It’s the market Rotowrench. Hight tech is hip. New generation of buyers. Large expendable Incomes. Good taste in motorcycles AND it’s stoked with high tech stuff.
Agree mostly and I suppose my 2020 Pure just escaped most updates.
There is merit in your statement. For many the nine t is a return to basic/ bare bone maybe just a tad less. I like my heated grips and ABS. I like the cable accelerator, unfortunately the fly by wire is the way to go with BMW if you want cruise control, which is nice to have when doing long stretches of open road. The men in white coats have to comply with euro 5, hence all the changes in engine design. We have a liquid cooled boxer because of euro requirements, etc. All the safety and mode options is because more people demand it. It would have been more sensible if they upgraded just the suspension, the suspension reminds me of riding a bike in the eighties. However, I can live with stock suspension and doubt that I will look at modifications. At end of the day the bikes will evolve, safety always a consideration, but we have to stay safe and be sensible when riding. I hope they keep the nine t spartan on electronics. I fear that my GSA has evolved to far with to many electronics. When they improve suspension of urban and scrambler the GSA will find a new captain.Well, I feel grumpy and the urge to share my thoughts ....
So. one cross each and off we go (you can hang, draw and quarter me later
I have been driving motorcycles for over 45 year now, my 2018 Turban being bike number 56 or 58. I lost count on the way through the ½ a million plus kilometers I have done on my bikes.
Consisitency probably never has been my strong side, especially when it came to types of bikes or makers. I had, for example, sworn never ever to ride a BMW again after a serious issues with an F800S but am a very happy owner of a Turban now
I ride bikes because I like to. Don’t even own a car....
The thrill, the danger, the excitement, the wrenching, the differnt way of taking in your surroundings all appeal to me.
If it was possible I would have bought the Turban without the ABS, by the way.
If I wanted to travel safely, with all the creature comforts and all the suggestive safety possible, I would do it on foot or in a car.
No matter how much wizardy the industry will throw at it, you can’t change natural laws.
f you go too fast – you die, if the roads are too slippery – you die, if a tire suddenly looses pressure at a 100 mph – you die.... Well, maybe you get only badly maimed, but the basic idea stays the same, unfortunately.
All those gizmos may give you the impression of being in control all the time.
Well, the beauty of riding a motorcycle for me is – I most definetely am not, and I try never to forget that fact.
Do you think TMPS, ABS Pro, rain mode and traction control will safe your hide when you duly stop at a traffic light and a 95 year old graveyard candidate mows you down, late on their way to church? Or a stressed young mother of 3 who desperatedly needs to read the last social media post on her smartphone does not see you in a turn....?
For me the beauty of riding a bike is using all my senses to take in everything around me, enjoy the movement - and surviving. I don’t want electronical gadgets to take over that responsability and I do not think they are able to either.
So, for me: no GPS (ok, I may occasionally fall for one of those – though it totally messes up my natural sense of orientation and route finding), no rain modes (I just am more careful in adverse conditions – taught to me by umpteen years of all-year-round driving) no cameras, Bluetooth, music etc....
And most certainly no twiddling on jog wheels, circling with joysticks or scrolling through pages of „information“ on a 10“ touch screen while driving.
It probably means being a complety OCD person, but I do actually check before every ride for fluid leaks, tire pressure, working brakes and loose spokes.
Sometimes I wonder how people who are piloting planes (and hence know all about pre-flight checks) have such different approaches to driving their much more dangerous motorbikes.
I am a keen fan of T.H.Lawrences writings and opinions on motorbikes and speed, though I would rather like not to die like him (on his Brough Superior).
For all who think they have to feed that evergrowing marketing beast selling us ever more gadetry – have a little read on what happens to you when the 70 cent battery on your TPMS sensor gives in after 2 years. Not detrimental to your health but very bad for your wallet.
And if you can’t be bothered to check the tire pressure before every ride, or don’t sense a drop in pressure while you ride – you can happily clap your hands while flying off, when your TPMS informs you of a catastrophic drop in pressure.
As a final thought it would be interesting to see whether BMW with this whole new range of „goodies“ maybe managed to produce waterproof headlights or switchgear.
Nobody commenting on even more unrepairable electronics, but still the same 1970'ies ish fork internals for the right side up forks?
Perhaps it is great to have a rain mode in the 2021 model, but I would have appreciated waterpoofing on my components much more.......
Or small little common sense things like an ignition lock that doesn’t function as a raincollector (and then freezes in winter), mudguards worth their name or just a seat which can be removed without a tool.
Or just putting the control glasses for clutch and brake fluid on the driver side so you can actually see them when you are sitting on your bike.
That’s just my 5 cents for now – fire away....
Bernhard
Well, I feel grumpy and the urge to share my thoughts ....
So. one cross each and off we go (you can hang, draw and quarter me later
I have been driving motorcycles for over 45 year now, my 2018 Turban being bike number 56 or 58. I lost count on the way through the ½ a million plus kilometers I have done on my bikes.
Consisitency probably never has been my strong side, especially when it came to types of bikes or makers. I had, for example, sworn never ever to ride a BMW again after a serious issues with an F800S but am a very happy owner of a Turban now
I ride bikes because I like to. Don’t even own a car....
The thrill, the danger, the excitement, the wrenching, the differnt way of taking in your surroundings all appeal to me.
If it was possible I would have bought the Turban without the ABS, by the way.
If I wanted to travel safely, with all the creature comforts and all the suggestive safety possible, I would do it on foot or in a car.
No matter how much wizardy the industry will throw at it, you can’t change natural laws.
f you go too fast – you die, if the roads are too slippery – you die, if a tire suddenly looses pressure at a 100 mph – you die.... Well, maybe you get only badly maimed, but the basic idea stays the same, unfortunately.
All those gizmos may give you the impression of being in control all the time.
Well, the beauty of riding a motorcycle for me is – I most definetely am not, and I try never to forget that fact.
Do you think TMPS, ABS Pro, rain mode and traction control will safe your hide when you duly stop at a traffic light and a 95 year old graveyard candidate mows you down, late on their way to church? Or a stressed young mother of 3 who desperatedly needs to read the last social media post on her smartphone does not see you in a turn....?
For me the beauty of riding a bike is using all my senses to take in everything around me, enjoy the movement - and surviving. I don’t want electronical gadgets to take over that responsability and I do not think they are able to either.
So, for me: no GPS (ok, I may occasionally fall for one of those – though it totally messes up my natural sense of orientation and route finding), no rain modes (I just am more careful in adverse conditions – taught to me by umpteen years of all-year-round driving) no cameras, Bluetooth, music etc....
And most certainly no twiddling on jog wheels, circling with joysticks or scrolling through pages of „information“ on a 10“ touch screen while driving.
It probably means being a complety OCD person, but I do actually check before every ride for fluid leaks, tire pressure, working brakes and loose spokes.
Sometimes I wonder how people who are piloting planes (and hence know all about pre-flight checks) have such different approaches to driving their much more dangerous motorbikes.
I am a keen fan of T.H.Lawrences writings and opinions on motorbikes and speed, though I would rather like not to die like him (on his Brough Superior).
For all who think they have to feed that evergrowing marketing beast selling us ever more gadetry – have a little read on what happens to you when the 70 cent battery on your TPMS sensor gives in after 2 years. Not detrimental to your health but very bad for your wallet.
And if you can’t be bothered to check the tire pressure before every ride, or don’t sense a drop in pressure while you ride – you can happily clap your hands while flying off, when your TPMS informs you of a catastrophic drop in pressure.
As a final thought it would be interesting to see whether BMW with this whole new range of „goodies“ maybe managed to produce waterproof headlights or switchgear.
Nobody commenting on even more unrepairable electronics, but still the same 1970'ies ish fork internals for the right side up forks?
Perhaps it is great to have a rain mode in the 2021 model, but I would have appreciated waterpoofing on my components much more.......
Or small little common sense things like an ignition lock that doesn’t function as a raincollector (and then freezes in winter), mudguards worth their name or just a seat which can be removed without a tool.
Or just putting the control glasses for clutch and brake fluid on the driver side so you can actually see them when you are sitting on your bike.
That’s just my 5 cents for now – fire away....
Bernhard
