My 2016 RR

[Flup]

Which mount did you use for your phone?

 

[Stephen]

Which mount did you use for your phone?

It's a Tigra mount for bicycles

 

[Conrad]

Bike looks great Stephen! Good choice of mods so far...

 

[Stephen]

I was pretty pleased with the results of wrapping the heel guards last Saturday. Until Sunday's rise where I noticed I'd worn right through it!

I'll have to get something more hard wearing, possibly venture shield..


On a side note, how do you guys think my bike would look with a red tank top fairing? I can't decide if it'd look brilliant or just push it that bit too far with the red. It's either a red one or a carbon one... I just don't know

 

[Conrad]

I think Carbon would finish it off nicely

 

[richy170]

Yes I've got the same problem with my top yoke bolt I've just fitted from Pro-Bolt. I thought they would've been an exact replica. It wasn't cheap so I can't help feeling disappointed.

 

[richy170]

Hi Stephen, really enjoyed reading this thread so thanks for sharing. Personally I think the tank cover would be too much red. Carbon would look nice but once you start you will never stop!

 

[powders]

Definitely carbon for me

 

[Stephen]

Yes I've got the same problem with my top yoke bolt I've just fitted from Pro-Bolt. I thought they would've been an exact replica. It wasn't cheap so I can't help feeling disappointed.

I was disappointed, I was thinking of having it turned down on a lathe so it would be flush. But now I've put the phone mount there it looks better.

I also wondered about sticking a BMW badge in the centre to hide the threads...

 

[Stephen]

So I've been meaning to post this up for a while (a month actually... but I get distracted so easily!)


Quite a long post (for me) so if you wanna skip it and just look at the pics...
Tl;Dr.Went on holiday, had fun.


Last month I had a trip over to Germany on the S with my dad on his XR.

The aim of the trip was the Nurburgring. I've been before several times as a child. Once in my dads Z3, a few times in his RX8 and a couple of times pillion on his K1200s. This was the first time on my own bike.

The best thing about the XR is that there's enough luggage on it for me to not take any! So I had a very comfortable ride down from Rotterdam. We stopped off at Monschau as we have done every time we've been, it's very close to the border and it's a beautiful little village to stop for some lunch usually a schnitzel. That's when you know you're in Germany

We stopped in Koblenz for a couple of days as it's only a short ride down by the Mozel River to Cochem. Cochem is easily one of my favourite places in the world and I would recommend a visit to anyone passing nearby. We managed to find some amazing country lanes, hairpin after hairpin after hairpin [emoji16] (I'll try and find them on a map for anyone who's interested) We actually ended up visiting Cochem a second time on our way from Koblenz to Adenau.

We stopped at Hotel Nordschleife for 2 days and did a lap of the ring each day. On the first lap we did, the ring was busier than I had ever seen it and it's not particularly fun for bikers when it's so busy. When theres a constant stream of cars overtaking you (which just feels weird!) there's no chance for you to 'get into place' or pick your line. It was an interesting lap as they had joined the GP track with the Nordschleife which I've never seen before so that's something... on the whole if I'm honest I didn't enjoy that lap.

I did however enjoy my steak on the rock at Pistenklause restaurant afterwards.

The second lap the next morning was much better as the track was empty, we only saw 2 or 3 cars the whole way round. We found out afterwards that the day before was a German bank holiday...[emoji23]

Overall it was a great trip to one of my favourite places. We've already booked the hotel for another visit in October in the Z4

Here's a few pictures I took:

Koblenz

Cochem

 

[Stephen]

Nurburgring

It's the longest trip I've done so far on the S (it actually wasn't a long trip at all, just short of 900miles) and it was a great opportunity for me to improve my riding position. I'm sure everyone's at some point had to come to terms with the fact that your not leaning off as far as you think you are.. and I had been struggling with that for quite some time. I found that if I lifted myself up and sat at the rear of the seat with my arse touching the stop it was much easier to slide off either side. I think the problem I was having was that when your sat with your nuts up to the tank that really restricts your sideways movement... after this realisation I found I could put a lot more speed into long corners and on some of the longest sweeping bends I was able to play with the throttle in order to tighten or widen my line. I think the change in the centre of gravity also improved my confidence with tipping the bike over a bit further as is managed to get a consistent 40degree on either side with a high of 43/44 (I know it's not much but it's my personal best and that's all that matters haha)

P.s. Apologies for any misspelt place names, I've only just started learning German!

 

[alex]

Nice one Stephen, for this write up. So the moral of the story is avoid German public holidays and get someone on a GSA/XR to ferry your gear

Glad you managed to find more confidence and speed.

 

[stuartb]

Good write up man... im going to look up cochem. See how far it is from Heidelberg if its not far well drop bye...

Cheers

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[bananaman]

Stayed at Cochem (apparently pronounced 'Cockham' 3 times in the past, great place and yes, fantastic roads out to the ring.

 

[Stephen]

Hi Guys, long time no see!

Haven’t ridden the bike much in the last two years. Only did 300 miles last year, shameful I know.

I’ve made the decision that if I don’t use it this year I can’t justify keeping the It so fingers crossed I pull my finger out.


Anyway, I’ve just made a few modifications to the bike that I thought I’d share with y’all.

Keeping it brief:

Black anodised fork tubes
DLC stanchions
Powder coated fork bottoms
Powder coated callipers and top yoke

Also painted half the handlebar clip ons to match.

Really happy to get rid of all the gold and silver parts.

Seeing as the levers were the only silver bits left I finally ordered some aftermarkets, I was going to go for HP levers but I saw a set by a company called WOMET-TECH, never heard of them before but so far I’m really pleased with the quality of them for the price (£80) The only downside is that they sell them in pairs, I’ve opted for shortys but ideally I’d prefer a longer clutch lever.

That’s all for now, I have ordered new decals but they won’t be here for another week.

I’m hoping to be more active on the forum this year, not much free time recently, helping my dad with his camper conversion among other things. Feel free to PM me if anyone needs advice or help with anything, always happy to help [emoji106]

 

[stuartb]

Good to hear from you mate, just realised you hadn't been on in a while...forgot how good your bike looked with those deep red panels and wheels, Nice touch with the front end !..

S

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

 

[Budgie]

Good to hear from you Stephen. What camper conversion are you on with.

 

[Stephen]

Good to hear from you Stephen. What camper conversion are you on with.

It’s a Transit MK7, the old works van.

Initially I thought it was a daft idea but it’s actually been a fun project.. Doing everything ourselves, fitting a pop top was quite a job!

It’s about half way done, but every time something gets done it leads to another job to do

 

[Budgie]

Nic that mate. If you need any advice or hand with any of the build give me a buzz. One we've just finished.

 

[Rednine]

Really smart, nice colour schemes. :love-struck: