A short story...

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Ou Ryperd

Race Dog
Joined
Jan 24, 2006
Messages
3,728
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Location
Pretoria
Bike
KTM 890 Adventure R
So this week I took delivery of my new BMW R1200 GS LC (liquid cooled oom Danie) from Speedbike Klerksdorp, and decided that I need to go ride some dirt ASAP to get an understanding of the bike. I was on KTM 950's since 2007, the last being the Super Enduro, so I knew that the BMW will be completely different.

For those of you from Pretoria region, you might be familiar with this piece of crap dirt road turning off right when travelling from Pta to Delmas on the Delmas rd, about 5km after Rietvlei dam. This road is used by large brick transport trucks and other large farming equipment, so it is rutted, pot holed, rocky (lurkers) and sommer net goor - a fantastic piece of road to go "test" the BMW.  :ricky:

So this will be my reflections, and it will be honest - because it is my own bike, and I have to ride it for a few years.  :thumleft:

At the turn-off I switched to  Enduro Pro, and ESA was set to Hard. I pre-setted the pre-load to rider + luggage. I left the tire pressure at 2.4 front and 2.8 rear. I proceeded at 80-90km/h, same speed I used to travel this piece of road with on the SE.

The 1st section of this road is the worst. I must be honest, the bike handled "weird". The suspension was to harsh, and I changed it to soft and only rider which helped. I experienced a wobble but NOT a tank slapper. On the return run, I deflated the tires to 1.8 bar front and rear, and this improved the overall ride comfort but I still experienced the wobble.

This wobble only happens when:
- there were large lurkers which I hit from angels under 90 degree, thus the front wheel glanced off them;
- uneven spaced ruts/corrugations;
- pot holes one after the other.

The wobble was NOT a tank slapper, but more a left/right motion in the handle bar which stabilised by itself. I did not have to open up/lean back/grab the seat/duck/whatever-trick-you-do-to-get-out-of-a-tank-slapper, but I did get a skrik. I did slow down on this piece of crap road, because a) I don't want to bin a new bike, and b) I know from past experiences on the SE that this is not a unique BMW problem as the SE also gave me quite a few skrik moments on the same piece of road by shaking it's head.

But here is the good part for me. And that is that the bike handled the rest of the road fantastic at 80-90km/h. On a dirt highway this bike will ride comfortably >100km/h and with an experienced rider (which I am not) speed >160km/h will be no surprise.

Am I disappointed?

NO! I enjoyed the "strangeness" of the BMW. Strange because the suspension travel is less than the SE and yet I could not get the suspension to reach it limits (this is what speed bumps are made for), the mono shock in the front is stiff, there is no nose dive when you come to a stop, the slight vibration of the Boxer, the ride-ability, the ease of use of all the settings (I don't read manuals that well  :p).

I can't wait to slab a nice set of off-road knobblies on this bike, as I think it will improve the dirt riding characteristics of the bike, plus it will enhance the look.  :lol8:

PS: Why did I change from KTM to BMW? Why didn't I buy a 1190 Adv/R? I don't know. I rode the 1190R and it is a beast of a bike, and then I rode the BMW. The BMW ticked more boxes than the R, and meets my current requirements. Who knows what the future holds... Maybe a Yamaha or .... But for now I am happy with my BMW.
 

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