BMW motorcycles never really interested me. Why do they make fast cars, but their bikes were always a bit staid and rather boring? The new 1200 heralded a change in thinking in the motorcycle division and the R11S seems to reinforce that view.

It sure is pleasing on the eye. I liked the oddly shaped headlight and the sexy curves in the tailpiece. The rear wheel is unique, not only because of the single sided swingarm on a shafty, but also because of the styling. Those protruding cylinders seem at odds with the streamlined look of the rest of the bike, when viewed from certain angles. The bike also has the kidney shaped air intakes, as found on the cars.

What’s it like to ride? Well, a bit strange in the beginning. There are quite a few things that you have to get used to. The starter button is in a weird position. It is in the twelve ‘o clock position on the handlebars and you have to twist your hand at a strange angle to start it. Once it started I was amused at the way that it vibrated the fairing, not a high frequency buzz, but more of a gentle shake at a low frequency.

The horizontally opposed twin tended to rock the bike slightly to the right when you blipped the throttle. This was disconcerting as you could notice it when you were riding very slowly, like when you were coasting to a halt.

I had pins and needles in my butt within the first few kilometres and then it seemed to disappear. It was strange, but the vibration felt through the seat and pegs weren’t felt the handles. The S, with it’s wide handlebars, is easy to steer. It’s almost like having a power steering. I found myself “oversteering” in the first few bends and had to constantly make corrections.

The steering feel reminded me of the Yamaha Exup. It is light without being particularly fast. The seating position is good for traffic use. You can look far ahead, yet you’re not sitting bolt upright. Depending on your point of view, it’s either on the sporting side of touring or on the touring side of sporting. Either way, it’s a comfortable ride.

The bike was rock steady through all types of bends at high and low speeds. It pulls hard out of corners with as little as three grand on the tacho and the torque fest continues up to the 8000 rpm redline. I think that I enjoyed the bike that I had, a little more than the standard one, because it had a set of after market cans on. J & S canisters – Made in Holland.

It wasn’t a whispering quiet vibration, like the standard affair – it was more of a semi-thundering occasion. Most unlike a BMW. The Paralever rear end made sure that you weren’t conscious that you were riding a shaft drive. There was non of the usual rising and squatting that is the norm with shafties.

One of the things that intrigued me about this Beemer was the “funny” front end. They seemed to have separated the bump forces and the braking forces somehow. When you brake the front end still dips, but not quite as much as with conventional forks. It is also not that rock hard feeling as with the various anti dive systems. The suspension is still perfectly compliant, even under sever braking.

Severe braking. I didn’t get the chance/have the guts to try out the front ABS. I tried the rear and it made horrible noises on the shaft drive, so I decided not to do that too often. The brakes acquit themselves well without being spectacular. They had a lot of lever travel though. People with small hands would find themselves trapping their fingers under the lever. When the span adjuster was on it’s minimum setting, the lever came very close to the bars.

I don’t know if all BM’s are like this, but this one’s gearbox is great. Snickerty, snick, snick, snick. That’s all you do go through the ‘box. This box out snicks a Suzuki box. High praise indeed. Clutchless changes are a delight. There is nothing as sweet as the sound as a clutchless gear change (except maybe the sound of your competitor’s exhaust note disappearing behind you) when you have a nice sounding exhaust and the fruity tones from the J&S;’s were no exception.

The indicators seemed like a good idea when I thought about it, but in practice, it doesn’t work all that well. It is rather disconcerting to be messing around with the cancel button while controlling the throttle and/or the front brake at the same time. If BMW want to persist with this idea, I think that the indicator arrangement would be easier to operate if one push the buttons up instead of down. That way you can flick your thumb out to activate it.

It is much less movement than bringing your thumb up and around the button to push it down. Actually I found the indicator arrangement to be rather clumsy.

All things considered, I think that the BM makes a fine all rounder. It is easy to manoeuvre in traffic, although I don’t fancy chancing narrow gaps with those cylinders, it boogies nicely through the bends (if your brakes fail, it will even boogie through the Benz) and I think that it will make a fine touring machine. Don’t fool yourself and go around dicing with the race rep brigade, it just doesn’t seem to be that type of bike. Enjoy the S for what it is and you will have as much fun as anybody else.