S2R 1000 - initial review

[steeevvvooo]

After a few days with my 2006 S2R 1000, I’ve had a bit of a blast, a long motorway run, and a commute through central London. Initial thoughts are below:

- The clutch is much noisier than I remembered on the M600. (The noise goes away once the clutch lever is pulled in so I don’t think it’s a problem, more the monster character, but on steroids!) I’m sure the neighbours hate it already as it must wake them up while I warm the bike in the morning!

- It doesn’t like to be ridden slow! The heavy (ish) clutch, doesn’t help, but it seems to “pulse” when trying to do a steady 30mph, as though it’s saying “don’t be soft, give me some throttle!”. Seems to want to lurch forward, like I’m holding back a big, angry dog!

- Motorway work was fine, up to about 80, then the wind blast is too much for me (although I did manage a North-West to Kent run in 4 hours with no problems). I have small mirrors (not sure if they are Rizomo, but they are petite and nicely styled), and they are almost useless! It’s like looking through a magnifying glass.

- It seems like the bike was made for demolishing more free-flowing roads! The grunt is like nothing I’ve ever ridden (in my limited experience), and it just goes like stink, no matter which gear I’m in

- The whole package feels tight and nicely set up… nice clunk from the gear box, loads of feel from the brakes, decent quality suspension...


All in all, very happy with it so far. The around town manners will take a little getting used to, but I’ll adapt to that, and the out of town weekend runs will more than make up for it!

[slob]

The reason the clutch is loud is it's dry.
The 600 has a much heavier cover and the clutch itself sits in a bath of oil, which kills most of the noise.
sticking a 14Tooth front sprocket on will make it friendlier at low speeds, you'll lose a little top speed in exchange for more acceleration too but as you say how long can you hang on to an unfaired bike at 135mph (on an autobahn obviously) anyway

looks like it's time to change your forum bike details and signature

glad you're enjoying it!

[Stafford]

The M600 would have been a wet clutch, so mucho quieter.

If you're going to be doing more town work change the rear up 2 or down 1 on the front sprocket to make things a little smoother (if that's possible)

I have similar mirrors, practically useless.

Probably the best Monster in the world.

[J.P]

Sounds to me like every bike rewiew I've read from a Monster Newbie, I know you're not one, we'll all found the same problems and benefits, but still just love those bikes.

(A Honda Hornet for round town may have been a better option though... )

[steeevvvooo]

Yeah, I was thinking about the sprocket change. I’ve read loads of posts about people changing them, but I was going to wait until I needed a new chain and do it all in one go. I might bring that forward now.

J.P. - know what you mean about the newbie thing. I FEEL like a monster newbie, even though I’ve had one before! It puts a smile on my face which the Thundercat never did.

Would lover Termis, but have been told they're North of a grand, with the ECU etc! Have seen a few 2 into 1 systems that bolt on after the cat converter, but it's not quite the same as Carbon Termis... mmmm

[Albie]

Dont wait for chain and sprockets to wear. How many miles have they done. If chain in good condition change now for around a tenner.

Glad you like your need bike.

You need to come to Kent meet sometime

[steeevvvooo]

I might do that myself then. I’ll have a look when I get home (still have the Haynes manual for the old 600, so will see how hard it looks).

I’ll be trying to make an appearance at the Kent / London meets now. I went down to Oakdene one time, but had exams for work which ate up my free time, so I didn’t get out again before I sold the last monster

[Capo]

You may be suffering from the surging that afflicted some SR2 1000 models. Something to do with the fuelling I belive.

[steeevvvooo]

Originally Posted by Capo

You may be suffering from the surging that afflicted some SR2 1000 models. Something to do with the fuelling I belive.

I guess it would be down to fueling if anything. Didnt realise it was a known problem.

I guess it can be cured with a remap and set up session?

[Dave G]

I dont think its the surging problem thats been talked about on the US forums, thats a fuelling issue I think, yours sounds like a typical twin being ridden too low down in the rev range causing it to be lumpy and seem to lug and lurch at lower speeds.
A 14 tooth front sprocket will cure that, in the meantime if you use a lower gear and a higher rpm than would feel normal then it probably be as smooth as you'd expect.

My SC has the same motor and its also sensitive to really quite small throttle inputs meaning if your weight is on the bar(like on my SC ) or your arms are stiff any small bumps are transmitted through the throttle and may appear as little jumps forward on the road. It can be disconcerting until you realise what it is, all you do to cure this is to relax you arms, still catches me out when I'm tired though.

[steeevvvooo]

Having now read a few posts, I'll give it a little while before I decide if I need the ECU/Termis etc (although I have been wanting Termis and might be able to justify it if they solve a "problem" )

It hasn't stalled yet, like others have said, and the exhaust system is completely standard

I do get the "pulsing" when in lower gears, and it seems to be between 3 and 5k on constant throttle (noticed it doing 30mph through speed cameras today)

I haven't found a flat spot, or any problems on acceleration, so if it is fuelling, it doesn't seem as severe as others have mentioned . A sprocket change would help the snatchiness, I'm sure, but not the pulsing on constant throttle...

[yellowfever]

I've also got an S2R 1000 2006 model (also coming from an M600 - though I kept the 600 for town commuting as it is a 1995 and value in £'s not much these days, whereas value in sentiment is massive to me - commutes as well as a hornet and has soul ...). When i got the S2R I also found it 'hunted' slightly on a steady throttle around 4000rpm if I remember. But this seemed to sort itself over the first year of ownership, so whether this was something I simply got used to and don't notice, or was caused by rider input and went away as I got more relaxed/used to the bike or perhaps was sorted incidentally via updated mapping/tweaking at servicing or just got better with age/use i can't say. May even have been me getting used to different 'feel' of first FI bike after only riding carb fed bikes.

However, this year I did finally have the money for termis/chip/filter and marving de-cat pipe which is all just awesome and fuelling remains as good as ever and noise is just wonderful (baffles out naturally) being just the right side of offensive. Keep meaning to do a detailed post once sorted some piccies not least to thank those who offered helpful advice on options. Hopefully I'll get around to it soon.

So I'd say for the moment just ride/enjoy and get used to the bike as is. Then when you have the cash get termis/chip/filter....

[steeevvvooo]

Sounds about the same as mine. Feel it pulsing around 4000 revs on steady throttle (which is only ever going past speed cameras! ). It doesn't worry me really, but will see if it can be fixed next time I take it in. It had a belt service in April by the previous owner, so not due one for a while.

If I was due to take it in, I'd have it looked at, but as long as I keep accellerating, i don't notice it!!

[steeevvvooo]

Seems like it runs better on super unleaded, with hardly any pulsing/throbbing on steady throttle.

Would that suggest it’s running lean and the extra Octane is compensating?