swainic
Novice Class
Posts: 57
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posted July 02, 2010 10:24 PM
Riding Impression
I had a chance to ride an S1000 today for 75 miles and here's a few observations that I found out about the Beemer that some people might be interested to hear about especially if thinking of buying one.
Positive things:
The handling is great. Suspension a little harsh for my liking but that's just a case of dialling it in. No stability problems either that I could find.
The power is awsome of course and it has good tractable power. For a bike that revs this high, it also has low end grunt to get it off the line without bogging down.
The electronic shifter is brilliant and a welcome addition to a production bike. I just loved holding the throttle on and snicking up through the gears sans clutch. Almost seemed like an F1 car gearshift.
The traction control and ABS electronic wizzardry has a lot of appeal, but I'm not likely to find the limitations of this bike and I personally don't want to go looking for them. I watch those guys on TV and they get paid a bunch of money for us to see the electronics in action.
The Metzler tires are good, seem pretty sticky and they track well on uneven road surfaces - first class.
Negative things:
The seat has a slight slope down towards the tank and it causes the rider to slide forward or bump forward with the harsh suspension. To counter that I found myself pushing against the bars to keep myself planted on the best part of the seat (I'm 5'11") but after about 30 mins in the saddle my wrists were feeling the pain from this constant push back.
There is a harsh high frequency vibration that buzzes through the bike all the time no matter what RPM. This messed with my circulation and hands went knumb in about 15 minutes. The same vibe makes the mirrors unusable and the view from them all the time is half an elbow and a blurred bit of road.
With the aching wrists and knumb hands I was relieved to get off the bike and it took a while to feel like normal again. Maybe I sound like an old man, but I ride a lot of different bikes and this one is different to most.
The front brake initially has you thinking this is awsome, only one finger needed and very powerful, but when the pace gets a bit faster, and the braking gets stronger, I found that the brake seemed to react with temperature and progressively apply stronger brake force but I'm keeping the same pressure on the lever. Consequently I automatically try to compensate and end up feeling like the brake has a judder problem. The rear brake might as well not be there- it does nothing, has no feel at all.
So that's about it in a nutshell, I'm not hammering the Beemer just telling it like it is for me.
  
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swainic
Novice Class
Posts: 57
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posted July 03, 2010 10:02 AM
I couldn't edit the post but I have a couple more additions:
I really like the self cancelling turn signals, they should be a required feature on all street bikes.
The position of the left switch assy on the handlebar is rotated too far down making the turn signal and horn button way too low to access without having to consciously think about it.
The slipper clutch has a weird feeling when downshifting, it flicks the lever back at your fingers. I have experienced this on other bikes, but no where near as bad.
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fish_antlers
Administrator
The Truth is Out There
Posts: 21896
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posted July 19, 2010 10:01 PM
wonder if the new kawi will cut the german mustard?
have we FINALLY broken out of this unbelievably boring 156.8 rwhp rut all the liter bikes are caught in ???
I hope so!!!
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What business is it of yours where I'm from, Friendo?
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swainic
Novice Class
Posts: 57
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posted July 22, 2010 07:42 AM
That would be good to see Fish.
On that subject, looking at the power war trend over the past few years we have seen power output declining from the big four on both the 600's and 1000's, and I know it is from the ever increasing emission or noise regulations across the globe which is strangling the designers dreams. Do you remember the ZX600 mod to jump the ECU wire under the seat to make it into a European spec power output? Oh and then the Honda CBR600 suddenly lost about 10 horsepower for no apparent reason? Why would they do that in such a competitive class unless they had no choice. I'm not quite sure why the Beemer suddenly bunny hopped the bar by leaps an bounds? It certainly doesn't look like they have a similar power advantage on the racetrack. Lets hope Kawi can find some of that secret ingredient and give them a run for their money.
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Ricksgsxr
Zone Head
Posts: 511
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posted July 26, 2010 09:06 AM
quote:
wonder if the new kawi will cut the german mustard?
have we FINALLY broken out of this unbelievably boring 156.8 rwhp rut all the liter bikes are caught in ???
I hope so!!!
I'm waiting for those posts "I have a buddy that works at XYZ and he told me....LOL
Gotta beleive the "others" will not sit around as HP sells
I hope the trend of heavier bikes stops too.
What I really like to see are the 13-1400cc segment use a similar formula of the 600/1000 cc
Busa/14 only have a few more hp than a litre bike and weigh boat load more. Yeah I know they have more TQ but shit 30-40% more displacement should make more than what they do and chop 50 lbs off with an OEM exhaust.
Rick
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fish_antlers
Administrator
The Truth is Out There
Posts: 21896
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posted August 07, 2010 07:16 PM
yep! bikes have been larding up over the last few years - seems that Duc (and now BMW) are bucking the trend...
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What business is it of yours where I'm from, Friendo?
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