What to look out for...
Owners and mechanics highlight the weak spots
1 ENGINE
No real problems - it’s a wellproven unit. If you buy new or low mileage, be aware that they’re not really properly run-in until they’ve done 30004000 miles at least. Until then they feel a bit tight, and maybe a bit vibey.
There are a few reports of the engine cutting out for no obvious reason — either on downshifts or while idling. Possibly related to the very lean fuelling needed to pass emissions controls and often worse with aftermarket exhausts.
Many owners swear by an aftermarket Boosterplug, which richens up the mixture at low rpm and under hard acceleration. It’s plug and play but not cheap at £122 from Motorworks.co.uk .
One thing — BMW recommends a 15w50 oil for these air/oil-cooled engines, and unless you live in a properly cold climate they don’t like being run on anything much lighter. Even a 10w40 can result in extra smoke and oil consumption. There’s also some evidence that they prefer mineral or semi-synthetic to fully synthetic oil.
2 TRANSMISSION
It’s a BMW, with a big central crankshaft and a big spinning dry clutch, so though the gearbox isn’t bad, it’s not as slick-shifting as you might be used to — slow and measured gear changes work far better than trying to flick it into gear sportsbike-style. You’ll also find it hard to go from neutral to first without a noticeable clunk (in fact in some cases you’ll find it reluctant to go into first at all, especially when hot — a double dip of the clutch helps here). That’s how it is. However it shouldn’t be crunchy or noisy when shifting normally.
3 ELECTRICS
No more problems than you might expect. The standard battery is a bit marginal and many owners are already on their second or third battery — not impressive on such a new bike. Keeping it connected to a smart charger when not in use helps, but it can still struggle to start the bike when cold. When that happens the low voltage can throw up all sorts of spurious fault codes in the system, so consider a high-capacity replacement battery sooner rather than later. It’s also good practice to let the bike go through its self-test routine (signalled by the yellow ECU light) before starting, especially from cold.
There’s an accessory socket on the side of the bike plus a dedicated sat-nav feed near the headstock — it has a plug for BMW’S Navigator units, but it’s easy to lop that off and fit whatever connector you need or buy a compatible
4 DIAGNOSTICS AND SERVICING
plug from Touratech. You need to take care with any other accessory feeds — the CAN-BUS system means you have to either use the existing feed, or take a lead right back to the battery (or the jump start terminal that you’ll find under the front seat). If you’re going to do your own servicing, do yourself a favour and invest in a GS 911 diagnostic tool. The cheapest compatible one is around £275 new, but you’ll save that on your first full service. Read and reset fault codes, reset service reminders, change from km to miles or vice versa — it’s an incredibly handy bit of kit, which connects to your computer, phone or tablet. See www.ilexa.co.uk for more details. While you’re shopping, invest in some decent torx drivers — the R ninet uses loads of different sizes. A basic star-drive socket set is a good idea too — not so many of those but they’re a pain if you haven’t got the right tools.
5 SUSPENSION
It’s pretty basic. The 46mm forks on the original ninet and Racer are good quality but non-adjustable. The 43mm forks on other models are decidedly budget, with old-style damper rods instead of a more modern cartridge damping system. A specialist can modify the rods to work far better. Otherwise the most-popular mods are a new rear shock and upgraded springs and oil at the front, with Hyperpro being the most popular choice. The basic Hyperpro setup of rear shock (without preload adjuster), fork springs and oil to suit, costs £499 from Motorworks and is well worth the investment. Alternatively you can have the rear shock built to order to suit your weight and riding style for £430 and buy the fork kit separately for £120. If you’ve got more cash to spare, options for the fully adjustable rear shock go all the way up to £850, but you can buy just front and rear springs and fork oil for just over £200 and re-use your original shock body.
6 WHEELS AND TYRES
Spoked-wheel models run tubes as standard. Trouble with that is when you get a puncture they tend to go down straight away, where tubeless tyres go down more gradually. They’re also more prone to damage to the tubes while fitting new tyres and it limits your tyre choice. It is possible to convert the rims to tubeless using tape - google OUTEX. Worth noting that though some owners swear by this solution, others have no luck with it at all. Spoked wheels need more maintenance than the cast versions — you need to check spoke tension regularly and they’re more prone to going out of true if you hit potholes. Oh, and they’re a sod to keep clean...
“They’re not run-in until they’ve done 3000-4000 miles ”