Yesterday on Saturday 22 Oct I had the opportunity to take BMW GB's test HP2 for a spin. I had the bike from 12:00 until 17:00, so time for a decent spin then. 
I had permission to get the bike very dirty
and for those of you who know it, I decided to take it on the Surrey Wombat Hunt trail. It's a mixture of mud, chalk, hill climbs, boggy bits, sand, flint and gravel tracks. A route of about 70 miles.
Well let's get this right, if this was my bike I'd have second thoughts about taking a £12,000 bike on this sort of ride, but then this is what it was built for.
At first I was very nervous about taking such a large bike on slippery chalk slopes but after getting used to the height it felt very planted. The tyres fitted were Metzeler MCE Karoo and developed impressive traction in off-road use for fast and stable accelerating, but on the slipper stuff VERY careful use of the throttle was needed. I soon found a renewed confidence on sand and gravel tracks through forest sections. Some of the tracks just had to be repeated after managing to get the bike airborne on several occasions.
The suspension was nothing short of impressive, the "upside down" front forks and the rear "air shock" admirably coping with everything I found. The large 21in front wheel and height easily coping with muddy ruts. However if the going were to get very narrow I suspect the twin cylinder heads width may prove just too much.
Standing on the bike pegs while riding off road was very comfortable. The seat and frame narrow at just the right point to enable easy control and the bars, clutch/brake levers were at just the right height/position for me.
The bike has minimal instruments, just a large analogue Speedo and digital display for trip meter, temperature etc. No fuel gauge, but those of you familiar with the 1200GS digital display will know the warning triangle that appears when the tank is low. The trip changes from miles completed to miles until empty. When this happened with a warning informing me that there was 35 miles to go, I decided to put £10 worth of petrol in the tank, but was only able to put in just over £5 worth, so I suspect that the warning is pessimistic.
On the road, there is no screen to protect from wind blast but I guess that it won’t be long before an aftermarket one appears. The knobbly tyres performed with outstanding handling characteristics on road having smooth corner entry and stable leaning for optimum degree of control when cornering. I am used to Continental TKC80 tyres and those of you who use them will be pleased with the Metzeler ones fitted to this bike. But I suspect that they will be just as “interesting” in the wet. The single front disk brake was somewhat overwhelmed for fast braking and the front end "dive" is unfamiliar to folk used to the "telelever" suspension on the rest of the GS range.
Overall I was very impressed with this bike, but I fail to see where an extra £3000 has been spent over a standard 1200GS. There is no ABS, as you would expect, no heated grips, minimal everything in fact, but a very capable and powerfull bike.
Just who this completely inappropriate bike is aimed at I don’t know. A very expensive toy, too big for everyday off-road use, too minimal for an everyday road bike, BUT I WANT ONE. An exclusive bike which will be produced in minimal numbers, but having said that, I recently returned a few days ago from a trip to Morocco where I spotted two in the desert at the Erg Chebbi.
I reluctantly took the bike back at the end of the ride, completely plastered in mud and I’m really trying to convince myself that I don’t need one. I suspect I will eventually fail.
I had permission to get the bike very dirty
and for those of you who know it, I decided to take it on the Surrey Wombat Hunt trail. It's a mixture of mud, chalk, hill climbs, boggy bits, sand, flint and gravel tracks. A route of about 70 miles.Well let's get this right, if this was my bike I'd have second thoughts about taking a £12,000 bike on this sort of ride, but then this is what it was built for.
At first I was very nervous about taking such a large bike on slippery chalk slopes but after getting used to the height
it felt very planted. The tyres fitted were Metzeler MCE Karoo and developed impressive traction in off-road use for fast and stable accelerating, but on the slipper stuff VERY careful use of the throttle was needed. I soon found a renewed confidence on sand and gravel tracks through forest sections. Some of the tracks just had to be repeated after managing to get the bike airborne on several occasions. The suspension was nothing short of impressive, the "upside down" front forks and the rear "air shock" admirably coping with everything I found. The large 21in front wheel and height easily coping with muddy ruts. However if the going were to get very narrow I suspect the twin cylinder heads width may prove just too much.
Standing on the bike pegs while riding off road was very comfortable. The seat and frame narrow at just the right point to enable easy control and the bars, clutch/brake levers were at just the right height/position for me.
The bike has minimal instruments, just a large analogue Speedo and digital display for trip meter, temperature etc. No fuel gauge, but those of you familiar with the 1200GS digital display will know the warning triangle that appears when the tank is low. The trip changes from miles completed to miles until empty. When this happened with a warning informing me that there was 35 miles to go, I decided to put £10 worth of petrol in the tank, but was only able to put in just over £5 worth, so I suspect that the warning is pessimistic.
On the road, there is no screen to protect from wind blast but I guess that it won’t be long before an aftermarket one appears. The knobbly tyres performed with outstanding handling characteristics on road having smooth corner entry and stable leaning for optimum degree of control when cornering. I am used to Continental TKC80 tyres and those of you who use them will be pleased with the Metzeler ones fitted to this bike. But I suspect that they will be just as “interesting” in the wet. The single front disk brake was somewhat overwhelmed for fast braking and the front end "dive" is unfamiliar to folk used to the "telelever" suspension on the rest of the GS range.
Overall I was very impressed with this bike, but I fail to see where an extra £3000 has been spent over a standard 1200GS. There is no ABS, as you would expect, no heated grips, minimal everything in fact, but a very capable and powerfull bike.
Just who this completely inappropriate bike is aimed at I don’t know. A very expensive toy, too big for everyday off-road use, too minimal for an everyday road bike, BUT I WANT ONE. An exclusive bike which will be produced in minimal numbers, but having said that, I recently returned a few days ago from a trip to Morocco where I spotted two in the desert at the Erg Chebbi.
I reluctantly took the bike back at the end of the ride, completely plastered in mud and I’m really trying to convince myself that I don’t need one. I suspect I will eventually fail.
)
