Steady
Pack Dog
I just sold my HP2 :'(
As the new owner opened the gas and rode up the road I knew I was looking at one of the sexiest bikes I had ever owned, in fact, ever seen. My wife took one look at my face and gave me a hug telling me later that she could see the sadness in my eyes.
Am I sorry I sold it? No. The decision to sell the bike was never made because I had to sell, but rather because I wanted to sell as I would never ride it like it was meant to be ridden, I just could not bring myself to stuff up such a good looking bike, so while it was in pristine condition I decided to take the money and admire my bank balance while I gave some serious thought to what's next.
I bought the last new HP2 in SA before the 18 Canadian bikes were shipped in to satisfy a demand driven by "there are no more"! That was in February 2008, not long after I had sold the 1200 ADV. I had always admired, well perhaps yearned for, the HP2 but knew it had limitations. Never mind, I bought it. I just had to have one. Two years and 8919 km's later I have a fair idea what the HP2 has to offer and would like to share my likes as well as dislikes with those who would care to hear.
The Good
The looks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I for one think that you should never be seen on an ugly bike! There is no excuse. :deal:
The power. It's insane and it's addictive. 74KW, 105 NM. If you could keep the front wheel on the ground and the tyre stuck to the road, it gets going like a bullet out of a barrel.
The weight. 197 kg's full of gas.
Ride height. For someone my height, it is very comfortable, giving good vision in traffic.
Slim line comfort. Coming from an adventure I found the narrow seat and tank a pleasure. Good bye couch pilot. :biggrin:
Simple cockpit. No bells and whistles, just what you need. I have never felt the need to look at a rev counter and think "gear change, hello"?
Fuel warning light worked well and was accurate, never let me down.
Power delivery. Smooth and balanced through all the gears and the gearing was perfect, in all situations.
Balance. Low centre of gravity makes it so easy to creep along without having to work to stay upright.
Tubeless tyres. What is wrong with everyone else, wake up, even bicycles have tubeless tyres.
Shaft drive. Nuff said.
Reliability. Never, not once, did I walk into the garage and doubt that it would fire up 1st time and bring me back home after I was done riding.
Good economics. Paid R139k. Sold R120k. :thumleft:
*Some dislike the air bladder masquerading as a shock, I never minded it and was quite used to it, having one on a XChallenge. I never found the forks soft, well maybe under braking, I guess I just got used to them.
The Bad
That seat. Two hours was enough for me. Lucky for me I think two years in the army was preferable to riding to Nelspruit on the N4 on a motorbike, hate it, loath it. Why battle when you can trailer? Riding bikes is about single track, jeep track and woods trails.
Limited fuel capacity. Not sure BMW will ever get it right, the adventure has 33 litres, your arse runs out of blood supply before the bike runs out of gas, then on a HP2 you get to spend a lot of time in petrol attendants company. :deal: After market options are expensive or crappy.
Bash plate. I sucked it up from day one and ordered a Touratech one when I found the bike. The stock one is a shocker.
17" back wheel.???????????? What were they thinking? I think they cut their noses off to spite their smug faces, because if they had made an 18"rear wheel, that tubeless rim would have been available to riders of other makes.
Rider only, no pillions. Pillion pegs from BM were about as useful as a handbrake on a canoe. My missus had to stay at home, perhaps the biggest factor for me, I enjoy my wife's company. On the HP2 even a run to Magaliesberg on Sunday for breakfast was out of the question. No good.
*Wind protection. I think it's not as big a deal as you first imagine, easy fix with lots of options, relatively cheap as well. I never bothered as I never road long distance anyway.
Gone to a good home, yes I know it's only a bike, the truth is I almost felt it had a soul. 8)
There we go, short and sweet. Will I buy another one? Yes, I think I may, an older abused one in a few years time and pimp it like the one below. Right now I have other projects on the go and other things that need doing, besides I have a bike to ride in the meantime anyway. In fact, whenever faced with a choice of which bike to take to an off road week end I always took the XChallenge, very underrated bike, but my review will have to wait till I sell that, if ever. :mwink:
Some where in the future, something like this, perhaps. Real Badass bike :drif:
As the new owner opened the gas and rode up the road I knew I was looking at one of the sexiest bikes I had ever owned, in fact, ever seen. My wife took one look at my face and gave me a hug telling me later that she could see the sadness in my eyes.
Am I sorry I sold it? No. The decision to sell the bike was never made because I had to sell, but rather because I wanted to sell as I would never ride it like it was meant to be ridden, I just could not bring myself to stuff up such a good looking bike, so while it was in pristine condition I decided to take the money and admire my bank balance while I gave some serious thought to what's next.
I bought the last new HP2 in SA before the 18 Canadian bikes were shipped in to satisfy a demand driven by "there are no more"! That was in February 2008, not long after I had sold the 1200 ADV. I had always admired, well perhaps yearned for, the HP2 but knew it had limitations. Never mind, I bought it. I just had to have one. Two years and 8919 km's later I have a fair idea what the HP2 has to offer and would like to share my likes as well as dislikes with those who would care to hear.
The Good
The looks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I for one think that you should never be seen on an ugly bike! There is no excuse. :deal:
The power. It's insane and it's addictive. 74KW, 105 NM. If you could keep the front wheel on the ground and the tyre stuck to the road, it gets going like a bullet out of a barrel.
The weight. 197 kg's full of gas.
Ride height. For someone my height, it is very comfortable, giving good vision in traffic.
Slim line comfort. Coming from an adventure I found the narrow seat and tank a pleasure. Good bye couch pilot. :biggrin:
Simple cockpit. No bells and whistles, just what you need. I have never felt the need to look at a rev counter and think "gear change, hello"?
Fuel warning light worked well and was accurate, never let me down.
Power delivery. Smooth and balanced through all the gears and the gearing was perfect, in all situations.
Balance. Low centre of gravity makes it so easy to creep along without having to work to stay upright.
Tubeless tyres. What is wrong with everyone else, wake up, even bicycles have tubeless tyres.
Shaft drive. Nuff said.
Reliability. Never, not once, did I walk into the garage and doubt that it would fire up 1st time and bring me back home after I was done riding.
Good economics. Paid R139k. Sold R120k. :thumleft:
*Some dislike the air bladder masquerading as a shock, I never minded it and was quite used to it, having one on a XChallenge. I never found the forks soft, well maybe under braking, I guess I just got used to them.
The Bad
That seat. Two hours was enough for me. Lucky for me I think two years in the army was preferable to riding to Nelspruit on the N4 on a motorbike, hate it, loath it. Why battle when you can trailer? Riding bikes is about single track, jeep track and woods trails.
Limited fuel capacity. Not sure BMW will ever get it right, the adventure has 33 litres, your arse runs out of blood supply before the bike runs out of gas, then on a HP2 you get to spend a lot of time in petrol attendants company. :deal: After market options are expensive or crappy.
Bash plate. I sucked it up from day one and ordered a Touratech one when I found the bike. The stock one is a shocker.
17" back wheel.???????????? What were they thinking? I think they cut their noses off to spite their smug faces, because if they had made an 18"rear wheel, that tubeless rim would have been available to riders of other makes.
Rider only, no pillions. Pillion pegs from BM were about as useful as a handbrake on a canoe. My missus had to stay at home, perhaps the biggest factor for me, I enjoy my wife's company. On the HP2 even a run to Magaliesberg on Sunday for breakfast was out of the question. No good.
*Wind protection. I think it's not as big a deal as you first imagine, easy fix with lots of options, relatively cheap as well. I never bothered as I never road long distance anyway.
Gone to a good home, yes I know it's only a bike, the truth is I almost felt it had a soul. 8)
There we go, short and sweet. Will I buy another one? Yes, I think I may, an older abused one in a few years time and pimp it like the one below. Right now I have other projects on the go and other things that need doing, besides I have a bike to ride in the meantime anyway. In fact, whenever faced with a choice of which bike to take to an off road week end I always took the XChallenge, very underrated bike, but my review will have to wait till I sell that, if ever. :mwink:
Some where in the future, something like this, perhaps. Real Badass bike :drif:
