3,693
edits
Difference between revisions of "BMW R100R"
no edit summary
m (Robot: Automated text replacement (-caliper +caliper)) |
|||
| Line 86: | Line 86: | ||
Revs and redlines just aren't its bag. It's a lazy old carthorse that will break into a gallop only if it's bullied. Response is suitably languid it likes a squirt of throttle and second-third-fourth shortshifts, which save a second bite at the throttle and drop it back into the lust zone. The box is lazy too — slow and sometimes stiff with a long throw — while the cable clutch (as opposed to the clutch lever) is light but barely breaks drive. Try booting it up one on falling revs and you'll probably fail; get the revs wrong on a downchange and the back end hops about. Neutral is difficult for the same reason, third goes missing, yet...what a great gearbox. It's fun, erm, a real rider's box. Don't ask, it just is. | Revs and redlines just aren't its bag. It's a lazy old carthorse that will break into a gallop only if it's bullied. Response is suitably languid it likes a squirt of throttle and second-third-fourth shortshifts, which save a second bite at the throttle and drop it back into the lust zone. The box is lazy too — slow and sometimes stiff with a long throw — while the cable clutch (as opposed to the clutch lever) is light but barely breaks drive. Try booting it up one on falling revs and you'll probably fail; get the revs wrong on a downchange and the back end hops about. Neutral is difficult for the same reason, third goes missing, yet...what a great gearbox. It's fun, erm, a real rider's box. Don't ask, it just is. | ||
The effect that lot has on the rest of the bike is boxer legend. Everything from the seat, which cushions and supports like a trooper, to the fork's and rear shock's early movement is soft and squidgey. An attacked throttle followed by an upshift invites an exchange between front and rear suspension. As the throttle's backed off, the shock unloads onto the forks which do a little shimmy before sending another message rearwards. On slow turns, like roundabouts, a snatched handful can pull the bike up and offline on lefts, or make it fall into the curb on rights. Back off mid-corner with the bars held loosely and they'll try to shake themselves free of that dreadful switchgear. Blip the throttle on the way into second gear turns and the torque reaction nudges you sideways. | The effect that lot has on the rest of the bike is boxer legend. Everything from the seat, which cushions and supports like a trooper, to the fork's and rear shock's early movement is soft and squidgey. An attacked throttle followed by an upshift invites an exchange between front and rear suspension. As the throttle's backed off, the shock unloads onto the forks which do a little shimmy before sending another message rearwards. On slow turns, like roundabouts, a snatched handful can pull the bike up and offline on lefts, or make it fall into the curb on rights. Back off mid-corner with the bars held loosely and they'll try to shake themselves free of that dreadful switchgear. [[Blip]] the throttle on the way into second gear turns and the torque reaction nudges you sideways. | ||
Unlike the keys and switchgear, this isn't annoying it's genuine character and holly enjoyable. But it does mean that steering accuracy is hardly its forte. Understeer, oversteer and, above 80mph, straining arms make general aiming the order of the day. It bowls along on its trailie geometry — stable (so long as the bars aren't held in a death grip), feeling just like big trailies do with much reduced leverage because of those narrow bars. Speed steering is obviously slow, real underwater biking, and takes enough effort to keep you warm in winter. The trick on sweepers is to brake early then to turn on a constant or gradually opening throttle. That way it stays neutral enough and vice free —- ask any copper the next time you're pulled. | Unlike the keys and switchgear, this isn't annoying it's genuine character and holly enjoyable. But it does mean that steering accuracy is hardly its forte. Understeer, oversteer and, above 80mph, straining arms make general aiming the order of the day. It bowls along on its trailie geometry — stable (so long as the bars aren't held in a death grip), feeling just like big trailies do with much reduced leverage because of those narrow bars. Speed steering is obviously slow, real underwater biking, and takes enough effort to keep you warm in winter. The trick on sweepers is to brake early then to turn on a constant or gradually opening throttle. That way it stays neutral enough and vice free —- ask any copper the next time you're pulled. | ||