BMW R1150GS by Paul Corfield

I’ve been riding now for 6 years and have staggered over the age of 35 years so it was probably time for a bike that’s in line with the impending "pipe and slippers" image that such an age brings with it. Bizarrely though I seem to have purchased a psycho bike from BMW.

I’ve always liked the quirky looks of the GS family of bikes. I call them "beak bikes" given the rather pendulous front bumper arrangement. I had made many "passing" visits to BMW Sawbridgeworth to take a look at the GS and had always been alert to them buzzing around the roads of London. My former IAM instructor bought a Mandarin one, and then various ukrmers succumbed to the charms of the GS. I sat on one at the NEC show and thought, "I must have one of these".

It came to a head when a fellow ukrmer (Marc Donovan) revealed that BMW Sawbridgeworth had a cancelled order on their books. I was bored stiff on jury service so sent them an E mail expecting to be told it was sold. To my surprise it wasn’t so down went the deposit. Many weeks later in Jan 2002 I got hold of it after some truly nonsensical problems with alarms and the postal service.

It would be fair to say that the R1150GS is an imposing machine. The salesman briefed me about the bike and then it was time to head home. The Beemer engine and shaft drive are certainly different from anything I’d ridden before. I got to the first roundabout in Hertford and nearly fell over – the bike’s a bit tall you see! However the sublime balance of the thing soon proved itself as I squeezed myself through the traffic on the A10 and filtered up to the lights ready to zoom forward.

This is one amazing machine. It makes no sense whatsoever that something that is heavy when wheeled around should be so balanced while on the move, that such a "dull" engine should be such a scream to use and that the bike should encourage you to ride like a loon with its excellent handling. You might tell I rather like it. Definitely a psycho bike.

It’s great in town – the commanding view, an imposing style that seems to make cars get out of the way and decent controls and amazing turning circle all contribute. It’s equally at home on the open road with a comfy riding position for motorway work while it loves country roads and the twisty bits. You can happily ride it for hours at a time and not feel stressed or achy. The only small downside is the screen that creates a lot of wind noise but then I’ve not yet experimented with adjusting it so this problem may well go away in time.

My machine’s got ABS (not used in anger yet), hard luggage, heated grips (sheer luxury) and hand guards. All in all it’s worth every penny and it’s no surprise BMW can’t keep with the demand. Now all I’ve got to do is see if I can learn to ride it like a certain Mr Simon Pavey :-)