BMW impressions (F800GS & S1000rr)
So I went to go meet up with Azooom on friday and took the opportunity to try out a few of the bikes she was peddling.
S1000rr.
Cool bike, really really really cool bike. Sitting on it it is definately more comfortable than most modern super sports, but I really felt the vibrations through the bars and pegs, much more than I'm used to, after a 45 minute ride it left my hands with that feeling like they were still shaking. The S1000rr has power to no end, it just goes, fast.
I also took the time to try the power assist shift, which takes a few tries to get used to. The first time I tried it I (instinctively) blipped the throttle and it felt like the bike lost power, second time same thing. I tried it a few times after that and sometimes it felt like it was lacking power while others it just came on strong After talking to Azooom at dinner I think I might have been shifting through the gears and instead of just going up one gear I was probably going straight to sixth. Rider error, but looking back at it when I did it right it worked flawlessly and just kept the bike going straight without even the tiniest hint of changing gears.
It definately wasnt made for street riding, it took the many potholes like a champ, but I paid dearly for each and every bump I hit. The bike also handles like a dream in the corners. This was an escorted ride but the lead rider was pretty cool and didnt pull any punches, the route wasn't that great but there were a few decent corners. One portion of the ride was a 2 way road (didnt realize it was 2 way until after) and I was able to enter a marked 15mph tight left at around 50 with plenty of tire to spare, I didnt even realize how fast I was going until I looked down at the speedo while braking after the corner and I was doing 70. Really I cant even explain how composed the bike is in the corners.
F800GS
This bike is tall, very tall, and I'm short, apparently very short. The first thing I notice is that I cant get either foot down with out getting the opposite thigh across the seat and reaching for the ground, and just for record I am 5'6" with a 31" inseam, I couldnt even tippytoe it, and at the first light I went to reach for the ground and all I felt was air, nearly dropping the bike. At this point in the day traffic was starting to pick up and really hampered any fun that we might have had. I would have like to have taken it off road but that wasnt in the cards either. This bike is definately not the powerhouse that teh s1000rr is but it can hold its own, in fact it was much more composed in the corners than I expected it to be. The suspension is very soft which might have something to do with the fact that it generally designed for offroad. The wide handlebars are very comfortable and make it very easy to just point the bike where you want it to go. The huge flat seat is also very comfortable to move around on, which would be great for long rides. The biggest down side I saw was that it is hot in traffic, very hot. Sitting in traffic on the way back to the dealership was torture.
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