HP4 first 3500 miles report on suspension, modes and tyres

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HP44

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The HP4 is my first ever brand new bike, but I have experience of lots of 1000 superbikes (my own and others), I regularly do trackdays and have raced for 5 years. I also complete an annual European bike holiday/tour and have
ridden thousands of miles in all conditions, so I think I have enough experience to comment and not be a million miles away from an accurate appraisal of the bikes performance...

Modes
First 600 miles and running it in was easily completed in 2 rides out, I never touched the suspension other than to select RACE mode and RAIN mode to see what difference could actually be felt. Yes you can tell a difference in the softer suspension setting in RAIN mode, as you would expect, but the TC, ABS and mapping could all be felt either kicking in really early (TC and ABS) and the engine mapping felt like 20 BHP and 20 ft Lbs torque were missing and you had to rev it much harder to get anywhere. It actually prevents a high rev race launch, it lets you rev as normal but when you let the clutch out you feel and hear the revs drop! In the cold wet depths of winter or when unexpectedly cold and wet, you could use RAIN mode and it really would benefit you. It only has to save one minor crash (or much worse) and it makes sense to me! Other than wet n cold, dont use RAIN mode as it spoils the fun.

RACE mode is mint! In the warm and dry it really makes sense and it allows the bike to wheelie either with the clutch or off crests. It apparently wont allow the bike to flip, but I wouldn't rely on the tech to save you if your ham fisted with the throttle. I have braked hard enough (only a couple of times to date) to get the back end to weave slightly, and the ABS light wasn't flashing. Not sure how hard you have to brake or even how quickly to pull the brakes in RACE mode to get the ABS to kick in! If your unlucky enough to be braking over debris, hopefully the ABS will save a crash... I never want to find out though!
Its a similar story with the TC, I have never seen the light flash in RACE mode and only on a recent blast on the route Napoleon did I get the bike to shimmy on the power out of a 2nd gear open corner, again, I have no desire to find out how cack handed you need to be to get TC to activate in the warm and dry (unless your accelerating on debris, your tyres are rock hard or the road is covered in black ice, I cant see it kicking in)
It is nice to know that these aids are they to help if your have a 'moment'. I have also turned all the damping down to minus 7 as for the less than perfect road surfaces I play on (including route Napoleon) I found race mode to be too hard. I weigh 12 stone and my kit will add about another stone or so. That is somewhere close to the 85kg set up from the factory.

I have yet to sample SLICK mode, but will when I take the bike on a track day later this year, ill keep you posted on how it feels.

Tyres
The Super Corsa's will be faultless on a hot dry track day or a hot day when your going bansi on your local roads (that are well surfaced and free from any debris) but for the road for most people most of the time they are overkill. The set the bike came with were changed at 1100 miles (600 of those were running the bike in at a limited 9000 RPM) The rear would have been ok for another 300 or 400 miles, but I needed a new set on for my European bike holiday. The front was ok for another 800 to 1000 I guess, I normally change the front on any bike after 2 rears have been used.
For the 2500 mile road trip through Europe, I needed something that would be ok in the rain and last the distance, so Super Corsa's were no good. I stuck a set of Rosso Corsa's on and they were absolutely faultless in all conditions thrown at them. The first 150 miles or so from the ferry port at Ijmuiden down through Amsterdam, Luxemberg and Belguim were mainly on motorways and in the dry warmth, no issues at all. Then the next 650 miles or so to Marseille on the South coast of France were in biblical rain, the roads had an inch of standing water on them for the most part, it was coldish at 15 degrees to about 20 degrees and I went over loads of overbanding and different cambers and again no issues with these tyres. Even though the bike mags and this weeks MCN stataing they are not very good in the wet! We could have made the trip in boats it was that wet!

So down in the South of France the temperatures were in the high 20s or mid 30s, so very hot and with no luggage on the bikes I had a real world feel of what they performed like. They were excellent, loads of feedback and easy to turn in, there was no real warm up required but this must have been because the roads were warm all the time. They lasted the full trip and the rear was only starting to square off on the return journey up the auto routes, where after a couple of hours cruising at 100mph, the center of the rear all the way around was 'flaking' off in small but visible amounts, again this must have been the heat, both of the roads and constant high speeds. I have been so impressed with them I will stick to these for the roads at home, as I only ever play on my bike in the dry and warm anyway. I really cant see the need for Supercorsa's for the road, unless your name is Michael Dunlop...All new branded sports tyres are pretty good these days to be fair, I have only ever not got on with Michelin Powers, but thats the only set in the last 10 years. All of which have been on sports bikes.

BMW luggage
Just a quick footnote about the BMW tail pack and tankbag, the tail pack did not move at all during the 2500 mile trip. It is sold as water proof, but after the very heavy rain and I mean VERY heavy rain for 4 hours solid, they could not keep the water out! I still think they are miles better than the Oxford luggage I used to use though and with a bin liner used inside them all my clothes were dry. The tank bag comes with a aluminium bracket that keeps the bag off your tank/cover. The installation and removal of the bag on and off this bracket was easy at times and difficult at others, there must be a knack I haven't got yet. Again its miles better than the Oxford tank bag I used to use, mainly because there is no contact with your tank so no marks on it, and it is very secure when in place, at first I thought it was a bit big and it does prevent you from getting your head behind the bubble (I fitted a MRA DB for the trip) so no flat out runs....

So the first 3500 miles have went quickly and easily, the bike has performed as I hoped it would, which is better than all my other bikes. The brake pads need changing at the front, which seems a bit soon. The heated grips are ace. The build quality seems really good up to now and the after service at my local dealer has been pretty good. All i need now is a track day or 2 and more sunshine for more days out on it. Oh, I did notice that at 70 to 80 mph I get really vibey bars, that after an hour on the motorway give me tingley hands, but 90 and above is fine.... officer :)
 
Great write up! Had mine now for 1200 miles and like you have had loads of other litre bikes and raced and trackday'd an ex superstocker K5 and i can confidently say, despite an initial problem with the ABS, that its the best bike i have owned by far.

I tend to leave mine in sport and only messed around with race a few times when it was really hot and I was confident that i was in no danger of attracting unwanted attention from the boys in blue. I do tend to see the TC light flashing quite a lot in sport and have not yet really tested the anti wheelie to see if it actually works.

The suspension i am finding really good but i think i might buy one of the 2d front sensors to allow more refinement on the front end. its just not hitting that sweet spot that i like so a bit of adjustment would be good.

My only issue now with this bike is i cant stop looking at more carbon pieces for it and am constantly trying to justify a set of BST's!
 
Great report hp44, I have the super corsa tyres on, done just over 1200 miles and rear looks like it will be squaring off soon, bit crap really, will look at a sports touring tyre if poss for longer life.
 
I've got 3200 on mine and first service at the end if this month. I ride in race mode unless I'm taking it easy on a rare long boring journey when I put it in sport. I get the TC coming on out of most corners when I'm in my flow, and having had the back wheel clear off the ground at Cadwell a few times recently I did not feel any electronic input, but that's probably because the front did not lock up and in race mode the bike will allow rear lift without interfering.

I am running m7rr tyres now the SCs are done and their performance and life so far have been excellent.
 
Thanks for the heads up about the Metzler 7RR tyres, I wanted some of those but none were available when I needed mine. Ill give them a try when I change mine.

PS, Cadwell is both amazing and bad for me.... snapped my frame (on old R6) on the fast right hander before the gooseneck :-(

I've got 3200 on mine and first service at the end if this month. I ride in race mode unless I'm taking it easy on a rare long boring journey when I put it in sport. I get the TC coming on out of most corners when I'm in my flow, and having had the back wheel clear off the ground at Cadwell a few times recently I did not feel any electronic input, but that's probably because the front did not lock up and in race mode the bike will allow rear lift without interfering.

I am running m7rr tyres now the SCs are done and their performance and life so far have been excellent.
 
Oh dear.... I have had a set of BST wheels on my old R1 and they were indeed a thing of beauty, they were much much lighter and made a HUGE difference to the handling, and the ease at which the front comes up! Please DO NOT buy a set, then let people know how good they make your bike feel, it will be very expensive for me and I cant afford them..... :)
Great write up! Had mine now for 1200 miles and like you have had loads of other litre bikes and raced and trackday'd an ex superstocker K5 and i can confidently say, despite an initial problem with the ABS, that its the best bike i have owned by far.

I tend to leave mine in sport and only messed around with race a few times when it was really hot and I was confident that i was in no danger of attracting unwanted attention from the boys in blue. I do tend to see the TC light flashing quite a lot in sport and have not yet really tested the anti wheelie to see if it actually works.

The suspension i am finding really good but i think i might buy one of the 2d front sensors to allow more refinement on the front end. its just not hitting that sweet spot that i like so a bit of adjustment would be good.

My only issue now with this bike is i cant stop looking at more carbon pieces for it and am constantly trying to justify a set of BST's!
 
Alright lads i have a HP4 carbon and have bst wheels on it and yes it turns in really well and feels great, The only thing is they were off my old s1000rr that i came off and the front wheel had a tiny tiny dink in the rim if you spin the wheel in paddock stand they is about 1mm in it and when you got to 130mph you could feel it, i used them at the tt because its mostly twisty roads and they were ok but put my blue wheels back on it feels hard and now get bad tingling in my hands so might have to get another front wheel (bst) blue wheels look cool though
 
Hi HP44 i have also found the suspension a little hard on certain bumpy routes... What was your experience after adjusting to -7 ? Plus is it an easy adjustment, I've stayed well clear of messing with the electrics up to now, but think its high time i started experimenting.

Any other views welcome :D
 
Great write up! Had mine now for 1200 miles and like you have had loads of other litre bikes and raced and trackday'd an ex superstocker K5 and i can confidently say, despite an initial problem with the ABS, that its the best bike i have owned by far.

I tend to leave mine in sport and only messed around with race a few times when it was really hot and I was confident that i was in no danger of attracting unwanted attention from the boys in blue. I do tend to see the TC light flashing quite a lot in sport and have not yet really tested the anti wheelie to see if it actually works.

The suspension i am finding really good but i think i might buy one of the 2d front sensors to allow more refinement on the front end. its just not hitting that sweet spot that i like so a bit of adjustment would be good.

My only issue now with this bike is i can't stop looking at more carbon pieces for it and am constantly trying to justify a set of BST's!

BST's one of the best upgrades I put on my S1k if not the best!! Without doubt a massive wow factor to boot!!
 
Hi HP44 i have also found the suspension a little hard on certain bumpy routes... What was your experience after adjusting to -7 ? Plus is it an easy adjustment, I've stayed well clear of messing with the electrics up to now, but think its high time i started experimenting.

Any other views welcome :D
Hi Steve,
It is very simple to adjust the settings, select the suspension settings using the left bar button and press and hold to select a change. When its flashing, press down for minus and up for plus settings. Its in the manual page 95 and 96, and fairly easy to follow. Remember, you only change the settings for the mode your in (ie rain, road race or slick) I have turned every setting down to minus 7 in each of the modes and you really can tell a difference in rain, although race is still too hard for the roads I ride on!
 
Hi Steve,
It is very simple to adjust the settings, select the suspension settings using the left bar button and press and hold to select a change. When its flashing, press down for minus and up for plus settings. Its in the manual page 95 and 96, and fairly easy to follow. Remember, you only change the settings for the mode your in (ie rain, road race or slick) I have turned every setting down to minus 7 in each of the modes and you really can tell a difference in rain, although race is still too hard for the roads I ride on!

Thanks mate, ill give that a go :D
 
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