Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126633
a well- pitched ro ad which has rather even ly a nd closely spaced turns , in wh ich th e entrance to a tu rn is th e exit o f th e pr evious one , riding th e ST is an experie n ce n ot lik el y to be C orgotten . Sett ing up an ST or a G I S for a ca nyon b ik e is a tempting though t, and I kn ow of at least one owner who is doin g that. The seat seems fir m, and it is firm en ough C th e ca nyons, yet it n ever or Celt hard o n longer rides. T he pa ssenger pa rt is comforta ble a lso , a nd nat so yo u do n 't slide one wa y o r th e ot he r. T he sea t is sla n ted forward, h owever, in th e front section; if I wan ted to sit bac k Cram the ta n k I ha d to brace aga inst the handlebars. Sea ting posi tion is th e norma l BMW o ne, sli ghtl y forward. The Brem bo front disc brake 'a n d th e drum rea r are fa u ltless. I n ot iced n o di fference in th e rain . Ra in didn 't easily seep in to the to ur ing cases , ei ther. Though I wa sn 't ou t in a p our, I ro de th rough middling steady rain s, as well as a lo t o f roa d sp las h. Once a fterwa rds th e bik e stood o u t in th e rain C ano ther day, a nd th en one or case had a tab lesp oon o f wat er in th e bottom, a nd the othe r a teaspoon. G en erall y I use soft luggage, and m y lea th er saddlebags did wo rk on the bike, bu t th e co nten ts of the side n ext to th e hi gh pi p e got a litt le warm. You wouldn' t want to p u t food in th ere, or £ilm . Leather is more heat resistant than cloth; wi thou t a frame to h o ld the left side farth er ~ from the pi pe th an the hea t sh ield . ~ does, cloth saddlebags wo u ld n ot be a good id ea. T he p ipe is a lso in th e way of tyin g on a tent , a nd sleepi ng bag and pa d crossway s beh in d th e sea t, so for touring I added a lso a handsome ch ro med , n at- ba rred rack by Reynolds. T he ra ck a nd th e leather saddl ebags would be sufficient so me ti mes . but I was p la n n ing a two week campi ng tri p wit h cooki ng a nd so me co ld wea ther, with its n eed C more or stuff. No t being used to pl astic saddleb ags, the y looked bulky to m e, bu t a t least wi th a mediu m load th ey d idn 't seem to ' affect th e bike's handling m uch . T he left ha nd one, th inner or because of th e clea ra nce ne eded C ' th e pi pe, ho ld s 27 liters in stead of 35, eac h is good C 22 p ounds of co nor tent s. T he cases , which are the kind rope n ing lik e sui tcases, attach wi th an easy two-stage clasp.t he sa me as used on th e to ps to lat ch th em , a ll locka ble and key-m at ch ed. They list C $265, or and br acket s a re $ 119. T h e Reyn o lds rac k is $ 139, repl acing th e BMW center bracket (sma ll rack ) listing Cot $72. Krauser Sta r bags, holding 40 liters eac h, will be avai la ble in two o r three m onths. T he ba s areS3 15. a nd . l ~ '''J il ' ' '''' HI ' ~I Z'J ' ) 1; . l d ' " f · · ~ ·" « · I th e bracke ts $95 withou t ra ck an d $130 wiih. BMW· a nd Krauser luggage a nd br ack ets have traditionall y been interchangeable, but th e ST 's BMW bra ckets wo u ld n o t be. Kra user lu g g ag e is g uara ntee d w at erproof. OC co urse by th e tim e yo u ad d gas, oil, a n d accessories, you no longer h av e a 400-po u n d b ik e, The ST wei ghed in a t 450 pou n ds with th e rac k and case supports , a nd down two ga llons o f gas. Th is means abou t 447 pou nds with no a ccessories a nd a Cu ll ta n k. The G IS . on th e sa me scale, weighed in a t 448 pou nds with a sma ll C irin g , and down a thi rd of a a ga llon, for a bo u t 446 pounds net wet weigh t. Sin ce the G IS holds abo u t .9 ga llon m ore gas, th e ST is act ua lly a bo ut si x p ounds heavier. Still a lo t less th an th e ligh test of th e J a panese bikes in th at size range, th e Suzu ki GS 750E wit h a clai med dry weight of 455 pounds. And co nsi dera bly less, a lso, th an th e BMW R80 RT which is o n a R IOO fram e a nd has a cla imed dry weight (wi th C ir in g ) o f 472 a pounds , an d as tested by Rider a wet wei ght o f 541. Fifth gear seems hi gh , a nd th e decrea se in p ow er is noticeable wh en yo u sh ift. Bu t it's just as well , because th e ST does not get especially good gas mileage, Un der n orm al conditions it ranged from 42 to 45 m iles pe r gall on. In a lmost 1000 miles o f rid ing, th e bike used n o o il. O th er gri pes relate to th e turn sig n als, sea t. gas ca p , a n d sides rand . For so meone wi th -a sma ll hand , th e tu rn signa l co ntrol is too far to reach a t th e sa me tim e as th e cI ut ch is pulled in. Also, th e turn signals are n ot self ca nce ll ing, an importa nt sa fety fea tu re as well as a co nve nience. The seat is th e unhandy lift of f type , a nd th e helmet lock u nd er it is block ed by th e to uring case. T he gas ca p is diff icult to ge t ofL An experienced BMW rider advised, " Never lock it, a nd never scre w it in too far ." Good advic e , it never leaked even th ough n ot very tight. The seem in gl y requ isite aw kwa rd BMW sidesta nd is n ot so ext re me as th e one o n th e R6 5, that is, n ot so long you have to tip th e bike ove r th e wrong way to ge t it down. But it does have extrastro ng return sp ri ngs . Once yo u learn to push the foo tpeg out of th e way and shove th e sides ta n d down wit h yo ur toe, it isn ' t so bad . But th e ride do wn in C ree C as yo u ho ld th e all sides ta n d forward wit h th e Coot th at norma lly hol ds yo u u p wh il e tilti n g th e bike over is a lways thrill in g . Other sa fety features. besides the sidesta nd return sp rin gs, are an interloc k so th at th e en g ine ca n n o t be sta rted unless th e rransrnissio rr is in ' . ~· f 'f ~ , . . . . . ".1. )' .# " I ne ut ral o r the clutch pu lled in; the na t, £lush gas ca p; an d a n ign ition key wh ich has a folded-o ver , n a t p las tic top so it wo n't tear at your body sho u ld yo u £I y over th e handl eba rs in a wreck. Some n ice co n ven iences are the dogleg levers, th e flexibly-mounted rea r tu rn signa ls, a nd th e hi gh beam £lash er. T he ST a nd th e G IS bo th h ave a trick fol ded-back gea r-sh ifter with th e righ t len gt h th row, a n d shifting was mostly trouble-free. Bo th bi kes were a little reluc ta nt to go into first Cram neutra l. Bu t neutral was never diHi cu lt to Iind, a nd th ere were no false neutrals or g litch es exce p t once in a wh ile wh en I was care less going from first to seco n d , a n d th e bike slipped back in to neu tral. These bik es ha ve electronic igni tion , and were fa u ltless in start in g as long as it was u ndersto od yo u do no t touch th e throttle u nt il th e engine cra n ks over a few ti mes . Warm-up time is short , a nd if yo u must, yo u can ride off befo re it is co m plete with no sta ggers. The ST is very smooth a n d vi bra t io n Cree. T h ou gh t he eng ine is sm oo th in the G I S I h ave, th e bike sha kes a nd tingle s n oti ceabl y more tha n th e ST. though it isn 't wha t yo u'd ca ll bad . T he GS isn 't as well broken in as th e ST, h avin g less th an 1000 m il es wh ile th e ST has over 4000; or perha ps it's a matter o f whole- bike h armon ics, The R80 engi ne h a s a deep , pl easant th rob of a n exha ust not e, And the in famous shaftdrive torque reaction, th ough more n ot iceable th an in J apanese shaft dr ives, has been tamed, partly beca use of th e torsio na l vibrat ion damper in trod u ced in 1978. It 's still th ere but hardly bot he rso me. All in a ll , the re's a lot to lik e on th e ST, a nd very li ttle to dislike, True, BMWs are no t chea p . T h e ST lists for $4 190, the same as the G IS . T houg h the ini tia l in vestment is hi gh , BMWs are good for th ose wh o Iike to keep getti ng new mod els of motorcycles, and those wh o like to keep th em foreve r, both. You m ight have to pay Cor a 15-year-old BMW abo u t wh at th e origin al owne r p a id , That's not true Cor man y veh icl es, even in devalued do lla rs. And th ough some J apanese m otorcycl es last very well , the sm aller-dis p laceme nt, ligh ter wei ght ones may no t. After a ll. a n engi n e with h alf a century o f develo p men t behind it o ug h t to be good. Recent ly, th e ST-G IS bas ic design was put to one o f motorcycli ng's ultima te tests: a modi fied G IS wo n th e gruell ing Paris to Dakar race which involves 20 days of arduous riding. ' • (P.S. T han ks to UH P ojjicer Fowler jor a warning not ice instead oj a ti cket. ) S pacifications Engine Type , : . Horizontally-opposed two-cylinder four-stroke. Displacement _ , 797.5cc. 'Bore x stroke . . ,., , 84.8 x 70.6mm. Compression ratio , , ,, , 8 .2 : 1. Starting system , ,., , , , Electric. Transmission , Five-speed. Carburetor , . . , , . . Two Bing V64. Frame Type .. .. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Double cradle. Front tire , 100/90H x 19. Rear t ire , . , , 120/90H x 18. Dimensions _ Wheelbase , Seat heig ht . , ; M inimum ground clearance , Dry weight (claim ed ) Fuel capacity _ _ _~.~~~~_s!?~ _r~!a.i! p'~i;.~ :, : :':.: : 1" 4 ~ N ,.4"-1 . "14. ,;" : r 'r )'" , , , , , ,,.,., , ; :.:: ,. ", ,..t" ~ r':. ~ ': . : i · ., (' ljr l : "". 1 56.8 in. 33.3 in . N/ A. 404 Ibs. 4 .2 gal. $41 9 0 . :- 1 ~ i · · B ) j 23 .. ...