I
like bikes, duh. But... I’m one of those
riders who believes that scooters are
bikes too. I enjoy the innovative design
and colours, and, when coupled with
good technology and excellent road-going
capability a new bike is generally a winner in
my view.
My view however, on picking up the C400X
from the distributor, was… umm… quite
mixed. Yes, BMW’s exemplary finish was
up to scratch and pin perfect. The BMW
blue appealed, and so too did the 6.5 inch
TFT display which ran through its vibrantly-
coloured start screen, delivering a wealth of
choices. Yes, it was comfortable to straddle
and sit upon, the steering head looked smart
and scooter-like, and the windscreen looked
like the wind tunnel tests had been most
exhaustive. All good. Except...
It is long to the eye, at 1565mm only 200mm
longer in the wheelbase than the Vespa
300 for example, but noticeable. And it is
angular, like they’ve slavishly copied the
extended fairing lines on the artist’s drawing
board. Not immediately appealing, it looked
‘conglomerated’; almost like a series of town
houses accommodating different bits of an
awkward plot of land.
And worse still, on my first rides it seemed a
trifle… under-exciting.
Over the next few days the weather
was absolutely appalling. Bucketing rain,
freezing cold and windy. The C400X sat,
almost dejectedly, outside my front door
pointedly accusing me of weather-exposure
abuse. Eventually I managed to notch
bout 100 kilometres up on the clock, but it
felt tight, the tyres were still new and not
scrubbed in, and the wet kept me from even
contemplating pushing any limits at all.
A LITTLE BIT OF MAGIC
Then a gap opened in the calendar. Although
the weather was still patchy, marginal at best,
I layered up in decent kit and gave the thing a
fair run...
KIWI RIDER 105