Just spent that last two days playing on a cousins S1000rr. This may well be the best bike I've ever ridden! Usually I take a little time to get used to a bike but this thing is unbelievable. It came with about an inch of unused tyre at the edges and after one run, even on the crap BT 016 tyres, its right at the edge. Midrange power is great although not as quick of the line as a blade. Totally confidence inspiring and now have that funny feeling that I'm not satisfied with my lot. That will probably last till I swing a leg over my trusty steed but honestly, it's that good.
As good as it is, I would buy one tomorrow but stuck with Honda.I looked at a second hand 1year old one against a new blade.The beemer would be in my garage with the other beemer if it weren't for the fact they are horrendously pricey when serviced.On top of that the sump on this particular model I looked at at Lagunas had a rusty sump nut and pitted sump.The salesman didn't know what to say.40 miles was the nearest main dealer and it was a fairly untested model. The blade on the other hand being a new one was a 3 year old tested model.So any problems would have been ironed out by now.Honda dealer knocked another grand off the rrp then I haggled for the r&g bits and ackro.stole it for 10, 750. Saved £3500 grand with longer warranty, and all the haggled bits on top.Not regretted it
My thoughts exactly so I bought one. I'm assuming if it came on BT 016's it is a faitly new bike. I've just done 1000 miles and it gets better the thing is a absolute missile and thats coming from a 2011 Blade.
Know of a few S1000 bikes which have needed new sumps. If they fall over and tilt switch kicks in its dealer reset. Service costs are a worry - ask your dealer their labour rate per hour.
Tilt switch is not dealer reset it shuts the bike off. Turn back up right ignition off / on. Carry on as normal. Looked into service costs it only gets labour intense at big services. Do the other jobs myself otherwise preset it anually for a £150 stamp.
I took one for a test ride at BMW Oxford last weekend and I've also fallen for the S1000RR. £9500 for a 2010 with 2500 miles on the clock. I very nearly bought it but I'm waiting until I finish in afghan and will most likely buy a second hand one in winter. I am however going to wait for the 2014 Japanese offerings and will take an rsv4 for a ride. I even convinced the wife it was a good idea on the ABS/traction control sell..
Hello Rich, re the tilt switch the info came from a lad who dropped his on an alpine pass on some gravel / coach interface. Bike was fine but needed a recovery visit to a BMW dealer to get it reset before it would start. maybe there was something else up with it but pretty sure it was just a reset of tilt switch.
Maybe they changed it on the newer bikes? I dropped mine as it was on idle getting it out garage. Only scraped the exhaust as I dived acrobatically to take the damage was very comical.
I believe next years standard S1K will be a near this years HP4! The Japs know their 2014 models need significant upgrades! 2014 will be a good year for new Bikes me thinx!
Not thinking of selling the blade just yet, just blown away at the BMW. Re service costs I'm quoted over £400 for a 32k service so no dealer costs are exactly cheap in my opinion The last bike I rode which left me with the "oh my god I've really really really got to get one of these" was the RRV blade back in 97.got one a couple of months later and had a blade ever since.
You obviously haven't ridden a Ducati Desmosedici RR, Ducati 1098R or a new Aprilia RSVR factory then !!
Yes, the Aprilia RSV4 Factory has just won the Fast Bikes best Sports Bike of the year by some margin which included the BMW HP4, Ducati Panigalle, MV Augusta F4 etc etc. Aprilia Bargain! News
Never ridden a Desmo or the Aprillia but have ridden the Bayliss 1198R and that wasn't a patch on the BMW in my opinion. Outperformed in every way except "character". Love the look of the RSV4 and may well take a test ride, but it would have to be something special to eclipse the BMW. oh and I took a spin out on the blade tonight and I don't feel as hard done by as I did yesterday. Still love it, warts and all!
A technician I know from a local Honda dealer decided he wanted a change so took a job at the local BMW dealer. He lasted a week before asking if his job was still open where he had just left. Said he could not work the way BMW operated, everything had to be done their way. One job involved a seal on a brake caliper, he was told they would not fix it and just quoted for a new caliper, labour rates of £80 I think an hour made any repair cost a fortune. He said he saw quite a few problems with the S1000, mainly oil leaks. Liked the bike to ride though. I have had an RSV4, lovely bike, sounded great with the Austin Racing exhaust, only sold it as I needed to raise cash.
All the current line up feel fast and some feel faster than others when in reality they are much the same 0-60-100-topend and over a quarter mile, round the track you'd need a pretty good rider to get consistent lap times to calculate what's best.. I work on a couple of S1000RR and the only concern I would have owning one is electrical corrosion issues in plugs etc and general resistance to corrosion as from what I've seen they are not holding up well, reminds me of early kawasaki s lol From what im told by long term owners if any of them are clinical and bland (not that I think any of them are) then surly the BMW is king of the bland pile, guess that gets Honda off the hook..lol I don't mind the BMW as a bike at all and it's fairly easy to work on unlike the 1199 and RSV4 tbh if I were a rich man I'd like one of each so if any luck lotto winners come in on the site free me from my spanners and buy me the current line up
They did a review of the s1000rr in Ride magazine recently and most of the owners complaints centred around build quality i.e. excessive corrosion, very thin paint, cracking plastics etc which is very un BMW like. Other moans were cheap Chinese parts used on the bike were, and I quote "proper rubbish", the sump is made of white metal and equally crap and the Cush drive fitment on the wheels is also pants. Having said all that I'd still love a go on one
Well I went to BMW myself as a service manager some years ago.Had 3 interviews and the last interview involved the dealer principal,the area service manager and a dealer senior service manager.I had the three of them firing questions for an hour which I clearly answered correctly.All was good until the principal gave me a scenario where the customer dropped car off at 8am,at 4pm the fitter had a look at it and it needed a wheel bearing,not instock.Customer strolls in at 5pm what do you do with the customer.My answer was give him a courtesy car or give him a lift home for taking the trouble to come in unadvised.No you hire him a car or call a taxi.My argument was he left the car with you knowing full well he has a problem with the bearing.Why didn't you order one for his scheduled repair.A bearing would have been fixed for when he came in.A heated argument escalated from there on.As a BMW owner at the time my last words were "Now you know why my car doesn't come here".They have a weird way of doing things that makes you the customer feel pissed off.
Also they they did the test with the 2012 bike not the 2013 one like they said The 2012 bike is also the same apart from small colour changes as the 2011 bike Which is the same as the one that I have , so i fill happy that the same bike has one it for the last 3 years, although I do tend to take what magazine's say with a pinch of salt
Second hand rsv4's are almost worthless - the above is based on fact from an owner who tried to trade is 9 month old one in, no dealer would give him a trade in price. I have seen them in dealers for thousands less than new.
