It’s BMW’s turn to churn out one of these retro ‘thingies’ and I for one am pleased with the result. It’s called the R nineT, for whatever reason, but it does seem to suit its ‘git-like’ portfolio. But what’s a ‘git-like’ portfolio you ask?
Well for one, there’s no denying that this genre of motorcycle is primarily aimed at the riders who’re entering the autumn years of their lives, which will be me then, and therefore visits to the doctor become as regular as a visit to the Dros, if you know what I mean? But inherent and pathetic sympathy aside I totally adore these retro ‘thingies’ and so it seems do a lot of other, er, gits.
But the younger riders do seem to be swinging this way as well because, well, these bikes just look so damn cool and in today’s market that’s a very important point. Triumph understand this with their parallel twin range like the Bonneville and Thruxton, Moto-Guzzi with their V7s, Norton too who are back with their 961s, Kawasaki with their superb W800 and Honda with their CB1100, which missed the point a bit and should have been a modern replica of the 1970’s CB750, and so on. So it’s about time the ‘rest’ joined in now, right?
So to cater for this ever-growing market BM’ made the R nineT which there’s no denying is a gorgeous piece of kit and I believe it to be not overly priced at R152,400 in today’s disgusting financial mess. It’s still a boxer-twin motor though, obviously, but provides a performance level that the ‘rest’ just can’t replicate, which means it’s one surprisingly exciting motorcycle to ride. Those big fat cylinders sticking out are ready to shatter many a shin if you ride along the sidewalk (hopefully not) but they are pure undiluted BM’. They displace 1,170cc and come from the last of the DOHC, all-air-cooled engine with a claimed 110hp. So with a quick rip on the dyno I discovered that this punchy motor makes 100hp at the wheel and a similar number for torque. Now that’s quite a handy sum and I’m telling you that the R nineT will destroy any car you’d care to mention regarding acceleration and many on top speed as well because I saw, honest, an eye-watering 242km/h on the clock after a long top speed run (obviously in a non-public environment, etc, etc), so how’s that for retro performance? Apparently BMW say the R nineT has a lower final drive gear ratio than the GS range, if so they should put that into the GS range then, because this ‘oldie’ will kill their GS range on top speed – sweet!
The handling is also better than the GS because of one big reason; it has normal forks – hurrah! Never been a big fan of those Telelever forks, they always feel a bit vague with no feedback, to me anyway. So, on the ‘T we have Sachs 46mm ‘normal’ forks but with less internals than Tutankhamun’s mummy, so you can’t adjust them. But if you happen to park your ‘T next to a S 1000 RR race bike you’ll notice the bottom caliper bracket that holds the Brembo calipers is 100% identical, as are the fork tubes, without the adjustable bits, which is a nice thing to point out to anyone that’s interested. Still the ‘T has well chosen damping rates and fiddling with suspension is not really what this bike is about. If you do fancy a fiddle though you could spend hours on the rear end because it all comes to pieces, not intentionally though. You can either fit the tail hump over the pillion seat or go mad and remove the entire rear end and leave nothing but a stumpy seat that will remove every trace of age induced piles if you happen to slip off backwards whilst pulling a posing wheelie. The ‘T also comes with a shorter exhaust if you decide to do this replacing the quality Akrapovic twin silencers, which do sound rather delicious, if you like the sound of a boxer twin that is?
So the R nineT looks proper, goes proper and will probably last longer than its new owner (git) because the build quality is pure BMW, enough said. It has zero electronic interference besides boring ABS that cannot be turned off, which is a bit daft in my mind, but with those über powerful brakes it might just be a good thing when a granny in a thunderstorm gets her wooden leg caught under the brake pedal of her Hyundai Atos.
Has BMW’s venture into the desirable retro world of motorcycles worked? Most certainly, and I’d have to say the R nineT is my favourite boxer engine powered bike so far and then some. No wonder though, because I am a certified git.
Go to www.bmw.co.za to find your nearest BMW dealer.
