I Hate This Bike ...

[JimMoore]

I mean, I really hate it. I hate the tiny tank. I hate the fact that you have to take the tank off the get to the battery. Or the airbox. I hate the fact that with each foot I travel a few microns of steel are eaten off my (third) input shaft and clutch splines. I hate it. I spend my days searching Craigslist and plotting for how I'm going to be rid of it.

Then I have a ride like this morning. Goddammit, it just plain ol' works. It's fast. It turns. It's comfortable. It's cool. I love this bike.

[brentw1]

yea sucks doesnt it.
get the jumper bits that goes on the starter housing so you dont need to visit the battery.
all said a lot easier to get at things than a rt

[RBMann]

If you have replaced the input shaft three time then look into getting the offset pins and fixing the alignment to the engine. Someone sells them but I don't remember where I saw it.

[Mrmerlin]

I have a few of these collars read this thread to find out more

R1150 trans offset to the engine did you fix it?

[JimMoore]

Thanks for the info, guys. I'm kinda at a loss at this point. The original was nearly shot at 40K miles. I pulled the ranny and sent it to Anton. The refurbed tranny was showing significant signs of wear at 20K miles (60K total), so I installed a "known good" well-used transmission, thinking that would fix it. At 8K miles it's already showing movement between the shaft and the clutch. I really don't need to worry about it until about 85K miles, but what then? I already have about $2500 worth of transmission repairs in a $3000 bike.

[RBMann]

Originally Posted by Mrmerlin

I have a few of these collars read this thread to find out more

R1150 trans offset to the engine did you fix it?

How many miles on the realigned bike since this was done?

[VetteRacer]

Originally Posted by JimMoore

I mean, I really hate it. I hate the tiny tank.

Try the tank on a G650X, 2.5 gallon.. Having to refill daily on my commute.. I get 2 days from my S!

[sgoodwin]

This was my cure, 5.5 gal. steel tank (what a gas tank really should be made of), over 40mpg flogging it mercilessly, insane power band starting at idle, handling like a razor and absolutely not one iota of a chance for a spline failure. Works great as a track toy too.

[Martin Glasser]

Reminiscent of my Triumph St 955, you have to run hi test?

[WAJohnson]

Originally Posted by sgoodwin

This was my cure, 5.5 gal. steel tank (what a gas tank really should be made of), over 40mpg flogging it mercilessly, insane power band starting at idle, handling like a razor and absolutely not one iota of a chance for a spline failure. Works great as a track toy too.

BUT ... you have all the maintenance associated with a chain-drive bike, which is one of the major reasons I got an R-bike in the first place. Granted, the power is glorious, but I really hate chains. Touring on a chain-drive bike really sucks.

[sgoodwin]

Martin, actually it runs fine on 87 octane, no pinging at all even in SoFlo's insane summer heat,I do feel guilty about it will sometimes put in 91 just to ease it. I had a rs955i, it is a much more plush ride than the Ape, this thing is really a race bike with lights in comparison
WA, I'll bet it's been awhile since you had a chain 'cause I have no issues with running two bikes with chains, just spray 'em every 600 miles or so & hardly ever have to adjust them, newer o/x ring chains are miles ahead of those back in the day. I got over 28k on my zx14's chain & that thing puts down crazy horsepower. I use Duponts teflon spray I get at Lowe's for 6 bucks a can, great stuff & way better than anything I've found at the bike shops. Besides one spline failure is way more expensive & bundles more work to fix than any chain/sprocket change. That said I still love riding my 1100 it just feels & handles so nice and no faiures or issues in 40k miles (knock on wood).

[throttlemeister]

Wow Jim, that's a lot of trannies. Mine is now at 60k miles on it's original tranny and still running fine. At the moment, I am more worried about the compression and piston ring condition than anything else.

[throttlemeister]

Originally Posted by sgoodwin

This was my cure, 5.5 gal. steel tank (what a gas tank really should be made of), over 40mpg flogging it mercilessly, insane power band starting at idle, handling like a razor and absolutely not one iota of a chance for a spline failure. Works great as a track toy too.

I rode one of these once. Made me feel I was sitting with knees in my armpits trying to hold my ankles. These prillers are rather extreme! Loved the power and telepathic handling though.

[OwenM]

The "knees in my armpits" riding style works well for me. I can spend all day in the saddle of my Aprilia with very little discomfort. I could never say that of my R12S.

I am no BMW hater, I currently own two, but for sports bike duties my 08 Aprilia RSV1000 is WAY out in front of my old R12S in every way.

Chain maintenance has involved spraying some lubricant on every 500Km or so. Only one adjustment in the last 10,000Km that took all of 10 minutes, so hardly an issue.

The good thing about the chain drive is MUCH less drive train lash than with the BMW shaft systems on my R bikes.

[throttlemeister]

Well, I've got an 36" inseam, so things tend to get cramped rather quickly for me. That said, most liter bikes fit me surprisingly well, if you forget about how a 6'2" 200 pound guy looks on tiny little bikes like that.

[bradzdotcom]

i don't understand the attitude towards today's chain driven bikes.
yep, it stretches a little when it's new, then it settles down.
if you maintain it correctly by lubing it at the end of a ride, and spraying on about a tenth of what you think it needs, a third as often as you want to...you'll get along fine.

changing gearing is pretty easy too.

[brentw1]

+1 bmw could loose lots of weight and complexity by doing a chain drive,

oh wait they have. all of the f, g and s bikes

and Ive done lots of fd repairs much more expensive than 4 or 5 chains.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by bradzdotcom

i don't understand the attitude towards today's chain driven bikes.
yep, it stretches a little when it's new, then it settles down.
if you maintain it correctly by lubing it at the end of a ride, and spraying on about a tenth of what you think it needs, a third as often as you want to...you'll get along fine.

changing gearing is pretty easy too.

yup, my Duc chain is no issue at all.

[throttlemeister]

What attitude Brad? All I see is 1 single person that also has a chain bike mentioning they don't like messing with chains and everybody else saying it's no issue.

[sgoodwin]

Nice Ape Owen, my bud has an '07 R & really wants your exhaust system, seems the stocker is basically an ankle fryer.