Seriously, I'm one of the staff photographers for the San Francisco Chronicle and we're doing a ride review of the new bike.
Went out with Chuck, the reporter who rides a Cagiva Gran Canyon dual sport and is doing all the bike reviews for the paper and we took turns riding the sweet, new machine today. (We get it keep the bikes for a week.)
I ride a 04 R1150R so it was interesting to compare the two bikes. Most noticeable was the difference in weight - and when I twisted the throttle, the difference in power. This is one sweet bike! The shifting was much quicker than my 1150 and the throttle more responsive. Carving the twisties was effortless because the bike is so flickable. The riding position seemed identical to my R, except the bars are a bit wider and felt just a bit higher. After riding the twisties, I wanted to see what it would do on the freeway. I was curious to see if the low end torque carried through to the higher gears. No problem here - it passed with flying colors. I could be in 6th gear going 75 and just twist the throttle for a quick acceleration in the same gear - something not possible with my R which I have to drop into 5th for more torque. I took the bike up to 110 mph and it felt stable despite it's light weight. Fun in the twisties, quick and stable on the freeways...this is one great bike!
Am I tempted to buy one? No, not right now. I'm having too much fun on my 04 R1150R - it fits my riding style perfectly and I *only* have 36,000 miles on it. Besides, aesthically, I prefer the looks of my bike - guess you can say it has grown on me because when I bought it, I didn't really care that much for it's looks.
There were just two things I did not care for on the 1200. One is the mirrors - they stick up so high, to me, they look silly and way out of place. Maybe if I was 6'4" and weighed 260 lbs, I'd need them that tall but they just seemed strange looking to me. The other thing I'd change right away on the bike would be the windscreen. I ride with the BMW sport screen and get no buffeting at all. With the stock screen on the 1200, my head was being tossed all around at 70 mph plus...not fun on long freeway stretches.
Anyway, when Chuck's review is published in the next few months, I'll post a link to his review. BTW, he was very impressed with the bike. His only complaint was the suspension, but he agrees that it could be because it needs to be dialed in for his weight and riding style - something he couldn't do because the dealer we get the bikes from did not supply a manual
Next week we ride the R1200S for a week. Should be almost as much fun as the Ducati 1098 we'll soon test
So here's a photo I took of Chuck today. (Can't share all the pics since the Chronicle has not published the story yet) :
And a side-by-side shot of my bike and the 1200 :
