[laalves]

And another update from the guy who is doing the ceramic coating job:

Can't wait to get it back, even because the days are sunny now and I don't have a bike to ride 🤬🥵😞

 

[laalves]

And the headers have arrived:

I also had the smaller bits coated:

 

[laalves]

And the final result:

She's out of the garage finally and in 30 min or so, will be taken for a ride after the suite of maintenance/upgrades she went through in the last 2 weeks: ceramic coating, lithium battery, Machined valve and belt covers.

I love this look, in my eyes a great improvement over the stock chromed headers which I don't think suit the rest of the bike, even in a full stock form.

My final conclusion: the R nineT is certainly one of the most beautiful bikes in the market today, and a few touches, it only improves.

The next upgrade and potentially the final one, in terms of bigger, expensive upgrades will be Öhlins cartridges for the forks.

 

[Norbi]

Very pretty work! Now, protect your center stand, like this

Details in post #74 here Central Stand for BMW R NineT Family
and you can even go out protected from those harsh Portuguese Atlantic sea salt winds! Enjoy!!!

 

[Error Flynn]

Well done my friend... Very nice thought through and through...

Enjoy your ride.

For me the NineT it will stand out in many years from now as a modern classic icon...

 

[Jonnydee]

Looks fantastic nice job!

 

[laalves]

Very pretty work! Now, protect your center stand, like this

Details in post #74 here Central Stand for BMW R NineT Family
and you can even go out protected from those harsh Portuguese Atlantic sea salt winds! Enjoy!!!

Now that's an interesting hint. I'm definitely checking this out.

 

[Chris<CJ>]

Congrats!
Well done and in general there is good attention to detail e.g. the oil cooler side covers.
IMHO the gold forks are out of place as there is no other color-matched component. But each to his own, it is a subjective thing.

 

[laalves]

Congrats!
Well done and in general there is good attention to detail e.g. the oil cooler side covers.
IMHO the gold forks are out of place as there is no other color-matched component. But each to his own, it is a subjective thing.

Thx! And yes, I have been getting rid of some the non-matching colours but decided I like the gold. Actually, I even added the LSL stub handlebars in gold, so I ended up colour-matching that.

I thought about black powder coating, vinyl wrapping or exchanging with black Öhlins but (and honestly much to my surprise) ended up disliking the black in that particular application and found the bike to become dull and missing a big part of its character. Thus, gold it is!

 

[ardacanadali]

Man, those ceramic coated exhaust and headers looking beautiful. What did it cost to you?

 

[laalves]

Man, those ceramic coated exhaust and headers looking beautiful. What did it cost to you?

240€ @ TDF Sport

 

[laalves]

And some more carbon today, front indicator mounts and lower cylinder covers from rsrmoto.com:

Already ordered, but only available on February, the Ilmberger starter cover and active carbon canister support. Plastic is highly pollutant, getting rid of it

 

[Jonnydee]

Did Ilmberger give you an estimated ship date that you're referring to? I have the lower Rocker cylinder head covers on order since July, so far they haven't said when they will be able to ship those, just that they will be getting them done asap but they are jammed due to covid.

 

[laalves]

Did Ilmberger give you an estimated ship date that you're referring to? I have the lower Rocker cylinder head covers on order since July, so far they haven't said when they will be able to ship those, just that they will be getting them done asap but they are jammed due to covid.

February... actually I ordered from G&G in Holland. Let’s see, if it gets delayed, I’ll cancel.

 

[laalves]

Today I tried to order a Öhlins fork cartridge set only to learn that Öhlins will only have them available mid to late May. No joy then, so instead, I installed a low tone horn (from a BMW car, off the auction site). It doesn't sound like a scooter beep or like a PC motherboard piezzo when Windows explodes, it sounds like a horn proper.

I had to lift the tank just a bit to insert the bigger horn but to remove the original one, that is not needed, I managed to do it with a 13mm socket+1/4 cardan+200mm extension+100mm extension+1/4 ratchet. It works from the left side of the bike, behind the frame. It's a knuckle scratcher but doable.

To lift the front of the tank, I didn't need to remove the seat support brackets as I just lifted it about 5 cm, just enough to squeeze the bigger horn through. I put a 5mm-thick strip of black foam tape between the steering head and the horn itself, putting some pressure and preventing the horn from scuffing the paint.

I'm really disappointed with the Öhlins issue, just today I received the last tool I needed to that job, I've been collecting them for the last few months getting ready for this and now: not available.

It may have to do with the fact they are busy with a recall, building a few thousand front dampers for their Porsche 996/997 Turbo/Carrera 4/4S aftermarket coilover kit. A few of the original versions sheared off on the top mount interface. I know this because I'm affected and am waiting on those replacements for my car.

 

[laalves]

Did Ilmberger give you an estimated ship date that you're referring to? I have the lower Rocker cylinder head covers on order since July, so far they haven't said when they will be able to ship those, just that they will be getting them done asap but they are jammed due to covid.

You can get these instead: BMW R Nine T R9T Carbon Fibre Cylinder Head Covers (Twill Gloss) | RSR Moto - RSR Moto

I'm very happy with the quality of the parts you see above, the front indicator supports/fairings and the lower cylinder cowls. After my purchase, both are out of stock.

With their twill gloss finish, they are a perfect colour, pattern and brightness match to my other original BMW carbon parts.

 

[Jonnydee]

You can get these instead: BMW R Nine T R9T Carbon Fibre Cylinder Head Covers (Twill Gloss) | RSR Moto - RSR Moto

I'm very happy with the quality of the parts you see above, the front indicator supports/fairings and the lower cylinder cowls. After my purchase, both are out of stock.

With their twill gloss finish, they are a perfect colour, pattern and brightness match to my other original BMW carbon parts.

Thanks for that, the quality looks nice and the price is right, but I still prefer the design of the Ilmberger ones so I guess I'll wait it out. I'm sure they will get their production issues sorted. I'll look at some RSR stuff in the future though.

 

[Frank92691]

Want to genuinely thank you for the detailed documentation. Quick question for you. What did you think about the leather grip wraps and exhaust heat wraps. Would you suggest them?

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

 

[laalves]

Want to genuinely thank you for the detailed documentation. Quick question for you. What did you think about the leather grip wraps and exhaust heat wraps. Would you suggest them?

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

Well, I had both and got rid of both.

The leather grips, the patina they gain after some time you either like that or not. In my case, I didn’t. Further, I had chosen brown and after a while I didn’t like that as well, I think maybe black would have suited this bike better.
All in all, the thicker and retro looking Ariete I have now suit the bike perfectly IMHO.

Re the exhaust wrap, it starts getting pale yellow which I suppose is the original colour of the raw material and the dye they use just burns away. The wrap manufacturer suggests high temp paint but I ended up deciding for the ceramic coat as permanent, zero maintenance solution to the chrome delete objective.

Both wrap and grips gave the bike a more ratbike/rural element to it but I think I like the retro-high-tech-sophisticated look better.

 

[laalves]

The next mods are Ilmberger carbon starter cover and canister holder (mine is rusting) and after being told the Öhlins cartridge were OOS until May, they are actually back in stock now so I ordered a set. I will do a DIY on them.