Impressions from the first ride.

Spent 74 km riding the bike home from the dealer to establish first impressions with the bike.
First of all, I was a bit anxious about the first part of the ride since it has been a long time since I had ridden a bike this size. I could imagine many bad things - stalling on the roadway, dropping the bike in a turn, getting distracted and running a red light, any form of crash on the ride home … Cray (the sales guy) advised me that the tires are new - they need 500km to rub off the hold compound and get full traction, plus since it was 6C, the road was cold - drive the bike like you are in the snow. Great, first ride and I should drive like it's in the snow.


Not a problem. Let the clutch out, moved to the roadway, made my right hand turn (a bit wide) and started home (whew - survived the first challenge. Cray said I wouldn't be the first if I dropped the bike leaving the parking lot). First gear is tall - that will increase the challenge during off-pavement riding. The bike actually feels smallish - not 250cc enduro small, but it's definitely not a big bike. The weight feels top heavy so it can't be thrown around like an dirt bike. That makes the steering much slower than a my prior steeds - probably not bad since a dirt bike is not designed to do 160+ km/h. It didn't take long to get into the groove with the bike which means not proficient but also not a danger to myself or others on the road.
The throttle is really sensitive. A couple of times, when adjusting the temperature on the heated grips (standard on the Beemer), the slight twitch of the wrist cased a major surge in power. Others have reprogrammed the ECU to eliminate this feature - I can see why. Driving through a curve takes concentration to ensure that the throttle does not blip - felt that happen in a minor way. A real blip would cause a low side.


I was surprisingly warm in the Klim gear - warm in fact, for the entire trip. There was a tiny air leak at the top of the collar where it meets the helmet - not a problem, just noticeable. I'll need a neck gaiter for future cold rides. The handle bar warmers worked magnificently. In fact, the high setting was too hot. My hands never got cold in the 3 season Revit gloves. That's good for all but the warmest days - then, they will likely be too hot. The Shoei Neotec helmet is very comfortable and has excellent visibility. It does fog very easily and the pin lock mounts are very noticeable during side glances for lane changes. 


Close to home, I took the bike around the neighbour hood to practice slow driving. Street speeds keep the bike in second gear LOL. I'll need many hours to get full proficiency in quick manoeuvres. This first year will focus on gaining basic bike skills on the heavier machine. The traffic calming bumps on Shaver Ave North helped demonstrate why this bike is a favourite off pavement. While the street is rated at 30k and any car taking a bump at that speed risks scraping their bumpers, the BMW didn't even notice them. I bet that standing, combined with a blip of the throttle at high revs on approach (wheelie factor), the bike could hit those bumps at 100km/h no problem. Let me get a bit more practice before testing that hypothesis.
The bike reluctantly went into the garage, hooked up the battery tender so that the alarm system does't drain the battery and Julie and I jumped into the car for a weekend with Brian and Harriet. Can't wait to get back to TO, install the basic farkles and spend monday (day off) riding all day. That will test the common complaint of the 800GS, that the saddle causes major ass pain.