Ridefast July 2021

stationary traffic, but the RT politely applied brakes
and brought the bike to a stop when necessary or
sped up again as needed. I really like this feature …
next they need to add DCT to the RT and it will be
the perfect tourer … until somebody works out how
to fit Tesla’s auto pilot self-drive system.
Initially I wasn’t terribly happy with the electronic
suspension which started off feeling quite bouncy
but as the ride progressed it felt like it was adapting
itself to my weight and riding style and definitely got
a lot better and much more confidence inspiring to
the point where I was prepared to trust it and the
tyres quite a lot in the wet twistys of the pass. And
BMW’s linked or dual braking system really works
so well that it almost seems intuitive. Overall I really
enjoyed my ride on the R1250RT and look forward
to spending some more time with it in the near
future – like I said, time and the weather weren’t on
our side so the ride was really too brief and controlled
to really experience all the new features.
Here are some of the highlights with a full, proper
test soon – and OH YES! Make sure you grab this
months Dirt And Trail Magazine for my impressions
of the famous GS1250.
R1200 RS, 2016
R1250 RS, 2019
20 000km - Plenty Extras
11 000km - Too Many extras to mention
R255 R125 000 000
R75 R185 000 000 R319 R315 000 000
I can honestly say that I have never, ever traversed Robinson
pass in the dry and I have been fortunate to have done it a
couple of times in the past 20 years or so. It is always, in my
experience, misty with a light to heavy drizzle making the road
quite greasy. The road itself is an absolute joy to ride, from
tight and twisty to open and sweepy in other places with some
of the most jaw dropping views, (when the mist lifts occasionally),
you could ever imagine.
Riding the all new R1250RT was the correct bike for the
weather and the road on the day. I am quite tall and generally
find windshields are designed for the shorter rider and interfere
with my line of sight, but with this bikes electronically adjustable
screen I found that I could still see over it enough to feel
safe but still enjoy all the wind and weather protection benefits
it offers. The great feature I enjoyed is that it always returned to
the last position I had it on when I turned the bike off. Now, let
me say this, even though we spent a good amount of time riding
in the drizzle I barely got wet, a great plus in my riding enjoyment.
At some points the roads were very slick and I spent
a fair amount of time in ‘rain mode’ which kept everything tidy
and did not interfere noticeably with my riding. I often find the
electronics to be too intrusive to the point that I feel unsafe and
end up switching everything off as much as they can be. Once
we were on some dry tarmac I managed to mess around with
some of the other onboard electronic aids and there is a very
noticeable difference from ‘eco mode’ and ‘rain mode’ through
to ‘dynamic mode’. But for me the most mind bending and fun
was to play around with the adaptive cruise control. It’s easily
activated by a button on the left hand handle bar it adjusts your
speed to the traffic around you. Where you used to have to tap
the brakes and disengage cruise control to avoid running into
other road users, the radar mounted on the front of the bike
chats to the brains of the bike and slows down for slower or
stationary traffic and accelerates back to your set speed once
past or they speed up again. I played with it through the town
of Oudtshoorn, putting the bike in cruise control and holding
my hands on my helmet. It took all sorts of will power not to
grab for the bars and the brakes when riding up to slower or
R NINE T, 2020
4000km
R129 R145 000
R299 000 R159 R165 000
R179 R185 000 R165 R175 000 R179 R185 000
RIDEFAST MAGAZINE JUNE 2021 43