Well Sorted Gen 3 to Gen 4 M Sport

S1000RR  FORUM

Help Support S1000RR FORUM:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JamieMac

Well-known member
S1000RR Supporter
Joined
Apr 29, 2017
Messages
1,240
Reaction score
4
I'm sitting here with a cold beer in hand after another long hot day in the saddle on my lovely (new to me) Gen 4 M Sport, so I thought I'd put pen to paper so to speak.

I thought I'd never sell my Gen 3 as I've spent many years getting it perfect but after finally sorting a very unexpected divorce (4 years to sort) and a mate of mine dying of a heart attack the other week at 48 (and he was an exercise nut), I thought sod it, life's too short.
The stars aligned and I happened to read Wilko's sales ad for his Gen 4 the other week, I bought it. Thanks again for Ian selling it to me.

So having ridden since March on my Gen 3 and swapping straight to the Gen 4, here's a few observations. Some riding, some technical, some infuriating....

1. Clutch: It's impossible getting the bike into neutral....

I cannot grasp how BMW cannot solve this on all the bikes straight away as it's so easy to sort. I get the impression they only sort it if the customer complains. If you've ever owned a dry clutch Ducati and are slightly technically minded, the solution comes to mind the first time you put the bike in gear. It doesn't matter how far out you have the clutch lever from the bar and it doesn't matter how far you pull the lever in i.e it's hard against the grip. When you put it in 1st.... CLUNK! and the bike jolts forward slightly because the clutch isn't fully releasing i.e it's dragging. The stack height of the friction and steel plates is too big by 1-1.5mm. Ducati do steel plates in 3, 2, 1.5 and 1mm thicknesses, so you put in a thinner steel. If the clutch is slipping you put in a bigger steel. It's as simple as that.

2. DDC: Variations in Suspension feeling on identical bikes...

Being new to the Gen 4 I started reading loads of threads over the past few days and there was an interesting one on the DDC. Some people finding RACE setting lovely and supple, others finding RAIN too hard. I'll add another thing to think about.
Now riding hard locally i.e Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire....Race, Dynamic or Race Pro with 7 across the board..... all lovely and supple, billiard table smooth. Gorgeous till today...... I crossed State lines into Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex ie Dukes of Hazzard counties. Oh my God my eye balls were rattling in their sockets and I lost half my fillings on the RAIN setting. So were you live i.e the state of the roads makes more of a difference than all the different settings or adjustments. Personally I'm going to do exactly what I've done on all my sports bikes for the past 20 years. Fit a gel insert to the seat, sorts out a lot of the suspension issues and easies the end of day pain in the posterior. Order a Seat Cover if you fancy a change and Gel pad online and a couple of hours with a blade, marker pen, Hair Dryer and an electric staple gun.... Bob's your Firkin!

3: What is it about BMW and holes in mudguards. They seem to forget what the true purpose the mudguard was designed for.....

The Gen 3 had an unnecessary hole in the rear mudguard supposedly for the ABS box but I bought a Carbon with no hole and never got it to touch. Now the Gen 4 has holes in the front mudguard. Perfectly positioned for stones to chip your stanchions. Grrrr.... really? I'll be fitting some mesh behind those.

IMG_6211.jpeg

4. Carbon Wheels:

I swore I'd never ride on Carbon Wheels as I've seen to many destroyed bikes on trackdays and every time i hit a big hole today I was praying. A couple of times I actually stopped and checked both wheels thoroughly. Hopefully the paranoia will wear off. Not really and issue on my normal rides locally as the roads are smooth.

5. Screen

Why do manufacturers put such low screens on. Honda's the worst. I love my Skidmarx TT screen on my Gen 3, so immediately fitted the Gen 4 equivalent from PowerBronze. Just bliss. So much less tiring at speed.

6. Electronics:

Amazing! Full Stop. Even the menu's are laid out well. Easy to navigate.
I'm glad they've stopped the rider being able to adjust complex stuff as he's riding. I found it easy to adjust the suspension settings on the Gen 3 whilst I'm riding but I think that's due to 30 years of being a video editor where you're a blur of shortcuts every minute without thinking but it is safer. I just wish they'd ban that in cars! Turning every rider aid off or to minimum is mind bending on the road. Best left to the track and to be honest at my age, a BSB level rider.

7. Tank range:

Even with a full system, ECU flash and race filter is better by 14 miles on mine and I gather you can get 20 miles when it says you have 0 miles left.

8. BMW Fasteners:

The worst fasteners in the industry Full Stop! BMW must have bought an East Germany pig iron factory when the Berlin wall fell and they're still using them! why? They're cheap and nasty. BMW please look at the other manufacturers like Triumph and see it's a stupid decision.

9. Vinyl graphics with no clear coat. As above, stupid. Makes the bike look cheap. Thankfully Wilko had pain protection professionally fitted. Just that gloss finish makes the bike look 10 times better.

10. SatNav

It bit like heated grips and cruise control, who knew it could be so useful on a Superbike. Not perfect by along way with directions disappearing making you think the apps crashed but it hasn't but still useful none the less. My bike hasn't had any updates since it's build date in 2019 so hopefully that's one thing they might have improved.

11. Riding position:

Std riding position a lot more comfortable than Gen 3. I put higher bars on but don't don'e think I need to on Gen 4. Interestingly the fork centres are closer together on the Gen 4 than on the Gen 3 but the bars feel wider.

12: Ergonomics:

I found it very easy to get to grips with the jog wheel. A good design.

That's enough for now as I need another beer.... J
 
Good write up [emoji106]

I?ve just upgraded from 3 to 4 and found it much less comfy than the gen 3. Stuck the High M seat on and some tank grips which has improved it loads. But it?s still not as comfortable as the 3 was.

How do you find the vibrations? Different points in the Rev range make a difference but pretty much after 30mins of riding at any pace I find my right hand is so numb I can?t operate the front brake!

What is it you dislike about the fasteners?
 
Stephen,

I went the other way with the seat. Went for the lower spec standard one off the base bike as it's thicker and it's pretty much the same as the Gen 3 Seat. Ian gave me two different M Sport seats and with the very scientific push of the finger test, I bought the other of a member here. I'll still add the gel insert. Ordered this gel pad yesterday when it was ?10.99. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B098T8GBG2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've never had a vibration problem with either Gen 3 or 4. Not sure why. Personally I'm a great believer in running bikes in properly which I've no doubt Ian did and maybe I've just been lucky. On the Gen 3 I even took those ridiculously large bolts out of the handlebars that they use to supposedly dampen the vibes. Might be worth a try. I should also point out I own 3 big V-Twins which might explain some of it but I've been averaging 3 tankfuls a day and no hint of vibration. You know somethings right whatever it is because you never think about it.

I even raised my Gen 3 handlebars a lot as I suffer from Fybromyalgia but I don't think I need to.... hey, it's a straight swap so I'll see.

Fasteners, where would I start. Commute into London in the spring and look at all the BMW's that have plates less than a year old and every fastener is rust red to the point the rust stains spread across forks, frame etc. At least chrome them for god's sake. Let alone BMW's need to use 10 fasteners where anyone else would use 5.

J
 
Last edited:
Triumph Bolt on the left but Ducati are equally as good, shit BMW bolt on the right.... slightest sight of inclement weather and it surrenders to rust quicker than a French soldier can drop his gun. Plus they are heavier because of the size of the head. All adds up over the entire bike. ;)

IMG_6215.jpgIMG_6216.jpg
 
Last edited:
Good write up buddy.

Regarding the clutch i have a few threads on here that has gone into detail about the Neutral issue. Long and short of it, early bikes 2019 K67 seem to suffer the most with finding neutral. The issue is down to the oil galleries on the clutch plates or not enough of them. It causes the plates to drag and thus you can't find neutral. The MY 20 bikes had a new clutch pack fitted and this solved the problem. The oil restrictor dealers offer doesn't work. You need to really hammer your local dealer as it will be changed under warranty. I had mine changed last year and it was night and day difference, one you can find neutral and two it engages far smoother.

Regarding the suspension maybe a software/ECU update is needed. When i took my bike to HM racing, they stated that early version of the software didn?t allow for finer tuning of the damping. (In race pro mode) For example there was a large jump between say Fork Compression on say 5 to 6. They said my compared to a 2021 K67 they had in, the difference was very obvious and mine was harder to setup. I would also imagine that any new software updates also effect DDC in the different rider modes.

I?ve now had an update to the latest version and will probably need to go back for another setup. The good thing about the update is it's has also sorted out the cold start issue mine had. I have also heard it sorts out any connectivity issues with mobile devices and comms systems.

But it may be worth noting an updates may overwrite the re-flash you?ve had?

Oh and the holes in the front mud guard are designed to channel air into the callipers :)

Enjoy the bike dude, they are a great machine even if the quality isn't what we all expect!
 
Gav,

Thanks for the info, I was down at Barnstormers Alton the other day checking what had been done and what hadn?t. It was built in 2019 and had nothing updated in Hardware or Software. I?ll research what the latest software/hardware is closer to when they service it in March. I?ll hammer home. They said that there?s to mods they can do and I mentioned the clutch exchange. They?re only servicing it for the warranty and updates.Once the warranty is up I?d prefer to do it myself.

Yep, I was wondering about the BMW flash but Barnstormers installed it so they can check.

?Oh and the holes in the front mud guard are designed to channel air into the callipers :) ? I take it that?s was being sarcastic?

Thanks, J
 
I think the oil restrictor mod they're obliged to do it first before they offer a new clutch. But in most cases that restrictor doesn't work so it just seems a waste of time haha.

Ah it's the dealer flash rather than a 3rd party remap. They should be able to just do the standard software updates and then do the flash for the full system after. Well i assume that would work.
 
Back
Top