For this that have had/ridden both, which is the most capable out the box? Thinking ease of riding as well as track performance (its more fast road really), how rider aids compare, best value. Seems a MY15 and MY19 of each is similar money.
The gen 3 seems very popular. Pit garages are rammed with them for good reason I guess. BMW are pretty shit hot with interchangeable engines. My mate procured an HP4 Race engine and slotted it in his. BMW supply appropriate software for such naughtiness. Very good technical backup. I’d go BMW personally
Hmmmmmm.... Such a personal preference because they're both very good bikes and have both done very well in Superstock around the world... I've owned both. I found that the BMW in stock form is a very easy to live with motorcycle as a road bike but becomes a bit of a beast when you take it on track to the upper echelons of it's abilities. It feels heavier than the gsxr and generally feels like a 1000 (if you know what I mean). I think the gen 3 and the zx10 are the only modern 1000's that still feel 'thousandy'. The gixxer, r1, new gen 4, ducati's etc feel smaller and more nimble. The gen 3 has an overall better finish, it feels like more of a quality item than the gsxr. However I would wager that the GSXR will last longer (i've heard from numerous engine builders that the GSXR has the most reliable 1000 stock engine). I had loads of problems with my gen 3. It was the most unreliable bike I've owned. Most of the BMW owners I know bar Dave have experienced a lot of problems. Just a note to say that the new gen 4 doesn't seem anywhere near as nicely finished as the gen 3 was. At my first service my gixxers magnetic sump plug was absolutely pristine! My bmw's looked like it had half the engine attached to it. This is apparently 'normal'... The parts for the GSXR are MUCH cheaper. BMW parts are a fortune! Out of the box, the bmw's brakes are better than the gsxr's. And in stock form I'd say the BMW feels a bit quicker in the engine department but the GSXR's power is easier to use. However again out of the box I'd say the gixxer handles better. You can build a full race spec gsxr for vastly less than you can the BMW's. The new GEN 4 for example is around 40k+ to build to superstock ffs. A gixxer is around 25k. The gen 3's were hanging on to their money fairly well, you could probably get a near new gsxr for the price of a fairly old gen 3.. Warranty etc. Have you ridden both? To me the gixxer feels like a more nimble, smaller bmw with a better front end but both achieve similar results in a slightly different way. You'd be happy with either and as said it's down to personal preference as they're both mega, just different flavours of mega
I think I'd probably choose the Gen 3 BMW personally. I agree with most of what @Advikaz says above. The BMW does feel '1000' heavy out of the box but at the same time it is extremely agile due to being quite tall and definitly does not feel heavy when riding. Its very very fast with a mapping, I'm yet to find anything that is faster than my bike and it only has a mapping and system on it. The cheat powers are outstanding. The BMW works really well out of the box on the road and on all the big circuits like Spa, Silverstone, Nordschliefe, etc but its a bit of an animal to get user friendly on the tighter twisty UK and small Spanish circuits. If you go for the BMW then I would change the chain from 118 to 120 links and put 16/ 43-44 gearing on straight away and get an RS2E mapping (or some other quality map). Without these mods its a right animal at some tracks. Both bikes benefit the forks dropped as discussed on the other thread. Pads and master cylinder are enough to sort the brakes but you also need calipers and discs if you want something that performs like the much lighter Panigale. The setup window is fairly narrow on the BMW and some people stuggle with it. I love mine but for example I change springs at pretty much every track location and often multiple times as I get faster. This is admittedly part down to the fact I have very high quality Mupo CSP30 suspension so you have to get it right. Often its just a spring change to knock some seconds off the laptimes but some times it really needs it to be rideable. I've not played GSXR suspension to understand it enough but it sounds like its a bit easier in general to get the bike set to a wide window that will work on multiple tracks. As usual race suspension will narrow it down but I'd make a bet its more flexible than the BMW if you have bad settings. Reliability wise they both seem solid but its worth mentioning the BMW has the longest race engine refresh interval of any bike as far as I'm aware. The GSXR looks like an absolute bargain price and worth considering just to have a guarantee and cheap upgrades. BMW are expensive for most things because you have to use the correct BMW upgrades but as a result it is very high quality and a lot less of a faff around. My analogy is the GSXR is Android and the BMW is Apple. You get the well managed BMW quality but it costs money.
Ride height will be a key factor TBH. The old Gixer fits me as well as any bike. Not ridden either of these bikes yet tho.
As mentioned - personal preference is key here but cost must be a factor unless you’re swimming in cocaine daily. The cost of the GSXR1000R model is ridiculously cheap, and it’s why I bought one. I can punt it down the track and laugh about it, the V4S, which is almost double the price with the upgrades, is totally not cost effective when matching up the lap times....... Once the brakes are sorted, you have a very capable weapon. But people will call you gay owning a Suzuki. I don’t mind, but my boyfriend does......
I think when it comes to reliability you pays your money and takes your chance....the problem is, is as soon as someone says "well my xxxxx was shit, broke down all the time and was no end of problems" then the mindset is...theyre all shit then so ill stay away from them. Ive got the shittiest most unreliable RSV4 ever, which in 11 years has had one issue thats stopped it actually working...an that was when it was in the garage while i was cleaning it (a 20 quid tps sensor)....as most of you will know mine (the model) was the one where a batch of substandard crank rods were put in which was enough to seal its fate....i always remember coming back from the TT years ago on it (after a week of it getting "exercised") stopping for fuel and the bloke on the next pump saying to me "fucking good luck with that mate...theyre shit....i had one and it was bollocks..." - yeah whatever....
1*98 big ends and gearboxes? All pre 2000 electrics? Flakey rockers? 899 conrods? Any pre-2014 ducati gearbox with a quickshifter? Multi porous heads? ..... All mechanical things have issues.
yep - i agree but some people think that the one they had was shit then the whole lot are....i must confess ive not heard anything bad as such about s1000 whatevers but have also heard that the gixxers are reliable...dunno about the brand new model but they seem to win consistantly at the 24 hour stuff....
