After a few years of experiencing BM’s middleweight twin the time had come for a change. Should I go for a R100RS, or a K or throw reason to the wind by plumping for an FJ1200, and to hell with the quality of Germany's finest. After some soul searching for a few months, I decided on a K75 - so far I don’t regret it one bit.
My first impression was to wonder how something made by BMW could feel so different from the R series. The bike actually feels lighter despite weighing more than the twins, it's easier to pop on and off the stands, which look as if they will actually hold up the bike. The pop-up handle really takes the effort out of lifting it onto the main stand, the only problem comes when trying to use the prop stand whilst seated on the bike - dismounting first was a lot safer than dropping the bike after the side stand shoots back up.
The K75 felt right as soon as I mounted it. A nice comfortable seat and natural riding position. The bike fires up straight away with no choke necessary, an even, steady tickover immediately achieved unlike the twins that need 3 miles to stop coughing and spluttering. Virtually no back end lift from the shaft drive on take off, the engine feeling sweet and smooth, thanks to a three cylinder OHC engine with a balance shaft.
My first problem was at the first junction. Why did BMW have to radically alter all the switches? Nothing like anything I’d ever ridden before. A first for me was the two indicator switches, one each side and a cancelling button on the right. Not easy to find, initially. There seems to be about three switches on each side of the bars and I've yet to hit the horn in hurry instead of the lamp flasher; and vice-versa.
Next impression was, what good front brakes - one or two fingers will squeal the front end. Too good for the forks, in fact, as they take a dive all the way down onto the stops under the slightest provocation. The rear drum is good, in so much that I didn’t want a disc at the back (in my view, never necessary, and they all seem to expire from crud and leaks). It’s not as fierce as the one I had on the twin, so it doesn’t lock up easily in the wet. The excellent Metzeler tyres suited the bike perfectly and I'm going to stay with ‘em.
The bike was four years old when I bought it and had not been cleaned for as many years - it was so bad that the wife advised me not to buy it, but I'd had a pleasant test ride and wasn’t to be dissuaded that easily, A little rub with my finger on the alloy revealed that it was as new underneath, and the paint, apart from two dents in the tank, also appeared in good trim under the dirt.
The next three weeks were spent stripping the cycle parts down. One packet of Brillo pads and two tubes of Solvol, three toothbrushes and four hours hard labour on the alloy wheels had them looking like new. Try that with Jap alloy. Three coats of Scientific Coating’s finest had them looking even better and they now seem to throw the dirt off rather than attracting it. The bike had a really silly flyscreen, neither practical nor attractive, which directed the wind straight into my face, so I soon pulled that off.
Further work included some BMW knee pads (not cheap at £35 - didn’t we used to get these free on old British bikes), a DIY BMW comfort seat, the front forks were stiffened with stronger springs and fork oil was changed to SAE 5, and a set of panniers and top box, again from BMW. Brake dive was a thing of the past, although comfort levels were not impaired. I spent many hours figuring out how to get the panniers on and off the frames. I spent a whole afternoon trving to learn the knack and then they suddenly clicked on but wouldn't come off again. All was revealed when I found the small tab.
Back on the road, I was well impressed by the excellent, light, gearbox action; could this really be a BMW? There is little shaft drive reaction in normal riding, and even really pushing the bike held few of terrors associated with riding BMW boxers. The engine is both smooth and has plenty of torque, allowing the bike to pull from less than 30mph in top gear. A four speed gearbox would've been more than sufficient, it was quite usual to go for many miles without having to think about changing gears, such was the production of torque throughout the rev range.
Top speed is a reasonable 125mph, more than enough for my needs. Rather more importantly, the bike is so easy to ride that it’s a pleasure to cover long distances and the triple lopes along with al! the finesse of the boxers without any of their idiosyncrasies. I haven't really stretched the performance, happy to do 90mph, a speed at which the motor retains its smoothness, the chassis its stability and the tyres their excellent road holding.
The engine holds few inherent faults, as far as I can ascertain, and the sideways orientation of the cylinders leaves the OHC head, with a mere two valves per cylinder, well exposed for the servicing chores. All that’s necessary are a good set of Allen keys, the correct plug spanner and a lot of faith in the injection unit (a frighteningly complex device which I would not dare to interfere with).
The combination of a relatively mild state of tune and the advanced electronics of the ignition and fuel injection systems means it's a reasonably economic motor. I average 57mpg under mixed riding, which coincided exactly with a mate’s experiences on a similar bike, although using leaded petrol improves that to 63mpg.
A little bit of corroboration to the Mis-Lead debate in the letters pages. As no-one can tell what type of petrol is being used, could using leaded petrol become a secret vice?
The above consumption was achieved with one of Sprint's RS fairings fitted (expensive at £400 but good quality stuff), which shows that a well shaped fairing that gives good hand and body protection need not necessarily adversely affect fuel economy. A few BM’ shops do a version of the K75 with the boxer RS fairing fitted and it'd be interesting to read about how that one goes.
The point about BMWs has always been that you buy them for the long term. Things like stainless steel exhausts (however damn ugly they look), first grade alloy and paint, plus performance that doesn’t rapidly drop off after the warranty’s expired or if it isn’t serviced every 1000 miles, begin to show up the longer you keep the bike. Depreciation is reasonable and not even that important if you can avoid the G-reg syndrome.
I’m intent on keeping my bike for as long as possible. I’ve yet to read a bad road test on one, although I've seen a few niggling ones about such items as dipping front forks, but you can fix that for £36. What you're left with is a bloody good, quick, smooth bike with the bonus of a lovely but quiet, whispering exhaust note. After all, no-one had yet made a triple that sounds bad.
P Toybe
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