I got my test ride in this morning in between the rain drops, no waiting. I walked in (preregistered) and was on the road in 10 minutes. The route was 1000X better than my earlier this year Kawasaki demo ride as the BMW dealer is adjacent to 3 of my favorite roads, and 2 of the 3 were sampled.
Starting the engine, side stand up clutch pulled in the engine fired immediately I blipped the throttle and the bars lurched to the left, what? Another blip and the same response. But thankfully I didn’t notice this response when the engine was loaded. I let the clutch out and the bike rolled away easily, and so did my fears of an embarrassing stall.
At 40mph the engine was comfortable in 4th, I went to 6th and it lumbered along, rolled the throttle on and noted some vibration below 2000 rpm. Throttle roll on’s above 2000 rpm were much smoother. It’s a numbers only digital tach, so it’s not much use until you’re at a steady pace. 1750rpm at 50mph in 6th.
It’s a big bike, heavy and long, but it’s low. Easy on and off and flat footed at stops. Lots of brake, the seat wasn’t as comfortable as I expected. Not laden with electronics.
I never got to turn it loose through the gears, but it’s clear there’s plenty there, smooth and available at all times.
It wasn’t the R1250RT that I hoped for, but BMW has done a nice job on this cycle, even though it seems out of charachter.
