So from my perspective ...
The joy of my domestic biking for me is not ... NOT .... (!) 'how fast can I go'. Been there, done that as we all have, and I don't 'need' that sort of buzz anymore. (Besides which I can still get that from work
).
I get my rocks off on quick back road / country lane riding that is
technically spot on. Now that might be a balls out thrash with a couple of mates (yep ... lairy but still technically very well done) or it could be what I'd call 'corporate' riding that is smooth, pacey and right place, right speed right gear .... all that stuff. I enjoy all that. I mentally pump the air when I work something out, maybe do a Gary Kasparov chess move overtake on a couple of cars in front and combine all that with a quirky bend in the road or whatever ... You get the gist.
What sort of a bike do I want to do all that with?
I want it to be quick, smooth, good low down pick up and grunt, good engine braking, and above all (and this is why I bleated on like a scratched record about the fucking SHIT gearbox in the '13 - 16 GS's) I want beautiful modulation between full
* gas, off gas, (maybe brake) take a gear .... and then POW ...... crack open the throttle and pour on the power.
When it's like that, that man and machine working beautifully together, it's better than sex
So the Asterisk .. *
You know, I can't remember the last time on the 1190 or the 1290 that I had the throttle on the throttle stop waiting for the engine to 'catch me up'.
Last week I spent a few hours on a VFR - nice enough bike (very good fun actually) but I was regularly on the stop waiting for it to get up there. The same afternoon I was also out on a R1200S. Again, nice bike (2017 gearbox good !!) and again, on the throttle stop waiting for it to catch up. Same with my marked RT at work.
Is there
ever a time on the 1290 that I'm absolutely pinned? Meh ... not really. I could do it on a motorway slip joining the motorway or those easy straight A roads but ...
... just going to square my tyres off for nothing.
So on those quick country lanes (so we're sort of talking 90 mph and thats feckin quick for the environment) do I need 160 BHP, or more relevantly, will I use 'peak power'? Probably not. So why not down size? Why buy a 160 BHP bike? And the answer to that is that big power bikes .... wrong .... big power
twins .... give you fantastic midrange grunt - exactly where you want it.
So why Hilltop it??
It's back to that modulation thing and harmony! Crisp, efficient, surgeons scalpel like fuelling makes that 250 rev difference on that matched down change .... perfect. That's the time your imaginary Pillion wouldn't have even known you've just come down a gear.
Ever hold the gas on at about 1/3 full throttle .. perfectly still ... don't move it ... slide the clutch in ... take two gears ... slide the clutch back out ... it's taken three or four seconds and in that time you've just lost enough speed to go from 5th to 3rd absolutely seamlessly?? The roundabouts empty and you pour on the throttle and the front wheel gets all light as you come out.
Yep .... better than sex again!
What about those wet greasy off camber roundabouts (in France!! all of them ..!) where you want to pick up a thimble full of gas and get on the drive. (I remember having a works FJR - cable throttle - feck me that was a pig to pick up mid corner smoothly - a real snatch in the gas just where you want it .. ). Filtering through traffic, full lock U turns with a pillion .... Take your pick, the list is endless.
150 BHP ? 160? 140? 130? They're just numbers. It means fuck all unless you're a sad fuck that needs to pin it on the easy stuff !
I couldn't give a monkeys what my Peak power result is. What I do want (and what Ive got) is a bike, that is silky smooth, fucking quick, has the most beautiful gear box, has perfect fuelling and is my perfect partner in crime for being pretty naughty but still right place, right speed, right gear .... and Ohhhhhhhhhh ..... you beauty ...... that touch there was just sublime ....
