Joined
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27,183 Posts
Just wanted to turn the tides a little...swim upstream as it were. My experiences are very different from so many here.
I bought my '04 749s from BCM in February of last year. I was living outside of Watertown, N.Y. at the time and drove 7+ hours each way specifically to buy from BCM. I used to wrench on a Pro Thunder AMA team (Chassis and Suspension) and knew Bruce and Susie and the gang at BCM from those days. Did the trip again at 1000 miles for it's first service (in the back of my truck - I'm a wimp). I now live back in good old Arizona and have a shade over 12k miles on the bike. (Time to make an appointment with Tom Hull!)
I don't wash it a lot. I had a Sil Moto full system and a Power Commander on it, but went back to the stock exhaust because I like midrange. Had rear-sets on it but went back to the stockers. Just like the feel better. Kept the reverse shifting, though - I'm an old racer and old racer habits are hard to break.
Put the stock screen back on - I just thought the Zero Gravity Double Bubble I put on it looked too...GSXR.
Been through the stock Pilot Sports and have a fresh set of Pilot Powers ready to replace the worn out set on the bike now. Great Tires!
I run Klotz synthetic oil (on BCM's recommendation) and Ducati filters and use the stock breather set up. I about ready to put brake pads in it.
The only aftermarket parts on the bike are the Helibars (Love Them!!) and the ebay CF rear hugger to keep crap off the shock. I could care less about pose-factor or what racers use. A race bike is a far cry from a street bike. The only thing I want to change is to swap in some 8.5k fork springs. Oh, I'd love the thunder of a pipe, but the hole in the midrange that all pipes cause is not worth it on a streetbike. Not to me. And Ducati slip-ons...well, call me cheap, but I just can't justify the prices for what you get.
I have had ZERO problems with the bike. No dead batteries, no locked brakes, no over heating, no...nothing. Oh, sure, it stalls once in a while but I've mostly cured that to the point where it dosen't bother me at all, and I think I'll have Mr. Hull help me degree the cams while we change belts. That should help a lot. I also need to clean out the clutch pack and steel wool the steel plates. I don't run a vented or open cover.
I read all these horror stories about people having all sorts of problems with their bikes...and I wonder. I wonder how much of it is dealer set-up before I ever rode it. I wonder how much of it is incompetent mechanics messing up peoples bikes. I also wonder how much of it is people who shouldn't be allowed in the tool section at Sears. I've read between the lines of quite a few posts here and think that's more prevelant than many would think.
Or perhaps I'm just damn lucky. I don't baby my bike (Only one track day so far), but I am a wise rider, and can certainly ride fast. The trick is, I know how not to beat on the equipment while doing so.
I told Bruce when I bought the bike that this one's gonna get a lot of bugs stuck in the radiator. He laughed and said, "Great! We don't have many customers who just flat ride these bikes".
I plan on a long relationship with my trusty '04 749s. I enjoy riding bikes way more than wrenching on them. I plan on a lot of miles and a lot of bugs in the radiator. And I don't plan on having any major issues.
I bought my '04 749s from BCM in February of last year. I was living outside of Watertown, N.Y. at the time and drove 7+ hours each way specifically to buy from BCM. I used to wrench on a Pro Thunder AMA team (Chassis and Suspension) and knew Bruce and Susie and the gang at BCM from those days. Did the trip again at 1000 miles for it's first service (in the back of my truck - I'm a wimp). I now live back in good old Arizona and have a shade over 12k miles on the bike. (Time to make an appointment with Tom Hull!)
I don't wash it a lot. I had a Sil Moto full system and a Power Commander on it, but went back to the stock exhaust because I like midrange. Had rear-sets on it but went back to the stockers. Just like the feel better. Kept the reverse shifting, though - I'm an old racer and old racer habits are hard to break.
Put the stock screen back on - I just thought the Zero Gravity Double Bubble I put on it looked too...GSXR.
Been through the stock Pilot Sports and have a fresh set of Pilot Powers ready to replace the worn out set on the bike now. Great Tires!
I run Klotz synthetic oil (on BCM's recommendation) and Ducati filters and use the stock breather set up. I about ready to put brake pads in it.
The only aftermarket parts on the bike are the Helibars (Love Them!!) and the ebay CF rear hugger to keep crap off the shock. I could care less about pose-factor or what racers use. A race bike is a far cry from a street bike. The only thing I want to change is to swap in some 8.5k fork springs. Oh, I'd love the thunder of a pipe, but the hole in the midrange that all pipes cause is not worth it on a streetbike. Not to me. And Ducati slip-ons...well, call me cheap, but I just can't justify the prices for what you get.
I have had ZERO problems with the bike. No dead batteries, no locked brakes, no over heating, no...nothing. Oh, sure, it stalls once in a while but I've mostly cured that to the point where it dosen't bother me at all, and I think I'll have Mr. Hull help me degree the cams while we change belts. That should help a lot. I also need to clean out the clutch pack and steel wool the steel plates. I don't run a vented or open cover.
I read all these horror stories about people having all sorts of problems with their bikes...and I wonder. I wonder how much of it is dealer set-up before I ever rode it. I wonder how much of it is incompetent mechanics messing up peoples bikes. I also wonder how much of it is people who shouldn't be allowed in the tool section at Sears. I've read between the lines of quite a few posts here and think that's more prevelant than many would think.
Or perhaps I'm just damn lucky. I don't baby my bike (Only one track day so far), but I am a wise rider, and can certainly ride fast. The trick is, I know how not to beat on the equipment while doing so.
I told Bruce when I bought the bike that this one's gonna get a lot of bugs stuck in the radiator. He laughed and said, "Great! We don't have many customers who just flat ride these bikes".
I plan on a long relationship with my trusty '04 749s. I enjoy riding bikes way more than wrenching on them. I plan on a lot of miles and a lot of bugs in the radiator. And I don't plan on having any major issues.