ASYOUMIGHTexpect,S1000Rowners
tendtobematureandexperienced,
oftencomingfroma backgroundof
sportsbikesandtrackdays.Quitea few
areontheirsecondorthirdR,having
ownedanearlyoneandthenupgraded
totheimproved 201 7-onmodel.
AdvancedinstructorIanSpeightis
typical:“ThisismysecondR,having
owneda 2016modelpriortobuyinga
new 2018 bike.It’s awesome!Supreme
handling;all-daycomfortable;heated
grips;cruisecontrol;quickshifter— you
canevenseemorethanjustyour
elbowsinthemirrors!I’vereplacedthe
standardscreenwithBMW’sbiggerone
andswappedtheseatforthecomfort.
Noreliabilityissueswitheitherbike.”
DarenGarraway’shada coupleof
problemswithhis 2016 Sportbut
nothingmajor:“Therightswitchgear
stoppedworking(acommonfault)and
sodidthealarm,buttheywerereplaced
withoutissue.It’sa bikethatcando
almostanything— fantasticfor100-mile
ride-outs, touring and even commuting.
Incredibly easy to ride sedately,
performancewaybeyondmy abilities
butaidedbytheelectronicsif things
starttogowrong.Andit’sa beaut!”
Someownerswerefrustratedbythe
lackofBMWluggageoptions.“Wouldit
havebeensohardtointegratea rear
rack?”asksStevePearce.“IntheendI
madeanaluminiumplatetoreplacethe
rearseatandmounteda Giviplateto
thatsoI havea topboxfortouring.It
involvedboltinga coupleoflugsintothe
rearframeandusinganOEMseat
bracketfroma damagedseatI gotoff
eBay,butit’s rocksolid.”
FormerracerJonAshleyisanother
serialowner,havinghadthreeRs:“The
firstonehadanaltercationwitha car—
tookoutsevenribs,bleedinglung,
shattered shoulder and fractured spine.
Three months later I was backatwork
andorderedanotherone.Did11,000
milesonthatbeforeswappingit fora
2018 Sport.TheMk1wasfantasticand
I’dneverthoughttheMk2couldbe
better— butit is.Ina verysubtlewaythe
handling,electronicsuspensionand
powerdeliveryjustimprovetheoverall
ride.Theup/downquickshifterisjust
awesome.There’sa backlashagainst
‘gadgets’insomequartersbutonce
you’vetriedthem,there’snogoingback.
Idon’tthinktheyflatteryouormakeyou
abetterrider— theyallowyoutoride
quicklyandsafelytoyourownlimits,but
definitelysaveyourbackside(traction
controlsavedmetwiceonicyroads).”
Onedownsidewiththebike’sheavy
relianceonelectronicsisthepotential
forannoying,hard-to-traceglitches,as
SteveReedfoundoutwhilerunning-in
his 2017 R:“Theenginemanagement
lightcameonandit misfiredwhenever it
wentover6500rpm.Thedealerthought
itwastodowiththe‘running-in’profile
intheECU,butthatwasdisabledafter
the first service and the misfire stayed.
Itwasa crankshaftsensorintheend.”
What owners say...
I s ll them
“They’rea steadyseller,notspectacular— togiveyouanidea,lastyearI
soldaboutten,outofa totalofaround 150 bikes.It’sthesamewiththe
nakedR1200RandR1250R— it seemspeoplejustdon’twanta BMWwithout
a fairing.It goesinsplurgesthough— I hadthreeinhere a whilebackandnot
evena sniffatthemforages,thentheyallsoldina week.Soif I’moffered
oneasa trade-in,I lookatwhatstockI’vegot.If I’vealreadygotthree,then
that’stoomany.Personally,I thinkit’sa greatbike— I loveridingit,although
it doesturnmeintoa bitofanidiot.It’slikebeinga teenageragain.The
quickshifterisace— youfindyourselfchanginggeartwiceasoftenasyou
need to,justtohearthegrowlandburble.Norealproblemswithit — keepit
clean; havea bitofmechanicalsympathy;letit warmupbeforethrashingit,
and youwon’thaveanyproblems.I’dhavenoqualmsaboutbuyingonewith
40,000 milesonif it hadbeenlookedafter.Standard orSportversion?
Sport, everysingletime.I don’tthinkI’veeversolda boggostandardone—
no-one wantsthem.It’sthesamewithallBMWs— if yougoforthelowspec,
you’ll losemoneylater.Goingforthebetterspecispracticallyaninvestment!
Anyway,thegadgetsareallgoodfun— eventhecruisecontrol’sreallyuseful
where you’vegotaveragespeedcameras.”
TJSkrobot,BalderstonMotorcycles, 017335653470
‘It’s a bike that can
do almostanything’
DarenGarrawayBMWS1000Rowner
Instructor
IanSpeightis
onhissecondS1000R
StevePearce
hadtobuildhisown
topbox rackfortouring
88 | JULY 2019
USED BIKES
