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Big hands needed for BMW

Us girls will always find something to whinge about

Kev and I decided to go out the other Sunday for a bimble. BMWs were the order of the day, Kev on the GS 1200 as he’d cleaned the 1150 and being a typical man won’t let a speck of dirt touch it! I rode the K1200 Sport, which is on loan to us whilst I decide what new bike takes my fancy.

Those that ride with us regularly know my feelings about the GS, lovely bike, just I’m not keen on the upright riding position, particularly after being a confirmed sports bike rider for the last decade, also the bars are just too wide for the average females’ shoulders.

Now don’t get me wrong, the K1200 Sport is also a great bike, it holds the road, and possibly out accelerates my Aprilia Factory, but it just doesn’t do it for me. It’s totally unsexy to ride, it feels like you’re sitting on an under stuffed Shackleton’s armchair, and it corners like a fat slice of Arctic Roll, probably because the wheel base feels too long, a bit like skiing with long skis I suppose, you end up wallowing around the bends. But by far the most annoying thing is the span adjuster on the clutch lever, even at its closest setting my girly hands are too small to reach it without rolling my whole hand forward to reach the lever, which as you can imagine is not great for trying to ride the bike at slow speed on the clutch. After I’d whinged at Kev for 80 miles or so we swapped bikes and he agreed that even with his boy hands the levers seem to have been designed for an 8ft tall troll.

Never mind the ride of the bike, I also think it’s such an ugly machine compared to the rest of the BMW fleet that have interesting and innovative styling, the headlight for example is distinctly 1980s.

So the search for my next bike continues, I still can’t bring myself to get rid of the trusty Aprilia, but now I’m on the wrong side of forty I don’t want to look like an old fart on a sports bike trying to relive my youth!

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