[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Laks

Thank you for all the inputs. I test rode both R1300GS and F900GSA back to back yesterday evening. This is the 3rd time I am test riding the R1300GS and my reference point unconsciously continues to be my Ninja1000SX (N1K) although I know these are 2 dissimilar motorcycle categories and must not be compared.

Since you seem to really love the style of power delivery of your I-4 engine on the Ninja 1000, just making a sideways suggestion. Perhaps give the S 1000 XR a shot as well. You can find details of the bike launch here.

It’ll give you ADV like ground clearance and physical characteristics albeit in an inline 4 sports touring styled engine with a 17” front wheel for that sportier experience.

[100Kmphormore]

As a contrast, the F900GSA has a very plush suspension, smoother gear shifts and you sit even taller as I was told this is at 870 or 875 mm seat height - really nice for tall riders. However, when you brake, the nose dives in quite a lot which would take a little getting used to especially when you ride it immediately after riding the R1300GS.

It seems you are looking for the power delivery and smoothness of an inline 4. I have ridden the 850GSA - and I agree with you on all points, it nosedives a lot, and clunky gearshifts. I rode the F900XR, the S1000XR after that and then the 1250GS. My preference in a nutshell - S1000XR > 1250GS > 900GSA. My only grouse being the S1000XR being extremely overpriced, but a lovely bike.

VFM ends the day it enters your home. I would rather have great memories and get a thrill on the bike as we tend to look for practicality in all other aspects

It’ll give you ADV like ground clearance and physical characteristics albeit in an inline 4 sports touring styled engine with a 17” front wheel for that sportier experience.

Exactly, Axe. The long is this and the short - a slightly detuned S1000RR (206 hp vs 165 hp) on stilts .

[adi_sun]

Originally Posted by Laks

I find the R1300GS engine very rough and the engine feels strained when you do some spirited riding. Likewise, the gear shifts are really clunky, it needs quite some toe pressure to shift the gears which I note from the above post resolves (to some extent only) with the SW Motech replacement levers and I suppose this is purely due to better mechanical advantage / leverage?
Engine heat in slow / stop and go traffic is felt more than my N1K and mind you, this is winter. I would imagine this can become quite bad during the summer temperatures?

No triple (current gen tigers) / twin will be as smooth as an inline 4. If you ride the 1250 GS, 1300 GS is way smoother and somehow I have grown to like the grunt, its like Harleys have a vibe to vibe, so does a boxer engine.

Aftermarket levers make it smoother (as I noticed) because there is flex in the plastic stock levers leading to some pressure difference when using the quick shifter. Unsure if others felt it that way.

Yes 1300 has more heat blowing on the legs than 1250, a very stupid thing from BMW since heat management in 1250 was fantastic. With riding gear it doesn’t bother me even in peak summers but I would not like to be stuck in jeans and T shirt in start stop traffic in peak summers.

Originally Posted by Laks

When I rode over rumble strips, the jolts are not soaked and can be felt quite a lot - this is perhaps due to the telelever suspension design? The clear advantages that I felt are the ground clearance, take-it-anywhere type of characteristics and the torque.
As a contrast, the F900GSA has a very plush suspension, smoother gear shifts and you sit even taller as I was told this is at 870 or 875 mm seat height - really nice for tall riders. However, when you brake, the nose dives in quite a lot which would take a little getting used to especially when you ride it immediately after riding the R1300GS. Power and Torque is materially less (than the R1300GS), but, in absolute terms, it has enough. Lastly, the F900GSA may be much better VFM as it comes fully loaded with all the crash bars, protection, electronic suspension, aux lights, etc.
Overall, I reckon it will take me some thinking as its hard to give away the in-line four smoothness.

Tele lever controls the nose dive and adds stability when going over objects on broken roads. The difference in handling 1300 vs 900 nose dive is due to the tele lever on 1300.

If you want to explore will highly recommend Ducati Multi V4s.

In my view bikes are not bought from head else nothing but a 100cc makes absolute sense. If the bike has to strikes a chord, its in the first look and then you practically live with all the flaws it has for as long as you have it. Look at more options and when you chance upon the one that's meant to be you will know.

PS : Picking 900 GS might make brilliant sense given cost to machine ratio but a few months down the line you will feel 1300 has way more power and that’s what you could / should have picked.

[adi_sun]

Its been long since I updated this thread, a lot has been added to be bike much more that I planned a few more things are still in shipment. Well I know I have gone overboard this time with the add ons and all might not be absolutely required.

The thing about motorcycles is that you don't know where to stop, at least I don't and for good maybe - keeps me happy

On electronics front added 2 Hex cans, that gave me 8 ports.
4 are used for front and rear T3s
1 for Lone rider lights
1 for Denali D4
1 for CarPlay
1 for heated seats (its a good fix that I did since BMW won't enable heated seats via menu even when the bike comes with the hardware for it)

Have tried putting the mods in three categories -

1 Protection / Ergonomics :
Crash bar lower with bars plate
Crash bar upper
Engine Cover
Brake calliper guard
Side stand extender
Headlight Guard
Front sliders
Rear Sliders
Rider Footpegs
Gear lever
Brake lever
Mirrors
Phone mount with anti vibration
BMW standard seat
Mudguard extension
Indicator guards
Throttle body guard
O2 sensor guard
Front ABS guard
Engine guard slider (big)
Radiator guard
Rear wheel slider spool
Instrument display sun visor

Lights :
Cansmart 1
Cansmart 2
Lone rider Motolights
Driving lights Denali D4
Denali D4 Amber covers
Denali D4 blackout
T3 (rear)
T3 (front)
T3 number plate light mount
T3 handle bar light mount
T3 Wiring harness
Light Mounting Adapter

Others:
Carplay + camera
Horn
Servo exhaust
Chigee TR100 Two-Way Quick
SW motech bag


Lower and upper engine guard | honestly upper is not needed but still got it


Innovv N1 camera | CarPlay, nagigation and no need to put the phone on mount all the time, plus wanted a dash cam to record incase its required.


Denali T3 lights (rear) | 1300Gs has no centre brake light and the stock with indicators are too dim so lit this one up like a Christmas tree


Denali T3 lights (front puddle) | these are meant to sit flush on bark busters, till then its fixed not so well but do light up wonderfully


lower sliders | protection


headlight guard | protection


front sliders | protection


Evotech calliper guard | protection (not sure if actully required)


front abs guard | protection (not sure if actully required)


O2 sensor guard | protection (not sure if actully required)


Mudguard extension | in rain the engine case use to get really dirty


Engine guard extension | protection (not sure if actully required)


SW Motech brake lever and foot pegs | stock was pathetic


Indicator guards | protection (not sure if actully required) like the look


Name tags | just because all my bikes had my name


Innovv N1 | CarPlay


All lights in action ( I am very careful not the blind the oncoming traffic, the setup is very bright)


shaft guard | | protection (not sure if actully required)


sp connect phone mount with anti vibration mount


SW motech gear lever | stock was pathetic


instrument panel sun hat | only once I felt glare not really required


chigee charger | two way charger looks promising



Double take mirrors with ram mount and locks | off road mirrors



all lights (lone rider lights come with beast mode thats a pencil beam that really goes very far)



side stand extension

[adi_sun]

Lone rider and Denali lights


T3 lights lit up


radiator guards


lights



front camera placement

[Laks]

Wow!! That's quite a lot of stuff that you have added to the bike which in itself commands a premium pricing. For a bike costing as much as it does, I am not sure why the stock brake and gear shift levers are not sturdy? I wasn't very impressed with a plastic pillion grab handle as well - why?

[adi_sun]

Originally Posted by Laks

Wow!! That's quite a lot of stuff that you have added to the bike which in itself commands a premium pricing. For a bike costing as much as it does, I am not sure why the stock brake and gear shift levers are not sturdy? I wasn't very impressed with a plastic pillion grab handle as well - why?

Thanks, I think it's the weight saving BMW was trying to achieve that led to this. I still won't be able to explain how on an adventure bike rider footpegs are narrower than passenger pegs and why gear and brake levers are made of plastic.

Stock plastic gear lever had some flex that I felt more when I was riding with adventure boots. Led to quick shifter acting a bit I feel.
Was the first thing I swapped, pegs and levers.

Interesting part was that the stock gear lever broke when I was swapping the levers. Could not have justified the purchase better.

Same for the rack, it's plastic that won't mount any box. I am still not certain which top box I want and that too will be changed once that is finalised.

[Rshrey22]

That's a well guarded bike, Fort Knox should learn a thing or two

[subincb]

Originally Posted by adi_sun

On electronics front added 2 Hex cans, that gave me 8 ports.

Did you try ezbus splitter for cansmart? Read somewhere the white port on Hex can take upto 16 connections. Did not get time to test the setup. If someone has please update.

[Sudarshan42]

I think your accessories alone are worth more than the cost of my bike itself

The Innov N1 is an interesting addition. Will check it out and see if I can add it to my Speed 400.

[Axe77]

Thanks for that super detailed post Adi Sun. The cost of accessories on big ADVs can truly rack up an eye watering bill in itself. Many are essential to have, specially on large heavy ADVs but often its hard to arrest that slippery slope.

My own 1300 GS thread is currently in Assembly Line (I really must find the time to wrap it up) but extracting the list I have put in my AL post here for reference. Like you, I had also bucketed it into categories. I have gone with SWM luggage but tried to keep the protective parts to what I thought were the bare basics. Luggage alone can cost a pretty penny and lights aren't cheap either at the higher end. Protective parts too are very expensive and I think the GS with its large boxer engine design adds a bit more to that cost anyway compared to some of the mid order ADVs.

Despite trying to keep a tight check on what all I'm adding / replacing (and using my existing lights etc), the cost indeed racks up fast and its easy to spend money that's knocking on 400 cc bike territory. I was maintaining a price list on xls initially but it got to a point where I realised it was best not to leave such evidence around in the interest of maintaining marital harmony!!

At this point, the only thing that immediately comes to mind from a wishlist perspective is perhaps a carplay cum dashcam solution from something like Carpuride and a Barkbusters type protective solution for the handlebar and lights. But leaving that along with the dash cam solution for my GLC for another day.

Protection

• Lower crash bar: BMW OEM
• Cylinder head protection: BMW OEM
• Upper crash bar: Wunderlich
• Front and rear Axle sliders: Evotech
• Headlight protectors: Wunderlich
• Radiator guard: Evotech
• Graphene coating from OCD detailing studio

Ergonomic / Utility

• Evo footpegs: SWM
• Rox 2 pivoting (pullback) riser: Rox
• Side stand extender: SWM
• Phone mount: SP Connect
• Aux front lights (along with CANopener7 system with wiring harness): Clearwater
• Jr. Billie rear brake lights: Clearwater

Luggage

• SWM pro side carriers with lock (for side panniers)
• SWM adventure rack (for top box)
• SWM toolcase
• SWM tank ring: For micro tank bag
• SWM DUSC set of 3 cases with locks and installation adaptors

*{SWM = SW Motech}

[Laks]

Originally Posted by adi_sun

Thanks, I think it's the weight saving BMW was trying to achieve that led to this. I still won't be able to explain how on an adventure bike rider footpegs are narrower than passenger pegs and why gear and brake levers are made of plastic.

Stock plastic gear lever had some flex that I felt more when I was riding with adventure boots. Led to quick shifter acting a bit I feel.
Was the first thing I swapped, pegs and levers.

Interesting part was that the stock gear lever broke when I was swapping the levers. Could not have justified the purchase better.

Same for the rack, it's plastic that won't mount any box. I am still not certain which top box I want and that too will be changed once that is finalised.

The gear lever in plastic and the flex may also explain why I found the gear shifts a bit clunky. I am sure with a sturdy metal lever that allows no flex and hence providing better mechanical leverage may help make the shifts feel better?
Further, very surprised that SW Motech and others have not offered a solid metal replacement for the plastic pillion grab handles.

[adi_sun]

Originally Posted by subincb

Did you try ezbus splitter for cansmart? Read somewhere the white port on Hex can take upto 16 connections. Did not get time to test the setup. If someone has please update.

Yes, I am using ezbus for connecting Lone Rider lights, Denali D7 pro that offer similar features use three circuits in ezcan but LR can do that with one using ezbus on Hex or LR motocan.
Unfortunately I don't know any other product in the market right now that uses this tech, imagine I added a hex can and denali t3 to hex wiring harness just to run front and rear T3s.

Originally Posted by Axe77

Thanks for that super detailed post Adi Sun. The cost of accessories on big ADVs can truly rack up an eye watering bill in itself. Many are essential to have, specially on large heavy ADVs but often its hard to arrest that slippery slope.

My own 1300 GS thread is currently in Assembly Line (I really must find the time to wrap it up)
Despite trying to keep a tight check on what all I'm adding / replacing (and using my existing lights etc), the cost indeed racks up fast and its easy to spend money that's knocking on 400 cc bike territory. I was maintaining a price list on xls initially but it got to a point where I realised it was best not to leave such evidence around in the interest of maintaining marital harmony!!

At this point, the only thing that immediately comes to mind from a wishlist perspective is perhaps a carplay cum dashcam solution from something like Carpuride and a Barkbusters type protective solution for the handlebar and lights. But leaving that along with the dash cam solution for my GLC for another day.

Absolutely, really looking to reading your thread. On cost front when I see my excel its absolutely stupid to spend this kind of money on a weekend toy but then you only live once right? Adding weight to the bike is another thing that I try to keep an eye on.

I am yet to close luggage options, tail bags from Oxford and top box has been my goto for all these years.
I think Barkbusters, Option 719 mirrors, top box, risers are the only thing left now. Akra slip on and titanium headers is another set that I think about often. For now with the servo exhaust the bike sounds way better than stock so I will park this thought for now.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Laks

Further, very surprised that SW Motech and others have not offered a solid metal replacement for the plastic pillion grab handles.

Yes they sort of do. They have an adventure rack on which SW Motech top cases like their Trax and Dusc cases can be mounted. Leaving two pics below, one with just the rack and one with the top case mounted. The metal rack makes for a recent grab handle. Installing this rack required the native grab bars and related set up to be replaced (on which the OEM luggage system can be mounted).