I'll need to have a look at the XR again. Being a short arse has always put me off them a bit.
I had a 2022 S1000 XR. Eventhough it was a well refined bike. I had issues with it and after 7 months, 5000 miles. I just had to sell it.
These were my issues which I believe could apply to most people.
1. Im 5ft 7. and weigh 100kg. I could not reach the floor. Not being able to put a foot down when stopping, starting was disconcerting.
Not reaching the kick stand was a misery. Crap design of kick stand also. Couldn't find it with my boot.
Together with the bike being top heavy. You always feel your going to drop it. Especially if you stall it on upwards sloping road in the mountains. It does not inspire confidence. A GS is considerably heavier, yet when you maneuvering the XR at slow speeds or moving it around the XR feels 50kg heavier.
2. The suspension. I had the fancy electronic suspension. Electronically controlled preload, and riding modes. Now if you go to the XR forum you will see that I am not the only owner that just could not get this bike to handle properly out the box. It always understeer and drags you wide. Its either really wallowy and bouncy soft. Or a dam rock, stiff, throw you out your seat, non compliant nightmare. You cant set sag. You cant adjust comp or rebound. Its purely what BMW have preprogrammed for you to live with. End of story.
I was not prepared to spend even more money to buy aftermarket suspension for it. But it really needs it.
The only caveat is, if you are around 70 to 80kg, it may just work for you. Maybe.
But its a really big problem. I would not tour with it. And I tried.
3. Another huge problem and deal breaker. The Seat. I just dont know what BMW was thinking. You will 100% need to modify the seat. Its so thin that your ass sits on the subframe and you get numb/dead legs. Also, its shaped like a toilet seat to cup your ass. Meaning you cant move your bum around to change position a tad, to alleviate the pressure. Bloody awful. Again, check with other owners. Almost 85% modify their seat.
4. The engine. Ultra smooth. Yes. But you really need to wind it up. From 2k to 6500k its dead. I mean, its like the turbo lag of the 80s if anyone is that old to understand me. Absolutely no low torque. So how you going to tour? How you going to overtake if you have to. You have to drop down 2 cogs and rip the beans off it to the redline to get any performance. Gets very frustrating, tiring, you end up hating it. Again, I was not willing to spend on Akra Headers and remaps and all that. Its not an RR. For me, it defies the point of having an XR.
Overall, and I know it looks like im bashing. But its my gods honest opinion.
Its the worst bike I have ever owned and I hate to say it.
It needs forks and shock. Full suspension.
Seat needs modding alot.
And full system plus remap.
So thats almost 6K on an already expensive bike which cost me 24k with all the bells and whistles anyway.
So If this bike needs to reach 30K to be a bike of Note. Give me a Pikes Peak V4 any day. Or even a GS of course.
However, there is an M1000 XR coming this year. Now that may be what the XR should have been.
But old wobbler. Saving you the headache. Forget the XR.