Not sure where im going to go with this....but, flipping through Performance Bikes last night i got towards the end and came across one of the regular features for upgrading bikes - this months condundrum was the s1000r....a few years back i test rode one...didnt like the electronics (wasnt for me) - didnt like the heated grips (not hot enough) didnt like the position (made my shoulders hurt)....there was other stuff but i read this month in pb...essentially... "some customers are paying us to remove the electronics..." The other thing they stated - not a contradiction of theirs but a massive limiting factor is the ecu cant be reflashed....if i found that out after buying one i wouldnt be a happy bunny/it would be straight back up for sale...so the way i read it theyre rubbishing what they said at the time was the best supernaked out there and everything that made it (at the time) what it was was in fact not very good at all....thats the way i read it anyway... I went for a z1000 at the time (and still own it) but everything reviews told me at the time i should have bought one but so glad i didnt..not saying theyre rubbish but just not the choice for me....i chose the zed as it was as analog as they came and almost for the reasons that the pb feature knocks the s-thou (in this article) ive got the freedom to chop and change mine as much as i want. Im not saying everyone pulls their bikes to pieces (some just want to ride them and thats fine) but im not in that camp. Rambling on now but chuckled to myself when i read it...
I never take magazine reviews too seriously. Whether it be the latest bike, car, hi-fi,phone, tv or flux capacitor. It always seems like something which was the greatest thing since sliced bread 12 months ago is now only fit for the bin. I've bought and upgraded some hi-fi / home cinema components from the same bloke in the same shop for years. He knows his onions and tells me that he rarely changes his own equipment as is still does exactly the same job he bought it for at the time (I don't suppose he's a very good salesman )
what i can say with two friends in publishing and editing. (red top and music magazine) it's totally down to who or what company is spending on advertising.
Yep - thats my reasoning for staying put (with regards to bike purchases) apart from electronics (and my only dip into that didnt really do anything for me) thats the only reason to change...i almost couldnt believe what i was reading....3 years ago....best thing since sliced bread....now....the bit that made it "the best thing since sliced bread" people are taking out...and paying for the pleasure...whats all that about?
Any mag that includes bikes like these as super nakeds is retarded anyway. It's got a top fairing, side fairings and a belly pan...so how is it a naked? Not as bad as a Tuono which even has a screen, but definitely not a naked....and if it's not a naked how can it be a super naked? I do actually like naked bikes so it is a "pet peeve" of mine.
Well, that was my reasoning for going for the zed....ive already got an rsv4 so another v4 was out of the question. I dont like Triumphs....never have, 1290 was out of my price range (at the time). I used to have a 1st generation z1000 4 years ago (at the time) and loved it...seemed like the obvious choice. Short, stocky, low seat height, uber comfortable, analog, loads of stuff that can be done to it. Its had a fair bit of dosh thrown at it but i love it. No plans to sell...and, if i had to get rid of them all and keep one -id have to say that'd be the one...busy paying my mate of in installments for a lovely set of brembo hpk calipers...
Most mags aren't in the real world and don't reflect how the normal people ride a bike take a test ride decide what you want a bike for and make up your own mind
Yeah - i was thinking the other day...."i wonder if any of them actually own their own bikes..." i know a few of the pb staff do but from what i read most of them are garage projects...i dont think any of the FB staff do (from what i can see) - ironically @T500 when i went for the s1000r test ride that was the first test ride id ever had in my life (30 years of bikes approximately) and reading the reviews i was dead set on an s1000r and only had the test ride as i had a second hander lined up to buy...
Like most things connected to BMWNews, its biased. They deny it of course, but its evident week in week out. I take what I read in BMWNews with a healthy dose of scepticism and with their obvious bias in mind.
I know it sounds like im picking on them a bit here but - its almost as if bmw will let you ride their bikes...."as long as they approve..." - again without harping on about thats why i love the z - rear shock changed, new wheels, full system, had 4 different tail pipes on there from different bikes (last one was off a hyper) ktm fatbars, hpk calipers incoming, reflashed ecu etc etc. I did recently make contact with a lad in thailand thats fitted a set of fgr forks to his along with a set of m7r marchesini's from an r1....thats the kind of shit i like...
"some customers are paying us to remove the electronics..." = "We've had one customer who asked us to remove the electronics" I've got one of these bikes. It's very nice. I have thrashed it around Catalunya for a week with it set on Dynamic (very little intervention) and didn't notice the electronics at all. I never got around to trying Dynamic Pro (even less intervention). I suppose if you are a very fast track rider or a wheelie King then you might want it removed, but for the rest of us it sits there in the background waiting to save us from ourselves. I agree about the heated grips I suppose people who fit full Akrapovic systems use a RapidBike or TuneBoy to remap...
Yes - agreed. I would say for me when i rode it - it felt like something was disjointed between what i feel and what the bikes doing...does that sound weird or is that the electronics work?? for that reason i didnt feel totally safe on it... My apologies on the quote i didnt have the mag in front of me...
Sounds like youve read it as well @razz - would you agree with what i say in that....everything that the s1000r was sold on essentially there they were saying the opposite? The heated grips was a big thing for me (ive got extensive nerve damage in my right hand) so when it gets cold it tends to stiffen up somewhat. I test rode in April which wasnt that cold (a bit chilly that day) but they didnt get warm enough - i did read somewhere some time after that apprently theres an engineer menu of sorts and the heat can be increased there...dunno if that holds water or not but something id heard somwhere along the line...
Thus has it always been. When a new bike comes out the journos salivate over it and it's the best thing ever, ever, ever. Then two years later when the test bikes that they have enjoyed riding all year on for free have gone back and they are riding the new best thing ever, that's when suddenly it wasn't quite as good as they originally said. Surely we all know that this is how bike journalism works, don't we?
Yeah...im just amazed it keeps going still...nothing against the b.m. hell my zed didn't get one good review really but I love it...
Owner reviews are best - as long as they're conducted after the novelty phase has worn off. "I've bought this bike yesterday and I can honestly say its the bestest most fanta..................." Yep. "I've had this bike three years now and after 30,000 miles....." OK, I'm listening.
Hilltop reflash ecu on S1s with great results, reliably informed. Electronic suspension on S1r is good IMO. Has the benefit of being able to set sag manually and therefore fine tune settings a bit. Get the sag right, then fiddle a bit and its superb. Bar riser kit and MRA screen transform comfort and stability by smoothing out airflow over rider. Biggest issue is windblast with standard screen, result is holding bars too tight=instability. IF I was in the market for another inline 4 to purely thrash about at HIGH speed, this would be the one. Sold mine as Missus started to go out on back again. Also found my speeds were starting to get obscene, the bike was still composed but I was losing my nerve, worrying that my ability was way short of the bike! Easy bike to ride fast in my humble opinion and the only 1000 I have ever maxd out (rev limiter in top) obviously on track in Spain... If your not in to riding quick, go else where as vibes are intrusive at steady touring speeds, which is a shame as it is a comfy bike. Your right though, the magazines say anything. Just look at tyre tests, so inconsistent with tyres finishing higher and lower in results depending on who is funding the test year on year. Also to keep in mind with ANY comparison tests that unless you are a world class racer there will be little difference IF any in the performance gains you will get. We get a lesson each year on how to ride a motorcycle on our Scotland trip from a guy on vfr750. Thinking 100bhp?? Makes me wonder how the journos split gsxr, Firbalade, zx10 etc etc. So its a case of picking what you like after a test ride and ignore the tests.
Interesting - so that would mean - if hilltop can reflash them then theyre not giving out correct information?...i must confess i didnt find it comfortable atall but then i think comfort is such an exact thing....a few years back i ended up with an R6 that i didnt want (long story) and that was near as dammit the same bike as my rsv4. I could stay on the r6 for about 25 mins before i had to get off but just come back from a 5 day stint at the tt and rode the rsv4 everywhere...
I suppose any mag or website is going to reflect the views of the writers and the major advertisers, I just take it all with a pinch of salt. Just about every bike on the market is good in it's own way anyhow so often simply comes down to rider character as much as quality of the bike. To play devils advocate at least they are willing to revise their opinions over time to reflect more experience. Both MCN and Performance Bikes initial reviews and long term tests do more accurately reflect the Panigale experience of being a handful if you try to ride it like a normal bike but then settling down once you let it do its thing and shimmy about a bit.
