Thanks @oldwobbler for reminding me of your SatNav thread, that?s brilliant, I?ll get the TomTom hard wired into the CANBUS just like I had on my Gen 3, on Tuesday with a bit of luck [emoji846]
I?ve recently had Ilmberger Carbon frame and swing-arm covers, Lightech Chain Adjusters and a standard height non-M seat fitted and had the tank charcoal ?evap? canister removed using the following kit from Alpha Racing
https://shop.alpharacing.com/shop/i...7&products_id=25053&cPath=393_1357_1405_1407&
Virtually all aftermarket work on my bike is carried out by Simon at Race Engineering in Dunmow, Essex.
All ?BMW? related work is carried out at Cannon BMW, in Witham.
I?ve never had any of these parts/mods done before. I wanted the carbon covers for a few reasons: firstly the paint wore on my Gen 3, so wanted to prevent this from happening again; secondly the frames get very hot, so wanted to shield myself from some of the excess heat, and finally, as the swing arm is now a painted item, I wanted to prevent this from ?speckling? over time, as this even occurred on my Gen 3. The quality of the Ilmberger kit is excellent, the ?long? frame covers cover virtually all of the visible frame, fit superbly and even have a cutout for the VIN stamp on the frame. As the bike required undressing in order to fit these, something I found interesting is that the black painted shark gill-like panel on the right hand fairing, does not seem to serve any functional purpose, so can be removed. For some odd reason though, the Ilmberger cover doesn?t cover the entire frame on the right hand side, near this section, so it might be prudent to fit small frame sliders if you wanted total coverage.
The lightech chain adjusters facilitate chain adjustment and have the optional SBK style lifters. Harris Racing sell bobbins for their stands, so you don?t need to replace the entire stand should you wish to use this setup. The motivation for removing the tank evap system, is basically that they are not required in the UK, so just take up space, add weight, and can cause issues. The kit weighs the best part of 750 g, which is quite satisfying knowing that?s no longer on the bike, as it is as if I?ve just lost some weight lol.
With regards to the suspension, I had Simon give me a hand taking the sag measurements. The owners handbook states that you should have 40 mm rider sag for the forks and 35 mm rider sag (or 30 mm for track use) for the shock. I had the measurements taken in the Race Pro mode, as the sag measurements shouldn?t vary between modes, and interestingly I had 38 mm rider sag in the forks and bang on 35 mm in the shock. Given that I weigh over a 100 kg not ready to ride and the handbook states the the bike is initially setup for an 85 kg rider, this was most surprising. Whilst I have been throughly enjoying the Race Pro mode, I have found the suspension to be harsh using the Dave Moss settings over bumpy British B-roads, and it has a slight tendency to kick me out of the seat when hitting bumps at speed.
I?ve reduced the compression damping to 2 and increased the rebound damping to 6 in the shock, which makes it easier for the shock to compress and reduces the rate at which the shock re-extends following a compression. For me this has made a significant improvement to the way the shock is handling bumps and no-longer kicks me out the seat. Whilst the forks behave well with damping at 10 when they are ?palpated?, for want of a better word, when stationary, with the new shock settings the front end felt a tad odd, as if it was riding too high when on the move. I subsequently reduced the damping to 9 in the forks, which instantly improved things and the bike returned to feeling more balanced front to back.
I am felling pretty happy with the back of the bike at this point, however, I do feel the forks could be improved, as looking at the fantastically useful dust-seal grease fork travel indicator, it appears that I am regularly bottoming out, or near as damn it bottoming out the forks. Considering the sag settings are good and the damping is fairly high in the adjustment range, and considering I?ve yet to use the brakes in anger, something needs changing. That?ll be a job for Darren at MCT though.
Whilst I didn?t make any preload changes, I thought I?d give the DDC calibration a go, and whereas on the Gen 3 you could do this on paddock stands or on the side stand, on the Gen 4 it seems this can only be completed on the side stand.
Totally random finding, but it turns out that 18 mph is the minimum speed the cruise control can be set to, which I think is faster than it was on the Gen 3. In first gear, at this rpm, it does seem the bike?s fuelling isn?t as crisp as the Gen 3?s. Moreover, when riding the bike, I have noticed on a number of occasions that the initial ?crack? of the throttle results in a fairly abrupt throttle input. I?m not sure if that?s due to me, the Race throttle map, the fuelling, or a combination of the three, but it?s definitely not quite as crisp as a stock Gen 3.
Minor annoyances/quirks that I?ve since discovered, which I believe have already been documented on the forum, are things like the fact that it appears in Race Pro modes you are unable to adjust the trip functions, so they are fixed on whatever function you last had when in one of the default riding modes. Moreover, in Race Pro mode it is a shame that the connectivity features are not available, though I do understand the logic behind this. What I don?t understand is why in order to switch between Race Pro modes and the default riding modes one has to enter the settings menu and acknowledge the fact that connectivity features are disabled in Race Pro modes, every, single, time ? Surely it wouldn?t be an issue for the user to tick that box ?once?, and then have access to all half a dozen odd modes from the switch gear ?
I?ve recently fitted the standard seat and am a bit disappointed, as for me it isn?t that much more comfortable than the M-seat. I am definitely going to have to go down the seat custom mod route, as ideally I?d like the seat to be flatter, wider and with a channel cutout to, quite literally, give my plumbs a break.
There?s a place near Brands Hatch that do this sort of stuff, and I?ll speak to the lovely folk at Hideout Leather and see if they know someone.
Oh and for anyone interested in changing to aftermarket clip-ons, the fork diameter is 55 mm and the clip-on diameter is 22 mm. I shall be getting a set of ABM Tour multi-clip clip-ons, in order to hopefully gain leverage and increase comfort, as being a larger frame rider I find the standard clip-on position to be too narrow with regard to pull-back, and having a previous wrist/arm injury this sort of stuff is important to me.
With regard to tyres, I am lucky that my bike came fitted with Metzeller RaceTech RR K3?s as the OEM fitment rubber.
They?re a good tyre, but I have to say I think they?re unnecessary for road use.
The rear end grip, driving out of corners is excellent, in the dry, and the front end is solid. But, I don?t find myself carrying anymore speed into corners then I do with a more road biased sport tyre, and whereas any other type of tyre will last several thousand miles, my front tyre is getting perilously close to the wear markers on the shoulders and it?s only done circa 1,500 miles, which considering the best part of 700 of those miles was running in mileage, isn?t great ? However, in their defence, they aren?t proper aftermarket K3?s and some of this may well be due to the Gen 4?s setup. But still, they?ve worn ridiculously fast, so shall be changing to M9RR?s next, but in a smaller 190/55 rear profile.
Have used the BMW semi-soft luggage quite a bit now and am really impressed with it. The small tank bag is rather, small lol. However, you can still fit all your regular use, essential items. Is tremendously useful and for anyone who liked the Wunderlich bag on previous Gen bikes, you?ll be very happy with this I am sure.
The 10 L tail bag, is also excellent. It is extremely secure, of decent size, and I think looks really good on the bike.
Next update will be when the bike has had the front end clunking test with non-carbon wheels and probably when I?ve switched tyres.
Hope you?ve all had a good weekend and enjoyed the MotoGP [emoji846]
Photo 1. Errrm, this was not a 5 minute job lol.
Photos 2-4. Recent ride to Orford. Was a good test of the Gen 4 over a variety of roads.
