New Rock owner, Help a newb out.

JakeThePimp · Post by **JakeThePimp** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 11:54 am

Got my newish Rock this last Saturday - '04 1k Miles. Rides great, already put on about two hundred miles. The best thing about this bike, I've never seen another one on the road. I'm in Harley country but all my riding buddies have metric rockets (Apriala, Ducati, Suzuki, Honda) but I'm a bigger guy (6'5" 270) so those don't work that well, plus my wife wanted to be able to go on short trips. The Harley guys don't seem too offended by the BMW either which is a good thing when I plan on taking it to fests and the likes. If you've never been in the area, I would say about 75% of the two wheelers on the road are Harleys and at any major social function in the summer the bike-lots have 10,000 plus Harleys (ten thousand).

Anyway, got time for a couple of questions? First, the exhaust is lame. I've read the site, most notable are Remus and Laser any others? Do you have the one that is imported from Germany on the cheap, hows that sound/look? Where online can I find those plastic head guards, just looking for the little half ones that would save the bike if it tips over. Do I need the BMW battery tender for the winter months? if so where can I get that online.

I don't plan on messing with the bike too much, exhaust is still way up the air. I have a hard time justifying $800 for exhaust on a $7k bike, but thats just me. Oh yeah, and here's a pic

-JTP

placey · Post by **placey** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:15 pm

it looks very sweet jake - i bet your wife won't be comfortable on that luggage plate without grab rails however...

i've only heard the remus y-pipe and revolution can that's on mine and i like the sound a lot - but it doesn't crackle and pop on a closed throttle as i'd like it to. maybe that's asking too much for a low revving twin.

staintune seems to be the can that everyone on here raves about.

they'll know about exhausts on this forum for you - they know everything.

paul

Post by **toner87** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 3:00 pm

Check the "The Can is Off!" thread in the Rockster forum. You can spend $10.00 and have a much better sounding motorcycle and lose about 13lbs of useless metal. However, if you want to go with a Y-pipe, then you'll need a can...
T.

fnfalman · Post by **fnfalman** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 3:44 pm

The slightly cheaper exhaust alternative is Two Brothers. Supposedly people claim that the glass packing doesn't last as long as Remus and others but I don't know. It looks good, fit up good and sound damn good. I'd dare say that it has a better bass growl than my Remus pipe. The catalytic converter has to go. Spill the money for the Y-pipe.

You can buy lots of stuff online from Bob's BMW, San Jose BMW and Santa Cruz BMW. But be warned, you are not saving much, if any, from your local BMW dealership.

And speaking as someone who had the plastic headguards, I advise you not to waste your money on them. They aren't cheap (90-something dollars) and they're cheesy and flimsy. They'll protect the heads from an easy tip-over but that's about it. Shell out another $100 and get the nice aluminum head covers from Stanton Headguards. For twice the price of the flimsy plastics, you get nice, heavy duty head guards that cover your cylinder heads quite a bit more.

And if you don't ride your bike much during the winter, then you should use a battery tender. These BMWs tend to suck up a lot of juice just sitting there.

Old Crockster · Post by **Old Crockster** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:26 pm

Hello Jake, I think I may be in a minority of 1 here, but I have the Bos Performance system, carbon can. y-piece cat eliminator and Eprom chip and I am really pleased with the sound and the smoother throttle response. K+N filter was a big help also. The bike has a real BARK! now

Good luck

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jon pierce · Post by **jon pierce** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:35 pm

Or.................you could save your money and be different by having a beemer that sounds like a beemer?? As you already know the bike you have is truly unique

I can assure you that the Germans spent a fortune developing components for their vehicles that perform best for any given situation.

riceburner · Post by **riceburner** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 4:36 am

jon pierce wrote:Or.................you could save your money and be different by having a beemer that sounds like a beemer?? As you already know the bike you have is truly unique

I can assure you that the Germans spent a fortune developing components for their vehicles that perform best for any given situation.

That "given situation" being in California....

As said

Stantons Rock

Remus's sound good (if you want more crackle, remove the baffle.

)

jon pierce · Post by **jon pierce** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:06 am

That "given situation" is in fact for Europe. The only thing done for California is the fuel vapour container, though all BM's coming to the US have it fitted - I got ride of mine, 'orrible ugly thing!. Europe now has tighter emission and sound level restrictions that the US.

fnfalman · Post by **fnfalman** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 2:33 pm

jon pierce wrote:Or.................you could save your money and be different by having a beemer that sounds like a beemer?? As you already know the bike you have is truly unique

I can assure you that the Germans spent a fortune developing components for their vehicles that perform best for any given situation.

I can assure you that the Germans spent a fortune developing a bike that meets emission and noise standards and not a bike that performs best for any given situation. If you like riding a bike that's choked to death with a flat spot a mile wide, then by all means.

Some of us like to have bikes that response well to throttle inputs.

MartyWadd · Post by **MartyWadd** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:41 pm

My advice is to just take the can off and slap on a chrome exhaust tip. The rear wheel looks better, the bike sounds way better, it costs 10 bucks, and it's reversible in 10 mins! The muffler makes very little back-pressure, and the bike seems to breathe better without the can. Many guys have been running their bikes years like this. I think probs would have shown up by now. Maybe. ? Mine's off. No regrets. 19000 miles.

I do like that BOS can. That thing looks awesome! How much did that cost?

Old Crockster · Post by **Old Crockster** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 10:49 am

MartyWadd wrote:My advice is to just take the can off and slap on a chrome exhaust tip. The rear wheel looks better, the bike sounds way better, it costs 10 bucks, and it's reversible in 10 mins! The muffler makes very little back-pressure, and the bike seems to breathe better without the can. Many guys have been running their bikes years like this. I think probs would have shown up by now. Maybe. ? Mine's off. No regrets. 19000 miles.

I do like that BOS can. That thing looks awesome! How much did that cost?

Hi Marty, the whole system was Ã‚Â£515 UK, the can on it's own was about Ã‚Â£220. Not sure how the Pound is against the $ at the moment but things tend to be a bit cheaper in the US than in the UK anyways.....Cheers, Kevan

JakeThePimp · Post by **JakeThePimp** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 2:45 pm

Thanks for the info. I took the can off last night, I like the sound but not the placement of it. Seemed to make my helmet resonate in fourth gear at 45mph, now I know what a brain scrambler feels like. The good news is I have some video w/ sound that I'll post later. I did put the can back on, I guess I'm a purest.

-JTP