v4 or v4s?

hi everyone. joined today. i'm going to assume this might've come up already..

context: been riding on and off for 35 years. have had a half dozen sport bikes. most recently a bmw s1000rr. used to be a solid 'middle group' on track days .. but now,.. maybe a solid 'slow'? havn't ridden in more than a few years. but want to finally bite the bullet and buy my dream bike.
the question is,.. since i'll be riding 99% on the street.. and about 1000miles at the MOST per year,.. is there any reason to get the 'S'?

is there a safety component (ie. the 'S' is significantly safer). what do you all think?

Nope, stick with the base.

Above the base, the S will give you:
- "I have an S"
- easier to adjust suspension

If you can use an Allen key, and rarely go on the track, point two is mute.

Although, if you want to really enjoy your dream bike, a half exhaust system and an ecu remap, will open your eyes to a lot more fun.

The base model will cover and surpas all your needs

but if you have the money, and want a bit more blig, go for it

Base model + real ohlins ($2500) + OZ GASS ($3k) + SLR Tune ($700) is a better bike than the factory "S" model.

I don't know if $2500 in Ohlins upgrades is really necessary for 1000 miles a year. The Showa forks aren't terrible but the Sachs shock is. You can get a Bitubo rear shock for about $1k and get it sprung correctly.

I’m gunna be contrarian here and say get the V4S if you are going to be doing 99% street riding and ARE NOT going to do any significant mods to the suspension etc.

If you are willing to mod the bike, shocks etc get then get the base.

the V4S is just a more complete platform that you really don’t have to do anything to accept set the spring weights to your rider weight and adjust the suspension for you, which IS easier with the V4S

I'm with Steven here, if you only ride street get the S model. If it was going to be a track weapon I would say go with the base because you'll be swapping the suspension and wheels anyways.

First the Ohlins upgrade is going to cost you closer to 4k for the package- shock, forks and damper, the marchesinis are hard to beat but if you were to upgrade then there's close to 3500 for basic Oz wheels
so add at least 7k to the base package or upwards depending n budget. There is no upper end btw! Add another couple of hundred for a lithium battery and IDK how much for a magnesium front subframe (maybe a carbon one?)

If you are getting this bike for track and are doing the base plus upgrades then the base makes sense if the bulk of your time really is track (80%+) and you are pushing it in the fast group. Seriously unless you are a good rider, you wont appreciate the difference and your laptime wont improve much if at all over a well setup and sprung bone stock base model vs upgraded base or S.

Resale is also a consideration, if that is important to you then get the S all day long because it will be more desirable. A stock S with a pipe is going to cost you the pipe and general depreciation on sale, the upgraded base is going to cost you most of the bling. As many have found out second hand bling often gets a lot less than half price.

Finally the S suspension has a dynamic mode that adjust on the fly, now for me I dont care as I am happy with manual settings but plenty of better riders than me absolutely rave about the Ohlins electronics for real life road road conditions i.e. not smooth racetracks.

As for the looks and kudos- meh they all look the same.

You will get 98.7% of the S for the base price, but the best upgrade is a set of Marchesinis that someone has replaced, that and a shock. so you could get away with 3K?

jaeggernaut said:

is there a safety component (ie. the 'S' is significantly safer). what do you all think?

Click to expand...

No safety difference that I am aware of. If it is your dream bike then simply buy the bike that matches your dream specs and budget.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thanks everyone. great perspectives. i think i've boiled it down (i wonder why no one has really youtube'd this. it would get views).
it'll be more 'comfortable' on the road with the ''S'.
i think i'll get the base. and if none available, i'll get the 'S'

i want to underline how helpful everyone has been. ... that or the scotch in my hand is making it seem so. thanks again.

Whichever you land up with, you will enjoy it

RickD996 said:

Whichever you land up with, you will enjoy it

Click to expand...

You betcha! They are all good choices

I’ve gone for a V4. Couldn’t justify the 5k extra for the S
Mines just a fast road bike, if I need to spend on the suspension I will later on

1 single safety + that I know of: Electronic suspension setting "Brake assist." It prevents the nose from diving if you slam on the brakes and you have set up a more plush suspension setting if you ever ride with a passenger for example. You can change it on the fly with a button.

Ok 2 things: You start going really fast around a favorite section of esse curves, Dynamic semi-active suspension stiffens all by its self. Hit bumps, softens.

I saw a magazine review of the V4S by some hyper critical English guys. They reviewed 6 top bikes at the track, the V4S was their top pick for a long list of reasons, one interesting note was end of the day they wanted one more ride on it; set the suspension to all the way Soft / Dynamic mode and got better lap times. Said it was less tiring.
I tried it at Mugello this week and took off some full seconds. Not sure if it was the suspension or just my improving, because I also took 3 years off without riding. I'm getting back into it faster now and changing too many things every track day to say, it was exactly that. It was a blissful day though. ;D

Mark morris said:

I’ve gone for a V4. Couldn’t justify the 5k extra for the S
Mines just a fast road bike, if I need to spend on the suspension I will later on

Click to expand...

5k is a bargain, if its only about value for money and you plan to upgrade I'd still get the S for street riding. You're not getting wheels and Ohlins for 5k

I'm biased though

I was going through the same dilemma before purchasing the Streetfighter but glad I got the S.

As [mention]Vbreeze [/mention] mentioned I have mine set at full soft in street mode and it rides like a Cadillac, custom stiffened setting in race mode for track use and it’s sharp.

It’s epic!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have the V4 Base but its only because I change Bikes way too often... if I knew that I was going to stay with the V4 for at least 3 years then no question I would have gotten the "S".

I only ride on the street and my other bikes have been primarily BMW's and I always picked the BMWs with the Electronic Suspension.

So if you think you are going to keep this machine for a long time, without question I would Spring for the "S".

Now when did you go and do that Paul?
He just sneaks in a 22S without saying anything. You guys see that?

btw I just met a guy at Mugello with a row of bikes under his tent. I chatted him up, turns out they were ALL his. He's got a Panigale collection '18, V4R19, 2020, and 2022S.
He says the 22S is a good leap of software better that the rest, seriously improved and was very happy with it. Says it's much easier to ride, planted does everything well.

Paul G said:

I'm biased though

View attachment 42399

Click to expand...