Ceramic coating pipes and nitrogen in tires=2 for 1 posting

[terrygar]

Hello to all ,lifetime Japanese bike rider, just purchased a 2012 R1200R Classic. First of all the bike is unreal and makes a better rider out of me!!!
Its as smooth as butter and even when passing, its soft and sweet.
Now questions: I'm not used to the bluing of the pipes, due to heat and I've used Blu-away, with limited results. Having 250miles on it would the ceramic coating I've seen be to crazy to invest in? Any benefits other than visual?

How about nitrogen in the tires? The only problem I can think of is tires not heating up and not being sticky enough.

I bought the blu-away from the local Harley dealer and the Harley riding instructor saw the new r1200r and came out to talk about BMW's. He loves them and only rides them. He looked over my new bike and said, "you know how to ride, don't you!" I couldn't figure that out, him being an instructor,what did he see that tipped him to my riding ability???

Well I had to ask and he looked at the new tires and said thats how I knew your ability. He pointed to the sidewall area that is ruffed up by hanging over the tank on corners and I go it. Then he said look at Harleys they all have a flat wear spot only down the middle of the tires.


The BMW motorcycle dealers I've been to here in Florida, have been kind of slick willies, but when I bought my BMW 330i auto, the dealer was fantastic. I guess some shops don't do well at customer service, even though the prices for the new r1200r gets near 20K with all the trimmings added.

THANKS FOR A GREAT FORUM!
Terry

[bmorehead]

Concerning the ceramic coating of the exhaust pipes- I don't think it is crazy question...I have been thinking of it myself. It seems that there are two thoughts on the subject on this forum. Some guys like the look of the dark exhaust and think of it as a BMW thing/rite of passage. Some think as we do and live with it, or get powder coating done. I would love to hear if anyone got their's done by Jet coating or another reputable company, and what the outcome was. Worth the cost? Do they still look good? etc.

I have no opinion on nitrogen on the tires. For normal riding I would not see a need.

Welcome to the site! You have made a great decision on purchasing your r1200r. Florida would be a great place to ride one yearround!

Ben

[sweatmark]

I bought the blu-away from the local Harley dealer and the Harley riding instructor saw the new r1200r and came out to talk about BMW's. He loves them and only rides them. He looked over my new bike and said, "you know how to ride, don't you!" I couldn't figure that out, him being an instructor,what did he see that tipped him to my riding ability???

Well I had to ask and he looked at the new tires and said thats how I knew your ability. He pointed to the sidewall area that is ruffed up by hanging over the tank on corners and I go it. Then he said look at Harleys they all have a flat wear spot only down the middle of the tires.

Perhaps you've answered your own question about BMW boxer exhaust patina... if your tires revealed you to be a Harley-ish "middle of the tire" rider, then of course you might also be the type to polish those pipes. But wouldn't you rather get out and ride to the edge?

Same for "nitrogen" in tires: just use good old 78% nitrogen-content air, and save up the extra cost to buy a trackday.

[Widetrack]

As far as ceramic coating I highly recommend Jet Hot in North Carolina. Very high quality work and the header looked great when returned. They stated they normally coat the outside and INSIDE of any pipe but could not coat the inside of the R12R one piece header because of the built in catalytic converter. The pipe stayed perfect for a while but after 6000 mi. a slightly darker 1 in. band appeared at the hotest part about an inch or two from the head. It's only an inch wide and will clean up some with Semichrome but is still present. It is slightly darker then the rest of the pipe but is not in any way brownish or blueish. Bottom line is the pipe looks fine and I'm glad I had it done. I too was tired of the big brown bend of the header.

[mogu83]

Widetrack - What did it cost?

[ipokebadgers]

Nitrogen in tires:

I was very skeptical about this at first. I went ahead and had nitrogen put in the new tires on my wifes Accord. These new tires were the same model tires she had on the car before. I keep detailed notes on my vehicles (OCD) and always have. I keep a running record on gas mileage. Every tank, every fill-up goes in the book. Tire data, repairs, maintenace and all. I know all the claims about longer tire life and slightly better gas mileage and like most I doudted them. Here is what I found after 130K miles and three sets of tires (all the same model) with Nitrogen (I didn't have to pay for the nitrogen for the last two sets):

Nothing. No decernable change in gas mileage. No decernable change in tire life. Nothing.

Is this scientific evidence? No. But it is enough for me. I have a CO2 bottle that inflated my Jeep's tires and now inflates my FJ's tires after airing down on the trail. That's what I use to top off the bike tires weekly. Of course YMMV, literally.

[BigEasy]

I coated mine a couple years ago and put up this post

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=13545

The bike looks like this today after about 6,000 miles



Yeah I know not a lot of miles compared to some guys but that's due to my chronic case of MBS and lack of time to ride.

[daveyator]

Congrats on the new bike. If your bike came with chrome (which judging by your statement of blue headers it did) its cool look so just leave it. Even the brown pipes look very bimmerish. Save your money for something really cool.

[ka5ysy]

Re nitrogen:

As a scuba instructor I am mystified why anyone would pay money for this when normal air is 78% nitrogen to begin with. The only place nitrogen is really useful is to pressurize things like document display cases, certain kinds of cables, and other stuff that must be kept dry.

If you want a lively discussion, try and get an explanation of the difference in using air versus the nitrogen from whoever is selling the N2. Bring your waders as the BS gets deep quickly!

[Mustang Man]

How about helium?

[ka5ysy]

How about helium?

Hydrogen ! If you run out of gas use the tires to run.

[ammolab]

Re nitrogen:

If you want a lively discussion, try and get an explanation of the difference in using air versus the nitrogen from whoever is selling the N2. Bring your waders as the BS gets deep quickly!

That is the TRUTH! I have seen tire installers all but throw a FIT when I declined to have my tires filled with Nitrogen. I told them the "78% Nitrogen in air" thing and they looked at me like I was CRAZY!

[Widetrack]

Mogu83, the coating cost $215 last Dec. plus shipping which was $34 from NC to Va. I do not recall my shipping cost to NC. My pipes look just like BigEasy's.

[mogu83]

Mogu83, the coating cost $215 last Dec. plus shipping which was $34 from NC to Va. I do not recall my shipping cost to NC. My pipes look just like BigEasy's.

thanks

[BLAIR1200R]

BigEasy, veering off topic just for a moment ...how do you like your Rizoma mirrors? ... assume these are the Radial Naked?

...very nice bike... the whole setup is top shelf...

[BigEasy]

BigEasy, veering off topic just for a moment ...how do you like your Rizoma mirrors? ... assume these are the Radial Naked?

...very nice bike... the whole setup is top shelf...

Thanks for the compliment, I've tried to keep it tastefully clean.

As for the mirrors you're correct Rizoma Radial Naked and quite frankly I do not care for them functionally, but I do like the look on the bike so they stay. The stalks are shorter than the stock mirror so instaed of seeing the outside of my elbows I get to see the inside of them but at 6'4" I'm used to craning my neck to use motorbike mirrors. The real issue is that they have a blue hue/tint to the glass that I find distracting and somewhat distorting. As for vibration induced distortion they are somewhat better than stock. If I had not scored them used for about 30% of retail I'd be much more displeased with them.