BMW was very early! BMW Group Press release came out today and it says: “BMW Motorrad model revision measures for the model year 2021” S1000XR is now available in “Style Sport” colour which is with Lightwhite non-metallic/ Racingblue metallic/ Racingred non-metallic. It looks like this:
There will be also some new and additional things: – Titanium sports silencer, M Endurance chain, Windshield Sport, additional Core Screen with Laptimer. – Tank cover and card pocket in motorcycle colour. – Tour package with expanded content. USB charging port, new luggage rack with integrated holder for 30 l and 49 l topcase. – New optional equipment: M milled parts package*. M folding brake lever, M folding clutch lever, M engine protector left, M rider footrests right/left and M pillion passenger footrests right/left.
This new colour with extended accessories should be ready to order from 1st of August! Check your nearest dealer!
Today I took the testride with the S1000XR (New 2020 model). My wife was there with me so she could give some opinions about the rear seat and how the bike feels from her POW.
IceGrey BMW S1000XR
When you sit on the bike you can notice right away that the seat feels quite different. It’s more narrow and the edges are too sharp. Luckily I’m quite tall and my knees are coming quite high so I don’t feel this sharp edge almost at all. In my 150km testride I didn’t feel uncomfortable and I could ride longer trips easily!
#OneWorldOneXR
Then I notice the narrow handlebar. But it doesn’t bother me at all! Maybe I should’ve gone to some heavy traffic where you need to use the maximum steering… But in this kind of normal street riding it didn’t bother me (Even I like the wide bar of the old XR!)
Boxroad in Sipoo Finland
The bike feels maybe little bit lighter, it feels like it wants to take the corners tighter and faster -it reminded me about S1000R that I was riding back in 2014. All the buzz or vibration is gone from the handlebars but there was few times when I felt a little bit of buzz in the bike itself -somewhere around 4000rpm.
Spjutsund pier
Since I have owned already 3 XR’s it makes me think “Is this bike really so much better than my old XR?” The price of the new bike is about 4000 euros higher. Is it worth it? I think there is 2 correct answers to this question! 1) No it is not worth it! Keep the old one and you will be very happy with it! 2) Yes definitely! They made it little bit better, little bit more unique and little more nice in every way (except maybe the seat!)
Bike by the sea
My wife didn’t like the backseat of the bike. She thought it was too short and the handlers for her were too short also. They should go further behind the seat. One thing I found very interesting! There was 1 page in this new TFT screen where you can see the leaning angle of the bike… I think I would be staring this page only… all the time! Or at least when I’m riding in the curvy road.
It will be mine, someday!
Thank you Biketeam Vantaa for making this testride possible.
BMW Motorrad made a quite big miracle when no-one shared any pictures about new model. So it was first time for all of us on November 5th 10 am when they released the new models: BMW S1000XR, BMW F900XR and BMW F900R. Here is the video of BMW Motorrad Press Conference at EICMA 2019.
First time for everyone to see the new models
There was few surprises in technical specs of the new XR. It has the same engine than the new RR has but does not have the Shift Cam technology. I asked about this from BMW Motorrad and they answered like this: “Hi Gozamite. There will be no ShiftCam technology. Above all, since this technology offers great possibilities for achieving maximum engine performance, the use of a ShiftCam has no advantages due to the specific demands on the full midrange power curve in the XR engine. In addition, additional weight could be saved in this way, which benefits the agility of the entire vehicle.“
BMW S1000XR (Red color with Carbon details)
Second surprise was that even the bike has new engine it doesn’t have more power than previous model! The consumption is also about the same. So for all those who were waiting much more powerful bike this is a big disappoinment!
S1000XR (Ice Grey color with carbon details)
But the new model looks very nice. I don’t like the color options too much. So I’m thinking I will not change to this yet…. But you never know, maybe I can’t say no when I will see the bike in february in Helsinki.
We continued riding west and soon we’re filling the tank near Haapsalu town. I noticed that I didn’t have my wallet in my pocket and also that someone was trying to call me… I called back and it was the owner of the previous BnB and she told that my wallet was there! First I was little bit in panic -I thought we needed to go back to get the wallet but then we tried my wifes Debit card if it was working in Estonia… and it was perfectly ok. She also said that she had some cash so we could easily get along next 2-3 days and we could go back to get my wallet on saturday evening when we were already coming back. So now with full tank of 95 octane gasoline we checked the Haapsalu castle.
Quite a lot of renovation going on in the castle
After about 20 minutes walk around the area we continued to the airport:
Kiltsi airport
This is old military airport and it is not in use anymore. Sometimes they are having some dragraces for cars or for bikes… but mostly it’s empty and you can easily try how fast your bike can go! I didn’t take my bags off so I did only 120km/h. Just beside the airport is quite nice ruins of old manor (Ungru manor). The owner started to build the house for his loved one…. But then she died and soon the owner died too and house was never finished!
Then we rode to the Port of Rohuküla to wait for the ferry to Hiiumaa. It gave is nicely about 40 minutes time to relax while the ferry was sailing to the port of Heltermaa. But already before 3pm we were checking the next place: The abandoned church of Paluküla.
Church was abandoned during WW II but nowadays it has new roof!
Then we took the road “Tahkuna Tee” or road number 113. This is definitely the best ride in Hiiumaa island. It takes you to Tahkuna lighthouse and behind this lighthouse there is memorial monument of M/S Estonia accident that happened in September 28, 1994. This memorial is especially for the children who died in this tragic disaster.
Very nice location for a simple memorial!
Next we checked some kind of adventure park (?!)
Santa MariaSome kind of castle/ maze (?)…and the EIffel Tower, size is 10x smaller than original
This park is built by one person and it is kind of private place. But after he built this Eiffel everyone wanted to see the place and climb to the tower! We didn’t climb there because we had another tower to climb!
Built in 1531
Kõpu lighthouse is probably the third oldest lighthouse in the world that is still operational! It is 36 meters high and the first staircase is about 22 meters straight climb. 1 stair is about 40 cm’s high so it is quite difficult climb for a small person. The railing on the top is totally too low (for me) -I was only sitting beside the tower and not going close to the edge. I think I would’ve fainted if I would go there!
Views from the top are amazing!
We had a nice Guesthouse in Kassari village and we were very lucky about dinner! The only restaurant in this village was closed but we got food anyway. And this was because there was some big group eating and they served us the same food -and it was even very good! Nicely done and good service, thank you Lest & Lammas!
My wife’s video of the day 2
Third day morning it was raining so we didn’t start riding too early, we took it very slow!
After this chapel we found something very spectacular! One of the most amazing places I’ve ever visited is the Sääre Tirp -peninsula. We left the bike to the parking area and started to walk south. After 2 kilometers walk there were no trees anymore only very narrow piece of land and it was going more narrow all the time. I took my drone up!
Nice sunshine after the rainy morning…
It took about 2 hours for us to walk to the end of treeline and back. There was still quite long distance to walk until there was no land anymore, maybe something like 5-600 meters until the total end of Sääre Tirp. Next we checked the small lighthouses on the westside from Port of Sõru.
Then it was time to take a ferry to the bigger island: Saaremaa.
We stayed in a nice Guesthouse and enjoyed dinner in Saaremaakera in the center of Kuressaare (Big recommendations!)
VIdeo of the third day (by my wife)
Fourth day started also with the rain but it ended soon. We went to check Kuressaare castle when it was still little bit foggy. Now it is possible to walk around the castle on the top of the surrounding wall. From there you can see the castle from every possible corner!
Nice houses just outside the castle when entering from the city
The we were already riding towards the harbour of Kuressare, but we took one stop on the way:
Kaali Crater is the only known major impact that has occurred in a populated area!
Then again one ferry, this time from Kuivastu to Virtsu and we were back in the mainland. We checked the ruins of Lihula castle. There’s not much left of this castle.
Then we needed to ride to the first Guesthouse we visited because my wallet was there. But we stopped in Padise monastery on the way. Here was also some renovations going on so we couldn’t get in.
Our last night was in very siple cabin without water. My wife didn’t like this idea at all. But I liked the place!
Cheap Guesthouse in Lohusalu.
And I got my wallet beck! The dinner we had in a place called Günther kohvik. No recommendations from this place. Fifth day we only needed to reach the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki and there was plenty of time… In the boat we took the buffet lunch and ate totally too much. But when you pay you have to get the maximum benefit! Right?
Triumph brought totally new models with 1200 twin engine. It has nice 90 hp -which doesn’t sound much but in this kind of bike it’s more than enough.
rrem
Even I didn’t have real knubble tires I felt the calling! “Go to the gravel! Go to the forest!” -It was shouting… And I did.
This is bike is definitely at home when riding in gravel!
It’s totally the best bike that I have ever been riding in the gravelroad! It is too heavy to take Off-Road but I don’t really miss that anymore. The seat should be softer and it should have better design. I could feel my ass wouldn’t like this after 200km’s!
(In Finnish: Puumalan Saaristoreitti)
I’ve started my holiday tour 2 days ago. I hope I will have more time to write about details and routes but in this update I want to share this:
My drone finally arrived from service and I got this video made yesterday!
This is ferry “Norppa II” and it takes bicycles and motorcycles and makes a ride in the lake Saimaa. Even it wasn’t the best possible weather it was still quite amazing. The beautiful archipelago of Saimaa made me forget even about riding for awhile… I was just sitting on the deck and enjoying the views and summer breeze.
Me and my wife have been married now half a year. It was time to take tour with motorcycle just the two of us. We had 5 days to do this trip and I chose western Finland. Day 1 (May 9)
We started before the midday and I was very excited about finally going on a tour with my new bike “Optimus”:
After filling the tank it felt very nice and relaxing to ride the bike! The first leg was 120 kilometers and the the first stop was at Koski (english: Rapids) and there is also quite nice rapids there (Rapids at Rapids…)
Then we stopped at the grocery store in Oripää to buy some sausages. Next stop & break was at “Kekkosplassi”. It is very nice area with a big fireplaces to grill some food, we had sausages, sandwiches and also something to drink.
Then in Säkylä we checked Katismaa and Eenokki (harbour and beach) but these were just very short stops. Finally in Kauttua Ironworks area we stopped for awhile to examine the area. Like all old ironworks areas this has also many very nice old buildings and rapids with some small dams and old bridges.
This was the first time when we noticed that it was quite hot! Weather forecast had promised very nice and warm weather for us… and it was Summer coming already before the middle of May! It was too hot to walk with all riding gear.
The last leg was about 60 kilometers and we arrived to Nakkila where we were supposed to stay for the first night. After we took all the luggage away from the bike we still checked the dam and powerplant of Harjavalta and the medieval Church or Ulvila.
The route for the day 1 was like this:
(Sorry for all international readers: This is only in Finnish!)
Moottoripyora.org nimistä keskustelufoorumia ylläpitävä motorg ry (jonka jäsen olen ollut 7 vuotta) lataa pöytään melko hienon jutun tänä vuonna! Sinulla on mahdollisuus moottoripyöräillä ilmaiseksi!
Muutaman ehdon kuitenkin motorg ry asettaa. Ensimmäinen ja kaikkein tärkein on se että sinun pitäisi olla motorg ry:n jäsen. Jäseneksi pääsee maksamalla jäsen- ja liittymismaksun (yhteensä 45€). Samalla lunastat itsellesi paljon muitakin etuja sekä mainion sosiaalisen yhteisön kanavat moneen suuntaan hienon harrastuksen parissa.
Motorg ry on hankkinut omistukseensa moottoripyörän jota saavat yhdityksen jäsenet lainata käyttöönsä ilmaiseksi! Pyörän nimi on MotOrgBike.
Pyörä on Kawasaki er-6n ja ns. “täysitehoinen”, eli sillä ajaminen vaatii A-ajokortin. Lisäksi motorg ry on asettenut muitakin ehtoja pyörän lainaamiseen:
– Laina-aika pääsääntöisesti 1-2 vrk.
– ensisijaisesti niille joilla ei ole omaa moottoripyörää
– ensisijaisesti niille jotka haluavat osallistua Ajotaito 2 -koulutukseen motorg-ratapäivänä
– Lisäksi toivotaan aktiivista sosiaalisen median käyttöä mp:n laina aikana, eli kuvia on otettava ja niitä on julkaistava halutuilla kanavilla!
Moottoripyora.org foorumille tullaan perustamaan keskusteluketju mihin kuka tahansa motorg-jäsen voi kirjoittaa hakemuksensa, eli vapaamuotoisen kirjoituksen tarpeestaan ko. moottoripyörän lainaamiseksi. Motorg hallitus käsittelee hakemukset oman harkintansa mukaan.
Motorg ry suhtautuu pyörän pieniin naarmuihin ja vaurioihin lainaajan kannalta anteeksiantavasti. Pakollisista korjauksista saattaa lainaajan lompakko hieman ohentua mutta maksimissaan täyskaskon omavastuun (500€) verran.
Pyörä pitää tietenkin palauttaa tankattuna samaan paikkaan mistä se on lainattu.
Alkukaudesta pyörän sijainti tulee olemaan Tampereella ja loppukaudesta ilmeisesti Helsingissä. Kauden jälkeen pyörä tullaan myymään huutokaupalla josta saaduilla rahoilla motorg ry maksaa 2000€:n yli menevät roposet hyväntekeväisyyteen.
Maksamalla siis motorg ry:n jäsenmaksun sinulla on mahdollisuus kokeilla ilmaiseksi moottoripyöräilyä! Sinun ei tarvitse ostaa omaa pyörää, eikä vuokrata. Sinun ei myöskään tarvitse maksaa kalliita vakuutusmaksuja tai huoltoja. Kannattaisko kokeilla? UUTINEN
In january I sold my KTM. Now I Have new bike that I will use in gravel and dirtroads:
This Triumph Street Twin is going to be also a bike that my wife can (or will) use if she ever will have the licence. We tried quite many bikes and this was the best bike for her.
I thought I can use this same bike in my endurorides if I only will change the tyres.
Now I’m only hoping that the spring will come soon… Now we still have snow on the ground and temperature below zero…
By the way, motocaching.net is growing fast! We have now 3000 caches (rides) to be found. All over the world, all continents, 72 countries and more is coming all the time!
February in Helsinki Finland, -12 degrees centigrade, the deepest and coldest winter.
But we have nice opening for the season, the motorcycle exhibition! This year Ducati and MV Agusta didn’t have own stand in the show but other brands were there! Here are the most important new models:
Aprilia Shiver 900
Go - Za 