…the past few months I heard all kinds of hosanna stories from guys who had fitted this box in their K12R, or -S, or R12S, and therefore I decided to give it a try…
…I must admit I was very skeptic ; because how can a little black box, smaller than a box of cigarettes, make such a big difference, or even an improvement, without changing any of the bike’s hardware parts…
…but it is really true ; I brought a different bike home…
…what an amazing difference. A (stock) R12S runs on a very lean mixture, we all know that. When pulling away at traffic lights, I always had this feeling I needed to give it a bit more throttle to give it a smooth ride. And there is this slight hesitation (in the higher gears) around 5500 RPM if you give it more throttle, and once someone stated on the Pelican that the (stock) exhaust sounds like a empty can of beans when idling…
…well, after 2 coffee, and an hour waiting in Van Harten’s showroom, I could take the S with me. And believe me or not ; it is a different bike !
…so incredibly smooth from zero to redline. Pulling away at the traffic lights : no problem. Just a bit of throttle, and it goes. In the lower gears, hitting the throttle hard, the bike simply launches it self. In six, around 5500 RPM, full throttle : no more hesitation, it just flies…
…it is almost scary when giving full throttle in second gear around 4000 RPM ; so very different from a stock R12S. And these days a lot of us know that a stock R12S for sure isn’t slow, but with this little RapidBike 1 box, it is just amazing how the bike runs…
…when idling ; the sound is much richer. Swing the throttle a bit, and you hear a sound that you’ve never heard before out of the ‘double anus’ can…
…and, you can smell the bike again. There is this burning fuel smell ; I like that. In Holland we have these little roundabouts all over the place ; with a stock R12S in second gear the engine always felt if it was in need of a bit of clutch. Not anymore.
…close the throttle and there is this POP-POP-POP exhaust sound again…
…last week ; I thought of selling both bikes, and bring a 1200RT home, but today, only after a few minutes, I knew enough. The S stays !
…you probably guessed it ; forget all the go-faster hard parts, just add a RapidBike box, and you will be stunned !
…a few pictures :
…a mechanic at work…
…the little black box on top of the ABS unit is the RapidBike1 box. As you see, I still use the stock air filter, just to make sure it is the black box that makes the difference…
…on both sides these O2 sensors are gone…
…all new wiring and plug stuff…
…it sure didn’t came cheap ; but I think it is a really good investment…
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