New bike on its way

Flappytabs said:

But to be fair there is not much point to a hill hold system if you have to manually disengage it to pull away. Absolutely your preference but not much use IMHO

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Pull up at lights, or waiting for something on an incline. Pull the brake, Hill hold activated. Relax and sit on bike. When i want to pull away pull the brake again and ride away. Hill hold control.
Can you tell me why there is no point in using that ? And how its any different on the new bikes ?

Hill hold

Flappytabs said:

But to be fair there is not much point to a hill hold system if you have to manually disengage it to pull away. Absolutely your preference but not much use IMHO

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Yep, just ride away that is the point of it and yes my 2020 bike is much better than my 2018 as far as HH is concerned

Just learn to ride the bike !

More observations.
The quick-shifter on the new bike is slicker than my 2018 bike, well on up changes, down changes are still a bit meh and don't feel entirely mechanically sympathetic.
This new 1250 shift-cam engine is definitely more refined than the old one, low speed 'smoothness' is much better, less slow speed clutch slipping required, making low speed riding easier.

Onahi said:

Just learn to ride the bike !

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I agree but the intention of the HH control was that one could stop on a 'up slope' fully loaded with pillion and keep both feet down and hands off the controls until one wanted to go. The idea being that all you had to do was open the throttle and the rear brake would release smoothly as the clutch started to bite. My 2018 bike didn't do this smoothly, one had to give it far too many revs before the rear brake released. The new one on the 1250 is supposedly much better in this respect, I'll test it when I can find a hill

Engineer said:

I agree but the intention of the HH control was that one could stop on a 'up slope' fully loaded with pillion and keep both feet down and hands off the controls until one wanted to go. The idea being that all you had to do was open the throttle and the rear brake would release smoothly as the clutch started to bite. My 2018 bike didn't do this smoothly, one had to give it far too many revs before the rear brake released. The new one on the 1250 is supposedly much better in this respect, I'll test it when I can find a hill

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Too many ones!

Onahi said:

Just learn to ride the bike !

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Why are you using HH to hold your bike? Can’t you hold it on the back brake ? Then coordinate clutch and throttle ?
Each to their own, but you seem to have missed the point, you need the HH ?

I dont need hill hold. I havnt got a bike. In fact, I havnt got a bike licence. I'm only here for the fun.
I do have HH. But that's a Helly Henson thermal under garment.

RallyeGS said:

Too many ones!

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One likes ones

Hill hold

Onahi said:

I dont need hill hold. I havnt got a bike. In fact, I havnt got a bike licence. I'm only here for the fun.
I do have HH. But that's a Helly Henson thermal under garment.

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Engineer said:

More observations.
The quick-shifter on the new bike is slicker than my 2018 bike, well on up changes, down changes are still a bit meh and don't feel entirely mechanically sympathetic.
This new 1250 shift-cam engine is definitely more refined than the old one, low speed 'smoothness' is much better, less slow speed clutch slipping required, making low speed riding easier.

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Just changed my 2013 plate for a 2019 below so the quick-shifter is completely new to me. Have ridden the new tiger with it though and found that a little slicker, but keep the Gs at around 4-5000 rpm and knock it through the gears and it’s top fun!
Agree with the down shifting though. Doesn’t feel very different to just using the clutch. Had to double check the specs to see it actually included downshifting and as for the autoblipping? Is it just me?

The quick shifters on the 2019 GS I had and now on my 2020 GSA are “agricultural” compared to the one on my Ducati.
They work better going up the gears for sure at around 4,500 - 5,500.

DS said:

The quick shifters on the 2019 GS I had and now on my 2020 GSA are “agricultural” compared to the one on my Ducati.
They work better going up the gears for sure at around 4,500 - 5,500.

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I do agree. The LC boxer engine will probably never become an excellent candidate for smooth operation with quick shift, and I think the reason is as follows:

Gearing up, QS technology is based on cutting the ignition for a few milliseconds, allowing the engine rpm to drop during the time shifting from one gear and allowing the higher gear to engage. The catch is, the engine has a flywheel, heavier than most comparable bikes, and this flywheel + the internal mass of the engine will try ro keep the rpm up in a stronger way than an engine with lesser/none flywheel. Hence the jerking action when shifting.
As the rpm rises, the internal resistance of the pumping action (both pistions move in and out simultaneously)will increase, helping to dropp the rpm, thus it feels like the QS works best at higher RPM's.

Downshifting, the same issue applies. The 'blip' of the engine, increasing the rpm to meet the required rpm works best at lower RPM. And if the RPM does not quite match, the inertial weight of the engine components will be felt stronger than for most bikes.

Compared to other BMW bikes, as well as most other brands, the Boxer stands out, both with it's heavy flywheel, it's ability with strong pulling power at low RPMs, and a jerky QS. Drop/lighten the flywheel, and the QS will improve. And the low RPM pulling power will be reduced.

Sorry mats, we can't have it all.


As a personal notice, realizing the short comings of the QS, operating it when knowing it's short comings, is still acceptable. But I seldom use the QS when riding the bike two up.

Frankh said:

Why are you using HH to hold your bike? Can’t you hold it on the back brake ? Then coordinate clutch and throttle ?
Each to their own, but you seem to have missed the point, you need the HH ?

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I like hill hold, but don't use it for hill starts, merely to hold the bike whilst I take a photo on an incline. It saves stopping the bike in gear

Yes I always refer to the HH as the Photo Opportunity Feature.