Go west, notso-young man
Blackstock does 500 miles in 28 hours on the R and knows all about it
I’VE PUT SOME miles on the R this month; a blast to mid-wales for next month’s Big Ride feature, the annual pilgrimage to the NEC for Motorcycle Live and four weeks of wet but above-freezing commuting. I thought I knew the BM reasonably well but after considerably more miles than I usually rack-up in four weeks, I’ve learned quite a lot more about the roadster — some of it good, some of it not so much.
Comfort eventually decreases
Up until now, I’d never really considered comfort — perhaps because I hadn’t been on it for a long-enough stint for it to matter. I knew the riding position is slightly canted forward, a function of the roadster design but thus far, it hasn’t ever caused my back to protest. However, I found that in all conditions — the 300 motorway miles from Peterborough to Welshpool and back and the 200 miles around Wales — things started to get numb. I started to lose feeling below the waist after 90 minutes, making a brief rest and walk around necessary a couple of times.
The motorway section was fine for the rest of me, as even with the BMW Sport screen, there is still enough wind on the chest to take weight off the wrists. But at lower speeds swinging in and around Wales, the slightly forward weight bias made my wrists a bit sore.
What protection?
The R’s naked styling means the rider is completely exposed to the elements, specifically the torrential rain and spray I faced from RIDE towers to Welshpool. By the time I arrived, everything was soaked through and filthy, covered in road grime. I had to hose clothing and my rucksack off in the shower before disassembling it to dry.
Everything gets annihilated; the front wheel chucks muck onto the radiator and out in front of the bike, to be blown into your face. The rear wheel has almost no protection so muck gets thrown up onto my rucksack, trousers, legs and all over the bike itself. Everything gets a battering — it’s a messy business…
Tank range is inconsistent
On paper, the tank range should be good — an 18-litre tank and average consumption of low 50s should see more than 200 miles available and once filled up, the range counter will usually start with a 2. However, BMW miles must be smaller than everyone else’s because I’ve never got that far. The range warning comes up with 50 miles to go, which is useful but even when I’ve ridden at least 5 miles past ‘0’, I only got 16 litres in.
I also noticed that from Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury on the way home, the fuel range stayed at 86 miles until I hit the dual carriageway,
when it instantly dropped to 47 and the warning came up. Good job Telford Services wasn’t far (though it’s juice was £1.49 a litre. £1.49!)
Carrying capacity is limited
I didn’t need much for a single overnighter in Welshpool and I managed to get it all in the BMW Function 4 rucksack I’ve been using for a while, strapped to the pillion seat. However, had I needed to take more with me, I’m not really sure what I would have done. The ruckie sits behind me longitudinally (I’ve tried it transverse but it gets a bit noisy and flappy). The R comes with pannier frames but as I’ve said in the past, adding a pair of boxes would ruin the lines of the bike. I might have been able to sit further back and maintain sensation though…