Happy Holidays and a pleasant Christmas Day to all your families!
I rode my BCR for the first time yesterday, and even though most of you will think of a bike like this as your old ride, it's a new one to me. My impressions follow and I'd also like to see what the wrenches here think about the difference in exhaust gas temperature from one cylinder to the other (mentioned later on).
The ride:
This bike is so nicely finished. Things that bother me on my Ducati like panel fit and detailing are satisfying on the BCR. The paint's fun too.
It cold starts after two cranks and quickly settles into a steady 1000 RPM idle. Clutch pull is medium light and it engages naturally just where I expect it to. The shift feel may be the best I've had on a BMW. Not much clunkiness and it drops into first gear from a stop without the stomping, the fiddling and the accompanying lurch and grunch. Shifts are positive in normal street riding. I'm accustomed to the old style BMW turn signals and it was pleasing to have them back. Everything is unmistakably BMW. Even blind, you'd still know it's an oilhead boxer. Mine sounds good, both mechanically and exhaust. It is fitted with the new cam chain tensioner, nice. The Laser's (cat deleted) exhaust is more toned down than I expected especially with the cat delete. It has an even, subdued basso that has nice authority but no screech or raspiness.
The ergonomics are good for me, not cramped, very adult. It's not light no denying that. I'd say it feels Rubenesque but well balanced. My legs and hips will be good for the distance on this bike. The reach to the bars, even with the bar backs, is just a bit long for me in surface street stop and go but works fine on the road. I liked the Sargent seat at first blush (for the 90 minutes I was on it) but longer rides will reveal the truth for me. Overall, it's a luxurious package compared to a hell for leather sports bike.
Fueling felt good, no surging, no misses, starts right up but I'm not convinced this bike is giving all it has to give. It's fitted with a PC3 by a prior owner, supposedly with a tune. I don't know the story there but power was a bit disappointing. I did smell "exhaust" on my ride, something I'm not that fond of. The bike pulled with less authority than I expected and having owned an 1150GS I don't think I had unrealistic expectations but maybe that's the way it is. I've been riding a 1200S Multistrada that is a real rocket sled so maybe my frame of reference needs more adjustment. Low end power is smooth and abundant as expected but it never builds any rush. Straight line stability is superb and reassuring at legal speeds and above. Airflow was smooth and quiet in the bubble, which is perfectly placed for me. The gauge package on mine is very simple with no gear position indicator, no fuel gauge, no RID or oil temperature, but the nice white faced analog tach and speedo are lovely and easy to read. I'll miss having a fuel gauge and gear indicator but I can still count to six so I'll get by.
I didn't ride aggressively and most of what I did play with were high speed sweepers, on ramps, off ramps....you know. It's clearly suited to that but as this was a "let's get acquainted" ride, there was no heavy petting. It has BattleAx 016s that look OK and very nice feeling Wilburs that are set up for a heavier rider, which I am. I'm impressed by them. My prior experience with good boingers has been with Ohlins, WP and Penske. At first blush I'd say the Wilburs stand up to and invite comparison with those. This package feels well suited to me and my riding style. The ride itself is excellent. It's compliant but well damped, tight feeling, smooth, civilized, a big thumbs up. I always have liked the anti dive characteristics of the Telelever and it seems to work well here. Steering is neutral and medium light. It's not as light as my Mille or Falco were but much superior to my old K1200RS, the slowest steering motorcycle I have ever owned. I like it think it splits weight and responsiveness well. I have never felt the Telelever is inherently as vague as other critics sometimes express and you just know BMW has the geometry for this design down pat for every application. This is the third BMW (model) I've owned with the Telelever and I think it's weighted differently on each bike. It feels biased towards high speed stability on the BCR but overall it's not a chore to make transitions. The (non-ABS) brakes feel very good, progressive, competent, no mush.
As I said though even with the straight through Laser (and the mystery of the PCIII), the bike feels lazier to me than I thought it would and I truthfully wasn't expecting it to rock my world. Since the fueling feels good in that there are no stutters, mumbling, hunting or surging I'm a bit perplexed. When I got home I put my hand behind the two exhaust outlets and noticed the left one was blowing hot air but the other (right side) was quite cold and felt as if the right cylinder wasn't firing. But it was as the cylinder head and header were hot.
I'm not sure what my unscientific observation means or what idle EGT signifies, but I've decided to give it a full tune and maybe clean the injectors as well as checking for spark at all four plugs. This is a dual spark motor, so I'm thinking....well, I don't know really. Fuel? Spark? Maybe it's just by comparison to my Multistrada with its spirited Testastretta? I don't have a proper standard of reference for this bike but I'm thinking it should pull harder. I have a hard time believing a bike in this condition with this few miles has lost compression so I think if there's an issue, it's likely elsewhere.
Anybody who wants to point me in a direction regarding that cold exhaust feel, I'm all ears and even open to ridicule. But not too much, please! (Ridicule, that is)
I rode my BCR for the first time yesterday, and even though most of you will think of a bike like this as your old ride, it's a new one to me. My impressions follow and I'd also like to see what the wrenches here think about the difference in exhaust gas temperature from one cylinder to the other (mentioned later on).
The ride:
This bike is so nicely finished. Things that bother me on my Ducati like panel fit and detailing are satisfying on the BCR. The paint's fun too.
It cold starts after two cranks and quickly settles into a steady 1000 RPM idle. Clutch pull is medium light and it engages naturally just where I expect it to. The shift feel may be the best I've had on a BMW. Not much clunkiness and it drops into first gear from a stop without the stomping, the fiddling and the accompanying lurch and grunch. Shifts are positive in normal street riding. I'm accustomed to the old style BMW turn signals and it was pleasing to have them back. Everything is unmistakably BMW. Even blind, you'd still know it's an oilhead boxer. Mine sounds good, both mechanically and exhaust. It is fitted with the new cam chain tensioner, nice. The Laser's (cat deleted) exhaust is more toned down than I expected especially with the cat delete. It has an even, subdued basso that has nice authority but no screech or raspiness.
The ergonomics are good for me, not cramped, very adult. It's not light no denying that. I'd say it feels Rubenesque but well balanced. My legs and hips will be good for the distance on this bike. The reach to the bars, even with the bar backs, is just a bit long for me in surface street stop and go but works fine on the road. I liked the Sargent seat at first blush (for the 90 minutes I was on it) but longer rides will reveal the truth for me. Overall, it's a luxurious package compared to a hell for leather sports bike.
Fueling felt good, no surging, no misses, starts right up but I'm not convinced this bike is giving all it has to give. It's fitted with a PC3 by a prior owner, supposedly with a tune. I don't know the story there but power was a bit disappointing. I did smell "exhaust" on my ride, something I'm not that fond of. The bike pulled with less authority than I expected and having owned an 1150GS I don't think I had unrealistic expectations but maybe that's the way it is. I've been riding a 1200S Multistrada that is a real rocket sled so maybe my frame of reference needs more adjustment. Low end power is smooth and abundant as expected but it never builds any rush. Straight line stability is superb and reassuring at legal speeds and above. Airflow was smooth and quiet in the bubble, which is perfectly placed for me. The gauge package on mine is very simple with no gear position indicator, no fuel gauge, no RID or oil temperature, but the nice white faced analog tach and speedo are lovely and easy to read. I'll miss having a fuel gauge and gear indicator but I can still count to six so I'll get by.
I didn't ride aggressively and most of what I did play with were high speed sweepers, on ramps, off ramps....you know. It's clearly suited to that but as this was a "let's get acquainted" ride, there was no heavy petting. It has BattleAx 016s that look OK and very nice feeling Wilburs that are set up for a heavier rider, which I am. I'm impressed by them. My prior experience with good boingers has been with Ohlins, WP and Penske. At first blush I'd say the Wilburs stand up to and invite comparison with those. This package feels well suited to me and my riding style. The ride itself is excellent. It's compliant but well damped, tight feeling, smooth, civilized, a big thumbs up. I always have liked the anti dive characteristics of the Telelever and it seems to work well here. Steering is neutral and medium light. It's not as light as my Mille or Falco were but much superior to my old K1200RS, the slowest steering motorcycle I have ever owned. I like it think it splits weight and responsiveness well. I have never felt the Telelever is inherently as vague as other critics sometimes express and you just know BMW has the geometry for this design down pat for every application. This is the third BMW (model) I've owned with the Telelever and I think it's weighted differently on each bike. It feels biased towards high speed stability on the BCR but overall it's not a chore to make transitions. The (non-ABS) brakes feel very good, progressive, competent, no mush.
As I said though even with the straight through Laser (and the mystery of the PCIII), the bike feels lazier to me than I thought it would and I truthfully wasn't expecting it to rock my world. Since the fueling feels good in that there are no stutters, mumbling, hunting or surging I'm a bit perplexed. When I got home I put my hand behind the two exhaust outlets and noticed the left one was blowing hot air but the other (right side) was quite cold and felt as if the right cylinder wasn't firing. But it was as the cylinder head and header were hot.
I'm not sure what my unscientific observation means or what idle EGT signifies, but I've decided to give it a full tune and maybe clean the injectors as well as checking for spark at all four plugs. This is a dual spark motor, so I'm thinking....well, I don't know really. Fuel? Spark? Maybe it's just by comparison to my Multistrada with its spirited Testastretta? I don't have a proper standard of reference for this bike but I'm thinking it should pull harder. I have a hard time believing a bike in this condition with this few miles has lost compression so I think if there's an issue, it's likely elsewhere.
Anybody who wants to point me in a direction regarding that cold exhaust feel, I'm all ears and even open to ridicule. But not too much, please! (Ridicule, that is)
. The BCR is an EXCELLENT sport-touring bike. Ride it with that expectation and you'll get along just fine.
Is it a matter of "so much for balanced exhausts, equal length headers, etc etc" or is there something I'm missing?
