Serviceschedule
A nice,simpleschedulebasedon6000-mile
intervals.Basicservicing’snoproblemforthe
homemechanic,butyoureallyneeda diagnostic
reader.Thebasic6Kserviceseesoilandfilter
changed,headbearingsadjusted,fluidlevels
checked,throttlefreeplayset,clutchinspected/
adjustedanda generalfastener/pivotcheck.12k
isthesame.Valveclearancesandcamtimingare
checkedat 18 ,000milesandplugschanged.Fork
oilischangedtoo.There’snoscheduledcoolant
changeorsuspensionpivotstrip/greasebutit
makessensetodobothatthe 18 ,000-milemark.Newandusedpartsprices
Newgenuineservicebitsaren’ttoobad,withan
oilandairfilterat£15.49and£30.10respectively.
Sparkplugsare£13.35each,mirrors£6 3 each
anda tallertintedscreenis£124.Brakediscsare
over 600 quida pairthough,andthemounting
bolts are£17.10– each.BMW’sAkrapovicendcan
is£707,witha fullsystemaneye-watering£2143.
Fortunatelytheaftermarketcanhelp.Oiland
airfiltersare£6.26and£24.60,sprocketand
chainkitsstartundera ton,andfront-wheel
bearingsare £15.60fromWemoto.Nippy
NormanscansupplyAkrapovicfullsystems
foraround£1300,aswellassat-navorphone
mounts,CanBus-enabledchargersandluggage.
LikemostdeadBMWs,S1000Rsusuallyendup
inthehandsofthespecialistbreakers–
MotorworksandJamesSherlockinparticular.6
FINISH/PROTECTION
Okayif lookedafter,butnotas
robustasyou’dexpectfroma
BMW.Thepaintontheframeand
swingarmisprettythinandproneto
rubbingaway,especiallyif you’rethe
sort ofriderwhomovesarounda lot
andhangsoffinbends.Theblackfinish
ontheswingarm,too,isproneto
chipping.Moreseriously,stonesflung
upfromthefrontwheelcaneasily
damageorevenpuncture theradiator
andoilcooler.Moresothanonmost
otherbikes,it seems.Thefirstsensible
modificationistofita mudguard
extension,butit’sreallywellworth
investingina radiatorguardtoo,for
maximumprotection.7
CHAINANDSPROCKETS
It’salsoworthfittinga chainoiler
togetextralifeoutofthemand
savetimeonadjustments.SteveReed
fitteda ScottoilerV-typetohis:“The
Scottoilerwebsitesaysit’snotforthe
S1000Randyouneedtheelectronic
one,butI fittedtheV onewithnoreal
problem;I justhadtobuylong-reach
long-noseplierstoreachthevacuum
pipefortheevapvalve.ThismeantI
didn’tneedto removeany partsexcept
a smallpieceoffairing.”Someowners
gearthebikeupa bittohavemore-
relaxedcruisingrevs.A veryslightrise
willprobablyalsomakeyourspeedo
more accurate(theytendtoover-read
asstandard,asmostdo).Riotous fun on twisties
but just as capable
commuting or touringParts andservicingwant to diverge from the standard
set-up, it’s both difficult and expensive.
Apart from that, the main problem tends
to be fork seals — they seem to be prone
to failure. You can help give them a
longer and happier life by regularly and
carefully cleaning out grit and gunge
from behind the seal lips.5
BRAKES
Excellent when new — pretty
much every owner praised them
for both feel and power, though some
also complained that they got less sharp
as the miles mounted up. The calipers
are very prone to seizure if they’re not
kept scrupulously clean though, so you
need to be prepared to put some effort
in between services to keep the muck
at bay. Brake fluid’s only supposed to
be changed every two years but there’s
evidence that this is too long and might
lead to problems with the ABS system
further down the line. We’d recommend
changing it every year. You do need to
make sure you bleed the system through
thoroughly though, including the ABS
unit, not just the master cylinder and
thecalipersthemselves.‘Is this normal? Yes,
it is a mechanically
noisy motorcycle’