BMW again (I like these folk...)

Originally Posted by STRAMASHER

Race bikes on the road are cool-as-feck!
Would you need to wave your arm up and down coming up to roundabouts etc for slowing down?

I think that is where the wiring loom comes in. I wonder, breakers yards... mmm

[northwind]

Originally Posted by STRAMASHER

Was up at Cupar a while back and saw a 2nd hand Boxer Cup rep,red,white and blue, very very nice but very very tall.......... and nowhere near £3495, about double it

That ain't a rep though, that's an actual racer

Drew, just do it It's utterly ridiculous and you'd regret it, but I want a go! Loom shouldn't be hard to sort, at worst there's a couple of places that advertise in Practical Performance Cars and Streetfighters that'll build you an independant light loom and controls (would even get away from the accursed BMW switching) for a reasonable price. Or i'll build you one that'll set the bike on fire...

Originally Posted by northwind

That ain't a rep though, that's an actual racer

Drew, just do it It's utterly ridiculous and you'd regret it, but I want a go! Loom shouldn't be hard to sort, at worst there's a couple of places that advertise in Practical Performance Cars and Streetfighters that'll build you an independant light loom and controls (would even get away from the accursed BMW switching) for a reasonable price. Or i'll build you one that'll set the bike on fire...

Only if I can put a set of Renthals on it, I'm tired of Sportsbikes...

[carelesschucca]

What??? sportsbike??? its the most comfortable 'sportsbike' you'll ever ride...

Have you tried the normal one???

I rode the R1100S about 2 years ago when I still had my SV. It is not so much the comfort factor as wanting something upright that I can chuck about (think supermoto or Tuono, Superduke, Speed Triple etc)

A while ago I had my ZX in for a service which dragged on for 2 1/2 days as the mechanic did his back in. They gave me a Z750 for the time and found that I enjoyed riding it more and suited me better than my Ninja. The ZX and SV are pretty similar in riding position (and I find the ZX MORE comfortable than my SV) it is the riding style that I want to get away from. If I didn't have to commute 80 miles a day I would get something like a KTM640 cos I used to have a dirt bike back in the day and love the 'throw it in, throw it out' way of riding.

The Boxer Cup bike is just a bit of banter, not really practical becos of the money you would have to spend to make it road legal enough to commute on. On a serious note I have been considering an R1150GS mostly cos they have good residuals and 50 000miles is not a problem. At the moment I am doing between 1500 & 2000 miles per month and it is ruining my ZX. I have just had the 16000 mile service which was valves + a new chain and sprocket + back tyre and came to more than £500. That was last month. It will need an intermediate service next month, £150+. If I don't keep the bike serviced, it will lose value. The bike is hard work to commute on- it is twitchy and the powerband can be like an on-off switch. Really great fun on the weekends but in the long term just hard work.

Had a bit of fun this morning on the way to work, was cruising in past the traffic when I came across a 1150GS, which I was catching gradually. He sees me in his mirrors and gases it so I thought 'Ho hum, lets see what going on here then?' and followed it. The bike is very agile and nippy through the traffic and I was quite impressed. Eventually I caught him when he got stuck in traffic in a village. He decided that this was not on and really started pushing it once out of the village. I got tired of ****ing around so dropped two gears and disappeared past him . He didn't do too badly following me. I have not been down that last left hander into Dalkeith that quickly before .

Which leads me to the fact that the ZX is probably up for sale soon if I can sort my finances out. I would love to keep it but can't afford to. That Boxer cup would be nice though

Did any of you guys make this? I tried the F800S in Bristol today. What an excellent little bike. I can't really compare it well as its ages since I rode a 'normal' bike (by which I mean 'not strange' . But it seemed to handle superbly, excellent brakes, nice noise, seemed plenty quick to me. It just felt sorted to me and I reckon I could ride it quick. Be interested to know what some of you SV riding guys thought of it. Personally if I was a DAS newbie now I'd buy it. Downside is I reckon its pug ugly, especially from the riders view. The naked should be a good prospect tho.

Hey Dr Rich, I was there although I didn't ride any of the new bikes as they had them in the showroom but not out for demo yet But I did get the manager to promise to let me out on the K1200R sometime

I did manage to blag a ride on the R1150GS (thank you Martin!) which was great. Although the BM is heavy, it is very balanced and I had more confidence on the roundabouts and through the twisties than usual. Filtering was a doddle and although I had worries about it being too wide for some of the gaps I normally go for, it was fine. It was deceptively fast - there is no step in power and although it does not accelerate manically, you suddenly find yourself at 90mph. And it does vibrate like fook - Nutty, if your legs were longer, you'd be smiling

[Skip]

There was a K1200R at Santa Pod today - a 55 plate that had only just had its first service! The bloke was "older" too and was pulling very low 11s at 130mph on it!

It looked the mutts doodars too!