Because .....
(And you've alluded to it already..) Blades, RSV's, R1's ..... they are all born from the track. The Blade you buy today was winning races in WSB six or seven years ago. Race replica bikes are a far far closer relative to their on track brothers than, say, any touring car is, benefiting from technology that is fed straight down from the track to the highstreet in only a few years. Modern highstreet bikes now have push button engine management software, electronic suspension settings; look at the technology dripping in BM's S1000RR. These bikes have a pure race pedigree.
So does that make them good road bikes? What makes a good road bike? How does road riding differ from track riding? Every year The TT is won on a Jap litre super bike, so to sit here and say they don't make good road bikes would be plain daft.
But for us mere pleasure riders (what ever our skill level and ability), we ride a public road that is shared with a whole host of other road users. It has side roads, junctions, driveways, oily roundabouts, slower moving traffic we want to overtake, roads we've never ridden on before, speedlimits....
A good roadbike lets you see. It gives you the ability to scan the terrain. Followed a really good road rider? He will have really good vision, he'll see further than you, he'll be constantly planning and searching for a view, you'll see his head always looking and scanning. His ride will flow in a smoth seamless style. He can see!!
A good road bike will have slightly softer suspension. Blades and Gixxers are blinding, blinding bikes on
smooth, flowing, A roads, but for a lot of the time they are, literally a pain in the arse. (I had a zx6, predominantly for track use, but was road legal. On the road it was brill for twenty per cent of the time, bloody hard work for the rest!).
Good road bikes have usable power. Twins make great road bikes. On the road, usable power means punch out of corners, midrange grunt for overtakes, massive engine braking that makes for that seamless flowing ride. Bm's HP2 is a brilliant road bike ..
And a good road bike will involve you. Do I want a 180mph bike on the road? (Yes!! If I lived on the isle of Man - 1198 please ...!), These bikes don't even break sweat at 120's but at that speed I'm already doubling the speed limit and if I'm caught I'm going to loose my licence. I want a bike that I can hoon in a national speed limit, feel like I'm working it hard, but safe in the knowledge that I'm unlikely to go to jail if i'm caught. (Who last rode a two stroke 250? You want fun for an hour or so??!!!).
For many of us, we don't have the luxury of a garage full of different bikes. Most of us make do with one, do it all bike, on which we play, tour and maybe commute.
Is the GS
the bike that does all this, and is it
the bike we should all own? Of course not, there are dozens of cracking bikes on the market - not least the Multistrada that is another quite brilliant road bike. But is the GS a cracking
road bike, does it do all of the above and more? Yes. Does it give you confidence when you're riding? Yes. Is it an easier bike to ride on a public road than a litre sports bike? Yes, unquestionably Yes, and thats why you enjoy it, are more confident on it, and prefer it over your race bred, thoroughbred, Fireblade.
I traded my Ducati ST2 last weekend for a 1200GS. I can't see any reason in the near or distant future to move away from them. As long as BMW keep building them I thinl I'll keep riding them!
