Then something new comes along so if they are happy to let you have a test ride then why not?
So with that in mind and the idea of having one more silly mental sportsbike before i get too old, i am on a mission to test ride the 3 new bikes of the year - S1000RR, R1 and the Panigale 1299S. It seems test riding an S1000RR is fairly straight forward and BMW are very keen to let you try one so with that in mind i was booked in for an hour this afternoon in Wolverhampton.
First point to remember is never book a test ride just as the Wolves home match finishes. It took me 20 minutes and all of my old knowledge of Wolverhampton to get out to country roads. I decided on a route i know well out to Shifnal and back.
The bike is the motorsport version with most of the bells and whistles - no forged wheels though. To be honest in town and with traffic it is dead easy to ride and control. The motor has bags of torque and was quite happy picking up from less than 30mph in 5th gear. I had the bike in sport mode initially. Once out in the countryside i opened it up a bit...and my eyeballs nearly got forced back into my brain. Holy shit! this thing is mental. Pulls like a train from way low down and just keeps pulling...and pulling...and pulling. The handling is beautifully balanced, easy to turn in and very stable once on its side.
Once out on the back roads i put it in race mode and the throttle was noticeably sharper without ever being to abrupt. Again overtakes were simple as the bike has power by the bucketload, wherever you are in the rev range. And the brakes for when you come up a bit quick behind a car are just phenomenal, loads of feel and pull the bike up so quick, all the time under compete control. The suspension is the semi active version and the front forks are again so planted and when you haul the bike down from speed the damping is so controlled and keeps the bike straight and perfectly balanced...if there was a complaint it is that the rear shock didn't quite feel so perfect and was a little harsh at times but i guess that could be fiddled with. All too soon i had to make my way back as i was only insured for an hour but again, the bike is so easy to ride, so well balanced and the engine has so much stomp. You really could race this one day and then commute to work on it the next.
If i had one minor complaint it was that the quickshifter ( which i had forgotten all about until about half way round) could be a little abrupt in cutting the load on the engine when pinning the throttle. There was a pronounced jerk as the load i cut. To be honest, my experience of quickshifters is limited to the test rides on the 1199 and 899 Panigales but i don't recollect this happening on them to quite this effect but maybe they did.
All in just a beautiful bike ( in Motorsport colours anyway), its burbles and pops on the over run to give the engine a bit of character and you could use this bike for just about anything, commute, race, trackday or tour. The pegs were a little high for my liking and the steering lock was a little sharp but it was comfortable to ride and so very very easy to ride too.
Now if Frankie could just give me a big discount
Just me know how you wish to pay 
The black one looks awesome as well.
