed off just when I could afford them...