What a difference!
After a few days of short town runs
the engine felt like it had freed up quite
significantly, accelerating well and smoothly,
zapping up the hills in the Waitakere Ranges
like they were barely there, and a bit of magic
happened. I rode the summit roads of Scenic
Drive one way, and enjoyed the bike so much,
I turned around and rode them all the way
back again by way of some seriously narrow,
raddled and twisty byways. Down and back
up steep, fiddly, pot-holed canyons, it was
predictable, biddable and very quick.
In the twisty stuff the BMW is near
miraculous, in spite of that longer wheelbase
which makes it amazingly stable and quick
on the road. Yup, it leans into corners – hard
out – and then seems to ask for more. As the
engine warmed to its task the throttle control
became a real pleasure and counter-steering
106 KIWI RIDER
produced flickable cornering manners that
imparted a happy, surprised grin on my mug.
At around 210kg wet, its not very light; nearly
the same as my own 1200cc road bike, but it
honestly doesn’t feel that weighty.
Blessed with Pirelli Angel tyres of
respectable width and diameter it behaves
predictably on a 120/70-15in at the front, and
150/70-14in at the rear.
I found that hard braking in the wet could
induce some of the technological help that’s
there on offer. I appreciated the electronic
brain keeping a watchful eye out for me, but
the only downside is that there can be a bit of
engine bogging if the traction control kicks in
when accelerating if gravel on the road. That
sudden reduction in power often took me by
surprise.
It’s plenty quick enough too, the handbook
says 139km/h top speed, and I got near that