yanktar
Over the hill--and going faster!
I dragged the family out to a Beemer dealer to try the K1200S. I wanted to try the K1200R, but they had an S demo.
Here's what I can tell you--it's not complete because it was late in the day and I don't like to abuse test rides.
This bike is smaller than I expected. I think it's a bit smaller than the FJR, but as big or bigger than the FZ1. I suspect it's between them in weight but it doesn't feel heavy.
It's a much more forward leaning position than I expected. The seat seemed hard while sitting on it.
I didn't mess with the ESA settings, just left it on Comfort.
I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of things on this bike:
The POWER--I KNOW the FZ1 and FJR are both fast, but this thing is OHMYGOD! It pulls so damn hard--but was incredibly tractable and friendly about it--I never felt the bike was out of control. Then again, I didn't wring it out too much.
The ride: Smooth and light but never disconnected from the road. I felt a lot of confidence that I was staying connected to the macadam.
The comfort. I was shocked. By the time you hit 50mph the wind takes the pressure off your wrists and my lower back (always vulnerable) wasn't complaining a bit. I usually HATE hard seats, but BMW has done something different because I really liked this one. I could see being on this bike at speed for hours without getting in trouble. On the other hand, stop and go driving on this thing will DRIVE YOU TO INSANITY! At low speeds, all my fears of such a position were fulfilled. Thankfully, getting moving again relieved it nicely. I didn't, however, notice wind noise--very good!
Braking. These are ABS interlocked brakes and frankly, they don't hold a candle to my FZ1 or my FJR (ABS). They feel super-heavy and the bike feels hard to stop until you really bare down and then they bite really well. But they don't have the nice progressive feel my FZ1 has (since I did S/S lines) or the nice light touch of the FJR (which just got Spiegler discs). For all the hype, Yamaha has a better ABS braking system.
Clutch: Incredibly heavy. Annoyingly so. I almost hated it and in stop and go traffic you left hand will KILL you. Engagement is fine, no issues there, just heavy.
Appearance: This is a BMW? This is definitely a cross between the FJR and an R1! I cannot believe they built such a nice bike!
Price? YOWTCH!! NOW you know it's a BMW! Even the demo I was on, OTD would be $17,500! Did I love it? Sure! Did I love it enough to sell the FZ1 and come up with enough jack to make up the difference? Probably not. I'd STILL like to ride the K1200 R, though!
However, BMW has done an AWESOME job on this bike. I can just see it being a blast on The Dragon!
Here's what I can tell you--it's not complete because it was late in the day and I don't like to abuse test rides.
This bike is smaller than I expected. I think it's a bit smaller than the FJR, but as big or bigger than the FZ1. I suspect it's between them in weight but it doesn't feel heavy.
It's a much more forward leaning position than I expected. The seat seemed hard while sitting on it.
I didn't mess with the ESA settings, just left it on Comfort.
I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of things on this bike:
The POWER--I KNOW the FZ1 and FJR are both fast, but this thing is OHMYGOD! It pulls so damn hard--but was incredibly tractable and friendly about it--I never felt the bike was out of control. Then again, I didn't wring it out too much.
The ride: Smooth and light but never disconnected from the road. I felt a lot of confidence that I was staying connected to the macadam.
The comfort. I was shocked. By the time you hit 50mph the wind takes the pressure off your wrists and my lower back (always vulnerable) wasn't complaining a bit. I usually HATE hard seats, but BMW has done something different because I really liked this one. I could see being on this bike at speed for hours without getting in trouble. On the other hand, stop and go driving on this thing will DRIVE YOU TO INSANITY! At low speeds, all my fears of such a position were fulfilled. Thankfully, getting moving again relieved it nicely. I didn't, however, notice wind noise--very good!
Braking. These are ABS interlocked brakes and frankly, they don't hold a candle to my FZ1 or my FJR (ABS). They feel super-heavy and the bike feels hard to stop until you really bare down and then they bite really well. But they don't have the nice progressive feel my FZ1 has (since I did S/S lines) or the nice light touch of the FJR (which just got Spiegler discs). For all the hype, Yamaha has a better ABS braking system.
Clutch: Incredibly heavy. Annoyingly so. I almost hated it and in stop and go traffic you left hand will KILL you. Engagement is fine, no issues there, just heavy.
Appearance: This is a BMW? This is definitely a cross between the FJR and an R1! I cannot believe they built such a nice bike!
Price? YOWTCH!! NOW you know it's a BMW! Even the demo I was on, OTD would be $17,500! Did I love it? Sure! Did I love it enough to sell the FZ1 and come up with enough jack to make up the difference? Probably not. I'd STILL like to ride the K1200 R, though!
However, BMW has done an AWESOME job on this bike. I can just see it being a blast on The Dragon!
