R1 - Any good? Which one?
Discussion
Currently run a 1098, but need a daily. And a 1098 isn't a daily. Looking for a litre bike and on paper/pictures, R1s seem to be where I'm heading.
Question is, which one? Mint 4XV model for £3kish or a decent '08 plate for £6kish or somewhere in between? Off the road just now so can't test a handful as I'd like to, so putting it out to the PH experts!
Any years to avoid? Like the looks of underseat can models, but not essential....
Question is, which one? Mint 4XV model for £3kish or a decent '08 plate for £6kish or somewhere in between? Off the road just now so can't test a handful as I'd like to, so putting it out to the PH experts!
Any years to avoid? Like the looks of underseat can models, but not essential....
sc0tt said:
donutsina911 said:
As per OP, max budget is £6kish...not £7.5kish!
In my experience Loon doesnt understand budgets 
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
Only 20 miles away too. PH man maths time!
J B L said:
It really isn't that bad.
Unless you ride in shorts.
In really hot weather, I find the heat soak from the engine is far more prominent but that would be from any bike.
I'm used to fried plums from the Ducati so sure the Yam won't be that bad? Unless you ride in shorts.
In really hot weather, I find the heat soak from the engine is far more prominent but that would be from any bike.
Aside from the temptation of Loon and the S1000R, this is the kind of thing I'm looking at..
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
Will it be a disappointment compared to the 1098? Better off looking newer?
dibblecorse said:
Why would you look to buy a 2nd sportsbike of a lower grade than the one you have ?
I want to commute on a bike. I like sports bikes. I don't want to have a 1098 peppered in stone chips or become f
k buddies with the guys at Snells with monthly visits for xyz on the 1098. A cheap R1 makes sense to me. And frankly, for a rider of my ability, I'll not be able to 'grade' either bike, so it's kind of irrelevant. Even if I were, I'd imagine the difference between the two isn't huge.
In a world of no budgets, I'd run a Panigale 1199R into the ground...and then buy another..and another. But I do have a budget, and this combo works for me.
Well it's arrived 
Still not 100% fighting fit, so only took her for a quick ride out this morning...
Negatives first:
- Sounds st. Standard cans are feeble
- Doesn't give me a semi looking at it like the 1098
- Lack of fuss at low speeds makes you want to open it up, just to get that sense of occasion. Really needs to get above 8500 ish before it sings and in first gear, this is already pretty much at NSL
- As above, tall first gear feels a bit odd
- Not a negative so much, just a difference - lack of engine braking will take a while to get used to
Positives
- Feels half the weight of the Ducati
- Steering is super precise
- Starts first time, without drama or heart in mouth moment
- Clutch is 'normal' unlike the collection of nuts and bolts that some bloke in Bologna cobbled together one Friday
- Mirrors work
- Will be a doddle to commute on -1098 hates filtering at 20-30, R1 will do this all day long
Still not 100% fighting fit, so only took her for a quick ride out this morning...
Negatives first:
- Sounds s
t. Standard cans are feeble- Doesn't give me a semi looking at it like the 1098
- Lack of fuss at low speeds makes you want to open it up, just to get that sense of occasion. Really needs to get above 8500 ish before it sings and in first gear, this is already pretty much at NSL
- As above, tall first gear feels a bit odd
- Not a negative so much, just a difference - lack of engine braking will take a while to get used to
Positives
- Feels half the weight of the Ducati
- Steering is super precise
- Starts first time, without drama or heart in mouth moment
- Clutch is 'normal' unlike the collection of nuts and bolts that some bloke in Bologna cobbled together one Friday
- Mirrors work
- Will be a doddle to commute on -1098 hates filtering at 20-30, R1 will do this all day long
catso said:
So light, it defies gravity...
Nice bike though.
Haha, tried for about 10 min to get it the right way round but thumbsnap wasn't playing...Nice bike though.
Anyway, thanks
Really pleasedOnly other bikes have been v twins, so this is all new territory. Next step a new set of tyres and possibly something from Yoshi to make it sound less like a moped...
Edited to add - what's the decat option talked about earlier in the thread?
Edited by donutsina911 on Sunday 20th July 17:40
First commute done...
1098 makes the commute on the M27 a pain in the arse, from start to finish. Will it start? When it starts will it drive the neighbours potty? At what point will it do its best to overheat and/or stall? Will my hands feel like I've just been using a pneumatic drill for an hour when I arrive?
R1 was a pleasure. Definitely less of an event, but at seven in the morning surrounded by half awake Facebooking/texting drivers, I just want an easy ride in and it definitely ticks that box. Only downside is that the 1098 gives an early warning to drivers a mile away, whilst the R1 just purrs along silently, so more conscious of being seen rather than heard.
Only had one chance to open it up and it's a different kind of sensation - slowly, slowly,slowly, bang compared to linear and always on 1098. Think I was a bit quicker through some of the corners which surprised me, so will do a back to back at the weekend.
Anyway, picture the right way up this time:
1098 makes the commute on the M27 a pain in the arse, from start to finish. Will it start? When it starts will it drive the neighbours potty? At what point will it do its best to overheat and/or stall? Will my hands feel like I've just been using a pneumatic drill for an hour when I arrive?
R1 was a pleasure. Definitely less of an event, but at seven in the morning surrounded by half awake Facebooking/texting drivers, I just want an easy ride in and it definitely ticks that box. Only downside is that the 1098 gives an early warning to drivers a mile away, whilst the R1 just purrs along silently, so more conscious of being seen rather than heard.
Only had one chance to open it up and it's a different kind of sensation - slowly, slowly,slowly, bang compared to linear and always on 1098. Think I was a bit quicker through some of the corners which surprised me, so will do a back to back at the weekend.
Anyway, picture the right way up this time:
Two things.
1) Commuting to/in London on a bike in the summer - fk that. A million mopeds, buses the size of ferries and enough Addison Lee drivers to last me a decade. Have to endure this twice a week for 6 months.
2) The R1 is seriously fking good. It's insane. Doing speeds on corners I could never achieve on the 1098 (same tyres (Pirelli Diablo RC)...and it's effortless. Like a wet fart until it picks up, the thing howls like a Russian we being double tapped when you're on it - and it makes you want to be on it all the time. I used to look forward to riding the Ducati, but the R1 is on another level - I'm constantly looking for reasons to go out. It's good enough to want to chop the 1098 in and get another...and I never thought I'd say that. Ever.
1) Commuting to/in London on a bike in the summer - f
k that. A million mopeds, buses the size of ferries and enough Addison Lee drivers to last me a decade. Have to endure this twice a week for 6 months. 2) The R1 is seriously f
king good. It's insane. Doing speeds on corners I could never achieve on the 1098 (same tyres (Pirelli Diablo RC)...and it's effortless. Like a wet fart until it picks up, the thing howls like a Russian we being double tapped when you're on it - and it makes you want to be on it all the time. I used to look forward to riding the Ducati, but the R1 is on another level - I'm constantly looking for reasons to go out. It's good enough to want to chop the 1098 in and get another...and I never thought I'd say that. Ever.
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