Premium Member fr8dog Posted July 29, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted July 29, 2019 Anybody ridden or own this bike? What are your thoughts. Looks like an FJ-09 on steroids. Looks like twice the money too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsmith Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) 8 minutes ago, fr8dog said: Anybody ridden or own this bike? What are your thoughts. Looks like an FJ-09 on steroids. Looks like twice the money too. As a dyed-in-the-wool BMW-er I gave this lot of thought. I like the looks, but many reports suggest it has an excess of vibrations on the road, and the seat on the one I eyeballed and sat upon was so thin that I thought it had been photographed on. Bloody expensive too at around AUD$25,000 otr.! Edited July 29, 2019 by wordsmith Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fr8dog Posted July 29, 2019 Author Premium Member Share Posted July 29, 2019 I read somewhere there were vibration issues on early models. I haven't sat on one. The price is also a deterrent. I'm sure maintenance costs are up there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member keithu Posted July 29, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted July 29, 2019 Since it's chain drive at least it won't have any of the infamous BMW final drive issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsmith Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 1 hour ago, keithu said: Since it's chain drive at least it won't have any of the infamous BMW final drive issues. Since 1997 I've had a series of boxer-twins - Rs, GSs, the lot, and many, many kilometres covered. Never experienced any final drive issues. Not to say they didn't exist. 1 Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daboo Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 Common Thread review. 2016 BMW S1000XR review - RevZilla A tightwad American runs an expensive German machine through the... Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chitown Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 16 hours ago, wordsmith said: Since 1997 I've had a series of boxer-twins - Rs, GSs, the lot, and many, many kilometres covered. Never experienced any final drive issues. Not to say they didn't exist. See Iron Butt Rally forums, advrider forums, etc for many years. There were so many final drive failures for BMWs in the early 2000s the NHTSA opened an investigation tho I didn't pay much attention given there are Gold Wings and FJRs to be had for that sort of thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member keithu Posted July 30, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted July 30, 2019 20 hours ago, wordsmith said: Since 1997 I've had a series of boxer-twins - Rs, GSs, the lot, and many, many kilometres covered. Never experienced any final drive issues. Not to say they didn't exist. Yeah, I put 90k miles on a K100RS and never had final drive issues either. Actually the rear drive might be the only thing on that bike that *didn't* give me trouble. 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member roadrash83 Posted July 31, 2019 Supporting Member Share Posted July 31, 2019 I did a 50mi test ride on an 18 model and really liked the bike. The only sticking point was my hands were going numb from the vibrations. If you think the FZ09/900GT are buzzie you ain't seen nothing yet. 1 He who dies with the most toys wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member texscottyd Posted August 1, 2019 Supporting Member Share Posted August 1, 2019 On 7/28/2019 at 8:59 PM, fr8dog said: Anybody ridden or own this bike? What are your thoughts. I fully anticipated falling madly in love with the XR. But the actual experience (based on a 30 mile test ride) left me somewhat cold... I have ridden a friend’s S1000R, and really was impressed, so I figured the XR would be the perfect sport tour crossover. In my mind, the R to XR evolution paralleled what Yamaha did creating the FJ from the FZ9. But the dynamics of the XR just didn’t work for me... a very noticeable & puzzling vibration throughout the bike was the most intrusive concern. And although it was fast, it somehow felt muted & detached to me... maybe some break in miles (or more familiarity with the bike’s unique characteristics) would have made an improvement? But overall it just didn’t grab me... nice, competent, pleasant even, but not stellar. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted August 1, 2019 Supporting Member Share Posted August 1, 2019 1 minute ago, texscottyd said: I fully anticipated falling madly in love with the XR. But the actual experience (based on a 30 mile test ride) left me somewhat cold... I have ridden a friend’s S1000R, and really was impressed, so I figured the XR would be the perfect sport tour crossover. In my mind, the R to XR evolution paralleled what Yamaha did creating the FJ from the FZ9. But overall it just didn’t grab me... nice, competent, pleasant even, but not stellar. That would have been my natural assumption as well, on the surface it "seems" like an FJ09 with just more of everything. 1 ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fr8dog Posted August 1, 2019 Author Premium Member Share Posted August 1, 2019 15 hours ago, texscottyd said: But overall it just didn’t grab me... nice, competent, pleasant even, but not stellar. For that kind of cash, I would expect stellar. I wondered about the vibration issues. I thought I read somewhere, where they had it sorted out on later models. I guess not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member texscottyd Posted August 1, 2019 Supporting Member Share Posted August 1, 2019 36 minutes ago, fr8dog said: I wondered about the vibration issues. I thought I read somewhere, where they had it sorted out on later models. I guess not. That's a valid point, and It's possible the newer bikes are better. I'm not sure what model year bike I rode, but it was a couple of years back... maybe a 2016? It would be worth riding a new one to note the improvements. The Tracer GT is a big improvement from the original FJ09, so it's reasonable to assume the XR has also improved over the same time span. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fr8dog Posted August 1, 2019 Author Premium Member Share Posted August 1, 2019 The local bmw dealer has test rides every Saturday. I try to stay away. They're also a ducati and triumph dealer so lots to choose from. I dont need the power. I guess it's a want vs need. Ha. After riding the mt-10 the power thing is cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member wessie Posted August 3, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted August 3, 2019 I owned an MT09 Tracer form 2015 to 2017. I tried the XR a few years ago and did not gel with it. Also tried the MT10 and had the same thought about that. I bought a BMW R1200RS as I fell in love with that bike when I rode it in 2016. The Tracer was largely unridden except for commuting so I changed it for a Triumph Explorer 1200. Big mistake and last year I swapped the Explorer for a 2016 S1000XR with factory lowered suspension. This modification transformed the bike in terms of how I perceived the ride. The ergonomics were really nice and the bike also came with the BMW HP seat upgrade. I took the XR on a nearly 2000 mile tour of France, Germany & Luxembourg in late June. I love the bike. With 160bhp it is quick obviously. The quickshifter is the best I have used (very clunky on the R1200RS) and the semi-automatic Sachs suspension is superb. I love this bike, possibly more than the RS, which was a surprise to me. BMW must have a replacement XR in the pipeline as they are offering a £1500 finance contribution for 2019 models. I'm not tempted by a newer model of the same bike but I will have a dilemma next year: keep 2x 2016 bikes which are both fun to ride or chop them both in for a brand new S1000XR which might have 200bhp The XR in the Vosges in June: 2 1 This signature is left blank as the poster writes enough pretentious bollocks as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now