In the end... I didn't do it...!

Fast Eddie

Fast Eddie

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Gentlemen,

I wrote PMs to over 25 of you on this fine forum asking about your 961 experiences and only had 3 none responses.

That's a mighty fine response rate and very gentlemanly of you all, thank you.

It was very interesting to see that although none of you had had 100% trouble free experiences with your bikes, you were all, 100% and without exception, totally positive and enthusiastic about your 961 ownership.

I still like to think that one day, when the mkIIs have proved themselves, I'll be back in the market for one. But presently, my desire for stress free / wrench free and fun motorcycling ended with me putting my 'hard earned' on the counter at my local BMW dealership for a new R nine T sport.

Thanks again to y'all. I hope I am half as enthusiastic about my Panzer as you all are about your Commando's!

Rgds,

Nigel
 
Nigel,

Good luck with that.
I thinks it's a sound decision.

However, I think the BMW is more like a Bf109 than a Panzer. :lol:
 
Fast Eddie said:
But presently, my desire for stress free / wrench free and fun motorcycling ended with me putting my 'hard earned' on the counter at my local BMW dealership for a new R nine T sport.
Click to expand...

Wow. :shock: I figured after your test drive you were much more positive about the Thruxton R. Well, you certainly are not the impulsive type.

Congrats and good luck!
 
Nine T is a cool bike for sure. And air cooled too. Keep me posted on the review after some time with it.
 
The Nine T is a great bike and the Boxters are great engines. I don't care for the jugs out the sides and found the Nine T to be a bit "busy". I liked the simplicity and style of the Norton better and the fact that I'm just hooked on British vehicles. It was a hard choice for me. Good luck on that Bimmer. 110 HP gotta scoot real well.
 
There was a comparison between the Nine-T and the Thurxton R in MCN and the Nine-t ran away in a 3 rd gear roll on . So yea , its fast enough for sure and handles good too. The air/oil cooled boxer has 12 to 1 compression ratio and shows that air/oil cooled is not DOA yet ! I am not crazy for the BMW looks but it sure does a good job and shaft drive too. No chain oiling etc. which is great. I would miss the gearing change ability but I could live without that if I had to. Fast Eddie must have been kidding when he said the Thruxton R was too fast for him ! The nine-t is faster ! Now that's funny and goes to show me that performance still matters to most of us whether you admit it or not ...
 
TonyA said:
There was a comparison between the Nine-T and the Thurxton R in MCN and the Nine-t ran away in a 3 rd gear roll on . So yea , its fast enough for sure and handles good too. The air/oil cooled boxer has 12 to 1 compression ratio and shows that air/oil cooled is not DOA yet ! I am not crazy for the BMW looks but it sure does a good job and shaft drive too. No chain oiling etc. which is great. I would miss the gearing change ability but I could live without that if I had to. Fast Eddie must have been kidding when he said the Thruxton R was too fast for him ! The nine-t is faster ! Now that's funny and goes to show me that performance still matters to most of us whether you admit it or not ...
Click to expand...

I don't think I quite said it was too fast Tony, did I... Its not quite what I meant, but it certainly made me think I shouldn't be going much faster, very often! And it certainly made me wonder what on earth I'd do with a 200bhp nutter bike! Then again, I know that one very quickly 'normalises' such things, in other words, after a few weeks it would probably feel too slow!

Having ridden the R9 and Thruxton (albeit some time apart) I'd say the performance was close, close enough for it to be down to the rider as to who arrived first.

I'd say the Thruxton had more pull at 4,000-5,000 which is nice, and is probably what Glen loves so much. The R9 pulls away from it from 5,000 and buy 6,000 feels considerably stronger. The R9 also goes on to rev higher, so it does feel quite a lot faster it the upper rev ranges.

To be very honest, I think the 4,000-5,000 grunt of the Thruxton did kinda catch me out initially and saw me exiting bends a tad quicker than my brain had anticipated.

Both bikes are great, but it was the Panzer that tickled my fancy more.

@ Britfan, no arguments from me sir, sure the 961 is prettier. But on balance, I didn't quite have the balls, not this time. The Panzer won't only be a toy, it will have to earn its keep as dependable transport too, and, right or wrong, the tales of Norton woe, of both the bike itself and the after sales service provided by Norton, were things I considered too likely to cause me grief.

If Norton's service levels continue to improve, as they already have, and if the mk2 lives up to the claims, I'll very likely consider things differently. And, I imagine, so will many others.

When I've put some miles on the Panzer, I'll post some reflections in the 'motorcycle related discussions' forum page, for those interested in such waffle.
 
Nigel, your description of riding the two powerbands sounds very much as a comparative dyno chart depicts. ( done on same dyno, same day)

The 3 rd gear roll on in the test that had the Triumph go ahead initially and then the BMW pull away is a bit misleading as the 3 rd gear overall ratios are quite different. The BMW R nine t has an overall 3rd gear ratio of 6.8, the Triumph packs higher gearing at 6.1 in third.
One other roll on test in top gear had the bikes at a dead heat.

So we'll need to race! :D

I see there is now a Supercharger available for the Triumph.

Desperate times call for desperate measures :mrgreen:
 
worntorn said:
Nigel, your description of riding the two powerbands sounds very much as a comparative dyno chart depicts. ( done on same dyno, same day)

The 3 rd gear roll on in the test that had the Triumph go ahead initially and then the BMW pull away is a bit misleading as the 3 rd gear overall ratios are quite different. The BMW R nine t has an overall 3rd gear ratio of 6.8, the Triumph packs higher gearing at 6.1 in third.
One other roll on test in top gear had the bikes at a dead heat.

So we'll need to race! :D

I see there is now a Supercharger available for the Triumph.

Desperate times call for desperate measures :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Glen, do you have a link for the Dyno runs?

And are you serious about the blower being available? That does sound like fun!
 
Yes, the supercharger on the thrux gives 140 bhp and 157 NM torque, not sure at what rpms. A German company has made a couple of them. One of the bikes is also fitted out with fairings from a Daytona 675R, which kind of defeats the whole Retro thing.
The Supercharger makes the engine look very German, functional but definitely not pretty!
Which reminds me, that R Nine T sport is the best looking BMW I've seen. The rest of their offerings look to be styled by engineers, as always.


I'll find the dyno chart and post it here.

Glen

In the end... I didn't do it...!
 
I noticed an advert from MCN last week that indicated BMW would be releasing info soon about a new addition to their R Nine T line.
Supposed to be tricked out with more retro bling.

Anyone else notice the advert?
 
BritTwit said:
I noticed an advert from MCN last week that indicated BMW would be releasing info soon about a new addition to their R Nine T line.
Supposed to be tricked out with more retro bling.

Anyone else notice the advert?
Click to expand...

The info is here:

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new- ... -for-2017/

3 versions, 2 scrambler inspired and a half faired cafe race. A lot of styling input, but downgraded brakes and suspension.

2017 models will be Euro 4. Not sure if that strangles them any more.
 
worntorn said:
Yes, the supercharger on the thrux gives 140 bhp and 157 NM torque, not sure at what rpms. A German company has made a couple of them. One of the bikes is also fitted out with fairings from a Daytona 675R, which kind of defeats the whole Retro thing.
The Supercharger makes the engine look very German, functional but definitely not pretty!
Which reminds me, that R Nine T sport is the best looking BMW I've seen. The rest of their offerings look to be styled by engineers, as always.


I'll find the dyno chart and post it here.

Glen

In the end... I didn't do it...!
Click to expand...

When does your blower arrive Glen...?
 
I might look at the factory race cam, exhaust and map offering which is supposed to show up soon, but.....in reality the bike has an excess of power now.
I run it almost entirely in the 2500 to 6000 rpm range and probably 99 % of the time in the 2500 to 5000 rpm range. In that range it is very good, as you have noted. More horsepower up top might be useful in a drag race, but touring mountain highways is not a drag race.
I really enjoy how this bike, with just a flick of throttle and no downshifting will hurl itself up the mountain past that last slow moving RV at the top of the climb just as the merge sign appears.
This when you are already doing warp speed and just need that extra shot of power to get by before the lane ends.

But we always want more!

I would like to see comparative dyno graphs before making any changes. As you can see on the chart, that existing Triumph power line is about perfect thru the rise. That's what makes it work so well and I wouldn't trade that away for a few more HP on top.

Glen
 
worntorn said:
I might look at the factory race cam, exhaust and map offering which is supposed to show up soon
Click to expand...

I agree.
This is what I am waiting for.
For me, a 105-110 HP Thrux would be fine for me, like the old air cooled BMW R1200 motors.
No need for 140HP, I have a sportbike for that.

I like the Thrux's looks, but I'm one of those archaic individuals that CycleWorld Mag criticized as "being long drunk on power...".
I'm not much on touring, and prefer the exhilaration of max acceleration.
The blower completely destroys the classic visuals of the bike.

However, I would still like to see someone purchase and install the supercharger and provide a review.
Who will be the first?
 

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