2017 Gen2 BMW S1000R evotech tail tidy fitting install / UK number plate options (standard legal, 8x6, 7x5)

 why ?

+ : creates cleaner lines for the bike

- : provides less weather protection, you will get a wet/dirty back! rooster tails

you can also go for integrated tail lights (which removes the indicator stalks as well) but i find these harder to see and in my opinion not a great idea on a motorcycle (but do give an awesome clean rear end!)

options

many inc R&G , evotech, ebay copies etc

check out the https://www.s1000r.co.uk/index.php forum and do some searching lots of options,pictures and comment to help you decide

of note i didnt like the R&G as it spaces the indicators wider than the OE positions

evotech get good reviews , appears well made. full kit, includes a replacement LED rear number plate lamp

https://evotech-performance.com/collections/bmw-s-1000-r-2017-2020/products/bmw-s-1000-naked-2013-onwards-tail-tidy-2017-onwards

£82

(i got mine from https://chainspeed.co.uk/ , but they dont seem to sell them anymore! )

Evotech Tail Tidy vs BMW OE hanger

note the huge reflector in OE part

note the change from rectangular light to small oval led 

installation is relatively simple.
despite the instructions , you do have to cut the wires to the rear number plate lamp

i chose to use hot gun soldering mini connectors (not supplied) , then black heat shrink supplied in kit) over the top for an OE look job.

at this point I also chose to move to a 7x5 number plate from the original UK MOT legal one which is 9x7 and has BS number and postcode.

its also up to you whether you want to fit a reflector or not.
some might argue running a non legal uk plate then why bother.
you could use a small round button reflector and fit to corner of number plate.

I wanted to fit a reflector , but needed to be much smaller than the one supplied in the evotech kit.

I used 

https://pyramid-plastics.co.uk/products/universal-number-plate-reflector

which is much smaller, neater and in keeping with the smaller plate, and means you dont drill.

(i bought 2 , one for my new plate and one for the original full size plate)

Come MOT time , I can then just undo 2 number plate screws and make the bike pass an MOT.

BEFORE and AFTER

heres a comparison of UK motorcycle plates of different sizes

the general format for a recent plate would be

AA11
 AAA

(letter box fully horizontal all text in one line is possible but no longer road legal and pretty obvious at that)

as below you can see

• fully UK legal 9x7 plate including postcode / BS number with small reflector
• 7x5 (that i ended up fitting) with small reflector 
• 8x6 which is somewhere inbetween