A Massive Tank Slapper......

[Callard]

didn't happen, the forks stayed in place and nothing fell off during the 120 miles I did after picking up my shinny new GS1200TE (spoke wheels and grey). I rode on a mixture of bumpy, smooth and in-between A and B roads and while it has a much more flighty feel to the front end it behaves well. Gearbox is sublime, brakes fantastic, engine smooth and quick, clutch feather light and all round I am very pleased indeed.

The dash is complicated but then again I didn't the handbook so my fault. Huge thanks to Bahnstormers for another great job and the 5 Mr Kiplings cakes and the Ham and Cheese toasty they provided for lunch.

 

[Fanum]

That's the second or third thread saying no tank slapper in the last couple of days.
GOOD, I, like nearly all other GSers, hope you don't have one, ever.

But just take a breath for a second.......stop being so defensive, and look at it properly......

BMW themselves will have ridden thousands if not tens of thousands of miles in testing.....a lot of that will have been at full on pace, over the roughest stuff they could find.

So far, the guys who have picked up their new toilets have been on the road a bit, getting used to their own bike, and not coming anywhere near the levels that will (maybe) cause the problems that have been reported, by uber-experienced riders on SOMEONE ELSE'S machine, with no worries about it being their own hard earned cash under their arses.

I'm pleased that nobody here has found any problems yet....genuinely.

But reporting back after having done 120 miles ?

Enjoy your bike, and let's hope that once the 'new toy' feeling has paled a little, and assuming you ride it as a proper GS rather than just a posy tough looking road bike, you don't come a cropper

If I was a toilet owner, what I'd be hoping for would be an answer to why it had happened, albeit in a few isolated cases, and what I could do to stop it......the early 12s suffered from the tank panel fasteners not latching home propery and that panel coming loose and acting like an air break.....big deal
This new incarnation MAY suffer from tank slappers, after it's loosened up a bit and becomes ridden properly rather than as the new bike being run in.....i hope it doesn't, but the indicati0ons are that it might

 

[Fanum]

PS sorry, that truly wasn't an attempt to pee on your bonfire........Enjoy your new bike, ride safe and well done for getting one

 

[Callard]

" after it's loosened up a bit and becomes ridden properly rather than as the new bike being run in.." I knew I should have listened at the handover.

I don't doubt that, unlike the previous versions of the GS, that this could misbehave under certain conditions. It is certainly much more "twitchy" than the last model and has enough power to lighten the front end driving out of corners, throw in some bumps and away you go. Nothing that a steering damper (fitted standard to most other bikes) wouldn't fix though. It is a very different bike to the previous incarnations, and as you suggest time will tell.

 

[Fanum]

I don't doubt that, unlike the previous versions of the GS, that this could misbehave under certain conditions. It is certainly much more "twitchy" than the last model and has enough power to lighten the front end driving out of corners, throw in some bumps and away you go.

You may, sir, have nailed the issue right there

It's feasible that the testers of the toilet treated it as they would one of the GS's previous incarnations........and in doing so, and riding it straight out of the crate as if they'd 'stolen it', might have bumped into a performance/handling ceiling that previously didn't exist.

I hope so.

 

[Count]

I would fit a steering damper, preferably an adjustable on, if available. It makes sense as a safety feature and I'm not aware of any downsides if it can be adjusted enough that if not wanted for a while is able to be effectively turned off.

I'd like to see some damper options become available, haven't seen anything yet.

 

[GS TRV]

It's about 50bhp short and about 75kg too heavy of ever having any issues with tankslappers so I'd ride on and enjoy

 

[Engineer]

I have had my first service on Thursday and since then been riding a fair bit more enthusiastically - today I was travelling at the same speed that the bike journalist claimed and deliberately hit bumps and and poor surfaces on a well known bike test route near Abbots Ripton (used by many of the MCN and bike test riders) - there was no instability whatsoever.

Total mileage now 760 all is well

 

[Callard]

It's about 50bhp short and about 75kg too heavy of ever having any issues with tankslappers so I'd ride on and enjoy

Relax everyone, it seems that you need 175 HP before you can get a bike into a tank slapper. Good call on the Honda then just sit back and relax

 

[Engineer]

" after it's loosened up a bit and becomes ridden properly rather than as the new bike being run in.." I knew I should have listened at the handover.

I don't doubt that, unlike the previous versions of the GS, that this could misbehave under certain conditions. It is certainly much more "twitchy" than the last model and has enough power to lighten the front end driving out of corners, throw in some bumps and away you go. Nothing that a steering damper (fitted standard to most other bikes) wouldn't fix though. It is a very different bike to the previous incarnations, and as you suggest time will tell.

I agree with your description of it feeling more 'twitchy' than the previous 12 - BUT I now realise, after a few more miles of riding, that this only really applies at low speeds and is in fact just nicer low speed handling than the previous model which was not bad but could be a bit of a 'slug' at times - as the speed builds it does in fact take a little more effort to turn in that the old bike, but this is just a difference that you adapt to, like any bike that is new to you. Once you are tracking around corners it just rolls beautifully from side to side on these new Tourance Next tyres, they are luuuurvely.

 

[Granada]

I would fit a steering damper, preferably an adjustable on, if available. It makes sense as a safety feature and I'm not aware of any downsides if it can be adjusted enough that if not wanted for a while is able to be effectively turned off.

I'd like to see some damper options become available, haven't seen anything yet.

Agree. Will drop my bike at the hyperpro factory, living close by, in a few weeks time so they can measure it and determine what needs to be done to fit their damper on the lc.

After 1000 km I doubt i need it, it feels much more stable than my prev bike, a versys, but I am always happy with better safety.

 

[twizzle]

Relax everyone, it seems that you need 175 HP before you can get a bike into a tank slapper. Good call on the Honda then just sit back and relax

I had one years ago on a R100RT...lock to lock at 70-80... Big brown trouser moment....no idea how I stayed on.. Lady luck was with me... But as for needing loads of power... IMO/experience... Err no you don't...

 

[Steptoe]

I had one years ago on a R100RT...lock to lock at 70-80... Big brown trouser moment....no idea how I stayed on.. Lady luck was with me... But as for needing loads of power... IMO/experience... Err no you don't...

Yep, i had a major one on an R80, all of 50bhp at about 20mph. Feck knows how i stayed on but i had bruised thumbs from the bars shaking so violently and so fast, even at such a low speed.

 

[Fanum]

and deliberately hit bumps and and poor surfaces on a well known bike test route near Abbots Ripton (used by many of the MCN and bike test riders) - there was no instability whatsoever.

So now go do an unknown route at full on attack, and let the bike have its head......on an unknown sandy gravel road etc.....


BMW have tested the thing intensively....let's face it, a huge company like that wouldn't have risked the launch of their newest version of their best selling bike otherwise.....so of course you won't find the problems that have been reported yet....and hopefully, you never will

Let's see what happens when they're a year or so on from now, and people start riding them to the places and limits that a bike like this is SUPPOSED to be capable of

Until then, it's just feely good stuff from peeps who quite rightly feely good about having a very nice new shiny bike

 

[Engineer]

It will be interesting to see what MCN make of the comparison between the twin-cam and the new bike in next week's issue - I am particularly curious because they used my old bike, I spent 3 years and 28,000 miles on that bike so know it quite well

I think that MCN and Bike are the same company, I wonder if that will have a bearing?

 

[PaulW]

I like that

PS sorry, that truly wasn't an attempt to pee on your bonfire........Enjoy your new bike, ride safe and well done for getting one

THAT is a real nice comment, genuine too methinks

 

[cusi]

Never mind the tank slapper, how much oil has it used?

 

[REGS12]

Yep, i had a major one on an R80, all of 50bhp at about 20mph. Feck knows how i stayed on but i had bruised thumbs from the bars shaking so violently and so fast, even at such a low speed.

My brother hit a kangaroo at 80 mph on his R75-5. Broke off both stops and dented the tank on both side. Stayed on, but had a little lie down for a while.

 

[Blackal]

It will be interesting to see what MCN make of the comparison between the twin-cam and the new bike in next week's issue - I am particularly curious because they used my old bike, I spent 3 years and 28,000 miles on that bike so know it quite well

I think that MCN and Bike are the same company, I wonder if that will have a bearing?

I'm particularly curious as to why you think that your 28,000m TC will be any different from any other TC in the 20-40k mile range?

Al

 

[Engineer]

I'm particularly curious as to why you think that your 28,000m TC will be any different from any other TC in the 20-40k mile range?

Al

????? the comparison is between my old twin cam (base model) and the new LC