I wonder how much it really will depreciate. Maybe not so fast. They are very rare in the scheme of things. Mind you, the people who will want to buy them will be after low mileage original examples. Still, hardly the point is it? After all, if you wanted an investment, you could buy a few cases of Château Petrus, just so long as you didn't drink it. I'm all in favour of someone who just wants an SL and then wants to do whatever the fuck he likes with it. Surely the idea of the bike in the first place.
You don't need to do much to an R unless you wanted a full SSTK or SBK spec bike. Let's not forget - the whole point of the homologation R is already closer to the SSTK/WSBK spec than the SL. I love modding bikes (my 1098R is hardly standard), but I really would keep an SL original.
It's a good job I don't really drink or the wine might have got a look in. I'll be using the SL regardless of value as its epic and I can't see myself wanting to ride anything else at this stage. Going to link up with MR and see if they can get me in for a remap to sort out the low down fuelling - not looking for more power just throttle control.
If you've got the cash, it's up to you what you do to it and how you spend it, above all if it puts a smile on you face it's the right thing to do
Fwiw, I sold my S1000RR track bike for an 1199S. Absolutely no regrets, and despite some of the 1199's little design idiosyncrasies, that thing murders the BMW in corners, especially at tight tracks. The BMW was a bus (that's a relative term btw) even with Ohlins 30mm (BPF) forks up front, Ohlins rear and BST carbon wheels. That said it was a quick bus & the reality was on faster tracks the lap times were a fraction faster. But for me it's about the journey not the destination & to say the least, on the 1199 journey if there's one thing I feel it's alive!
