DATELINE DECEMBER 2007: An introduction to a big Bavarian changed my thinking.
You know what a lot of motorcycle brochures are like — generic as a horoscope and written by a group think tank - or the agency copywriter who got the gig because his uncle once owned a Norton. However, hop online and download the BMW HP2 Megamoto brochure and you’ll see this quote.
“The HP2 Megamoto is an uncompromising street bike. It’s equally at home drawing admiring glances in the urban jungle as it is tearing up country roads or drifting through corners on a racetrack. In keeping with the HP (BMW High Performance) philosophy, this is a machine that is stripped down to the bare essentials. Outstanding components and workmanship combine to make this a truly unique motorcycle — and its lightweight construction and powerful boxer engine ensure it delivers a unique adrenaline rush.”
The grammar could be better and slightly more to the point. But then, my German isn’t that flash either — but apart from grammar policing, it's just that: Bing! (No, not the old BMW carburettors.) As in Bingo! I found the quote quite correct.
It’s not a R1 or ZX-14, but it has 113 very usable ponies and 115Nm in a package that weighs 179kg dry. It hauls.
Adrenaline Rush
It also has the lightest front end of any big motorcycle I’ve tested. Truly feather-light steering.
When all that is combined with the excellent stability afforded by the 1,615mm wheelbase and the tubular steel space frame, the adrenaline is not only about the acceleration — but the speed it can carry into corners and the ease with which it negotiates them.
It’s a tall lump of a motorcycle, but it is impressively light and nimble to chuck around. It dares you to be extreme with it and turns it all into a most rewarding experience.
“Got any pics of you backing it in yet?” teased Riley.
“No — and don’t expect any.”
The thing is, you don’t have to be Xaus to really appreciate the niceties of this motorcycle. If you want to plonk along at the urban speed limit, it is very refined and very happy to do so. It can be as mild-mannered as any road-going machine.
The fuel injection was faultless and it didn’t stumble or hesitate once, while still having a sporty sort-of pop, through the honey-sounding Akrapovič exhaust.
Wick it up, get it to 5,000rpm and the big torque of the 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin — boxer — four-stroke, with single camshaft, four valves per cylinder and central balancer shaft, takes over.
Long and Tall
The USD front suspension is adjustable for preload, compression and damping, while the rear set-up is a cast aluminium single-sided swingarm with BMW Motorrad Paralever and an Öhlins central spring strut, featuring continuously variable spring preload, rebound damping and compression damping with 160mm travel front and rear, that is Bavarian for “sweet as”.
It turns and tips quite remarkably and tip it in I did — and tip and tip. I got the footpegs to touch down once, but it needed one of those 'gravity well' corners to do it. Simply superb feel and response and balance and touch and … sigh.
The Spartan-looking tubular steel frame held it all on line delightfully.
On and Off Road
OK, maybe I was infused by that Motard imagery, and the KR spirit that says street bikes should do gravel streets as well. Road bike or not, sporting 120/70 ZR 17 front and 180/55 ZR 17 rear road rubber didn’t deter us from taking it on one of the publisher's famous dirt-road bashes.
I tagged along with the knobby-shod boys: Vege on his GS, Stretch on his Cagiva, Thommo on the GS, Col on a big Katoom - all the usual suspects as we took to the dirt roads north of the City of Sails.
Hanging the bum out and lighting it up.
I’m never on the pace with that crew, but a great testament to the handling of the Megamoto was the way we kept up with the hardcore - admittedly well to the rear, but it was very impressive.
No great leaps in my skill quotient — the ergos helped — but really it came down to the quality of the bike’s sure-footed handling.
The dual 320mm floating disc brakes up front with four-piston fixed calipers, and the 265mm twin-pot on the rear, pull it all up very nicely — with great feel — regardless of surface.
But it’s back on the tarmac that the cornering and handling come into their own.
Cruising town, hammering the back roads or even some soft-core ADV — I couldn’t fault the performance. Loved the motor, loved the ergos, loved the stumble-free EFI. Loved the nakedness, the balance and the Spartan spirit of the machine. It’s all the business, with plenty of carbon fibre and nice HP2 touches.
Instruments are basic and easy to read. Controls are good — except for the three-button blinkers — and the strange-looking headlight is about standard for a modern bike.
Mirrors provide good visibility, although like all big twins it does produce some vibration at various spots through the rev range. Nothing severe, but the mirrors can get a bit fuzzy around five grand.
I would have liked to take the Co-pilot for a skid. I’m sure she would have loved the bike too, but alas, in keeping with the spirit of the bike, it has no passenger accommodations at all.
That kind-of bugged me in a bike with a list price of $28,500, but I also understand it. They (rear footpegs) are available as accessory items.
The 13-litre tank means the need to refuel comes around reasonably quickly too, depending on right-wrist work. It was on the short side of 180km carrying my payload. That will bug some bush-bashers and tourers too.
I used the bike as a predominantly urban vehicle, something that it is extremely good at, and there the range didn’t faze me.
Something of the Future
I’ve read that BMW are in the midst of a global repositioning.
If the recent HP2 offerings Kiwi Rider has tested are any indication, they now have a range of premium bikes that have definite mainstream appeal.
It comes at a price now, but the Megamoto is something of a preview of motorcycles of the future. Some time ahead, the everyday cheapo bikes will perform like this. 113hp, under 180kg, stunning handling and good utility.
It’s going to be grand.
And for the record, my uncle rode a Harley.
Guts and Bolts
Performance
Power113hp
Power rpm7500
Torque115Nm
Torque rpm6000
Top speedApprox. 215km/h
Engine
TypeAir/oil-cooled boxer twin
Displacement1170cc
ValvetrainSingle camshaft, four valves per cylinder
Fuel systemElectronic fuel injection
ExhaustAkrapovič
TransmissionSix-speed
Final driveShaft
Frame
FrameTubular steel space frame
Wheelbase1615mm
Seat height890mm
Front suspension45mm USD fork, adjustable
Rear suspensionParalever with Öhlins monoshock
Front tyre120/70 ZR 17
Rear tyre180/55 ZR 17
Other
Dry weight179kg
Fuel capacity13 litres
Front brakesTwin 320mm discs, four-piston calipers
Rear brakeSingle 265mm disc, twin-piston caliper
Original list price$28,500
The HP2 Family
BMW’s HP2 badge was short-lived, expensive and wonderfully unhinged. It took the familiar boxer twin and pushed it into three very different directions: dirt, street and sport.
HP2 Enduro
The first HP2 was the stripped-back Enduro: big boxer engine, tubular frame, long suspension and a lot less weight than the GS it was related to. It was BMW having a proper crack at a high-performance dirt weapon.
HP2 Megamoto
The Megamoto took the same basic HP2 madness and aimed it at tarmac. Seventeen-inch wheels, sticky road tyres, big brakes, shorter suspension and that boxer shove created a tall, fast, very odd and very memorable supermoto.
HP2 Sport
The Sport was the polished one: carbon fibre, race styling and a hotter boxer engine. It showed how serious BMW could get before the S 1000 RR arrived and changed the performance conversation completely.
The HP2 bikes were never volume sellers. They were halo bikes — odd, expensive, beautifully made and more than a little brave. That is why the Megamoto still has such a strong pull now.