big nuts on that drive shaft
Well an actual test ride wasn’t my original intention.
I’d received a general email flyer from Pidcocks (Notts) inviting me to attend the Saturday launch of the bike, so I rang up my local dealer at Grimsby to check if the launch was a national event, I’m up for any excuse for a destination to ride to that might end up with free tea and biscuits
When I rang Marshall’s, the salesman asked if I wanted to book a slot for a test ride, so I thought..why not?
When I arrived at the dealers my first thought was ...that looks bloody heavy, and if it falls over I’m gonna make some big scratches in those humongous cylinder heads, which gave me a moment of second thoughts about actually riding the beast. However I went ahead and took it out for a spin.
First impressions on leaving the forecourt was just how smooth and quiet it was, the 1800cc push rod motor is very very quiet mechanically, incomparable to the noise generated from my 1250 GS!
The transmission was also very ‘tight’ and very smooth, totally devoid of any backlash or snatching.
As soon as the wheels got turning the weight of the bike evaporated and it was a very nice machine to ride, the exhaust note was very subdued until I opened the throttle and then it changed to a deep roar, a good sound, there must be an exhaust flap that opens up somewhere in the system as the exhaust note change was quite sudden and a nice surprise!
Fuelling was perfect as far as I could tell on this short run, lovely big ‘old-stylie’ motor, with plenty of grunt. An 1800cc Boxer....it looks like a motor that should be powering a light aircraft...fab!
At the first roundabout it was fine and handled well for what is, steering was good too, I think it could be hustled along quite well with bit of practice.
I pulled up for a coffee in Caistor market square and the bike is so low it was very easy to manage it into position to park it outside the cafe. It does look ‘the Dogs’, this is not a hurried design, the design team have spent a lot of effort to get the detailing right.
I believe it’s meant to emulate an old BMW design from past years and they have done this very well, when you first glance at the rear it looks like an old style ridged backend, but when you take a closer look the rear shocker is hidden underneath the seat and lies in a near horizontal position allowing the rear end to pivot, it’s neat!
I enjoyed the ride, and it is a beautifully made bike, the flaw in it for me was the ride quality, it was a tad too stiff at the rear for my 69 year old backbone, this may not bother other riders, and I’m sure that it won’t be an issue when cruising down the boulevard!
However I’m sure that this could/will be improved if other riders report the same issue.
Cruisers aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, and it’s about as far away from a GS as you can get, but it’s still a motorbike, and it’s a very brave move for BMW to make the effort and produce such a stunning looking machine.
It’s definitely not a Harley, and I doubt that it was ever meant to be, this bike is a very smooth, secretly sophisticated well engineered example of great design that appears to work well.
Last note...it made me smile when the salesman gave me the key and said...just stick it in your pocket, it’s keyless and everything will take care of itself, just press the start button and go...what great mix of old and new.
I liked it!
PS. There were no tea and biscuits due to Covid.
