Model Specific Differences When Customising Your R9T (Part. 2)

OK, so, where are we…? I'm assuming you've arrived here after reading part one of this blog here. Great, let's carry on, then. Firstly, I’m still waiting for that coffee, but moving on from that, we're looking at a bike that has a great exhaust, no diving board at back but instead has tasty lights and a rather nice looking seat. 

Let’s jazz up the front end then…

Air Box Removal Kit

Our Air Box Removal kit takes a reasonable amount of work to fit but has been successfully fitted by dozens of home builders. We have another blog which goes into the specific details of fitting the kit so we won't cover that too much here but from a model specific point of view, here's the tea.

With our airbox removal kits, fitting to a 2014 - 16 K21 Roadster Euro 3 machine is pretty straight forward. You aren’t going to come across anything that'll make you think “What the…….!?”, however ,with the 2017+ Euro 4 machines you will find some stuff to make you scratch your head a little. Located on the inside of the frame, adjacent to your left hand footpeg; is an Activated Charcoal Filter. Along with this, under the left hand tank panel is the Fuel Tank Breather Valve. 

The Activated Charcoal Filter and all it’s bracketry and pipes can go, “See Ya!”. However, there are two breather pipes from the fuel tank that need to stay and be relocated, so make sure that this is done and that the pipes aren’t trapped or pinched.

For the Fuel Tank Breather Valve it’s a slightly different approach. You have a pipe going from the throttle body to the FTB Valve, then you’ll have another pipe going from the FTB Valve, to the Activated Charcoal Filter. Both of those can be removed with the filter, HOWEVER, and this is the important bit; 

1 - You have to leave the FTB Valve plugged in.

2 - Fit a Protection cap to the now exposed tube on the throttle body. If you don’t do that, it will run awful, and you will be most upset. The protection cap can be ordered from your local BMW dealership or online, part number: 13 54 7 694 924 

It will be the same as throttle body on the other cylinder. 

Headlights & Guards/Covers

So this one is quite a quick and easy one with just a couple things to watch out for. 

Headlights, you’re good. All R9T headlight inserts fit and nothing major has changed across the years, other than a slight amendment on BMW's part where the 2017+ model headlight screw is now a T20 Torx instead of a Phillips head screw - so make sure you have one of those before you start.

This really is a Bomb of Light, check it out.

When it comes to head guards and covers, make sure you pay attention to the fitment suggestions. For example, certain guards will not fit the Urban GS or Racer models due to their headlight fairings. 

Whilst you are at the front end, tighten up that gap between the gauge and the forks. Our clock relocation kit fits all SINGLE clock 2017+ models. We are currently working on a twin clock version. 

Have a quick look here to lower your speedo.

The reason we've produced this bracket is becasue currently there is not a plug and play replacement dash for the 2017+ models, like there is for the 2014-16 K21 Roadster. 

The mounts points under the forks are different between the years also. 

Handlebars

There are a couple directions with this one; changing for aesthetics, changing for look or changing for both?

Regardless of why you are upgrading, please DO NOT think of your handlebar change as the same as any other bike you have done previously. The set up on the R9T is ever so slightly different in a few different ways.

So, my warning; you have to drill the bars, in the right place, in the centreline of the tube and at the right angle in order to fit the switchgears and grip tubes to a new set of handlebars. The grips being clipped into the switchgears and the switchgears being held onto the bars with small bolts via holes drilled through the bars. Sounds crazy but it’s rather neat. Take plenty of time, test fit everything, check once, check twice, make a coffee (finally) and check again. The only slight exception to this rule are the Unit Garage bars which come pre-drilled. Next mild annoyance; the heating elements in the heated grips are glued between the rubber and the bars/throttle tube. Because of this, don’t get your hopes up if you are wanting to go for a quick vintage style grip change, you won’t get them on. It is possible to very, very carefully shave the grips off but it's not a fun process and does risk damaging the elements. However, you can get them leather wrapped.

If you are fitting bar risers, you are fine, they're pretty straight forward and none of the off-the-shelf ones that we've fitted have need any cables to be extended.

The original handlebars are threaded! This means that certain aftermarket bars, bar ends and bar end mirrors may need an adapter to be compatible. Many options exist, we like the Oberon solution which works with their mirrors and comes included within the price.

Check out all of our handlebar options here

Wheels, brakes and forks

Whilst they all look round and samey, the wheels on the R nine T are very model specific. We've learnt through the years that even the 2014-16 K21 model parts won't fit straight onto the equivalent 2017+ version. The 2017 models have a different width yokes which means that the spacers and spindle won't transfer over. 

The next complication is that the brake calipers fit the forks differently between the Roadster upside down forks and the 43mm forked bikes. As such, you need to be careful if upgrading or sourcing spare/used parts from another bike. Try your best to get part numbers where possible.

One last thing to think about is the mudguard, these too fit differently on the different models. If you're looking at using a higher profile tyre, such as something with nobbles or an off road tread, then you might need to space or swap out the mudguard for a higher level option fitted to the light bracket.

Conclusion

You never got round to making that coffee, standard workshop practice if ever we saw it! Moving on from that awkward moment...

The main thing to watch out for is the 2014 - 2016 / 2017 crossover. There will be plenty of things you will see on the internet that will tickle your fancy, but don’t get too excited until you have double checked the fitment. I hope all this information above has been helpful and makes sense. 

Any further questions drop us a line and we shall always do our very best to get you sorted.