The magic number
From zero to six cylinders in a day
Motorcycles are marvellous things. I was reminded of just how marvellous they are in all their various guises, during a test day that included a rich mixture of shapes, sizes and designs of bikes… The day started on a big boxer twin, the BMW R18 Transcontinental, that I needed to return to BMW after we had tested it. The ride on big roads during the morning rush hour would have been decidedly dull, had it not been for the 1800cc boxer-twin keeping me entertained. It’s not the most powerful bike ever
(it can even be bought with further reduced power, restricted for A2 licence holders, would you believe), but the amount of grunty torque means that it will keep chugging along steadily all-day long.
With the R18 returned, I picked up my long-term test bike for the rest of the year, the BMW K1600 GTL. It’s another big touring bike, but what a complete different beast to the cruiser. The GTL is as smooth as silk, its six cylinders providing power in an almost electric bike-like fashion, and after the R18 it felt incredibly light and nimble – almost small.
I soon realised that it wasn’t quite what the modern electric bikes are… I was on my way to Zero Motorcycles, who had organised a demo ride on a selection of their electric bikes. Before I knew it, I had gone from six cylinders to none. What followed was a decidedly sportier ride, admiring the instant and plentiful torque, relative lightness (after the tourers) and easy riding feel of the leccy bikes.
After the electric demo, I rode home on the K1600, quickly caught up with emails, missed calls and all the adult stuff in my life that I haven’t been able to completely rid myself from. But I had a sweet little carrot dangling in front of me: as soon as the work was done, I could head out on my Suzuki DR350 to hit a couple of local trails.
The day had been long, so the last ride on the DR was fairly short, but it was lovely to have a little spin on the lanes. It’s strange how different it feels to ride when it’s not for work. It was also a very different sensation again going from six cylinders to one, and from 1600cc to 350cc. Not that I wanted any more cylinders or cubes. I did wonder if the electric bikes would have been up to the laning job, though…
As I got home in the evening, I couldn’t decide which ride and bike I had enjoyed the most during the day. They had all been brilliant and frustrating in their own special way. And I guess that’s the beauty of biking, there are so many ways to approach it, so many different opportunities to enjoy it, that surely there’s something for everyone.
As I write this, I realise that none of the bikes I have just mentioned have been featured in the mag yet, because I only rode them just before this issue went to the printers. But fear not, they will be featured in a future issue, so if you are at all curious about any of them, take this as a shameless plug for subscribing or pre-ordering the next few issues. There, that’s the corporate sales box ticked... Now, let’s ride!