2020 - What are my options?

[SauRoN]

Sorry I’ve been a little absent from this and other forums in general.

My R1200RS is bought and paid for since December and so I have the spare change to finally do some mods after buying some new gear.

We missed you, but always assume folks who are absent are out riding.

Congratulations. First step toward enjoying a bike.

Yeah it’s been a wild year between changing jobs, my old man passing away and Covid striking almost immediately after and all the various forums and things just took a bit of a back seat.

Do what you need to do, but think about what you really need to do to enjoy the bike.

Personally, I don't look back when riding, so the bulbous exhaust has never bothered me, and if the next buyer finds it desirable, I've saved a lot of money. Unless it affects performance, I don't think a lot about the exhaust pipe. (I mean, where's Freud when you need him.)

Yeah to be honest the looks haven’t bothered me enough otherwise it would have changed ages ago, but I never understood why it left the factory in chrome as an upgraded spec when there was a perfectly good unpolished option as standard which looks much better.

For me it’s a case of wanting to keep the bike for another five years and a bit of change in the noise and throttle response facilitates that “new” bike feeling. It’s something I’ve always liked to do at some point and also why I never buy a bike with factory fitted options for exhausts because I feel you miss out on that change and getting what you paid for and it’s not like they even rebate you.

I tend to save my limited funds for tires, suspension, seats, levers, grips, pegs, other items that effect good fit and function..., and my next, more technologically advanced bike. As I get older, function becomes more important than the aesthetics of what I ride.

Yeah that’s why I’ve left it until now where it doesn’t affect my pocket and comes out of what I’ve budgeted for the bike anyway. I’ve always overpaid the bike to offset interest and especially in this case as it was an emergency purchase of sorts when my Triumph shit the bed and popped the engine.

I did the Helibars right in the beginning for comfort as well as some grip buddies to compensate for the ridiculously thin stock BMW grips and might still do the seat for a bit more knee comfort at some point.

Probably the windscreen too.

(Strikes me this is the kind of dad-like response you should expect when you ask this question of old guys. I think Grumpy's response is spot on for what you would like to do.)

At this point, I should recall that at your age, part of the function of a bike might be it's babe appeal and aesthetics while standing still....

I was in my 40’s already when I hit my early 20’s so it’s all good.

This time I won’t be going the full headers and air filters and fuel mapping route and stop at the slip-on only.

And buying an RS already cemented my dad life with a wife and two kids and requiring hard luggage instead of a back pack.

Ride on.

That is the entire plan and reason for the effort to keep the riding going on without the urge to buy a new bike.




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