Diablo BMW/Kawasaki was doing their BMW open house today, offering testrides. Being the unapologetic demo ride junkie, I had to take advantage, trying both the K1200S and the R1200GS. My impressions... K1200S: The engine in this thing has all the subtelty of a Panzer division... Or perhaps a Kamakazi pilot. For if you didn't know it was a Bavarian motorcycle, you would swear it was a Japanese engine and transmission. A 1.2L I4, with tons of thrust right off idle and a redline up in the Stratosphere. A slick 6 speed transmission. Gearing which places the top of 1st gear in "High Speed Pursuit" category. Pure, amazing, sublime, 100% overkill for anything short of the Autobahn. In other words, marvelous. Even with the throttle 80% closed in all conditions. Even with only being in second gear on the freeway. (or was it third? Second, I think). Everything else also screams "Tokyo by way of Bavaria Hyper-sport-tourer". The seating position and wind protection are VFR standard: slightly leaned forward, a clean airflow hitting the helmet, no buffeting, no hastle. Perfectly stable at freeway speeds, yet nimble in the turns, the nice compromise between stability and handling. Likewise, the weight is just right: ~520 lbs fully fueled, enough for good wind stability without being too heavy. Of course, some things are BMW: the brakes make a weird whining noise from the servos but no complaints, altohugh I didn't really test em. The switch gear is in a "funny" position. The heated grips can roast your hands. The available luggage looks good and can swallow a full face helmet when expanded. The digital display includes gas, and cool icons when you change the shock settings with a push button on the gas. Overall, the bike is glorious overkill. Sleek, fast, refined, well handling, and did I mention obscenely powerful? Glorious overkill. Only the propeller logo, the BMWisms, and the price tag would give away the bavarian rather than japanese ancestry. Which is a GOOD thing. What is truely frightening is I could see riding this as a daily driver, if someone shoved a load of money in my pocket. Fast, glorious overkill, can't hardly crack the throttle without either putting a streak of black under the rear or flipping the front into the air. Can't cruise at anything remotely legal speed. Yet amazingly addictive. R1200GS. Talk about day and night. The engine is so vastly different. At light load, its smooth, but open throttle it buzzes considerably. It sounds like a cross between a biplane and a tractor. But so amusing. You can whack the throttle open and ACCELERATE. The right wrist can actually write checks! That 85 horsepower can actually be used, without fear! The seating position is perfect: comfortable, with good wind protection. The handling is nice: easy steering and a hoot. And the brakes. God bless ABS. I did a brief test, on wet mixed pavement. Chirp, stutter, and stop. And you end up singing castrati as your testicles are slammed against the tank. In the end, the R1200GS is a far better bike for the street than the K1200S: You can use the power to the utmost, use the handling, and have a hoot doing it. But if I had the choice, I'd pick the K bike in a hot second, the power is such an addictive drug... And alas, for all its joy, the GS really just isn't worth it. My GF's Vstrom 650 doesn't have as much power (65 vs 85 hp), can't win a Paris-Dakar, and definatly doesn't have as good a set of brakes or suspension. But given that I could take a Strom, drag it to Aftershocks to get the suspension tweaked, call Larry and have a set of Brembos installed, and STILL have enough money to buy another Strom, the GS just doesn't compute anymore.
