Hey BMW - You lost another sale...

[Sgt Bilco]

Is Norcal part of the North Circular ?

If power was the requirement, why bother with the GS/GSA, why not go straight to the Ducati or KTM.

I've ridden most of the roads in NorCal and believe me you don't need top end power to have fun.

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

Tronics off hard in , on the front , tip in slide , and out . Easy one you have raced a bit .

I clearly spent the time you were perfecting your racing technique perfecting my language and typing skills.

The difference is that I've made a success of language. As I've never heard of you, I don't think you can say the same about your racing skills.

 

[King Rat]

What is this "backing it in" you speak of?

When the one in front wriggles their arse and pushes back.... it happens a lot in San Francisco, so I am led to believe.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

I clearly spent the time you were perfecting your racing technique perfecting my language and typing skills.

The difference is that I've made a success of language. As I've never heard of you, I don't think you can say the same about your racing skills.

Verging on being worthy of Oscar Wild

Andres

 

[stick]

Yay! Boxerlust is "with me!" I feel so proud, so accomplished...

Boxerlust, old love, I'm sorry to have to tell you I was taking the piss. Anyone who thinks they need 160 bhp on the road, or will actually be any quicker than a bike with 130, is clearly living with their head so far up their own arse that it's only the speed hump on your leathers that's stopping you completing the job.

What makes a good road bike will vary from one person to the next and it's opinionated twats like you, so convinced that you're right and everyone else is wrong, that makes me glad I don't have to have regular conversations with (a) bikers and (b) Americans.

I've never been more than 140 mph on a bike (autobahn) and that was for a few seconds before fears of "what if the front wheel bearing implodes now?" made me slow down. Only ever been on a track once and maxed out at 120. I don't measure the success of a ride by how fast I went, but by by how much I enjoyed it. I am very happy to concede that for any bike over 500cc, the limiting performance factor is going to be me, not the bike.

If you think that you need that extra horsepower, and can use it, I'm surprised we haven't heard of you as a highly successful racer. As that clearly isn't the case, I rather suspect you are either deliberately winding people up, or are one of those pathological dreamers who genuinely believes the complete and utter bullshit you post. Either way: do fuck off.

You spend too much time posting rather than riding , you make me smile old man (Sir Senior member ),,, ( which member I am not sure ).. keep it safe and baked down lol .. only kidding ..

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

Verging on being worthy of Oscar Wild

Andres

There's a 'e' on the end of Wilde, you ridiculous East Midlands simpleton.

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

You spend too much time posting rather than riding , you make me smile old man (Sir Senior member ),,, ( which member I am not sure ).. keep it safe and baked down lol .. only kidding ..

I haven't posted on here (apart from in the Travel sections from time to time) for YEARS. I'm beginning to remember why.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

There's a 'e' on the end of Wilde, you ridiculous East Midlands simpleton.

Oh, apologies biker mate, I had Born To Be Wild blasting out on Planet Rock [1] at the time of typing

Andres

[1] As should all self respecting biker mates

 

[dean0n0]

There's a 'e' on the end of Wilde, you ridiculous East Midlands simpleton.

He may not have been refering to the gay aesthete.

 

[Boxerlust]

Quinten , respectfully go fuck yourself
I don't make a living going fast on motorcycles but that does not mean that I can't ride fast on a track or like to do this at a lower pace of course...on the street.Anyways I'm with you on one point.On twisty backroads where riding is fun and challenging it probably makes no difference if you have 136 hp or 155/180 hp like a 1290 KTM does or even 200+ todays superbikes make.TORQUE is king and the GS has plenty.But it is still fun and exiting, and this is a big part and reason we ride motorcycles to have a BIG top-end rush the GS is unfortunately missing...And of course if you go fast a 17" front wheel and 180/190 rear gives you more choices to apropiate rubber and theoretically build up less gyroscopic forces which is good for effortless steering...Where the GS is already very good despite the 19" front the new MS V-4 also has...
Having said that a R1400GS with XR like more forward leaning seating position and attributes combining GS-TORQUE with XR top-end, not to forget Dive and suspension forces separating Tele-Lever as also shaft-drive would be the perfect TOOL for fast Road-Riding
But I would also buy a R1400S as the sexier looking sister with a more leaned over missionary position...
With 55 you still can dream
The HP2-S over 10 years ago was too useless without bags or the option to take a passenger and really had no more performance than a japanese 600 for 2 1/2 times the money to make it into my garage if you wanted to point out that BMW already produced a bike like that long times ago.
We want a modern R90S or R1100S as also a R1400XR or if they call it M1300GS I'll be fine with it...

 

[Giles]

I was on about the BHP old chap , keep up and check you glasses , or you ability to read lol.

Its meaningless! BHP on 'tech roads' as you call them, is utterly meaningless. You are getting caught up in the hype of manufacturers chasing figures and big numbers, simply so they can claim that their bike puts out more power that their competition. (see Al Fagan comments on 44T on the S1000rr and his applause to BM for NOT chasing figures but instead developing low down torque).

The real world ... on 'tech roads' ?

How often are you honestly on the throttle stop. Honestly! Where you twist the throttle ... it goes no more ... and your brain says to your bike ... 'come on .... I'm waiting for you to catch up with me .. '. (On 'tech roads', not on the fucking B500, a wide open A road, or the start / finish straight of Brands ..).

I regularly ride with work a colleague on days off. I have 98 (?) BHP on my 790 duke, he has 150 bhp on his multistrada. The difference between the two bikes in the real world ? Fuck all! Maybe the occasional very long straight where he just eats out 20 / 30 yards? Maybe the only difference between the two bikes is that I'm on that throttle stop on my dinky 790 occasionally more than he is or for half a second longer.

And if he does eek out 30 yards over a 1/2 mile straight? Come the first corner that advantage is immediately cancelled out because my lighter bike stops better and turns quicker.

Maybe your idea of 'tech roads' is different to mine. In my world a technical road is a B road where you will very, very occasionally hit 3 figures, but otherwise your brain is on fire, your eyes are on stalks and you're safely managing 90 - 100mph.

If you want to have a conversation about good suspension and handling .... (that is worth 15 - 20 bhp) then I'll listen! But all the time you bang a drum that you need 150bhp to successfully ride a 'tech road', I know you don't know your arse from your elbow

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

I've ridden most of the roads in NorCal and believe me you don't need top end power to have fun.

Lovely looking roads but defo big bore Supermoto or 600cc race rep territory

Andres

 

[Boxerlust]

Sgt Bilco...There are a lot of great roads in Norcal.And yes they are full of CHP who killed the fun...That is why you go south of the border to the real land of the free while the US has become the land of the fee , or Soviet Union 2.0...Mexico ! The roads are even better here and trust me you can use 160-170 hp here...You see a lot of S1000RR's,S1000XR's and 1200GS-ADV down there.On the Baja mostly gringos on the GS which is probably 90% of the bikes you see.On the mainland lots of mexicans who prefer the S1000RR and XR for obvious reasons... No police to bother you and the cartels don't care how fast you go

 

[Giles]

( .. The new Duke 890 with 119 BHP ?? That will probably be untouchable on a B road .... ).

 

[Spareparts]

There really needs to be a UKGSers trackday. Across country on A/B roads, no mways. The bullshit stops when the flag drops.

 

[Boxerlust]

I'm with Stick needing power on tech-roads that are twisty and often bumpy we encounter mowadays pretty much all the time we get to ride as opposed to the unnatural environment of a race-track with smooth pavement and mostly fast and long sweepers where you need POWER and stability...
On the ROAD TORQUE is King as also an emphasis on quick steering and Telelever giving stability,resisting fork dive and always able to smooth out bumps better than any Ohlin$$$ fork able to do as icing on the cake...
The 890 Duke looks like a viable bike when it comes to weight and power...probably faster and easier to ride than the 1290 Duke that wastes the additional power on wheelis in gears 1,2,3,4 the throttle W.F.O. to utilize the 180 hp it gives...But it is all pointless because it can't put the power into fast forward motion and you end up fighting the front as also going faster than 60 mph it starts to steer slow...But for me a bike like the 890 Duke still misses Telelever,some hardbags to make it useful,some wind-protection and of course the boxer cylinders that protect your legs when you crash...Not to forget the clean and not snatchy driveshaft to be a viable alternative to a GS.And yes going in a straight line it is probably a tad faster than a GS even if a GS will eat in up on roll-ons.Which means on backroads on the GS you can stay in 2nd or 3rd gear while the KTM needs to be shifted frantically which can detract from fast riding...A exiting and fun top-end they both lack ! Therefore Stick is right...

 

[Giles]

... and of course the boxer cylinders that protect your legs when you crash....

Some of us have the skill set to ride a bike without crashing my friend ...

Get well soon ..... xx

 

[Boxerlust]

Trackdays ? We had lots of BMW trackdays here in Norcal over the last 20 years but unfortunately the riders got older and new blood is not coming like in the days when we got into the sport...Anyways the GS became the default weapon of choice ! Only on the straights you were out-gunned for obvious reasons...That is why I always say and hope that the next generation GS gets around 160 hp realistically which means the engine is still 100K mile reliable and has huge mid-range TORQUE which makes it so good for road-riding...

 

[stick]

There really needs to be a UKGSers trackday. Across country on A/B roads, no mways. The bullshit stops when the flag drops.

Im in ....

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

I'm with Stick needing power on tech-roads that are twisty and often bumpy we encounter mowadays pretty much all the time we get to ride as opposed to the unnatural environment of a race-track with smooth pavement and mostly fast and long sweepers where you need POWER and stability...
On the ROAD TORQUE is King as also an emphasis on quick steering and Telelever giving stability,resisting fork dive and always able to smooth out bumps better than any Ohlin$$$ fork able to do as icing on the cake...
The 890 Duke looks like a viable bike when it comes to weight and power...probably faster and easier to ride than the 1290 Duke that wastes the additional power on wheelis in gears 1,2,3,4 the throttle W.F.O. to utilize the 180 hp it gives...But it is all pointless because it can't put the power into fast forward motion and you end up fighting the front as also going faster than 60 mph it starts to steer slow...But for me a bike like the 890 Duke still misses Telelever,some hardbags to make it useful,some wind-protection and of course the boxer cylinders that protect your legs when you crash...Not to forget the clean and not snatchy driveshaft to be a viable alternative to a GS.And yes going in a straight line it is probably a tad faster than a GS even if a GS will eat in up on roll-ons.Which means on backroads on the GS you can stay in 2nd or 3rd gear while the KTM needs to be shifted frantically which can detract from fast riding...A exiting and fun top-end they both lack ! Therefore Stick is right...

The only sense in which "Stick is right" is that he spouts a similar kind of bullshit to you. And that, of course, means that he's not right at all.