BMW NineT Forum banner

What did you do to your R nineT today?

544K views 4K replies 414 participants last post by  Lelc2 
#1 ·
I know it's a cornball topic however this type of thread has been very entertaining and extremely informative on other forums. Our souped up NC Miata has multiple improvements, the ideas gleaned from a similar thread at miata.net, and the little tips gained over the years now seem essential. Obviously technical specifics should be posted in the appropriate forum however a general digest of daily tinkering or even that awesome ride you took today may inspire someone to expand their R nineT envelope.

So, today I installed the Ohlins Steering Damper. It almost seems like it's upside down but thats what the instructions show. Next was surveying the available real estate in the frame behind the steering head for the small Stebel Nautilus tooter that arrived today. Tight fit indeed if this is going to work. And finally, I stared at the bike for a long time as usual, with most of the constructive thoughts towards the next generation of my tail tidy (thanks again Marc Australia).

Hopefully tomorrow I can post that I took Li'l B for a long, long ride instead of just dinking with the bike.
 
#602 ·
Happy New Year everyone - may the road gods smile upon us in 2021.

Finally got round to installing a couple of mods which Santa delivered for Christmas; chiefly a scrambler high seat and BMW aluminium cylinder head guards. Done the usual brief review with pros (+) and cons (-) if anyone else is contemplating these mods also (the bike is a R NineT classic).

139103


Scrambler High Seat Review
(+) Installation is easy - it comes supplied with a retaining bridge to make it compatible on the R NineT classic noting it is designed for the scrambler variant. The fit is better than the original 2 piece seat and with it being a bench seat it feels more solid (I find that the rear portion of the 2 piece seat twists slightly and doesn’t fit fully flush with the front portion).
(+) Seat is listed as 30mm higher and this is due to more padding rather than raising the base plate, which (hopefully!) should translate to extra comfort (need more time in the saddle to verify this - bring on spring).
(+) As aftermarket seats go, the price is actually quite reasonable when considering non OEM brands can easily be double the price. Plus its covered by the usual BMW warranty and discounts for people who are friendly with their local dealerships.
(-) The only con I’ve picked up so far is that some of the stitching is fake (or faux if using the proper term); I guess its built to a price point and it does not take away from the function of the seat so thats fine. The photo below shows a close up of both sets of stitching.

139104


BMW Aluminium Cylinder Head Protectors
(+) Again, installation is easy and I personally feel that the fit and finish of the product is top notch. The classic version of the R NineT has a lot of aluminium so having head protectors of the same material works quite well to maintain the style and design intent of the bike.
(+) The head protectors feel quite substantial, so I am reasonably confident that they will offer more abrasion resistance than the magnesium head covers which (from experience of a slow speed drop on another BMW model) get damaged rather easily. Furthermore, there is thick rubber padding between the aluminium head protector and cylinder head which I presume is to offer enhanced impact protection and allow for some degree of air cooling.
(-) In order to fit the covers, you do loose the longer bolt of the right hand side cylinder head which otherwise functions as a terminal for jump starting the bike. This is hardly disastrous, but would have been nice if BMW supplied a specific bolt to replace it given that this feature comes standard with the bike.

139105
 
#604 ·
Finally got round to installing a couple of mods which Santa delivered for Christmas; chiefly a scrambler high seat and BMW aluminium cylinder head guards. Done the usual brief review with pros (+) and cons (-) if anyone else is contemplating these mods also (the bike is a R NineT classic).
Congrats on the mods and great choice on the cylinder head guards. I had the BMW shop where I bought my new Pure in late August install a set of these before I rode away on my new machine. I agree, they look terrific (I like how BMW is stamped into the guards) and look great with the other aluminum parts on the bike!
 
#606 ·
I tried to install GSA footrests (the rally ones) and double height brake pedal, to discover that small differences prevented me to do it. The footrests could be adapted, but require some metal cutting, while the brake pedal is shorter than the NineT's so it interferes with the footrest frame and doesn't fit.

So I went for the original BMW bashplate, that was rather a quick fix.

139136
 
#607 ·
Haven't done anything to it this year. Trying to decide on either finding a shop to do "the racer" modification to my standard, or to look for other things to tweak. I keep hearing how good a suspension upgrade would be, but coming from a 40 year old Suzuki, stock feels great as is.

The scrambler seat though has been on my to do list since I bought the bike though. Glad to see it has additional padding !
 
#611 ·
@Chris. looking good. I am waiting to see how they look on the bike.

@People on the forum :)

I am trying to install the Wunderlich Swingarm which comes with cables to power the led above the license holder.

tha instrucitons on the site mention nothing on how to do so. Is someone here who can guide me please ?

I am clueless about these things !
 
#626 ·
Yes I totally advocate making proper solder connections with good quality connectors (where required). Never had anything other than poor experiences when encountering them in past cars (intermittent fog lights - poor scotch-lock connector installation) and dead car stereo (again scotch lock connector failed in power lead). Either spliced wires together and soldered/shrink wrapped or replaced with proper connectors (soldered in).
 
#632 ·
Well the tail light is connected and everything is working fine.

Thanks for all the info you provided people.

I didn't do it myself. I went to my BMW dealership.

You don't have to cut, splice, solder etc anything. You don't have to mess it at all.

You just take the cable that Wunderlich included and in the end it was soldered and you put in the the connector that you connect as well the Deadalus tidy.

The two tips of the cable, pins to be precise the snug really tight in the connector.

The wrapped the wire and connector altogether with something that provides protection from water and voila.

Just like that. :)
 
#633 ·
Wunderlich/any other manufacturer.. if you are reading; make these foglights as a kit for the R nine t.. i think people will like them

Anyhow; the foglight is complete; opted to go for a single one on the right side; tried to match the main headlight in color scheme. The paintjob is not perfect and there are some imperfections.. but for a first serious paintjob i learned allot, and i am happy with the result.



 
#638 ·
Minor modification only...carbon fibre front fender from Ilmberger carbon.Now desperately fighting the temptation to install more carbon fibre bits 😯
Looks good!

I've had some mixed feelings putting CF bits on a 'heritage' style motorcycle. But in my opinion the R9T is a classic looking bike with some modern style and of course some technology, too, so it works fine. Anyway, it's not like we're putting carbon fiber parts on an old Norton Commando. ;)
 
#640 ·
Installed Hepco & Becker crash bars and some cheap LED fog lights from Amazon. The lights are surprisingly high quality considering how little they cost (metal housing, good powder coat finish, solid build quality), and the fins of the lights fit in really well with the fins of the heads. AND they’re bright as hell, but we’ll see how long they last.
139432

139433

139434

139435

139436
 
#643 · (Edited)
Last week I finally ordered most of the small items/farkles I'm planning to install this off-season. I was hoping to see some after-Christmas sales an shipping specials from the few websites I ordered from, but that didn't happen. I should have taken advantage of a couple specials before Christmas. Lesson learned.

One of the accessory items I ordered was a front wheel chock/track stand. Since I won't be installing a centerstand (one of the things I really miss about my VFR) this will do for most of my maintenance work and cleaning, plus I'll store the bike on this over the winter, getting the front tire off the ground (and putting a piece cardboard or plywood under the rear wheel, getting the rubber off the concrete).

I ordered this one from Revzilla for $100. It was on sale, but I think this is one of those items which is always on sale there. Assembly was a snap. The stand itself is nice and sturdy, and the construction is pretty good, though some of the welding is uneven and a little spotty. But since I'm only using this in the garage and not to tie a bike down in a truck or on a trailer, it's fine. One tip I read about this particular stand, if anyone else here buys one, is to put a towel in the vertical bracket before you roll the bike onto it, otherwise the front tire tends to stick there quite badly when you're trying to take the bike off the stand.

I'll still probably buy a rear track stand this year, for final drive maintenance and to remove the rear wheel for tire changes, but this economical front wheel chock is a good start.
139491
 
Top