With only 110 horses being pumped out, it’s not 200hp sports bike fast, but with the gob loads of torque the motor produces, it’s in no way slow. In fact, I think given two riders of equal ability, one riding a pure sports bike and the other atop the Urban G/S, the sports bike rider might have great difficulty passing the R nineT if the terrain is tight.
Obviously the bike’s main limiting factors are only ground clearance and the limits of the optional Continental TKC80 tyres fitted to our test bike, in place of the standard Metzeler Z8. This machine was also optioned with spoked rims over the standard alloys.
The gearbox which is very light in its shift action, and an area which truly surprised me is the positivity of the shifting, especially given that I have read other reviews which complained about the shift action. It never missed a gear, it snicked its way up and down the box in a remarkably refined and definite manner. BMW have done a great job with this gearbox.
The clutch action is also a wonderfully pleasant thing. It’s very light to use and something which I have always been a fan of on BMW Boxers for over 25 years, is the smoothness of the clutch action. I rate the single plate clutch on the late air-oil cooled boxer motors as one of the best clutch actions of any motorcycle I have ever sampled. It sure as hell makes wet multiplate clutches feel snatchy and heavy in comparison.
The brakes, although being a lower spec’ version of four-piston Brembo calipers, are also fantastic and a good match for the bike. They have great initial bite and more than enough power to pull the Urban G/S up fast! The brakes have ABS as standard and the best thing I could say about that, is that at no point did I ever activate the ABS system.
In other words, BMW have got it right when it comes to the activation point of the ABS. You would have to be a ham fisted numpty to have the ABS kick in on normal dry tarmac covered roads. Apart from entering a dirt carpark halfway along the twisty section of the test route, I didn’t have the opportunity to test out the ABS in the dirt, but Trev took it up to the snow and remained upright so it can’t be too bad.
This R nineT Urban G/S of course comes equipped with the optional ASC (traction control), which can be deactivated on the fly, as again Trev exhibits.
All I can say is that it never once intruded during normal riding. I did at one point along the route attempt to provoke it into activating, just to see how it acted. But I had to ride like a twat in order to do that. When it did activate, it was with a lot of lean angle, high revs and a mashed throttle before I felt it do its thing. Again, this to me is a good thing, it’s there if you make a mistake but it really doesn’t become something which intrudes on the experience. Great job BMW. If you want an Urban G/S without traction control you may need to look hard, as BMW Australia will not bring many base model bikes into the country.
