Hello from Sheffield

[Snelly]

Hi There,

Not an XR owner yet but I will be after a test ride last week.  Amazing bike - probably the best all round machine I have ridden.

I currently have a Tracer 900GT which I thought was great until I had the XR for a couple of hours and now, I am going to have to get one.   The Yam has a few niggles that bug me and all of them are addressed by the BMW:

Key on Tracer is hidden away whereas on an XR, the key is perfectly placed, right in front of you.
The BMW seat is bigger and more comfortable, especially with pillion.
The BMW screen is absolutely brilliant, creating a cocoon of smooth air and the Tracer GT screen is shockingly bad.  Consequently, a much nicer place to be at any speed.
BMW is a really stable ride.
The Navigator 6 system is excellent.
The quick shift system is flawless, both up and down in any gear at any speed - such a clever bit of engineering and in a different league to the Yamaha one which only goes up and feels a little agricultural.
Throttle is perfect.  Really smooth.
It sounds like the ride of the Valkyries when you open it up.
The brakes are sports bike standard - like chalk and cheese compared to the Tracer.
It is ridiculously fast.
Just feels like a very high quality product in every way. So much better.

Can't wait to get a 1000XR. The reason I didn't consider one initially is that the bars are too wide to fit up either of the passages at the side of our house.  Options are trimming the bars or a new house!  We were thinking about moving anyway. 

Am envious of you all - the S1000XR is a really great bike.

[Bree]

Glad to here you enjoyed the Ride. The XR still ticks all of the box's for me, and without doubt, the best all round bike I have ever owned.
I had a 15 plate Tracer, for a short time, great bike with plenty of go, but I could never quite gel, with it. On the other hand one ride on the XR, and I was completely sold. I only ever ride one up, so for touring, the XR is brilliant. In time I will probably upgrade the XR, and unless something quite extraordinary, comes along. Then it will be another XR...

[Mareng1]

Welcome - Sounds like you might have found the right bike for you!

The Tracer is a cracking bike - but is built down to a price-point I feel.     It would certainly benefit from some aftermarket suspension.   But - You dont want to hear that............. you want a new bike!

The XR bars can be shortened, but I must admit - I thought the Tracer had pretty wide bars when I tested one.

Something to look forward to.

[otrp]

Welcome Snelly.

[zbdmark]

  look at it like this, good as the Tracer is the XR is twice the bike for less than twice the money     

[orbits]

Hi and welcome from another newbie . Picked my XR up a couple of weeks ago. I was strongly considering the GT and wanted to like it a lot; but my test ride highlighted pretty much what you said with seat, screen, those pesky pillion pegs getting in the riders way, and a slightly 'value' feel just being minor niggles that take the edge off the package. Roll on getting your XR...

[Snelly]

I’ve been thinking about this post a little and in the interest of balance, I feel I should  highlight a couple of areas where I felt the Tracer is a long way ahead of the XR.

First, the TFT screen on the GT is awesome. Really clear with loads of information and a good design. By contrast, if you take the Navigator 6 out of the equation, I found the XR dash to be pretty poor. The big rev counter was fine but the digital part looks straight out of the 90’s. Really quite crap.

Secondly, and I appreciate this is personal preference, the bars on the XR seemed very wide and I think the handlebar dimensions on the GT are much nicer.

Lastly, the heated grips on the GT at full power are absolutely toasting! I found the Beemers to be a little tepid.

Still want the XR though. 🙂

[orbits]

And I pretty much agree with all of that too - don't get me wrong, if I hadn't have discovered the XR I'd have bought the GT, ignored the seat, changed the screen, removed the pillion pegs and piled the miles on it with a big grin.

[Snelly]

Quick update.  Am on the verge of sealing the deal on an XR to replace the Tracer.  Am off skiing next week but have put a deposit down on a XR Sport SE in red, white and blue.   The main glitch I have now is trying to get insured as a relatively new rider.  I am hoping to get this sorted when back from holiday.

Fingers crossed.

[Bree]

Originally Posted by Snelly

Quick update.  Am on the verge of sealing the deal on an XR to replace the Tracer.  Am off skiing next week but have put a deposit down on a XR Sport SE in red, white and blue.   The main glitch I have now is trying to get insured as a relatively new rider.  I am hoping to get this sorted when back from holiday.

Fingers crossed.

Give BeMoto a try they specialise in Bikes and very help full. Great choice of bike and welcome......