‘The S1000R is one of the best bikes for the road’
My S1000R is now showing over 15k and has been relatively trouble-free. The engine is still performing perfectly, despite being really noisy, and the bike eats up the miles. The electronics continue to shine, and on the road your performance margin is massive, which means you have plenty of scope in all situations from braking, handling and acceleration. It really is sublime. It did suffer an issue when I was on the Isle of Man back in 2019. The ABS light stayed on for 24 hours but reset itself after a long ride and it’s not happened since (although it came on again after I absolutely leathered it from a standing start from the Creg and up the hill towards Kate’s Cottage!)
The thin paint on the swingarm is beginning to suffer from tiny stone chips. They’re just on the cusp of being noticeable but I think they’ll get worse over time. The paint is so thin you can’t really touch it up.
The service from dealers is excellent, although the costs are a bit eye watering; £240 (discounted from £280) for an oil change, air filter and brake fluid – they’re every 6000 miles or annually, which is a bit rubbish really if you do the miles. The next one is a breathtaking £700★ for scheduled valve check.
Technically this year, if I covered 10k miles and hit the valve check milestone that’s £1200 in dealer servicing… Put it another way, the servicing per mile could easily begin to match the cost per mile in fuel! I’ve been looking at my next bike – I intended to change at the end of last year but honestly couldn’t find a bike that swung it. I tried the MT-10 but need to try the XR and the Kawasaki Z H2 naked, but so far nothing else in this price bracket
‘Nothing in the price bracket comes close’
comes close to the S1000R. The Ducati and Aprilia nakeds are out of my price range, and I’m not sure about switching to a twin like the KTM 1290 Super Duke R, but I would like to demo one. I believe the S1000R is definitely one of the best bikes for the road – its performance is spectacular, and despite the escalation in used prices, it still offers incredible value. Really at the moment, I’m waiting to find out more about the new-for-2021 S1000R and if it fits the bill then I’ll trade in for that.