My favorite uprade so far has been the seat (a must have) and the aluminium panniers. But I still have a lot of farkling to do so that still can change.
I have never even sat on my stock seat. I rode the demo bike, then bought my bike and added the BMW comfort seat to it. Rode it home with the stock seat tied to the back. Now I have the Sargent (dished) seat.
Larger foot pegs from black Dog Cycle Works. I wouldn't have thought that larger pegs would help that much, but it is much easier to control the bike. I can stand a lot longer without my feet hurting and there is a lot less vibration. Standing on the stock pegs was like being on a tight rope. It was scary when they were wet or muddy. The wider pegs make a huge difference. You can actually feel comfortable putting pressure on the pegs to help steer.
The much larger pegs from the R1200GSA are a direct fit and fairly inexpensive@ roughly $150 with springs, you can get the rubber pads for them if you are concerned about long distance highway vibrations but I personally haven't noticed it any worse then stock but the pegs do make the bike handle much better obviously a big improvement standing off road
There is a lot less vibration. That suprised me because I thought that there would be more without the rubber cushion on top. My best guess is the more mass absorbs vibration as well as the fact any vibration is spread out over a larger area on you foot. All I know for sure is that there is less vibration and a lot more comfort with better control. I never would have thought there would be that much difference.
Try Pivot Pegs, it looks like tey'd feel unstable but they work really well and if the r12gs pegs are $150, they're aboutthe same price.
I'd have to say the Sargent seat is #1 because it lets me ride in comfort, but my Vario levers from Wunderlich are some mighty fine bling. They make the the OEM jobs feel like crowbars. Motech crash bars have come in handy, too.
From favouritest to least favouritest: front end swap custom triples rear shock replacement shock bolt kits (top and bottom) MX foot pegs crash bars low seat pannier frames
As much as I appreciate my suspension upgrades for sheer fun, the SWM crash bars have been invaluable over the three years I've owned my bike. Fred
Excellent question. Hard to answer (only picking one...I've done many). Hhhhhmmmmm........ NĂºmero uno would have to be my Traxxion AK-20 forks. The single most transformational improvement. Honorable mention goes to Deseirto Fairing and Renazco Seat, in that order. HF P.s. most bang for the buck = $75 Accelerator Plug
TKC 80s, Memory foam in the seat, Crash bars ..... and I keep telling myself I've really got to do something cost effective with the Suspension
Keep them coming, I figure anyone who just bought this bike can sift through this and get some ideas.
Every time I visit this thread, I try to point out the fav. mod.... But comes up empty handed. Perhaps the reason is then my suspension is stock.... For now.... I dont know, but it is really great to see what grade people allocate for the mod to the bike. Good thread.
All that work to your bike and you have stock suspension? You should look into changing that, I ran mine for almost a year without it and when I did it truly made the bike a great pleasure to ride!
I agree...... I still rip on it, but let me tell you it is beating you up. In the hands of the experienced rider, you can go about as fast through technical rock sections, but it wears you out very fast, and timeouts are needed. Only reason I have waited, is that the plug and play options available, are overpriced. When a good option is out there in the 1k range, I will strike. The statement above is with regards to technical sections.... op and overs...... What I hate the most about it, is the brake dive on or off road. All that said, except for small tinkering, I forsee front suspension, and engine tuning mod in 2013..... Perhaps an all Carbon covering........ Time will tell.