S1000XR

[rodan]

You might want to check your facts.  Break in service cost me $250. at the dealer, the standard bike comes with traction control and I hve no idea where you came up with the $18,750 figure.  We are all entitled to our opinions but we are not entitled to our facts.

$18750 is the standard US price for an XR 'Premium'.  If you want DTC and ESA, you have to buy the 'premium' package.  Add $1055 for hard bags and $259 for a centerstand, and you're over $20k before tax and license. 
MSRP 'starts' at $16350, but you have to have either the 'premium' ($2400) or 'standard' ($945) package, so the 'real' base price is $17295.
 
I've never seen one with the 'standard' package...
 

[keithu]

At least the FJ-09 doesn't have a beak!

[Guest]

true, facts remain immutable. 
I have been riding a while now and never seen a bike that inspires so much debate. When I bought my 2007 FZ6 it was undoubtedly the finest model year that bike had ever seen. It was just a great ride. Now I feel sure there will be improvements on this bike over time. Yamaha is pretty good at the incremental improvements. But why all the hate? I ride the bike as much as winter allows and have now cleared the 1K mark in miles. I think it's a fantastic bike that needed some upgrades. Is it perfect? Wow, that's a loaded question. NOTHING is perfect. I have noticed that something I didn't get a whole lot on my last bike is back - stupid grins. I catch myself smiling a lot after opening the throttle. And that's all I really give a crap about.
Plus, I like farkling. Playing with the bike in the garage keeps me busy over winter's long, grey haul. I feel positive there are nicer, faster, higher quality, sexier, better handling, finer tolerance and just plain more awesome bikes out there. I don't own them and probably never will. My life is not such that I can get any bike I want. When I buy one I have it a minimum 2-3 years. After that, if I hate it, I'll get a new one. I expect this bike will be here for 7-9 years. It's fun, exciting and does what I need it too. Chasing the perfect bike is for people who have more money than I do. And more time, cuz I don't think you will ever find it.

Talking about facts this may be one of the most accurate things said about any bikes! 

[checkereddemon]

Dirtrider13 wrote: "I sit here reading people saying you can quickshift without a quickshifter is Ludacris.This action damages your transmission over a short period of time, I know this because I used to race dirt bikes and did this all the time."
 
My experience was different. I used to race MX, too, and never once had a tranny failure despite the use of clutchless upshifts quite a bit. However, you can lunch a tranny pretty quickly if you mess up a clutchless *downshift*. Hence I almost never did clutchless downshifts...
 

[captainscarlet]

I took the opportunity to try out the S1000XR yesterday, whilst my Tracer was having its annual service.  I have to say I was greatly looking forward to it but came away disappointed.  Three words sum it up: vibration, vibration, vibration.  Ok the engine has loads of power as the revs climb but in just about any gear at any speed I found the engine vibrations through the bars and pegs to be extremely annoying.  Once up to speed the mirrors were as good as useless thanks to the vibes.  I had the bike for around half an hour and even under that short period I could feel my right hand starting to tingle/go numb.  I also thought the bike felt heavy and with sluggish steering around town, no doubt because of the standard fit steering damper.
 
I climbed back on my Tracer and thought "this thing is bloody marvellous!". Light, quick steering, a fantastic engine; frankly just brilliant.  Sure the Beemer is loaded with all kinds of gadgetry but I simply have no need for it.  I'm also certain the Tracer will be far more reliable.  In a recent long-term 50000km test, an MT-09 engine (and bike) was stripped down and found to be within assembly tolerances (see this thread).  The bike placed 7th in their list of long-term test bikes.  The BMW S1000RR (closest thing they've tested to the S1000XR) is a lowly 29th, along with a clutch of other BMW's populating the bottom of the list.
 
IMHO the Tracer is a better bike for me, or dare I say it a better bike, regardless of price.
 
CS
 
 
 

[xlxr]

One of the reasons I like my FJ 09 is because it doesn't have too many electronic farkles. I am quite surprised I bought a bike with FI, ABS, and TC. My last bike still had a carb.

[captainscarlet]

Take a reality check and realize that the XR may be 18k but it is perfection right out of the box.

That is your opinion and not a statement of fact. I rode one yesterday and it was very far from perfection in my opinion. My reality check was thank god I'd bought the Tracer and not waited and spent double the money.
 
Five minutes on a S1000XR forum revealed several enlightening posts.  Here's one about high speed wobbles:
 
http://s1000xrforum.com/topic/418-high-speed-shimmy/
 
Ohh look, a windscreen thread, surely not:
 
http://s1000xrforum.com/topic/457-mra-vario-touring-screen/
 
Here's another (one of several) about leaking fork legs:
 
http://s1000xrforum.com/topic/1707-leaking-right-fork/
 
And finally a long thread about all the flaws that owners are identifying on their "perfect bikes":
 
http://s1000xrforum.com/topic/319-is-the-xr-flawed-bmw-responses/
 

No need to modify the bike in anyway.

Ha ha ha ha ha. You're joking aren't you!? Visit any of the BMW forums and owners are pouring thousands of £/$/€/kr trying to get the so-called perfect bike to their liking. That's the whole point, there is no such thing as the perfect bike. One man's perfect bike is another man's motorised hell.  If we accept the fact that people are always going to modify/personalise their bikes to some extent, then the question is would your rather start with a base price of 95000 SEK ($11000) or 165000 SEK ($19500)?
 
CS

[keithu]

One of the reasons I like my FJ 09 is because it doesn't have too many electronic farkles. I am quite surprised I bought a bike with FI, ABS, and TC. My last bike still had a carb.

I hear you, but fortunately EFI is a well proven technology at this point. I've owned EFI bikes since 1993 and they've been far less trouble overall than the carbed bikes I've owned.

[root]

Take a reality check and realize that the XR may be 18k but it is perfection right out of the box.

That is your opinion and not a statement of fact. I rode one yesterday and it was very far from perfection in my opinion. My reality check was thank god I'd bought the Tracer and not waited and spent double the money.
 
Five minutes on a S1000XR forum revealed several enlightening posts.  Here's one about high speed wobbles:
 
http://s1000xrforum.com/topic/418-high-speed-shimmy/
 
Ohh look, a windscreen thread, surely not:
 
http://s1000xrforum.com/topic/457-mra-vario-touring-screen/
 
Here's another (one of several) about leaking fork legs:
 
http://s1000xrforum.com/topic/1707-leaking-right-fork/
 
And finally a long thread about all the flaws that owners are identifying on their "perfect bikes":
 
http://s1000xrforum.com/topic/319-is-the-xr-flawed-bmw-responses/
 

No need to modify the bike in anyway.

Ha ha ha ha ha. You're joking aren't you!? Visit any of the BMW forums and owners are pouring thousands of £/$/€/kr trying to get the so-called perfect bike to their liking. That's the whole point, there is no such thing as the perfect bike. One man's perfect bike is another man's motorised hell.  If we accept the fact that people are always going to modify/personalise their bikes to some extent, then the question is would your rather start with a base price of 95000 SEK ($11000) or 165000 SEK ($19500)?
 
CS

I hear you.  No bike is perfect.  On the flip side, there are features on the XR that you just can't get aftermarket on the FJ.  Lean sensitive ABS and TC, electronic suspension you can adjust on the fly, 160 hp are just the first that come to mind of features you can't add to the FJ that come on the XR. I respect that these aren't worth the money to you, but they clearly are to others.  It is not fair to compare the FJ to a bike that is nearly twice the price but the XR is on a very short list of bikes I would consider to replace my FJ. I am in a different position financially, and as a rider from when I bought my FJ.  If I had my old situation back today, I'd buy the FJ in a heartbeat.  If I were in the market today, with my current financial situation and rider skill level, I'd be looking heavily at the S1000XR and comparing it to a Ducati Multistrada, knowing full well neither are perfect.