The BMW K1300R

Trigger kept extolling the virtues of the BMW range all the way to Caterham from his place in Carshalton, since buying a GS1150 and falling in love; Trigger has not stopped going on about how great the engineering that goes into BMW motorcycles is.

My first experience, many years ago with Beemers, was an old ex-police 'T' reg 800 boxer, I couriered that bike until it had around 200K on it, as far as I know it is still going (if anyone has JAK80Y, I think that was the reg, then let me know) it was boring but did the job, I have ridden later BMWs, but not for long and I could not get rid of the urge to buy a hi-viz jacket.

So arriving at South London Motorrad, I expected to be met by someone with an engineering degree and lab coat! Graham Jones, who greeted us and had arranged the test ride could not have been more different, he certainly knew his product but didn't bore us, he answered our questions and supplied us with all the info we needed to enjoy the bike.

I deliberately did not look up any information on the K1300R before we went, I had looked at some pictures and really could not make up my mind if I liked it, but in the flesh it does look good, if a little odd; bit like a transformer. This is because of the fact it does not have conventional forks - it has something called 'Duolever'. The Duolever front end looks rather like the old springer system used on much older bikes and some chops. Having ridden bikes with springers, I was not really enamoured at the thought of going back 40 years in time. Graham demonstrated by bouncing the front end up and down that by using this system the trail did not change, this can be a great help in cornering. By having the front end on a conventional telescopic fork compress and extend you are changing the trail angle and this can be a bit disconcerting in fast cornering.

The engine is at an angle rather like the old FZ Yamahas, this helps to keep the centre of gravity low down, sitting on the bike I was immediately struck by how light it felt, yet it still felt solid. What I mean by that is that I don't like very light bikes, like the R1, they feel too spindly to inspire me, maybe that's just because I'm old ,but I prefer the weighty feel of a heavy bike, like my ZZR1100.

The first dab on the brakes as I pulled up to wait for Trigger made me a bit apprehensive, it felt very alien, it just stopped, no dive, no fuss. Pull the front brake and the ABS just brings you to a stop without any drop on the front end, I thought I had better get used to this slowly. I usually just jump on a bike and go, a few hundred yards to get the feel of it and then off I blast, the strange feel of the front end caught me out for about ten minutes, it did not react like a bike with forks at all.

The second thing that grabbed my attention was the power, globs and globs and globs of torque, I have always associated BMWs with the words slow, solid and heavy, this took off like a scalded cat on rails, 0-60 was less than 3 secs. I was used to giving the ZZR plenty of revs to get it moving, not on this, from the off as the needle went around the counter it had torque, I later found myself pulling away in third a couple of times and once, although it did bog down a bit, in fourth!

Power was available in any gear, the motor pulled quite smoothly and aside from a bit of a vibratory tingle in the midrange with great gusto, a quick blast on a straight found me pulling away from Trigger on his GS1150 with no problem whatsoever, and that was without redlining. The engine felt smooth and tractable at any speed, at times I found I was crawling along in traffic and still in 4th or even 5th gear, this led to embarrassing quick change downs at red lights. Occasionally I found neutral hard to find, this was more to do with the fact I kept pulling up in a higher gear than normal though, the really interesting thing was I completely forgot this was a shafty, I felt virtually no torque reaction from the shaft. The bike rode so well that the reality of it being a shaft driven bike just dropped from my mind.

Once I got used to the feel of the K1300R, I started having some real fun, powering the bike through corners it was holding the road very well, we hit some light rain heading down the A217 and I had a moment when the back end stepped out and that was it, it stepped out, I steered gently into it and the bike carried on as if nothing had happened, ah that must be the ASC traction control... Getting out onto the open road I gunned it past a car that had been dithering, now on my ZZR this would have led to me overtaking at a 'brisk' pace, still in 4th I opened the throttle as I would on the Z and watched the world go past me at a rapid pace. Hang on, is this really a BMW?

Dropping down into Reigate we cut back across the roads through Chipstead valley, the BMW took it all in its stride, it felt quite at home on country lanes and Trigger was having to get a move on to stay with me.

The more I rode it, the more I liked it, once the initial shock of the odd sensation on the front end had worn off, it inspired confidence and I settled down and enjoyed it.

I didn't feel that confident at low speeds though, I think I was just reacting to the strange feel of the front end, but once out of the traffic the bike came into its own, and the turning off the ASC made the bike very interesting, with it off the front comes up with surprising ease.

There is a button that allows you to select the suspension settings: 'Comfy', 'Norm', and 'Sport'. I didn't notice any difference between them until I really got moving when the sport setting made the back end feel as it had stiffened up slightly. This was good in the twisty bits as I like a firm backend. I think 'Sport' would be also be useful for when you have a pillion, the softest setting felt fine to me at a normal pace and I think most people would just leave it on 'Norm'.

The power train, the brakes and the suspension all gave me the impression this is a well thought out bike, it feels comfortable and while it takes some getting used to is a great bike to ride, I also liked little touches like the heated grips with Hi and Lo settings.

Now the downside and it's the seat, I have real trouble getting comfortable on it, if I bought one I would change the seat, it might suit some people but not me, this was a bit of a let down considering how well sorted the rest of the bike is.

I didn't really want to give it back at the end, getting more and more used to the way it worked was increasing my grin factor by a big margin.

Would I buy one? Yes, I think I would, if I had the funds. I would change a few things though, the seat, for instance, would have to go if I was going to do any sort of distance and this is a bike that I think you could go a long way on. The rest of the changes would be little tweaks just to suit my riding and comfort.

I wish to give my thanks to Graham Jones and South London Motorrad in Caterham for the loan of the bike. We hope to be back to see you again very soon.