Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

In Gold and Silver, not my least favourite colour scheme for this bike but close. I REALLY like the Triple Black but those are having part supply problems and subject to a 3 month wait at a minimum so I'm told, Red/Silver is next.

So what did I like, bearing in mind that I am mostly comparing it to the Sprint ST.
The riding position is relaxed but not full on adventure bike and it's easy to handle at below walking pace with a good turning circle.
That dash is the best in the business, clear and informative although the sport display showing your max lean angle does make me try for a new high score (35° each way seemed reasonable for damp roads). I find the controls and menus easy and intuitive to navigate through.
The handling is nice, it seems to soak up the bumps well while handling in a confident and predictable manner, impressive for totally non adjustable forks paired with an active rear shock on this one and the brakes are very powerful, it also feels light on it's feet without ever getting unstable although I didn't go into triple digits.
I also liked the V-Twin sounds coming from that 270° parallel twin, the engine character in general pleased me and there was very little vibration.

Anything I didn't like?
The brakes overheated in the hilly areas whilst keeping pace with Sergio on his V-Strom 1000, he really does treat that thing like a big supermoto. They did get better again as the ride progressed as I occasionally gave them some hammer.
The engine is quite tappety sounding, all 3 demo's they had were all the same so it's probably just how these engines are, an exhaust will help.
Oh yeah just one other gripe, the standard seat is very firm and ok for an hour or so, after that it's just no good and not being a full on adv riding position standing on the pegs feels a bit awkward.

Other stuff
The screen was the taller one, the Red/Silver gets a shorter sport screen, so it was best in the down position, Up caused a bit of buffeting on my helmet on the motorway but less noise so I just ducked down a little.
Fuel economy is boring but with a smaller 15.5 Litre tank it is good that it will get into the 50's mpg even with spirited riding by a chimp, when I topped up the tank the range said 215 miles, very useful amount of range.

Also aftermarket accessories are reasonably priced, for the price of a BMW luggage set I could get.
Givi mount for my top box
Pair of SHAD panniers (SHAD make the BMW stuff)
MIVV exhaust
Re padded seat


Did I order one today?
No
They have my unicorn in and I just have to try it before I commit to a 900, a Black R1250RS with all the options and a Full Ti Akrapovic exhaust, even the headers look gorgeous, no luggage though But it's the same price as a spec'd up F900XR which in black, I might not get until April.

I was a little bit disappointed with it. They're decent bikes but I found it a bit flat and not very engaging.

Good write-up.
That colour looks great to me, but then again I'm not the one buying it.
The big gold XR decal lacks subtlety, but I suppose it ties in with the rest of the scheme.
Sort of.
I guess.
Looks like a winner overall though.

Kwacky wrote:I was a little bit disappointed with it. They're decent bikes but I found it a bit flat and not very engaging.

I thought it was nice, it seems to have more character (but less power) than the Sprint but it wont have anywhere near the character of an MV triple.

I can see it having my 1 garage space, and being a bit slower than the Sprint will be a good thing, my riding has become a touch lazy in the corners.

Found a pic of the Triple Black

Winners go for gold....

Stonesie wrote:.......Found a pic of the Triple Black

Batman would be proud of you mate.

GF was interested in one a few months ago, but having looked at a new S1000XR in light grey next to it, went for the S1000. Returned from Toulon the day before yesterday, 700 km in just under 8 hours in one hop. She never complained once. Her bike gave about 45 mpg (5.3lt/100km), my R1250RS with luggage gave me 56 (4.2lt/100km). We were obviously riding together at the same speeds.

I mildly amused the sales guy by calling that colour "Lacquered primer" to me it does look like wet grey primer.

It's between the red and black for me, but I'm really looking forward to riding the RS... My neighbor still wants me to stop messing around and just get a GS like his

The red ones do look good, that's for sure.
Dunno about getting one just like a friend's....'less you want to ride around looking like twinsies.

Okay so I rode the R1250RS with the full Akrapovic... God it's fast in the lazy mountain of torque kind of way, not the screaming IL4 way and corners like it's on rails, brakes are strong and that exhaust has it's lazy sound turned up a bit so checking the speedo was sometimes a surprise



But on the M18 back to the dealer as I only had 1 hour, my back started aching, I've never had that on a bike before.
It is a long reach to the clip-on bars with no easy way to adjust them, my sprint tilts my whole body forward so it's a short reach despite being a similar seat-to-grips distance..

So, I put a deposit and signed paperwork on a F900XR they had only rolled onto the showroom floor this morning.




And have already bought a set of hand guards with extensions from eBay... The Mivv exhaust is winking at me too,
As it's got 1600 miles on it and is an ex-demo bike it's already well run-in so I can just hop on and have fun... I pick it up on Wednesday.

Even including all the interest I am still paying less than buying a new one for cash, the first 9 months of depreciation are brutal.

Good skills that man

I got bored on my lunch break and now I'm expecting parcels...

One from Leo Vince, I loved the tone of the MT-10 with its LV half system so thought I would give it a try. After watching videos of the options from Mivv the Leo Vince seemed to give a deeper tone.

Also some hand guards, phone holder and a tanklock ring. That should do for now...

They do make lovely exhausts. I've had a few.

I love the tone from my Leo Vince.. I definitely prefer it to my Racefit.

Just come in from my theory tests and found a box...

That's what you want to come home too!

I'm getting these ducks in a row nice and quick, just been chatting with Elsemade seats about a gel insert and he's doing that while I wait for £79 on Thursday...

And the paint protection kit has just arrived
The only disappointment so far is that the Evotech radiator guard is out of stock.

Collected it and rode it home, it's missing a couple of the "nice to have" bits like Dynamic Pro mode and tpms but I'm a very happy bunny. I didn't want to wait for a brand new one next year.


Just waiting for the exhaust to cool down before I fit this.

Happy New Bike Day!

Today I had a ride down to Wisbech to see Alistair of Else made seats, 215 miles up and down the A1 to get a gel pad put in the XR's seat because the foam is pretty hard, so much so that a proper foam saw struggled with it.

https://elsemade.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The result? MUCH better but still a chore to do 100 miles on the motorway non-stop, If I want better comfort then it's a full custom seat to get rid of that factory foam.