Finished tweaking my R9T/5

[Martyn H]

I know that the comfort, & especially the suspension, of the R9T range features large in this forum. I bought mine in the full & certain knowledge that it wasn't a Fireblade rival, that I was never going to do a track day on it, & that it was going to be mostly used on side roads. Anyway, after owning it a while I did think that I could improve the comfort of the rear suspension thanks to a Wilbers, which even came in an appropriate colour match, & improve the riding position for me by buying Wunderlich handlebar raisers (40mm) & slightly lowered footrests. Purely for the aesthetics of it I fitted a Monza fuel cap & a colour matched hugger, again from Wunderlich. Finally a Wunderlich centre stand. It's not as good as a BMW stand probably would have been, in that the bike goes on the stand easily enough, but it takes a bit of grunt to get it off again ! But BMW chose not to make one, so I bought this. I do find it useful in that it frees up garage space, & it makes life a lot easier being able to rotate the wheels for pressure checking & cleaning.

 

[Posh Pete]

That looks very nice indeed! Enjoy!

 

[Guru Gora]

Beautiful. I have the monza caps on mine too.

Lovely bike that, enjoy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hut van]

Hi Martin, the bike looks great,I’ve just fitted a Wilbers shock on my Urban as well, the difference is night and day, I’ve used mine more this year than the gs.
These bike’s definitely get under your skin, unless your Arsey

 

[beemerboy9]

Well done Martyn!
The prettiest version of the R9T (or any modern BMW) by far. I'm glad you did not let that one get away.

 

[Morety]

Lovely looking bike Martyn. How do you find wind blast on this one at M/way speeds? I do wish that BMW would listen to their customers more and fit bars that don't end up having most owners having to fit risers or bar conversions. Every 1200 one I've owned I've had to mod the bars to make the thing rideable without having back or neck ache.

 

[The Other PaulG]

Lovely looking bike Martyn. How do you find wind blast on this one at M/way speeds? I do wish that BMW would listen to their customers more and fit bars that don't end up having most owners having to fit risers or bar conversions. Every 1200 one I've owned I've had to mod the bars to make the thing rideable without having back or neck ache.

That's an interesting question, I wonder whether the test riders in their development teams are young people, or of an age closer to that of typical purchasers?

 

[Morety]

There's some logic in the way their bike ergos are that they cater for the taller, younger crowd but just looking at the vast majority of GS owners (for example) I've come across, most seem to be in their 50's or 60's and come in all shapes and sizes. Their retro bikes which are more fashion and urban oriented seem to attract a younger crowd generally or those who use them as second bikes perhaps? The only bike they seem to have nailed ergonomically is their RT tourer. People of all sizes and ages can sit on one of these and they feel just spot on. Whoever designs their seats I suspect isn't human, I mean the Urban 9T's look like they'd be comfortable for perhaps 15 minutes before the seat would start the need for the bum shuffle and on sport tourers like the RS or R bikes, seats are just the wrong shape and too soft....either that or the low seats are too hard as they're just the tall seats with most of the padding removed! Companies like Sergeant and Wunderlich have nailed the comfort stakes for beemers. You do wonder without BMW whether they'd be as successful!

 

[Guru Gora]

^^^^^^^^

Bang on

 

[Martyn H]

Lovely looking bike Martyn. How do you find wind blast on this one at M/way speeds? I do wish that BMW would listen to their customers more and fit bars that don't end up having most owners having to fit risers or bar conversions. Every 1200 one I've owned I've had to mod the bars to make the thing rideable without having back or neck ache.

I have never ridden it on a motorway, nor shall I !
It's just not that sort of bike, to me. Forty years of riding RT's in various incarnations have spoiled me in that respect. I need at least a screen, which my 1200R has.
I do think back fondly to the air-head days when higher bars, sometimes referred to as US syle, were an option, complete with the different lengths of cables, switchgear & their leads, & mirrors.