Teapot One is lukewarm on the 2021 R1250RS

[Grumpy Goat]

Bruce took this loaner out on a First Ride review and here are his impressions.

[ESquared]

Bruce took this loaner out on a First Ride review and here are his impressions.

"...not ticklin' my danglies" sort of boils down to personal preference, based on a first-time, relatively short ride, doesn't it?

Most of his points of comparison are to "the tractor" GS that he owns. Drivetrain aside, seems like the old "apples vs. oranges" conversation.

Pretty entertaining guy, though; have never come across him before.

Different strokes, right?

Thanks for sharing!

[Grumpy Goat]

Bruce is one of a cadre of popular UK vloggers who I like to watch, a favourite being the Missenden Flyer. Bruce is famous for going around the world years ago on a Suzuki Gixxer 1000 and has his roots in sport bikes. He now has a 1250 GS among other bikes and since resigning from the London Met he has been doing YouTube full time.

He needs to spend more time on the RS for a greater appreciation but knowing him I expect that his opinion won't change that much. Muscle memory is a good and bad thing ...

[ESquared]

I'm very impressed with the Missenden Flyer. As I'm sure you know, he did several installments on his time with the RS, which I've watched a few times now whilst (!) awaiting my delivery. Have to say, he influenced my decision.
He pours a lot of time into his "hobby," and he's much more my cup of tea than Stuart Fillingham.
Will dig further now on Bruce's work!

[Pyrrho]

Big fan of Missenden Flyer here too. Oh, to have his garage!

Saw this video this morning. I think he's another one of those people who feel some weight on their wrists on an RS and don't know what to do -- once they start riding a adv bike their cores go soft. The rake is longer so it's not as flickable, yes, but the added stability makes a difference in high speed sweepers and resilience to truck turbulence and/or side winds. The RS doesn't excite him because he doesn't appreciate the sort of riding the RS was purposely engineered to address.

He tries to cover by saying he understands why someone would get one, but I think that's just to try to head off criticism from RS owners.

[ESquared]

It's interesting that a guy like the Flyer would carp about the pressure on his wrists but then pretty much ignore the world of aftermarket fixes for that issue that many owners have successfully used to make their RSs more comfortable. And tweaking it is half the fun!
And this bike's plenty flickable for me.

[Motorhead1977]

My 1250 RS is everything I need it to be and easily spiritedly ridden in the tight twisty roads of the Great Smokey Mountains. If you want "flickable" take a ride on my 87 Honda VFR 400R. Now that's the definition of "flickable". Hehehe

[TriangleRider]

It makes sense that a GS rider would find an RS different. Not sure why he was surprised that a GS is easier to turn.

[Grumpy Goat]

It makes sense that a GS rider would find an RS different. Not sure why he was surprised that a GS is easier to turn.

Wider bars, probably. That and the different front-end suspension, load distribution, and geometry ...?

I have only ridden a GS once, years ago during a demo ride with others at the dealership, where I did to get to experience squat. I tend to discount that experience and treat it as if I never rode the thing at all. I do recall that it was pretty easy to ride, but then I was an RS rider at the time ...

[TriangleRider]

It makes sense that a GS rider would find an RS different. Not sure why he was surprised that a GS is easier to turn.

Wider bars, probably. That and the different front-end suspension, load distribution, and geometry ...?

I have only ridden a GS once, years ago during a demo ride with others at the dealership, where I did to get to experience squat. I tend to discount that experience and treat it as if I never rode the thing at all. I do recall that it was pretty easy to ride, but then I was an RS rider at the time ...

The GS bars (nearly 20 cm wider than an RS), shorter wheelbase, and the 19 inch front wheel will definitely make that bike more "flickable".

The reviewer seems to lack basic knowledge about bikes, such as not knowing basic differences between the RS and GS (other than riding position) or the difference between suspension preload and damping (confusing the ESA functions). Hard to take the review too seriously.

[Grumpy Goat]

....
The reviewer seems to lack basic knowledge about bikes, such as not knowing basic differences between the RS and GS (other than riding position) or the difference between suspension preload and damping (confusing the ESA functions). Hard to take the review too seriously.

Hehehe .... I wouldn't say that ... he actually has a wide knowledge of bikes. Watch his channel and you'll see what I mean. It is just that this was sort of a flippant first ride comparison. He is not averse to earing his own initial impression opinions, and I believe in this same video he said as much regarding the R18.

[OlieL]

I'm a patreon supporter of Teapot and messaged him about the review; he said "Got to admit, after I filmed this, I jumped back on it at the end of the day to ride it back to the dealership, and when you opened her up and rode with some 'spirit', the bike came alive". So maybe he'll revisit for a longer ride at a later date.

[Grumpy Goat]

I'm a patreon supporter of Teapot and messaged him about the review; he said "Got to admit, after I filmed this, I jumped back on it at the end of the day to ride it back to the dealership, and when you opened her up and rode with some 'spirit', the bike came alive". So maybe he'll revisit for a longer ride at a later date.

I would not be surprised if he changes his review a bit after spending a bit more time. Those were his initial impressions in that video after all. 

One of the endering features of the RS (and likely all BMW boxers) is that they can be docile when needed and can also be boisterous when needed, so that if one is gentle with the throttle the docile nature is evident and one could get the wrong impression. Suddenly twist the throttle and you could fall off the back if not expecting the reaction. That multi-faceted personality is absolutely fine by me. AAMOF it is one of the reason I got rid of the S1000R. It was too one dimensional (always raring to go-go-go) compared to the RS, which can be relied upon to be in whatever mood you are in.

[Becksy]

The GS bars (nearly 20 cm wider than an RS), shorter wheelbase, and the 19 inch front wheel will definitely make that bike more "flickable". 

I thought a 19" front made a bike less turnable. The only benefit of a larger wheel is to ride over the bumps better...?

[Grumpy Goat]

I thought a 19" front made a bike less turnable. The only benefit of a larger wheel is to ride over the bumps better...?

To my knowledge both statements are true.

All things being equal, a larger diameter wheel will have a higher mass and also a highter rotational moment of intertia and hence a higher resistance to turn, i.e. it would be less "flickable". With muscle memory, this increase (alone) from a 17" to a 19" wheel would be small, and could be overcompensated by the wider / more conventional bars of the GS compared with the RS, hence the possibility for greater preceived flickability. Of course front end geometry has a big part to play also, and the two bikes are quite different in this regard. (Rake/Trail (inches): GS: 24.1/3.8 vs RS: 26.7/4.4; depends on the source) The smaller these numbers the more "flickable" and the larger the better directional stability.

All has to do with balancing the variables to suite the mission profile.