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
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
