New XR owner - North West UK

[LoneWolf]

Hi all. Been lurking on here for a few weeks since test riding an XR and being very impressed with a really sorted bike. Picked up my own yesterday, bit of a rainy 50 mile ride home but was still grinning and laughing away. After riding sportsbikes for the last 10 years, kind-of kicking myself for not trying a bike like this sooner.

My bike is a red TE, 1 year old and looks fully loaded. The bike was spotless when I left the dealers but half an hour later it was filthy, these things do get dirty don't they 

Looking forward to some discussion as there is a couple of things I was to change/fix. Got the usual seat complaints, also want a belly pan.

[Chippy4467]

  from Somerset
Yes they do get dirty but what nobody tells you before you buy is sadly its one of the worst to clean - all part of the experience 

[LoneWolf]

Thanks for the welcome! Somerset is very nice, have some family down there. Must be a great place to own a bike.

Yes was pretty shocked at the dirt! Rode it out the dealers clean enough to eat off, 30 mins of waterlogged A road later, the whole lower section of the bike is a total mess. It's new to me this, everything else I've owned had fairing and radiator surrounding the engine!!

But I'm mostly a fairweather rider so it'll be fine. Already ordered a belly pan (the Amazon one) although not expecting much protection from that.

[IIlly]

Another Lancashire red F900XR here. Fender extenders are a must. Mine has 10,000 miles on now and the seat is ok - I had an inflatable seat cushion for quite a while which sorted the issue until the seat softened. Love the bike.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by IIlly

Another Lancashire red F900XR here. Fender extenders are a must. Mine has 10,000 miles on now and the seat is ok - I had an inflatable seat cushion for quite a while which sorted the issue until the seat softened. Love the bike.

Good to meet you mate, where you based? I'm just outside of Chorley.

So the seat eventually softens - that's interesting. I'm on 3k miles so perhaps it needs longer!! It starts to get uncomfortable at 15 mins at the moment. Also it's made worse because I just sold a VFR800 with a mega comfy custom seat on it. Gonna have to look into replacements but not paying £600

[IIlly]

Edge of Blackburn, so not far at all. I used a ComfortAir seat cushion, which was very good, although you have to use it with only a very small amount of air. £70/£80, which is a lot less than £600 !