BMW hosted one of their test rides at one of our local dealers. I asked the staff guys what bike a vertically challenged guy could ride (29" inseam) and they pointed me to the 310. That bike looks like an insect and I was not interested. I tried one of the 1200's with a low seat, but it still felt talll and I was not comfortable taking out a new bike and dropping it (they cover any damage to the bike in that event).l One of the guys told me he too had a 29" inseam despite being almost 6' tall, and he suggested the R18 Classic with a windshield.
The bike had floor boards and heel toe shifting. For a bike with such a low center of gravity, it can be a bear to get upright off the center stand. Secret: Turn the handlebars to the far right and you can pick the bike up easily. Retracting that side stand, however took several tries for me. After starting the bike, you can almost feel those huge pistons slowly moving in and out. Rev the throttle and the bike lurches to the right. Let out the clutch and it moves off without hesitation, and like the 1300, the weight drops away. Accelerate in 1st and the smoothness drops away with the rpms, your butt will tell you to upshift. In fact, at certain rpms, the vibration is nearly intolerable - it hits the seat, not the handlebars, though I was fumbling at this point for the heel upshift lever and did not notice the mirrors. The Classic has no tach, and two of the three of us riding variations of the R18 missed shifts. I missed some up shifts until about half way through the ride. The shifter clearly needed to be adjusted. Overall, I did not like the riding position, ironically, I felt like I was sitting too low on the bike. This engine has gobs of torque and passing cars should be no problem at speed. In fact, were that excessive vibration not present, you could leave this in gear and ride all day without shifting.
I was disconcerted by the flywheel effect, especially on a long fast left hand sweeper. The line of bikes accelerated around this curve and the torque wanted to push the bike to the outside of the curve. I'm probably not describing this properly, but I was fighting the engine's torque effect. For such a huge machine, the bike certainly turned willingly, though I know I would be hard pressed to feel comfortable riding this at an STOC ride. Handling was what I would call neutral, the bike was stable in a straight line but took the turns with no drama - except for that flywheel effect. We were mostly on smooth roads in a south east suburb of Cleveland, and I have to describe the suspension as 'plush'. Bumps in the road yes, but no sharp shocks reached me. My 'yardstick' is riding over a RR crossing but we saw none. I'd call this a highway cruiser and would hate to take it on a trip on state and county roads where I might have to turn it around. It does have a reverse gear (starter motor), but the bike seemed like it would stretch from shoulder to shoulder (yes an exaggeration, but not by much) in such a situation.
The infotainment system was disabled. The bike has self cancelling turn signals. Storage in the panniers was surprisingly minimal, even the top box on another model would accommodate one helmet and not a lot else. The built in speakers (part of the sound system) robbed a lot of storage space. The windshield did not look to be adjustable, and the wind blast hit me right in the visor area. I had to ride with the visor closed despite wearing large sunglasses. The bike LOOKS great. It is certainly a tour de force for the type of bike that it is. It is simply not my cup of tea.
At the end of the ride I managed to find neutral (light tap on that heel shifter) but it took three tries to get the side stand all the way out.
The bike had floor boards and heel toe shifting. For a bike with such a low center of gravity, it can be a bear to get upright off the center stand. Secret: Turn the handlebars to the far right and you can pick the bike up easily. Retracting that side stand, however took several tries for me. After starting the bike, you can almost feel those huge pistons slowly moving in and out. Rev the throttle and the bike lurches to the right. Let out the clutch and it moves off without hesitation, and like the 1300, the weight drops away. Accelerate in 1st and the smoothness drops away with the rpms, your butt will tell you to upshift. In fact, at certain rpms, the vibration is nearly intolerable - it hits the seat, not the handlebars, though I was fumbling at this point for the heel upshift lever and did not notice the mirrors. The Classic has no tach, and two of the three of us riding variations of the R18 missed shifts. I missed some up shifts until about half way through the ride. The shifter clearly needed to be adjusted. Overall, I did not like the riding position, ironically, I felt like I was sitting too low on the bike. This engine has gobs of torque and passing cars should be no problem at speed. In fact, were that excessive vibration not present, you could leave this in gear and ride all day without shifting.
I was disconcerted by the flywheel effect, especially on a long fast left hand sweeper. The line of bikes accelerated around this curve and the torque wanted to push the bike to the outside of the curve. I'm probably not describing this properly, but I was fighting the engine's torque effect. For such a huge machine, the bike certainly turned willingly, though I know I would be hard pressed to feel comfortable riding this at an STOC ride. Handling was what I would call neutral, the bike was stable in a straight line but took the turns with no drama - except for that flywheel effect. We were mostly on smooth roads in a south east suburb of Cleveland, and I have to describe the suspension as 'plush'. Bumps in the road yes, but no sharp shocks reached me. My 'yardstick' is riding over a RR crossing but we saw none. I'd call this a highway cruiser and would hate to take it on a trip on state and county roads where I might have to turn it around. It does have a reverse gear (starter motor), but the bike seemed like it would stretch from shoulder to shoulder (yes an exaggeration, but not by much) in such a situation.
The infotainment system was disabled. The bike has self cancelling turn signals. Storage in the panniers was surprisingly minimal, even the top box on another model would accommodate one helmet and not a lot else. The built in speakers (part of the sound system) robbed a lot of storage space. The windshield did not look to be adjustable, and the wind blast hit me right in the visor area. I had to ride with the visor closed despite wearing large sunglasses. The bike LOOKS great. It is certainly a tour de force for the type of bike that it is. It is simply not my cup of tea.
At the end of the ride I managed to find neutral (light tap on that heel shifter) but it took three tries to get the side stand all the way out.
