Gnu Member

[sdavidp]

Hello my name is David, a transplanted Canuck, and I'm a farkaholic.

It's been 7 hours since my last purchase: a Kriega 20L Drypack and better gloves.

In my first post I want to thank you all for the valuable information that helped me buy a new '11 Classic this Saturday. I'm as excited as a frisky puppy at a Miss Legs competition. (Do not adjust your set; those loud echoes are due to the cavernous crater in my bank account.)

I didn't have many choices WRT options but did get the ones most important to me, such as ABS/ASC, low seat, and NO ESA. I had them take the sport windshield off so I can see how it feels during my commutes. For future additions I'm thinking of cylinder head cover guards, side bags, and toughest one, some sort of windshield for longer trips.

ciao for now

[ammolab]

Welcome and ENJOY that new bike as often as you can..

You might check out this sheild as it will fit on your Sport Shield bracket... That is if you didn't let the Dealer keep. I took it he just took it off fo you and you put it aside.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=24575

[Lost Rider]

Welcome David, since you obviously have a great sense of humor and fabulous taste in motorbikes I won't hold it against you for being a Canuck or farkaholic.


Good luck with the search for a big screen that works for you.... it's like discussing what Oil to use around here.

[sdavidp]

ammolab: thank you for the link to the windshield thread. I think I've read it and many others. I want to try a CeeBaileys.

I forgot to sign something so rode down to the dealer tonight: 30 minutes at 65-70mph. Saturday he took the bracket and windshield off but held onto them for me so we could pick them up later. Tonight I had him put it back on. My commute is mostly highway, so most of my ride is 60-70mph. Naked, I have constant wind on chest and helmet. On the way home (with stock sport shield) I felt a lot less on chest but head still had constant wind. However, we had some high wind lately. Tonight when a long trailer for horses (I think) passed me the wind was practically gone for a few moments, and Saturday when I rode the bike home (no windshield) we were 2-up and I barely noticed any wind until we switched highways, then WHAM. Major wind the rest of the way. So maybe the shield is not an issue?

As you can see, I'm a new rider, and very confused.

Lost: Thanks, I was afraid of coming out but now I feel so much better. And no, I don't speak French. (Well, not anymore. I got asked that a lot when I first came down.) BTW, during my research I've been to your site and seen some of your posts here: your pictures are spectacular, both subject matter and picture-quality.

[Lost Rider]

Thank you David! It's OK to come out from the shadows around here. My sister married a Canuck who's embracing the American ways.... jokes are always flying around at family events in good fun.

I know I'm in the vast minority around here, but if you're looking for no wind on your body (except top of shoulders) but still keeping your head in clean, quiet air the vastly overlooked BMW "touring" screen works great for me, both in function and in tasteful style on a Naked Bike. I wish it was made of the same high quality, scratch free materials as my Ztechnik I used to run, it's not, but it works as intended on the Roadster.
The bigger the screen, the more you are compressing air flowing over it and then you = the louder it is to ride, the more possibility for dirty air turbulence until you find just the perfect angle/height/size/shape/color/deflection properties/voodoo magic.
But this is coming from someone who regularly rides my R with a Arai XD3 Dual Sport helmet with visor - it keeps my shoulders and neck buff for my girl.
There's no perfect screen for everyone, as you've seen if you've looked around here at all.

Good luck and enjoy your new ride.

[Catchina]

David - welcome to the wonderful world of r1200r

Lost - I also have the BMW touring screen, works for me :-)

[r1200rclassic]

Hello my name is David, a transplanted Canuck, and I'm a farkaholic.

It's been 7 hours since my last purchase: a Kriega 20L Drypack and better gloves.

In my first post I want to thank you all for the valuable information that helped me buy a new '11 Classic this Saturday. I'm as excited as a frisky puppy at a Miss Legs competition. (Do not adjust your set; those loud echoes are due to the cavernous crater in my bank account.)

I didn't have many choices WRT options but did get the ones most important to me, such as ABS/ASC, low seat, and NO ESA. I had them take the sport windshield off so I can see how it feels during my commutes. For future additions I'm thinking of cylinder head cover guards, side bags, and toughest one, some sort of windshield for longer trips.

ciao for now

looks like you and I joined the "Classic" Club with in a few days... Mine took delivery on the 5th of June.. Loving this thing! And I've gotten more compliments on the color/style scheme than I ever expected.

[ka5ysy]

Hello my name is David, a transplanted Canuck, and I'm a farkaholic.

It's been 7 hours since my last purchase: a Kriega 20L Drypack and better gloves.

In my first post I want to thank you all for the valuable information that helped me buy a new '11 Classic this Saturday. I'm as excited as a frisky puppy at a Miss Legs competition. (Do not adjust your set; those loud echoes are due to the cavernous crater in my bank account.)

I didn't have many choices WRT options but did get the ones most important to me, such as ABS/ASC, low seat, and NO ESA. I had them take the sport windshield off so I can see how it feels during my commutes. For future additions I'm thinking of cylinder head cover guards, side bags, and toughest one, some sort of windshield for longer trips.

ciao for now

Welcome David !

Do you realize that the cost of the bike is simply the downpayment on the Farkles ???

Next comes windscreen upgrade, seat upgrade, engine guards, GS handguards, Throttlemeister, etc... You will notice a constant sucking sound around the bike for awhile !

[sdavidp]

r1200rclassic: heh, my choice was partly spontaneous. I didn't like the look of the classic at first but it grew on me very quickly. It really is more "me".

kaSysy: You are so right; I've already spent so much on gear, but I'm pretty much set now. Well, except saddle bags. GF wants us to go to Stockholm this fall. Must ... put ... credit card ... down...

You are also sooo evil! I was already considering the mirror extenders, a safety farkle for me. (Can anyone verify that the Ztechniks are just as good?) And I've ordered a CB Sport -- I hope it works out. Been thinking of the engine guards too. Oy!

But now that I've just read up on the Booster Plug... man, that sounds like just what I need. I too thought the "herky jerky" at low speeds was me being too green. I'm a little daunted by all the disassembly, and maybe I'll wait until after the 600 mi servicing so I don't have to take it off again too soon. I'd hate to put my dealer/mechanic (who's been very good to me) in a position where he can't honor the warranty.

Now I'm hoping for global warming to kick in and give us another bizarrely warm winter here in Iowa.

[Fjm]

Sdavidp: I have a booster plug on my r1200r. The install is very easy, I have posted elsewhere on this forum concerning this. I have a service coming up in three weeks time, so will be pulling the plug off for service purposes. With this, I intend to take some photos to add to my previous forum post on the subject.

[Woland]

I too thought the "herky jerky" at low speeds was me being too green.

It is, you'll get used to it and learn to adapt in no time. Booster plug is overrated. Spend less on unnecessary farkles and more on gas and tires

[NakedRider]

GNU --- GNU is Not Unix. Are you a Linux fan by chance?

[deilenberger]

I too thought the "herky jerky" at low speeds was me being too green.

It is, you'll get used to it and learn to adapt in no time. Booster plug is overrated. Spend less on unnecessary farkles and more on gas and tires

+1
You have to learn to trust the engine. It has enough torque that it can easily take off with no throttle at all.. even on a slight incline. I often forget (old..) to shift down when I come up to a light, and taking off in 2nd gear is no big deal at all. The bike can do it - you just have to let it.

[BoxerSteve]

You have to learn to trust the engine. It has enough torque that it can easily take off with no throttle at all.. even on a slight incline. I often forget (old..) to shift down when I come up to a light, and taking off in 2nd gear is no big deal at all. The bike can do it - you just have to let it.

I start off in 2nd sometimes too, being careful to not lug the engine. In other words don't give it much gas at low RPMs, might have to slip the clutch a bit in this case.

And +1 on the snake oil oops I mean booster plug.

[Snapping Twig]

FWIW, calling the Booster Plug snake oil tells me you either never had one or your bike never needed one, because snake oil they ain't!

If you have the problem, a Booster Plug is the answer - EOS.

If you don't have the problem, and many don't, it's hard to relate to it or consider there's a solution.

Free country, say what you want, but understand that those of us that needed and then installed a Booster Plug are going to disagree with you.

[BoxerSteve]

FWIW, calling the Booster Plug snake oil tells me you either never had one or your bike never needed one, because snake oil they ain't!

If you have the problem, a Booster Plug is the answer - EOS.

If you don't have the problem, and many don't, it's hard to relate to it or consider there's a solution.

Free country, say what you want, but understand that those of us that needed and then installed a Booster Plug are going to disagree with you.

If it works for you, that's great.

I had bad luck with a similar product on my '02 R1150R, that's why I am skeptical on the booster plug.

[Woland]

FWIW, calling the Booster Plug snake oil tells me you either never had one or your bike never needed one, because snake oil they ain't!

If you have the problem, a Booster Plug is the answer - EOS.

If you don't have the problem, and many don't, it's hard to relate to it or consider there's a solution.

Free country, say what you want, but understand that those of us that needed and then installed a Booster Plug are going to disagree with you.

If it works for you, that's great.

I had bad luck with a similar product on my '02 R1150R, that's why I am skeptical on the booster plug.

I've ridden bikes with and without boosterplug and I couldn't feel a difference, but that may be because I'm an insensitive jerk What bugs me the most about the boosterplug is the price, parts costs maybe 15$ and the guy charges 150$? that poo aint right.

[Snapping Twig]

Could be the bike you tried it on didn't need it.

Like I said, they don't all suffer similarly.

Mine was bad - real bad. Runs smooth now. Night and day difference and not subtle in the least.

Considering similar products as equals never ends well. It's like saying a bad experience with a Timex sours you on all watches, they're all watches, but not equal. A common Seiko might just be better for similar money.

As to selling something for more than it costs to make, that's life. Everything you buy is an example of this - everything.

Someone reads that you think a Booster Plug is snake oil, they might just believe you and never resolve such a simple problem.

My R1200R was untenable stock. I could not reconcile the jerky on/off throttle issue on such a premium ride. I am not new to this and have as good a throttle control as the next guy - it wasn't me. The bike was not right. The Booster Plug worked for me and all the reviews I've found, except for yours, tend to agree.

[sdavidp]

GNU --- GNU is Not Unix. Are you a Linux fan by chance?

Heh, not exactly. I did run it for a while mid-90's but became annoyed with it when they were transitioning from a.out to ELF binaries. I switched to FreeBSD and stayed with that for a long time, until I got my Mac laptop with OS X.

Otherwise I like it. I still miss X though, and FVWM2. Luckily Cygwin makes working on Windows a bit more bearable. But I digress.

[sdavidp]

I too thought the "herky jerky" at low speeds was me being too green.

It is, you'll get used to it and learn to adapt in no time. Booster plug is overrated. Spend less on unnecessary farkles and more on gas and tires

+1
You have to learn to trust the engine. It has enough torque that it can easily take off with no throttle at all.. even on a slight incline. I often forget (old..) to shift down when I come up to a light, and taking off in 2nd gear is no big deal at all. The bike can do it - you just have to let it.

Heh, ok. Thanks Woland and Don, and everyone else for their feedback. It doesn't sound like a safety-related mod so I'll wait on it and continue working on my technique. It's a matter of clutch and throttle coordination, is that right?

Meanwhile I'm anxious for the shield to arrive; crossing my fingers that it will help. Tomorrow the Kriega arrives and I can finally get the backpack off my back.

PS. What Woland said reminded me of what the MSF instructor said: two things not to skimp on are your helmet and your tires.