gives you the best of both worlds. Add in multiple power modes for road and track that are highly adjustable for traction control and power delivery, excellent Pro-Shift- Assist, a slipper clutch and the option for TC completely off for the brave and you have one hell of an engine. The more I ride bikes with this sort of outrageous power, the greater the respect I have for Superbike and MotoGP racers – they are indeed phenomenal.
LEGGY GERMAN The ergo’ s are not that well-suited to the short of leg, it is surprisingly tall. And it is not just the long 140mm of electronically adjustable suspension travel that creates the height. The pillion seat is substantially higher than the 850mm rider seat height( a lower seat option is available) – meaning you are getting your leg over a metre tall rear seat. It will be a struggle for some for sure. It is large adventure bike tall when it comes to ease of use for the short. However, being at the other end of the height spectrum, I found the height fine, but the seat itself uncomfortable over time because I was locked in a cramped forward position by the pillion seat which stopped me sliding back to stretch my legs a little. Rest assured though; the vast majority in between the two extremes will likely be comfortable. It did get me thinking though … is too much emphasis put into pillion seats when they are seldom, if ever, used? How
about just making the rider’ s seat awesome and adjustable, with a decent pillion seat option?
M SUSPENSION AND BRAKES The braking performance of this bike is truly topshelf. A light touch of the front brake lever gives stopping power that’ s immediate and strong. Although sensitive to only a finger or two, lever feel is still excellent. It is one front brake where ABS must be genuinely helpful in the wet, but such a shame the ABS is not switchable because it would be awesome for stoppies. The BMW M brakes are very powerful and, interestingly, have Nissin written on the back of the calipers, which doesn’ t surprise me- Nissin makes some great brakes. Overall, I found the suspension action on the firm side for the roads I most often ride, but I do live out in the boonies, so it has its work cut out. Dynamic mode has the default electronic ESA setting fairly unresponsive for bumpy back roads. It is not nasty hard, just not particularly comfortable. Road mode was better, but still firm-ish. Unfortunately, most of this test was done in wet weather. So, while I guess rain mode has plusher suspension action as a default setting, I could not really tell because I was putting around like a total pussy, terrified of dropping this beautiful, not to mention expensive, machine. Happily, if one of the Race Pro modes is selected, all parameters of compression and
KIWI RIDER 75