USED BIKES
Ownersandmechanicshighlightthe weakspots
1
ENGINE
Generallyreliable— noneofthe
ownerswhofilledinoursurvey
reportedanymechanicalproblems— but
therearetalesontheonlineforumsof
completeenginefailures.Usuallyif that’s
goingto happenthough,it’llhappenearly
— it doesn’tseemtobeageormileage
related.Anothergoodreasontogofor
a bikewithextendedBMWwarrantyif
possible.Themostcommonregularfault
seems coolantloss— oftentraced
tofault atorcaps.Seriousrattles
maybedowntocamchaintensioner
wear— there’sa longerCCTscrew-in
plugwhichcanbefittedtoquieten
thingsdowna bit.Ontheotherhand
don’tworryabouta bitofmechanical
noise— they’realllikethat,asowner
JonAshleyconfirms:“Theengine
soundslikea bagofnails— sobadthat
quitea fewownersgoontheforumand
ask;‘Isthisnormal?’Yesit is— it’sjusta
verymechanicallynoisybike.”
2
LUMPYIDLE
Theyalldothatwhencold,sir.
Asstandard,thefuelling’sset
leanforemissions,butalsoasleanas
possibleatstart-uptoavoiddamaging
thecatalyst,whichcan’tcopewithlots
Know your...
BMW S1000Rs
2014-2016S1000RSport
Posherversionwithmost oftheextrasas
standard — more sophisticatedABS andtraction
control,semi-active suspension,heatedgrips,
extraridingmodes.£7200-£9750
2017-currentS1000R
Significantupdate withlighterframe,lighter,
morepowerfulengine,tweakedbodywork.Euro4
compliant.Titaniumsilencerstandard.Almostnone
soldintheUK.£7500-£11,000
2017-currentS1000RSport
Asperthebasemodel,butwithfullelectronics
suiteincludingsemi-active suspensionandcruise
control,racetractioncontrol,quickshifter,heated
grips,LEDindicators andextraridingmodes.
£9000-£12,000
2014-2016S1000R
Supernaked based on S1000RR superbike with
simplified inlet system, softer camprofilesand
steel valves instead of titanium.Tractioncontrol
and ABS standard. Very few soldintheUK.
£6750-£9400
ofunburntfueluntilit’sproperlyhot.Fit
a de-catpipeandyoucangettheECU
re-programmedtofuelmorewhencold.
Untilthen,you’llhavetoputupwithan
unevenidleandoccasionalstalling.
3
ELECTRICS
Withsomanygadgetsand
sensorseverywhere,there’s
scopeforhasslebutnomorethanany
modernbike.Likemostrelativelyrecent
BMWs,theR isknownforswitchgear-
relatedwoesbutthey’reusuallysorted
underwarranty.Therewerea few
reportsofnigglyproblemseventually
tracedtodamagedlooms,especially
wherethey’dbeenpoorlyroutedafter
beingmovedduringservicing.
Symptomsincludedglitcheswiththe
cruisecontrolandheatedgrips(where
fitted)trippingout.Dickymicroswitches
intheclutch-leverbodycanalsocause
troublewiththecruisecontrol.
4
SUSPENSION
Somelighterridersfeltthat
theinitialset-upwasa bitstiff,
thoughmostownersaremorethan
happywiththebasicsuspension
configuration.Thedownsideofthe
semi-active systemisthatif youdo
W t t l ok out for...
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90 | JULY 2019
