Kradz
New member
Hi Fellow S1K riders! My first post, doing things right.
Bought my S1K last October, rode it for three days and then headed back to China, which is my chosen residence since 1998. I visit UK several times each year to visit family & friends and ride my bikes of course.
I've been reading posts on here since last summer and despite being a bit concerned initially about some of the problems with the bikes posted on here, (dodgy switch gear, excessive valve train wear, oil pan corrosion to name the ones that stuck in my mind) I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet.
I've been back in the UK now for a week, dug the bike out of 7 months storage, reconnected the battery and it fired right up. That was a good sign and I've been whizzing about on it ever since.
I was interested in fellow member Simon Osbornes post about reflashing at Hilltop Motorcycles and went along on 7 May to see what could be done and to have a ride-out. I didn't think it was lacking performance in any way, but felt that the dip in power between 5-7K rpm could be smoothed out. I got to Hilltop late due to spending time in central Leicester looking for the High Street before realising that Earl Shilton was outside central Leicester! (I really must get a GPS sometime, haha)
Geoff mentioned how late my attendance was but agreed to reflash my ECU. The job was duly done without a standard dyno run to save time and I settled for a post-update dyno run to let the ECU "learn" the new settings. The post-reflash dyno run suffered the same wheelspin problems that Simon experienced even with me sat on the pillion and Geoff on the front which limited accurate max revs in top gear readouts. Geoff took it for a quick road test after the setup and came back grinning about his checks and confident that I would appreciate the effects of the update.
I have to say that despite my limited time and miles covered on the bike since purchase, (about 800 miles so far) the effects were very noticeable and make acceleration throughout the rev range smooth, powerful and very predictable.
My bike was purchased from a dealer and is still wearing the standard exhaust & Contis that they fitted for the MOT before I bought it. I'm not much of a track day rider and it handles well enough for me on the road just now, but I'll probably go for Metzler K1 & K2 combination once the Contis are finished.
Despite my advanced years, I do tend to ride in a "making progress" kind of way but I don't do anything too aggressive. I think there are a lot of negative examples of riding which I feel spoils the image of bikers to other road users. Bikes are an excellent way to travel and have a lot of advantages in this country especially where traffic is heavy and car progress is slow.
Like several others members here, I also own & ride other bikes, my others are 1997 Blade and 1198S, both superb bikes in their own ways.
I will continue to ride bikes as long as my health allows me and encourage any young person approaching licence age to consider bikes not just as a primary form of transport but also as an addition to cars.
Best of luck to all other members here and I look forward to many more interesting posts and information.:unconscious:
Bought my S1K last October, rode it for three days and then headed back to China, which is my chosen residence since 1998. I visit UK several times each year to visit family & friends and ride my bikes of course.
I've been reading posts on here since last summer and despite being a bit concerned initially about some of the problems with the bikes posted on here, (dodgy switch gear, excessive valve train wear, oil pan corrosion to name the ones that stuck in my mind) I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet.
I've been back in the UK now for a week, dug the bike out of 7 months storage, reconnected the battery and it fired right up. That was a good sign and I've been whizzing about on it ever since.
I was interested in fellow member Simon Osbornes post about reflashing at Hilltop Motorcycles and went along on 7 May to see what could be done and to have a ride-out. I didn't think it was lacking performance in any way, but felt that the dip in power between 5-7K rpm could be smoothed out. I got to Hilltop late due to spending time in central Leicester looking for the High Street before realising that Earl Shilton was outside central Leicester! (I really must get a GPS sometime, haha)
Geoff mentioned how late my attendance was but agreed to reflash my ECU. The job was duly done without a standard dyno run to save time and I settled for a post-update dyno run to let the ECU "learn" the new settings. The post-reflash dyno run suffered the same wheelspin problems that Simon experienced even with me sat on the pillion and Geoff on the front which limited accurate max revs in top gear readouts. Geoff took it for a quick road test after the setup and came back grinning about his checks and confident that I would appreciate the effects of the update.
I have to say that despite my limited time and miles covered on the bike since purchase, (about 800 miles so far) the effects were very noticeable and make acceleration throughout the rev range smooth, powerful and very predictable.
My bike was purchased from a dealer and is still wearing the standard exhaust & Contis that they fitted for the MOT before I bought it. I'm not much of a track day rider and it handles well enough for me on the road just now, but I'll probably go for Metzler K1 & K2 combination once the Contis are finished.
Despite my advanced years, I do tend to ride in a "making progress" kind of way but I don't do anything too aggressive. I think there are a lot of negative examples of riding which I feel spoils the image of bikers to other road users. Bikes are an excellent way to travel and have a lot of advantages in this country especially where traffic is heavy and car progress is slow.
Like several others members here, I also own & ride other bikes, my others are 1997 Blade and 1198S, both superb bikes in their own ways.
I will continue to ride bikes as long as my health allows me and encourage any young person approaching licence age to consider bikes not just as a primary form of transport but also as an addition to cars.
Best of luck to all other members here and I look forward to many more interesting posts and information.:unconscious:
