Posts Tagged ‘ R1200R ’

K1300S demo ride

Let it be said that I am not a sport bike rider. Let it also be said that August 15, 2009 was the day that I rode a wonderful sport bike that cemented my migration away from cruiser motorcycles to their more sportier cousins.
I have been thinking about changing to a more standard motorcycle for quite some time now. I talk about motorcycles so much that I annoy not only my wife but even myself at times. I just love to ride.
Wagner Motorsports hosted a demo ride event this past weekend. I was hoping to ride an R1200R since that is the bike that seems the most practical and fits with my riding needs and style. If you have ever been to a demo event, you never know what you are going to get until you get there. Upon my arrival, there was no R1200R in the demo fleet but there was a K1300S which I wanted to ride for the fun of it and happened to signup for it 5 seconds before the next guy in line and therefore only had to wait one hour instead of two.
There are many more professional reviews (onewheeldrive.com and motorcycle.com to name two) out there on the K1300S and I will not try to duplicate them. Also my limited experience on sport bikes makes it difficult to compare. I will say that the bike is quite a looker.
I really like this GSX-R inspired paint scheme.

I didn’t have my camera crew (my wife) with me so the only picture I got was one on my iPhone.

My helmet goes so well with the paint scheme they should have just given me the bike.

The ride, in general, was much better than the Harley ride. The BMW ride lasted about 35 minutes and allowed the riders to open it up a couple of times. The Harley demo ride was a 15 minute meander through the local neighborhood. The behavior (and communication signals) of the BMW riders displays that BMW riders are much more technical riders than the average Harley rider. Also, much more interested in safety. (ATGATT)
On to the ride….. Let me start out by saying that I am surprised at how comfortable this bike is. It is not a painful Ducati. It is a well thought out hunk of German engineering. The bike starts and idles wonderfully. I toggle through the various electronic options available at my finger tips (heated grips, Electronic Suspension Adjustment (ESA), On-board computer) and fall in love with the gadgetry of it all.
We set off and there is less clutch slip required than I expected. It feels nice and the engine feels amazing when accelerating through corners. The clutch is not necessary (I recommend not using it) when up shifting while accelerating. With the Gear Shift Assistant the shifting is wonderfully quick and smooth with a quick lift of the left foot. Above 5k the vibration can be felt in your thighs and the stronger than expected engine breaking increases the vibration in the frame.
At one point I did get the engine to about 8k and the handles bars really started to vibrate. It was quite intrusive since a significant portion of my weight is transfered to the bars. I found that squeezing the tank with my knees helped support my back and lift some weight off my hands.
I also played with the ESA while on the ride. The COMFort setting really softened up the suspension, perhaps too much. The SPORT mode stiffened slightly though since I couldn’t foresee when we would be “sport” riding on this ride the SPORT setting wasn’t really put to the test. I left it on NORMal for most of the ride and found it to be quite comfortable when cruising and adequate in the turns.
It was all too soon when we reached the dealer on the return route. I could have ridden that bike for hours. At a price of $19k I would hope to be able to ride it for a long time. The seat height worked well for my 30in inseam and the weight didn’t seem to be a factor. Sixth gear should not be street legal as I hardly got out of third (and we got up to 80mph at one point). I would need a lot more money to pay for speeding tickets if I owned this bike.
While it is true that the bike is not perfect (mostly vibration issues) and everything is not right with it. However, it was a great bike to reveal to me everything that was wrong with my sportster when I got back on my trusty donkey of a bike to ride home. My back started to cramp up after mere minutes and my left hip bone was seriously aching by the time I finished my 70min ride home.
Within hours I had decided to list my sportster up for sale. I am not in a position to purchase a BMW motorcycle at the moment so I am researching some good alternatives to get me through the next few years. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and submittable as comments.

Conclusion: The K1300S is an awesome bike if you can afford it and want to be pampered with electronic gadgetry.

2009
08/17
CATEGORY
motorcycle
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8 comments

ducati gt1000 vs monster (updated)

Why I did it:
Since the the two bikes are so similar on the spec sheet it is difficult to see the differences in ride and comfort.

How I did it:
I downloaded photos of the GT1000 and the monster from ducati.com and lined them up in photoshop. I used an approximation for wheelbase in order to scale them properly. I then traced some of the key elements (forks, seat, handles, pegs) using red for the GT1000 and yellow for the Monster.

What it shows:
This image shows that the GT1000 has a much more relaxed riding position. This is of course to be expected. I was a little surprised by the fork angle since on paper they have the same rake angle.

Update: added XR1200, R1200R, and my current bike XL 883 to the image. Due to the slightly differing photo angles, this data is less than scientific.

2009
07/07
CATEGORY
motorcycle
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2 comments

my beef with harley-davidson

I love my Harley-Davidson Sportster 883. I have had it for a couple years now and it has been a great, dependable, fun, intermediate motorcycle for me. My wife and I have ridden it to Martha’s Vineyard and back and I enjoy commuting on it. That being said, I am eager to upgrade to a more advanced motorcycle. By advanced I mostly mean more powerful. I do not mean more difficult to steer, maneuver, pick up, back up, or anything of the sort.

I tend to obsess a little about things that interest me. I frequently check motorcycle review sites on a more than daily basis. (see the “clickers” located in the sidebar)

I have read many many reviews on all types of bikes and I fantasize about riding them. Earlier I wrote a post about my top motorcycle picks. That list is still interesting to me but may have changed slightly. Who knows which bike is best for me.

Through the many readings it has become apparent to me that Harley’s refusal to incorporate newer technologies is a problem for me. This is Beef #1. It wasn’t really a problem for me until Harley came out with the XR1200. I like old bikes and I like simple machines that run well. Harley fits this bill well. The XR1200, however, opened my eyes to what could be easily adapted to Harley’s other bikes. It was also obvious how wrong it was for Harley to not include adjustable front suspension since they are trying to compete with the sportier bikes.

The bike that I am most thinking of buying, if I don’t buy a Harley, is a BMW R1200R. Reading the reviews and specs on this bike is like a tech enthusiast’s dream. All of these tech advancements have to aid in keeping the rider safe. Also, Harley’s are so very heavy. There has to be a lighter way to build a Harley. I am an average gent. I am about 5’10″ and even though I have gained a few pounds I am still under 180. I am also not a body builder by any stretch, therefore riding a bike that is six, seven, or eight hundred pounds seems out of the question to me.

I made a picture of the inner struggle between my Harley self and my BMW self.

Now on to Beef #2. I like the Harley band of brothers mentality that exists. It’s fun to belong and since I love to ride, it’s great to be associated with that. There is, however, a stigma on male sportster riders. Sportsters are cheaper, smaller, and they are “chick bikes”. This is a dramatization of how I feel a typical introduction goes when I meet a fellow HOG rider:
dude – “cool you ride a Harley, what do you a ride?”
me – “a sportster 883.”
dude – “oh…that’s cool….hey, John, how’s it going…..” and he moves on to talk with someone else.

There is classism in the Harley band of brothers. Try to imagine how the rich Porsche 911 owners felt when Porsche came out with the Boxster and all of a sudden people were in the Porsche club who weren’t as rich, weren’t as old, and were often women. Some people spend $30K on their Harley. I spent just over $4K. (I got it used from a “chick” who asked me several times if the bike was for my girlfriend)

Since Harley is typical America, bigger indeed does equal better. This means that even though I really like the Nightster 1200 it is still small compared to the big bikes and I would still not be equal with other Harley riders. Since I don’t want to endanger my life by riding a bike that is too heavy for me I am being shunned out of the Harley band of brothers one encounter at a time.

I may just go join my euro friends on the BMW motorcycles even though I would miss a lot of great things about Harleys. My wife would also very much disapprove of me switching to the dark side that is everything non-Harley.

2009
05/17
CATEGORY
motorcycle
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6 comments

motorcycle dreaming on such a winter’s day

While trapped inside for so many hours my mind can’t help but wander to open roads on powerful two wheeled machines. What would any motorcycle enthusiast do but dream about what his next bike is going to be and rank them in order of preference. I took a more realistic approach at least and also considered the cost of ownership.
If I had my druthers, my bike of choice would be a hybrid of two bikes which may or may not be possible to build, and even if it is, it may prove to be cost prohibitive. It would be a Harley Nightster with the front end and rear swing arm of the XR1200. Here is a rough photoshopping of my idea. I didn’t bother to make the wheels match.
The reason for this is that I really like the look and feel of the nightster but I want more up to date components like suspension, brakes, and electronics. The cost of this would probably be a nightster with several thousand in parts and tools or labor depending on whether I did the work or not.

Now on to bikes that actually exist and there order. I first made a spreadsheet of the bikes in question.
I then considered the styling and potential ride characteristics of each bike and how they fit my current riding preferences and needs.
1st Place:
The first bike is still the Harley-Davidson Nightster, even without major alterations. This bike wins for several reason. The first is that it is a Harley and I really like the look and feel of the sportsters. For the most part I like to use my bike for fun commutes to and from places. I prefer to take back roads and take in the scenery. The sportsters do this well and they accelerate relatively quickly. I do not need to go 150mph or even 100mph. As for cost of ownership, sportsters with their belt drive and 50mpg fuel economy are relatively cheap to maintain. The downsides are behind the times technologies and weight. The nightster is the lightest sportster but still weighs 100lbs more than the non-harley bikes on my spreadsheet. Low horsepower is also a down side but this can be partially remedied through add-ons and upgrades.
2nd Place:
The second bike is the Yamaha FZ1. This is because it has so much horsepower (150) and is cheaper (retail) than the nightster. This bike also offers a relatively comfortable ride. The down sides are the styling and the fuel economy of 35 mpg. The styling is much better on the European version. Also, I don’t need to go 172mph which is the top speed for this bike. I want to get from zero to 45 really quickly and then maintain that speed comfortably.
3rd Place:
The third bike might be a tie between the Triumph Speed Triple and the BMW R1200R. I am not really crazy about the styling of either and both have similar power ratings. They both have similar to the yamaha fuel economy and would be similar to each other in terms of maintenance since parts would need to be imported and dealerships get more spread out than Harley and/or Yamaha dealers. I am however partial to Triumphs since I learned to ride on a 1974 Triumph Trident (never mind the neighbor’s tomato plants in the background). BMW is always a front runner in new technology which is why I am drawn to their bikes.
Honorable Mention:
The new Ducati Monster 1100 is a beast (aided by its absurdly light 370lbs of dry weight)  but is also a beast to maintain. The KTM Super Duke looks to be a downright blast but is too exotic and would require imports for every fix and dealers are ever so scarce. It is also the most expensive of the lot. Finally the Harley-Davidson XR1200. I like it but not enough to make me want to buy the whole bike. I just want the front suspension, brakes, electronics, and rear swing arm (which is stiffer and lighter than the stock) on my Nightster which would have a stage one upgrade to increase the power rating to something more respectable.

Please suggest any other bikes I may have left out, however please note that I will not consider Kawasaki or Suzuki bikes for reasons of personal experience, taste, and opinions. Honda doesn’t sell any standard motorcycles in the USA. They have plenty in Europe, even though their styling is uninspired. I have also been warned by many to steer clear of Buell.

2009
03/12
CATEGORY
motorcycle
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1 comment