I hear you already. After reading the title, you're going "WTF?!"
Here's a reason for ya. We've got one, and I wanna sell it. And I've always wanted to hoon through town on a "dresser", with Kid Rock blaring from all four speakers, while all the honeys look on going "He's the man!" as I glide past.
This particular bike, if you're not familiar with Beemers, is the mac daddy of German tourers. Standard features include (take a breath),ABS brakes, fully integrated luggage system, 6 disc CD changer and radio with 4 speaker sound system, cruise control, heated grips, heated seat (front and rear), reverse gear, trip computer (av speed, mpg, temp etc etc), 2 accessory power points, adjustable (electically of course) screen and a hell of alot more that I'm discovering the more I look at it.
Did I forget to mention that it looks like the Starship Enterprise on steroids?
Gassed up and ready to roll, CD qued to my alltime favourite lyric, "Kid Rock, I aint no bitch!" "Ahh-yes-you are, Ho!", stab of the starter and......nothing. It seems 2 weeks of sitting in the showroom with the radio on, aint too good for the battery. Jump start battery connected, hit the button again, and away she whirs into life. Cool, I'm off.
The first thing that strikes you about this bike is the sheer size. It's wider than your mama and your mama in-law, side by side. No shit. The bennefit, is the mirrors. Spectacular! They're huge and well positioned so rear vision is at a premium. After the Gixxer, that's a luxury.
The saet and riding position is obviously extremely comfortable and cruisy. You could sit on this thing for days and I'm sure that's the intention. Sitting nice and high gives a fantastic view of the traffic and road ahead. No vibes at any revs adds to the serenity.
Obviously, this puppy's no round town commuter, so it's off to the motorway I head. Amazingly, it's no slouch either. It's incredibly comfortable at 110kph and equally so at extremely licence loosing speeds. All the while, Kid Rocks going "Ba widda ba di dang di dang diddy diddy....." at perfect volume. Wow!
The only wierd complaint I have for this bike is this. No matter what position the windscreen is set at, the wind pressure pushes you lightly forwards! Not a biggy but it feels fricken strange all the same.
The bike steered really well and was remarkably neutral in its handling. Ground clearance is excellent and the brakes are more than up to the job. Even though persoanlly I'm not a fan of ABS, it didn't bother me as much on this Autobahn mile muncher as on lighter BMWs I've ridden.
All that said this is clearly not a bike I would own any time soon. However, it is one that I enjoyed imensly in the short ride I had and it's an experiance I hope to enjoy to a fuller extent very soon.
Price is a very reasonable $23999 with only 16000km showing.
Bet ya weren't expecting that!
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Originally Posted by NZ CRF230F Ride
jeez, a 15 year old Ultra-Classic Tour-Glide woulda got more looks from the honeys (unless you're after 55 year old accounts ladies)
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