yep , a nice day in Glasgow so had to get a test ride :-)
Motorrad Central in Bishopbriggs kindly let me take out the beast below for an evaluation.
2200 miles on the clock , fitted with ABS , ESA , sports wheels (190 rear) and heated grips, and also a laser exhaust system as fitted to powercup bikes.
over 100 miles and 3 hrs later....
Awesome , what a machine....
Riding position felt very odd being used to a sportsbike.
Easy to ride straight away , the increased mass/wide bars mean its way more stable at slower speeds than the RR ,a sinch to ride.
Heated grips are superb , I thought a real luxury before trying but theyre brilliant.
Indicators !!! not good little buttons on either side and a seperate cancel button on the throttle side. Ok I may get used the them , but much prefer the traditional single switch on clutch hand , hated the BMW layout esp filtering in traffic.
Rear brake is non existent and in fact I only used it twice (the angle also makes it harder to use). Front brakes (ABS servo assisted remember) are supreme.
The dash (revs and speedo) I dont like , its way to cheap looking and mph is dif to read. The supension is superb (ESA allows on the fly adjustment), I only really tried COMF and SPORT settings which do as they say on the tin , ride quality def improves with COMF. However I basically ran on SPORT most of the time.
One of the biggest revelations though is the fact the front doesnt dive under heavy breaking , really confidence inspiring.
Bike makes a superb whine like a jet engine. Gearbox is OK but not as smooth as Honda unit. Full throttle clutchless upshifts were a bit hit n miss tbh.
Fuelling low down <2.5krpm is very poor ! and on deceleration. Throttle itself has a very long twist range so be sure your getting full throttle :-)
The engine is supreme (with a bit of vibration of this bike at 6krpm), effortless acceleration in any gear right up to the limiter. This bike though really loves 4k and a higher gear and the thrust is highly addictive (and I'd prob say more so than the 05 blade I test rode)
mirrors are OK at best , but small and vibrate badly under hard accel and high speed cruising.
Full throttle easy and doesnt seem to want to wheelie at least in 2nd full throttle.
Wind in the face/hair/chest definitely will slow you down. I got up to 150+ on a private test road and you cant stay at that for long lol
Basically the bike does everything you want , is brutally (but useably) fast and looks good. Round corners its eager but not as composed as the RR.
Exhaust note was great , didnt half get you noticed in town :-)
Insurance ??? Yep , I got a quote and if I bought tommorrow it would be half what I pay for the RR !!!! go figure...
In summary its a superb bike.......well done BMW
Have my opinions changed ?
Yep , I'd def get heated grips , ABS I dont know , ESA im not sure about now either.
Its a handy gadget but Im only ever going to ride 1 up. Sports wheels , yes just for the looks :-)
Am I going to buy one ?? Er I dont know actually ......
For me I jumped back on the RR and realised just how supreme it is.
RR is sharper and much more focussed, it begs for you to improve your riding and go faster. Maybe I havent got rid of my sportsbike fix as yet I dont know.
I'm going to think about it and consider my options. Sure the 1200R is faster in a different way (much like the blade) but you cant beat high revs and a light sportsbike :-)
Time will tell , I may end up with a 1200R yet.
Next test ride will be a GSXR1000K5 , the ultimate sportsbike of 2005.
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