After two months of ownership I’ve accumulated a number of gentle modifications to my R12 nineT, which I would like to present:
- Nationality sign integrated into license plate holder
- Preload adjuster knob
- Cylinderhead covers «Shadow»
- Ignition coil covers
- Passenger grip
- Bar end weights
- Paddock stand adjustment
- Tool-free installation and/or removal of the seat
- Work in progress: dedicated oil temperature gauge
Nationality sign integrated into license plate holder
Living in Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU and being surrounded by EU countries throughout, one has to be prepared to comply with certain regulations once crossing a border into an EU member country. One of those issues being, that each vehicle must display a two-letter country code at the rear of the vehicle. Unfortunately, a naked motorcycle doesn’t have any suitable surfaces for that. Then I found this:
All the while being absolutely inconspicuous and even slimmer than the original license plate holder, too!
Preload Adjuster Knob
The stock rear shock preload adjuster knob that my R12 nineT came with was a dull and cheap looking piece of black plastic. It literally dragged the bike down. I exchanged that for a CNC milled aluminum one from Unit Garage.
Cylinder Head Covers «Shadow»
The stock R12 nineT also came with light grey cylinder head covers with a smooth surface. A little too smooth, and a little too «light grey» for my taste. I swapped them out for original, but alternative BMW ones in the «Shadow» variety, sometimes with the byname «black» set in parantheses. Initially I was rather disappointed when they arrived at my house. Because they are not black but rather a darker shade of grey only.
This disappointment vanished when my trusted longtime style advisor Ursula pointed out to me, that both color and surface finish (a little like sand-blasted roughness) of the «Shadow» covers match perfectly that of the rear wheel drive, the swingarm, the gearbox and the front engine cover. That settled it for me. See for yourself:
Ignition coil covers
At the same time I also swapped the stock plastic ignition coil covers for CNC milled metal ones which visually emphasize the cooling fins of the air-cooled engine. (Don’t expect any enhanced cooling from those, though – they are merely eye-candy). See right image above.
Passenger grip
After a first short ride with Ursula on the pillion seat she complained about the lack of a grip to hold on to. That stock leather(?) strip across the seat is a joke indeed. So I installed a dedicated passenger grip, which also makes it easier for me to put my bike on or take it off the padock stand.
Bar end weights
Following various discussions on ninetowners.com I decided to try out bar end weights myself. So ordered a set of cheap, yet quite heavy stainless ones from Aliexpress.com. The weight for one side is 307 gramms, including the M12x65 stainless allen bolt, compared to 11 gramms each for the stock plastic plug. Those bar end weights are supposed to serve a twofold purpose:
- protect the bar ends from scratches or light impacts
- lower the resonant frequency of the bar ends when excited by engine vibrations
The latter effect is supposed to lessen the chance of developping «tingly» or numb fingers after prolonged highway rides at elevated engine revs.
Each of the bar end weights had an annoying 2.0 mm shoulder at its inner end, which I had removed at a workshop for handicapped persons, for a nominal fee.
Paddock stand adjustment
Although not immediate to the R12 nineT, I also had to «fix» the paddock stand. Reason being, that the garage’s floor has a slope towards a drain in its center, which made the bike lean right, away from the side stand on its left side (as seen from the rear). I had to support the spirit level on its right side by 7.0 mm to achieve a level reading!
Instead of fixing the floor or the bike, I mounted larger diameter stunt scooter wheels to the right side of the paddock stand.
Tool-free installation and/or removal of the seat
BMW couldn’t have made seat removal any more complicated than they did: remove a small plastic cover below the preload adjuster knob, take a small T30 auxiliary torx wrench which is clipped inside the cover you just removed, insert that little wrench into yet another plastic «tool holder» which is also clipped inside the cover. Then peel off a rubber plug which covers the seat retaining screw from underneath the seat and unscrew the single seat retaining screw.
Work in progress: dedicated oil temperature gauge
This is currently work in progress, although I’ve advanced from the purely planning phase into the implementation phase already. I’ll dedicate a separate blog piece to this little project – Stay tuned!