Then and Now

[sirgalahad3]

Examples of nice everythings on those photos! Bike,area,weather etc,all better than Wolverhampton.....

[GringoRojo]

:moon



how many on the R1 then?

[dekker555]

I think we in the UK are all envious of where Mike lives, especially this time of year!

[Falcon 269]

:moon   

how many on the R1 then?

:lol :rollin :lol

Err, in total it has a mere 13,100 miles since it was first registered in Jan 1999.  About 1,300 of those have been since I got it in June 2009.  In my defence, feeble though it is, I had two R1s to ride in 2009/2010 and this one was the designated 'keeper', so I put more mileage on the other knowing it would be sold eventually. 

Transferring UK-registered bikes onto Spanish plates is a bureaucratic chore and expensive so I put off doing it for a year once the UK tax and MOT had expired.  I finally got around to re-registering the keeper last November.  Cost nearly 600 euros and took 3 weeks of visits to the MOT centre, the tax offices and the Policia Trafico department in Alicante.  It all has to be done in person and the sheaf of paperwork required has to be seen to be believed.

Worth it, though.

[pitternator]

Hi Mike
The bike looks great. Have I missed the dropping of ur exup on the forum ? I like the look of the clean pipe all way to the can, really cleans it up, instead of the rusty iron collector box.

From the photos it does look like a lot of weight over the front wheel, almost a big attitude change to stock ?

[Falcon 269]

Hola amigo

The Akra full system went on at the same time as the R1 forks, which was Dec 2009.  Where did those couple of years go ... ?

Looks and weight-saving alone made it worth the swap and the absence of the EXUP makes no practical difference on the road.  Power delivery up to 4k rpm is a shade softer but is only felt in 4th gear and higher.  Snapping on full throttle in 5th/6th at 3k rpm results in audible resonance in the exhaust.  Answer?  Don't snap the throttle, roll it open and the motor will pull cleanly enough up to 4k rpm at which point it's hey-ho, we're off to the races! :lol

I'm guessing with the R1 forks, Akra system and other bits removed (eg centrestand) that the dry weight of the bike is now comfortably under 200kgs, probably closer to 190kgs in fact.  Riding a mate's Gen 1 on standard suspension recently was a reminder to me of how mine used to feel.  Just pushing it around the garage the difference is clear.

The R1 front end does change the geometry a lot and it turns much quicker now.  For those of shorter inside leg like me, the R1 forks and R6 shock with Luke's dogbones helps lower the bike overall by about 1" at the seat.  If there's a compromise to ground clearance, I haven't found it yet.  The whole plot feels balanced and responsive.  I couldn't ask for more.

Cheers!

Mike

[Kosmic Kartman]

hey-ho, we're off to the races!

:lol

And very nicely put. Brought a big grin to me face.

[pitternator]

Ta mike, I was very taken by the lean rakish lines  of ur bike from one picture in particular.I will consider an akra for sure in time, but as my exup still Ok ( fingers well crossed)...no plans to change just yet. My fazer is primarily a tourer, so some of the mods guys look at doing dont always rock my boat , but anything to make the bike look cleaner and leaner  is always a good thing.
what I would love to do is  a custom paint job....probably change the color to blue with black and white speed blocks on the tank...its my next mod for sure.

As a total aside, I just got an email from Triumph telling me the new speed triple R is going to be selling at £11,300 OTR... feck , thats some cash !!... makes the ( really good handling ) stock bike look cheap at £8600!

and makes my fazer look a complete steal  for the performance from the money its cost me.!