Had a test ride..

[Matt]

So yesterday i got a call from Manchester BMW telling me there was a 2 hour slot to come and test ride a 2013 s1000rr, i gladly accepted, sadly there was no HP4 to test ride..

The sales rep i spoke to was a nice chap called Kirk who went out of his way to be as helpful as possible, good start imo.. I told him of the research i had undertaken on the internet and put my concerns to him about some of the issues i had read about, rusting chains, corroding sumps and petrol caps, control buttons falling off or failing.. He put my mind at rest by telling me that you should not believe what people say on the internet, most of the stories are just made up and besides a recall in 2010 BMW have had no reported issues of any kind since....

My first impressions were that the s1k is tiny, it feels small slim and compact which is a great bonus imo and the riding position is perfect which surprised me, i felt so comfortable.. The throttle took some getting used to and by the end off my test ride my right hand was aching a little, i don't know if its normal but the throttle was so stiff. Also you could turn the throttle by about 1/4 of an inch without any response from the engine???

This was the first time i have ever ridden with a quick shifter and i have too say it was fantastic, i have to ask myself why have i never used a quick shifter in the past? The power comes on nice and smooth and theres plenty off it, if i remember correctly there were three modes available to me, wet, sport and slick. I started in sport but almost straight away switched to slick. Being able to change modes on the move was also a great bonus...

I spent almost 2 hours riding through town, on the motorway and through some twisty country roads and i felt very safe and comfortable even when i pushed the bike, it seemed like i had been riding it for years. Ive heard people say its a boring bike but i say its far from it, i really do like to push my bikes to the limits of my ability and this bike allowed me to do that and more whilst feeling 100% safe.......

Sadly i had to take the bike back which i did and again explained to Kirk my worries with the build quality, i even pointed out the the chain on the bike i had just been out on was badly rusted. He then conceded that BMW spend so much time and effort creating their engines which he say's are bullet proof, the other parts like chains control buttons ect do get overlooked and are a tad cheap and nasty but assured me that if anything failed BMW would be happy to fix it....

Just thought i'd share my experience and heres a little picture of a happy me:single_eye:

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[Doctor strange Luv]

Great to hear you had a good time, the throttle probably may just need adjusting, mine certainly doesn't move 1/4 of a turn without power/ acceleration.
Like the dealer said, if anything "does go wrong with the bike under warranty BMW will fix it", like I said previously I had an 11 plate R1 and after 3000k it needed a new clutch and I found out on the Yamaha forum that was a common problem amongst others thing with the R1.
Theres always going to be some issues with ever bike but after saying all that I' m very happy with my HP4 and it is far superior to my R1 of which I loved as I'd had 3 previously.

 

[phil]

The sales rep i spoke to was a nice chap called Kirk who went out of his way to be as helpful as possible, good start imo.. I told him of the research i had undertaken on the internet and put my concerns to him about some of the issues i had read about, rusting chains, corroding sumps and petrol caps, control buttons falling off or failing.. He put my mind at rest by telling me that you should not believe what people say on the internet, most of the stories are just made up and besides a recall in 2010 BMW have had no reported issues of any kind since....

Typical (BMW) Salesman, why o why did he have to reply to your concerns in such a manner, not good imo.

Then you go on to say,
Sadly i had to take the bike back which i did and again explained to Kirk my worries with the build quality, i even pointed out the the chain on the bike i had just been out on was badly rusted. He then conceded that BMW spend so much time and effort creating their engines which he say's are bullet proof, the other parts like chains control buttons ect do get overlooked and are a tad cheap and nasty but assured me that if anything failed BMW would be happy to fix it....

Why couldn't nice bloke Kirk say that when you first mentioned your concern's?

Anyway, great write up mate, thanks for sharing your 2hours of fun.

ps. did you order one?

 

[Matt]

Typical (BMW) Salesman, why o why did he have to reply to your concerns in such a manner, not good imo.

Then you go on to say,
Sadly i had to take the bike back which i did and again explained to Kirk my worries with the build quality, i even pointed out the the chain on the bike i had just been out on was badly rusted. He then conceded that BMW spend so much time and effort creating their engines which he say's are bullet proof, the other parts like chains control buttons ect do get overlooked and are a tad cheap and nasty but assured me that if anything failed BMW would be happy to fix it....

Why couldn't nice bloke Kirk say that when you first mentioned your concern's?

Anyway, great write up mate, thanks for sharing your 2hours of fun.

ps. did you order one?

Thanks Phil...

I didn't order yet however we did come to an understanding of sorts.. I will return in 2 weeks with a grand deposit which will allow them to order my HP4, i will continue to use my R1 during the summer months and then sometime i will take it to them where Kirk promises to give me the very best price possible for it. This way im not without a bike during the summer. He reckons the HP4 should be here round about April......

So now all i need to do is talk my missis into letting me go ahead with this, i have 2 weeks to butter her up...

 

[Doctor strange Luv]

Try Chocolate Matt
I was fortunate that I got my HP4 within a month as someone had ordered it and when it arrived they were unable to have it ( don't know why ) but I was more than happy with that and as I've said I Loooooovvvve the HP4, good look with the misses, I had to take mine out for a meal and all sorts when I told her I'd bought a HP4 but fortunately she loves bikes and has a GSXR 600 of her own so understands my passion for bikes thank God!

 

[Mikey]

Just over 330 miles now on my HP4 and the more I ride it the better it gets. The bike works so much better when ridden a bit harder though I'm still limited to the 9000 revs! You'l love the HP4 and will find it well worth the wait. Off to the North of Spain a week Sunday through the mountains in the national park. The HP4 would have been perfect but it won't be run in and I don't have a Ventura rack for it yet. Next year though.

 

[Doctor strange Luv]

Hi Mikey, mines got 1500 on it and if you like it now ,wow you'll love it went the limiter is off, I'm of to Spa classic GP 5th July and can't wait to load the HP4 up with my camping gear, I've just bought a Ventura rack of a mate of mine who had a 11 plate s1000rr but just swopped for a K 1300s due to his bad back so no longer neede the system, I got the full system including large luggage bag for £100 and it looks ok when fitted.
Did you see the per owned HP4 carbon for sale on ebay last week Matt, starting price was £18995 don't know if its still on.

 

[Mikey]

Just ordered shift change for mine Doc as I prefer race shift. When the first service is out of the way and the beauty has full chat then I'll have fun. The Ventura rack is a great bit of kit. I've got one for the Fireblade which is why it's coming to Spain with me again this year. Didn't see the HP4 on ebay but i'll bet it wasn't there for long mate! My local dealership reckon they could have sold 15 to 20 but were only alocated 5 for this year. What's your build number? Mine is 1959.

 

[Mikey]

Just looked on ebay and someone has a new HP4 available early July. Asing £20,500 for it!

 

[Doctor strange Luv]

Will have to have a look on ebay.
I had/ still have a full Ventura rack & bag for the 11 plate R1 I had, and as that was great for trips away I thought I buy one for the HP 4 especially as my mate was selling one for£100 including the bag.

I was really luck to get my HP 4, as I' ve said I just went in to the dealers to ask what we're the chances of getting me a HP4, when they realised I was a serious buyer the rang round and then said they could get me one in the next four weeks due to someone who had ordered one giving back word, I couldn't believe it, so I put pen to paper there and then and four weeks later picked my number 206 HP4 up.

 

[Lumpy]

Here's one for sale from one of the forum lads.

http://s1000rrforum.co.uk/showthread.php?2645-S1000rr-for-sale

 

[FRS463]

I remember my test buy

 

[Marcus81]

I remember mine too, that was an expensive day out, trouble is when I get excited I have the self control of a fat chick in a cake shop, walked back in the shop with my card out!

 

[Niven770]

Ask Hopper how bullet proof the engines are

 

[Matt]

So just a little update...

I phoned Kirk at Manchester BMW last Wednesday telling him that i wanted to come in on Friday and put a deposit down for the HP4 as previously discussed, i also mentioned that i needed a reasonable price for my R1 and i didn't want to waste my time or his time if a reasonable price wasn't going to be possible. I first went to BMW Manchester about six weeks ago and their manager offered me £8500 for my R1 agreeing that it was in showroom condition. On my test ride Kirk assured me that he would "sort me out with a better deal". So once again over the phone Kirk put my mind at rest saying that he would give me the very best deal for my R1, he said "just come in and lets get this done....

So on Friday i went in had a quick chat with Kirk, he told me he needed to speak to someone on the phone over what he could offer for my bike, I told him that was fine and that i had my deposit with me. To my shock and horror he came back with an offer of £7000, so in just a few weeks according to him my bike had lost £1500?? I asked if this was him helping me out with a better deal, he just shrugged his shoulders and said thats all he could do. I got up and walked out a very very disappointed person...

I thought maybe my bike just wasn't worth much so on Saturday i took it to Hunts which is the Main Honda Dealer in Manchester and asked them how much they would give me for my bike against a new Fireblade, £9000 was their answer.. I told them what had happened at BMW and they had a good laugh, they said please say your not going back to BMW who are blatantly trying to rip you off..... Their right, how can i deal with people who have just tried to rip me off, i have no faith or trust in?? I know their selling large numbers of bikes, especially HP4's, there were 3 there on my last visit all waiting collection, so maybe they can be picky.

The fact as i see it is, i obviously won't go back, a very good friend who has spent two years saving for a s1000rr says he wont deal with Manchester BMW because of this so they've lost £30,000 just for the sake of given me £2000 extra for my bike which they could of still sold for £11,200 making a nice little profit.....

I still want the HP4 and my friend still wants the s1000rr so we are looking further a field........

 

[ekdg]

DO you want a carbon or standard HP4 ? Rainbow of Rotherham have a standard HP4 in this month(due in mid month) from a cancelled order. Worth a try, i dont know what they will give you trade on though.

 

[fatbob]

Thats my local garage too , I didn't bother with a trade in , which inadvertently I believe kirk clearly doesn't want your bike ...... Hence the joke offer
They offered me 3k for a superduke that I sold privately for 4.5!!!!
Kirk has took a punt by the sounds of things , I wouldn't boil your piss too much over it fella
Just don't buy from them the robbing *****

 

[Matt]

DO you want a carbon or standard HP4 ? Rainbow of Rotherham have a standard HP4 in this month(due in mid month) from a cancelled order. Worth a try, i dont know what they will give you trade on though.

Its a little to early mate, i have the deposit and my bike as trade, the rest of the money will take a few months of saving....

Thats my local garage too , I didn't bother with a trade in , which inadvertently I believe kirk clearly doesn't want your bike ...... Hence the joke offer
They offered me 3k for a superduke that I sold privately for 4.5!!!!
Kirk has took a punt by the sounds of things , I wouldn't boil your piss too much over it fella
Just don't buy from them the robbing *****

Your right Bob im not going to get to mad, its a bit of a shame that Kirk was leading me to believe that he was going to make a good offer only to drop a bombshell...

I see your from the Peak District Bob, you must have some great roads up there....

 

[Matt]

I just notice ive missed a call, the number is 08454789714, when i phone it back it says the call was made by BMW service group and then goes dead. Am i right in thinking these are the customer people that phone to ask who i found my experience with BMW??

 

[Godzilla]

Strange I got a really good trade in price there for my D675. I know they are selling bikes with ease at them moment and especially the HP4, so maybe that is it. I think if you went into Honda and BMW with cash you would get a much greater discount off a Blad than HP4