{"id":14153,"date":"2015-12-13T11:43:23","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T01:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/?p=14153"},"modified":"2015-12-14T08:00:37","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T22:00:37","slug":"2016-bmwr1200rs-ride-review-the-boxer-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/2016-bmwr1200rs-ride-review-the-boxer-king\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 BMW R1200RS RIDE & REVIEW \u2013 THE BOXER KING"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let me make this perfectly clear for you. I would hate for there to be any confusion as we move forward through this tale.<\/p>\n

BMW\u2019s R1200RS is the greatest iteration of the venerable boxer ever made. This is a bike that is so close to perfect in terms of handling, power-delivery comfort, ease-of-use, and general feel, it is hard to imagine what possible improvements could be made to it.<\/p>\n

I know this because I banged out almost 3000km on one. This was not a normal \u201cbike test\u201d; some week-long commute with a few twisty roads on the weekend.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-15

The Beemer gives nothing away to the Italian weapon.<\/p><\/div>\n

This was a fill the panniers, arm the credit card, and kiss the wife goodbye trip. Seven days. Good miles. Mad roads. Great friends. It\u2019s the kind of trip that makes returning to your normal life hideously unbearable. It\u2019s the kind of trip that tells you everything you need to know about the bike you\u2019re on.<\/p>\n

And I could not have had a better bike for the journey. The R1200RS answered every question, fulfilled every need and brought me home goggle-eyed with amazement.<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s that good.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-14

There are a lot of great things going on in there.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"2015-10-14

Some things the Italians do better than the Germans. It’s not beer, but.<\/p><\/div>\n

I know there\u2019s a trend in the press and among the manufacturers to pigeonhole a motorcycle into some class that\u2019s been invented to help us think about the bike in a certain way. Adventure, sports adventure, sports touring, adventure touring, caf\u00e9 touring, sports caf\u00e9, dual sport, boogie sport and probably, coming to a marketing company near you, sexy caf\u00e9 adventure touring sport with a beard.<\/p>\n

If you care, the R1200RS occupies the sports-tourer category.<\/p>\n

I occupy the heavy-set middle-aged bloke who rides a lot category.<\/p>\n

We are marvelously compatible.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-17

See? We compatibilise magnificently.<\/p><\/div>\n

The RS is, in essence, the R (which I reviewed HERE<\/a>), but with some additions, to wit, A two-position manually adjustable screen, flashy billet \u2019bars, a slightly longer wheelbase (maybe a centimetre or so), and a two-centimetre-taller seat. It\u2019s also about five kg heavier.<\/p>\n

The motor produces 125 horses and 125Nm\u00a0 at 6500rpm. \u00a0It\u2019s also got a compression ratio of 12.5:1. These strangely associated numbers make it very rewarding to ride, whether it be commuting, seeking a podium, or dare I say it, sports-tourering.<\/p>\n

My belt north from Sydney could be termed Sports-Touring. But only in general terms. It could also be called Death-Racing With Bly\u2019s Ducati Streetfighter, which would be more specific, so let\u2019s call it that, shall we? Or DRWBDS for short.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-14

A slight pause for breath.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"2015-10-14

BMW does this asymmetric headlight thing on its special models. The bugs you need to find yourself.<\/p><\/div>\n

Other acronyms of interest to you might be the ones BMW has loaded the RS with \u2013 ESA, DTC, ABS. All your traction control, stability control and hell-braking is taken care of. Unobtrusively. There are times you actually start to imagine you\u2019re a better rider than you really are. Especially during DRWBDS.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll notice the forks are 45mm USD jobbies. The wondrous (albeit weighty) Tele-lever now only lives on the GS range. It\u2019s road-holding is legendary. The amount of feel it delivers to the rider, not so much. But you\u2019d learn to trust it and ride fast and happy.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-14

Everything you need to know and see.<\/p><\/div>\n

Thanks to the electronics, The RS requires no such leap of faith. The normal forks deliver excellent feel, and like I said, you don\u2019t even realise there are electronic rider-assists in the game. Technology has come a long way in a very short time.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s only one radiator, as opposed to the split units on the GS and RT models.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-14

See? Men have no need for top-boxes. Andy Strapz supply all that is required when the panniers do not suffice.<\/p><\/div>\n

Have I mentioned the quickshifter? Lord, how I love a quick-shifter. This is a good one and felt better than the one on the XR. And it works up and down, but remains happiest when you\u2019re in the mood for rapid transit. Or DRWBDS.<\/p>\n

In short, the RS is fully loaded. It\u2019s a technical masterwork wrapped around the traditional boxer donk, which hauls like a train, yet does it in a way that never proves unsettling, terrifying or makes you re-think your throttle inputs.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-17

I love the angles of the tank.<\/p><\/div>\n

Mine came with panniers, which were very welcome (and very simple to pop on and off the bike), and of course, BMW offers a full suite of accessories. Including a top box, if you\u2019re that way inclined. I hope I never am.<\/p>\n

Comfort levels are superb, as you\u2019d expect, but what\u2019s surprising is that you can be perfectly at ease banging out easy miles one second, then when Bly\u2019s Streetfighter comes hammering past you, you can be swinging off the seat and pretending you\u2019re Marquez. It\u2019s a seamless transition.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-14

Decisions. Best made at speed.<\/p><\/div>\n

I might also mention that the instrument display, a mix of customisable analogue and digital readouts is the best I\u2019ve yet encountered on a Beemer. Ageing eyes be buggered. Though it is instructive to look at the ridiculous speeds you\u2019re doing, it\u2019s nice to not have to peer at them while they shift into focus as you\u2019re engaged in DRWBDS.<\/p>\n

My journey allowed me to experience virtually every kind of road\u2026<\/p>\n

I got my eye in on the Putty. Damp in places, and hellishly fast in others. That was followed by the suspension testing circuit known as the Singleton to Stroud Bounce. We then made our way into Gloucester, and made ready to essay Thunderbolt\u2019s Way at speed.<\/p>\n

Thus far, we had seen no police. Not one. We didn\u2019t really expect to see any, either. Pretty much every Highway Patrol car had been tasked southwards to deal with the ongoing harassment of riders heading to the MotoGP. My friends and I had decided that we would no longer subject ourselves to the heinous behaviour of VicPol and its NSW arm of revenue-raising and saliva-sample-collecting Stormtroopers. So we were heading north, to the Queensland border, to abide in the shade of palm trees, and watch the MotoGP in a nice resort, where girls in bikinis baked themselves an alluring shade of sexy. In terms of police exposure, it was the best call we ever made. In 3000km of mainly quite spirited riding we saw three Highway Patrol cars, who were totally disinterested in us.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-15

This is what conquest looks like.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"2015-10-15

No relation to the actual grid positions.<\/p><\/div>\n

I did Thunderbolt\u2019s Way and its ever-challenging bitumen like professional executioner lopping the heads of filthy Huguenots. Efficient, ruthless and with a song in my heart. The RS not only stayed with the Streetfighter, it sometimes even sailed past. What was amazing was that Klink, astride a KTM 690, didn\u2019t explode his motorcycle trying to keep up. I was impressed that he kept it pinned to the stop most of the way just keeping us in sight.<\/p>\n

A leisurely lunch in Walcha was followed by a transport stage to Armidale. If the cops were anywhere, they\u2019d be on the New England Highway near Armidale. And so it proved to be. We passed a Highway Patrol in Uralla. Half an hour later, we gave ourselves over to the many joys of getting drunk in a big town full of university students.<\/p>\n

There was only one untoward incident, which occurred at 3.30am the following morning. For reasons I cannot understand, the bathroom door in my motel room had locked itself. My need was great, and rather than raise an alarm and smash the door down, I wandered outside to do my business in the garden bordering the street. A garden which was equipped with motion-sensing floodlights. I completed my business illuminated by a million lumens of shame.<\/p>\n

The next morning, following a healthy organic breakfast, served by a magnificently pierced hottie, the serious business of riding like mad swine began.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-17

These are superb tyres…<\/p><\/div>\n

Armidale, Ebor, Dundarrubin, Nymbodia and Grafton \u2013 a route as scenically glorious, fast and challenging as anything the Snowy Mountains can offer.<\/p>\n

The RS was in its element. DRWBDS all the way. It did not put a tyre wrong. No matter what the road surface did, no matter how many apexes the blind corners provided, I was able to ride faster and smoother than I thought possible.<\/p>\n

Bly spent some time looking at the RS when we pulled over to enjoy some quiet time in a rainforest pierced by birdsong.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoes alright,\u201d he muttered, nodding at the Beemer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had you like screaming whore on a piss-stained mattress back there,\u201d I grinned.<\/p>\n

He grinned back. I\u2019m rarely able to even keep Bly in sight when the fever is upon him. But this time was different. The RS made me better than I was.<\/p>\n

The Nymbodia stretch is insane. Parts of it are MotoGP track. Parts of it are roadworks and parts of it are 1960s timber road. All of it was taken, chewed and spat out with ease by the RS. Even those moments when I thought to myself: \u201cOh now you\u2019re fucked\u201d, I wasn\u2019t. I wasn\u2019t even close. On something less capable, sure. The RS just took it all in its immaculate stride.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-17

I took a selfie. Sorry.<\/p><\/div>\n

But where all that marvellous electronic sorcery really came into its own was on the descent into Nimbin. I\u2019d ridden this recently on the BMW1000XR and some time back on an Indian. Both of those times were instructive and exciting. This time, it was sublime. The road is tight, narrow and the bitumen sometimes piles itself on blind hairpins in waves of death. Tankslappers and crazy cornering lines are the norm. I descended into Nimbin like Christ on a beam of God\u2019s kindness.<\/p>\n

A few hours later, we were in the resort at Kingscliff, and the next few days were either pool-side, or carving up the stunning backroads behind the coast.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-17

Fits in perfectly at the resort. The servants understood I was a man of quality and breeding.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Then my mates showed up and the game was up.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Yeah. My MotoGP weekend was stress-free.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Still too far south for the VLAD laws to be in effect.<\/p><\/div>\n

I must have done the Burringbar Range four times. Once again, the RS danced like a prima ballerina. Not once did I wish for more power. Not once did I think that something was lacking somewhere. On fast sweepers the RS transported me to that wondrous place we all seek and only sometimes find. That place that is stable, smooth and carved from the stone of confidence. Could I have been faster on a sportsbike?<\/p>\n

Yeah, maybe.
\nAt the expense of comfort anything is possible. Without heated handlebar grips, panniers and a seat made for easy miles, it\u2019s all sticky tyres and lap-times.<\/p>\n

That is no longer my happy place. Actually, it was never really my happy place. Sportsbikes demand too many compromises of the rider. Sure, they deliver, but when you\u2019re doing big miles on varied surfaces, do you really need that delivery? Or do you just think you do?<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-17

Tyalgum. Beaut pub right across the street from shady parking.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"2015-10-17

I’m tempting them.<\/p><\/div>\n

We made it back to Sydney from Kingscliff in 11.5 hours, via much the same route. This included an hour for lunch and half-an-hour for breakfast. And some time spent buzzing mindlessly along the highway north of Grafton because Bly missed a turn.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s doubtful the trip could have been made faster on a sportsbike. And I know it wouldn\u2019t have been anywhere near as comfortable.<\/p>\n

I like to grin and laugh when I pull over with my friends. Not stretch and moan. It tends to bring the vibe down.<\/p>\n

I did a lot of grinning and laughing, and that was entirely due to the R1200RS.<\/p>\n

I would buy one over an S1000XR. None of the buzziness and all of the capability. I would buy one over a GS. For starters, it looks better and isn\u2019t as vague about the front-end when pushing becomes shoving.<\/p>\n

For mine, this is the Boxer King.<\/p>\n

\"2015-10-17<\/p>\n

SPECIFICATIONS<\/h2>\n

Engine<\/strong><\/h3>\n