wordsmith

From the BMW R1200 R Forum, here are some impressions - make of them what you will - and my response. Been having some fun this afternoon doing test rides (we are not locked down in Western Australia) Impressions ... 1. Rode the F900XR first - in my opinion a quite awful bike! Seat is hard as a plank, riding position cramped (I am 6ft), engine lacks character (yes is is a Locin and feels it), the front fork dive is unsettling, windscreen is hopeless - the only good thing is the TFT screen (the software is a marked improvement on the R1250GS). I was so unimpressed I cut the test ride short. 2. Next the new updated X1000XR - absolutely loved it, a little buzzy through the right footpeg, fantastic quick shifter (again better that R1200R and R1250GS but probably a function of the different engine designs)). Heaps of usable torque. Seat is sculptured for comfort and really holds the derrière in place! 121 kW at 11,000 rpm, 114 Nm at 9250 rpm, 219 kg wet. Sport bike feel. Same excellent TFT screen. Downside - quite a bit more expensive at $30,850 for spec'd-up Tour model, and fuel consumption high. It is a tall bike so flat footing at standstill for the height impaired would be difficult, and pegs in the way don't help. Style lacks WOW factor. 3. Finally Triumph 900 GT Pro - loved it too. So,so much better that F900XR, seat height perfect, windscreen gives good cover. Build quality seemed better than both BMWs. The PRO has lots of options. The straight GT at $20950 (while lacking shift assist, centre stand and more) seems to be the value option. 7" TFT screen very busy and not to my liking. The BMW dealer offered nearly $3k more for trade-in on my R. The ride home on the R1200R reinforced just how good this bike is Panzermann/LOS - on fuel consumption F900XR 4.2 l/100 range 370 X100XR 6.2 range 320 Tiger 5.2 range 385 I have not ridden the Tracer GT yet. So where do I stand - I would buy the Tiger if the trade price was better. I love the X100XR but if I was going to buy something like that, I would be waiting for the Ducati Streetfighter V4 due mid year and I believe will be priced around $30K - 153 kW @ 12,750, 123 Nm @ 11,500, 201 kg - but 6.9l/100km on a 16l tank gives low 230 range but I would be smiling all the way to the bowser! ► Show Full Signature "Red Dog" 2011 R1200R Classic in Red Apple Tricoat, ESA, ABS, comfort seat, touring screen, side and top panniers, luggage rack, Barkbusters Storm, SW Motech crash bars, Puig rear hugger, Cee Bailey Headlight protector, Rear Swingarm Slider, Front Fork Sliders, Akrapovic slip on muffler Lawrence of Suburbia Registered Joined Feb 20, 2013 4,713 Posts #13 • a moment ago I spent a good part of today looking at videos on-line of various testers putting the XR through its paces. At least one damned it with faint praise, and not one of them really enthused about it. Maybe the journo's gift pack from Motorrad was a bit iffy this year. One thing I did note was the rather asthmatic sewing-machine sound of the XR as it 'accelerated' away at the start of each session - not at all impressive. Hurts me to say this, as a rusted-on BMW-er from 1997 on, but I think they have missed the boat with this one. Sob! 😢

I eagerly await the mobike magazine writers' reviews and comparos of the two.

Exactly the same story here in Oz - rare as unicorns, despite everything that's said about their super value for money, sparkling performance, etc. Most Yam dealers don't even carry one on the floor, so how're folks supposed to see and buy? It baffles me too! GSs are ten a penny here despite being $000s more expensive (I know - apples for apples, but...). I'd buy another tomorrow if only the seat height was more accommodating to my aged, stiff, unbending, wonky knees, hips, and ankles.

Having had at least three BAGSTER seats I can only endorse them 1000%. As I reported at the time "my bum thinks it has died and gone to heaven". See below: LOVE AT FIRST SIT with my GT’s new BAGSTER seat Short version - my bony bum thought it had died and gone to heaven. Longer version - after a self-imposed absence from the GT for some time while allowing my very painful bursitis-affected shoulder to have some medical treatment and start to heal, I was eager to get onto the brand-new and as-yet untried BAGSTER seat. Today it was very unpleasant to be outside, as ravaging bush-fires to the south, west, and north of Brisbane have brought thick hazy air and a strong smell of burning. It’s been like this for some weeks now, so indoors is the best place to be, air-con on. Storms forecast for later. I need to heed my own words when reporting, for as I have said before - “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a new owner of almost anything – motorcycle, car, boat, house, girl-friend, goldfish, BAGSTER seat – will proclaim it to be absolutely the best of its kind ever, never equalled, and unlikely to be surpassed in the future”. In other words, some self-serving exaggeration may occur! Thank you, Jane Austen. The OE GT seat is a vast improvement over the torture-device OE seat on Gen1 Tracers, but it could hardly have been worse – on the Gen1 seat about an hour or up to 80 or so kilometres was more than enough for me. But the OE GT seat gave acceptable comfort on my recent 4500km circuit over 13 days as I only occasionally felt a need to squirm around to find that ‘sweet spot’, despite long hot days of up to 585km in the saddle. Even so, I had such fond memories of previous BAGSTER seats that I couldn’t resist the urge to splash out another $500 or so to complete the package. On today’s test-ride of about 180km/ two-and-a-bit hours, my bony bum thought it had died and gone to heaven, even though the difference in comfort was not huge, but it was certainly detectable. When I’m seated the new BAGSTER seat is quite firm, but has some ‘give’ still in it compared to the very firm OE Gt seat, which feels as though I have reached the limit of its compressibility and support, despite my pretty light ATTGATT weight of only around 84kg (185 pounds). I also seem to be supported rather more along the back of my upper thighs instead of just on the points of my sit-bones. Whatever – it was plush. And with the front seat in the lower position, where it is easily and firmly fitted, I can comfortably flat-foot at rest – heels and soles of both boots flat on the ground. The BAGSTER pillion seat does require a hefty karate-chop to get it to fasten securely into its lock – other than that the two-piece kit it is a superb product and, IMHO, worth every penny or cent or Euro if you can afford it. In summary then - on my GT, the combination of the bike’s greatly-improved K-tech very compliant suspension upgrade and the BAGSTER seat gives me near-perfection in terms of plush comfort and day-longability to ride. It is indeed “absolutely the best of its kind ever, never equalled, and unlikely to be surpassed in the future”. They are beautifully made in France, with the buyer able to make selections of various materials, colours, stitching, logo, etc., from their on-line configerateur. I purchased my last two - 1 x Tracer, 1 x Tracer GT - from an Italian company <motostorm.it> who both with these and other purchases I found to be very easy to deal with, no language issues, prompt replies, and highly competitive pricing. I very highly recommend both BAGSTER and MOTOSTORM.it.

Me too - and when the time comes that $13000 or whatever it is will buy a lot of petrol @ 85c/ L and a few nights in a nice seaside motel somewhere within a 500km radius of here!

This enquiry comes from Boxer twin Forum R1200 R. Has anybody had to opportunity to test ride either of these? I am planning riding these soon as a possible R1200R LC replacement, and would like other's opinions on what to look out for.On-line reviews of the F900XR are generally good but 15.5 l fuel capacity puts it in the urban warrior class.73 kW at 8,500 rpm, 88 Nm at 6,750 rpm, 219 kg wetThe other option is the Triumph Tiger 900 GT -70 kW @ 8,750 rpm, 87 Nm @ 7,250 rpm, 192 kg dry, 20 LIn Australia the top of range F900 XR Tour is about $3k to $4k cheaper than the Tiger GT PRO.Which would you go for? I'll pass on any responses to the OP.

Thank Dog for that, Dazz! The suspenders have been killing me (nothing else to do!).

Does this imply that you're not gonna pursue the entire new job, or just the 5-line set from HEL? I'm losing sleep over this saga!😎

Show us the brackets please, Nev.

Are you REALLY sure that you REALLY new new lines, dazz? Talking to mates on ANOther Forum the consensus is firmly that unless the bike has been left out constantly in all weathers, the OE lines at the age of yours shouldn't really need replacing. FWIW...

Dazz, I'm getting worried about all this spending!. LEDs, probably brake-lines. Save some for carrot cake... around the turn of the century.

Have had several pairs of these - excellent value and as you say, an easy fit. But I found the rubber on the lhs peeling and breaking down after some time, no doubt because of the frequent shifting of the boot when riding: rhs was always OK. But not a big issue, and still worth the very small amount of dosh.

Can it be done by the average home-mechanic, or it is it strictly a dealership job? Might be time to invest in a nearly-new GT...

When did this weather Thread get hijacked by a 'what did you do to your Tracer today' Thread?

Show us a pic, Torin pls.

In December 1974 Australia experienced its worst-ever tropical cyclone - named Tracy - which utterly devastated the far northern city of Darwin. Only 71 deaths were recorded, although there is and was strong belief that the actual death toll was actually much greater due to the many outlying small townships - many largely Indigenous - that were equally hit but casualties never recorded. Almost all of Darwin's civilian population was evacuated to southern towns and cities, and most never returned.

I've gotta say (and please don't burst into tears!) that this belly-pan looks hideous on your GT - far too angular when contrasted to the smooth organic lines elsewhere on the bike, looking almost like something from the drawing-board of a design for a stealth aircraft.

What's the diff between a hurricane and a tornado? Here in the coastal tropics of the South Pacific we see a number of cyclones every year, without fail. Many are very destructive and deadly. But I've never heard them referred to as hurricanes? Is it possibly something to do with where they form and are created - over land or over the sea?

Thanks jd. I look forward to reading some road-test/ comparo articles in due course, although as we know they always need to be taken with a bag of salt. 🙄

Two, actually, way back just after Columbus! First in 2000 was a 900cc triple Thunderbird Sport, with twin zorsts. Don't remember a thing about it, but had no issues with it that I can recall. Looked quite tasty in bright yellow and black, with wire-spoke wheels and lots of chrome. Wouldn't mind still having it. Pic below is only fair, taken long before days when cell-phones had a camera in them. I fact, long before cell-phones... Later a 1050cc triple Tiger SE, the SE referring to the fact that it came with colour-matched panniers - a good intro to later Tracers. Finished in a retina-searing Valencia Orange paint job, it kept me poor trying to get a half-decent seat, the OE being banana-shaped from side on - and about as comfortable as sitting on a banana - with absolutely no wriggle-room fore and aft. Sorry - no pix as it didn't last long. Similar in design, my Tracers and later GT were also triples of course, but until the GT also deficient in the perch department.

That clarifies things a lot, jd - thanks! It may be me, but accessing the Motorrad website and configerator it could be assumed that the TOUR came only in the gold colour. Go Racing Red! But the bike cries out for a decent-looking aftermarket zorst, and rear hugger to fill that empty space under the rear seat.

Thanks john. You've obviously done a lot of work on the configurator. What's your personal take on the comparative value of the GT vs XR?

Can I ask where you saw the ad?

Was that for an R or XR, John? XR would seem to be closer to GT in terms of comfort and ergos.

IMHO, the Tracer GT would represent much better value-for-money, with its included panniers here in Oz, cruise-control, adjustable fork, and maybe other inclusions. The killer will be that wonderful CP3 triple engine. The BMW will be better finished overall, with some nice touches no doubt (including to your wallet if you want additional factory options). If the BMW came with the single-sided swing-arm and belt-drive as its predecessor F800 GT, I might consider it, but not as is... although I must say that I like its styling and looks Only my 2c worth!