Weight a moment

I’ve owned several big tourers during my 40 years of motorcycling and I love my current BMW über-tourer. In fact, this year alone, I’ve racked up over 8000 miles on tours, all two-up and with luggage. Something I’ve never had to worry about though is the Maximum Payload, as stated in my bike’s owner’s manual.

Now, with my new partner on the back, our combined weight exceeds the recommended maximum payload by approximately 12% (206kg limit recommended, 230kg applied). There’s also riding gear, a tank bag and I probably exceed the maximum weights for panniers and top box with all our gear as well.

While accepting I’m accelerating the wear and tear of not only tyres but brakes, suspension, et al am I putting us both in danger by exceeding the manufacturer’s recommended payload? Also, would my insurance company fail to pay out if I had an accident and they determined I was running the bike in excess of the maximum payload?

There isn’t a bigger bike out there and I’ve tried to lose weight but can’t.

Name supplied

An interesting one and something we will look into in much more detail in the near future. But in the meantime, we would advise riders to stay within the stated payload for a motorcycle, since this is the figure at which the manufacturer can ensure the bike performs as expected — handling and most importantly, braking. However, legally, it is an extremely hot potato and raises all sorts of questions involving exceeding the Maximum Gross Vehicle Weight, or overloading. This requires a proper, in-depth answer, which will appear in the magazine shortly.