VOLUME 57 ISSUE 28 JULY 14, 2020 P67
LEDs also extend to the indica-
tors and the brake lights, which are
housed in the indicators. Sound
strange? BMW has opted not to use
a singular brake light and instead
put the brake lights in the indicators,
which is a neat little design feature
that really ties up the back end.
SIDE TWO: ELECTRONICS
Okay. Now the hardware is done, let's
look at the software. The 2020 XR
gets the almost compulsory six-axis
Inertial Measurement Unit that, like
similar systems on a Ducati, Honda
or Yamaha, sends signals to the ECU
about the motorcycle's position on
the road (angle of lean, speed, brake
and throttle pressure, etc.), which the
ECU interprets, and adjusts the vari-
ous systems accordingly.
Those systems now include four
power modes, three-stage wheelie,
and three-stage engine brake control,
four-stage traction control, and five
stages of ABS control. Exceptional as
they are, that level of adjustability is
almost par for the course when you're
talking a $20,000-plus sport touring
motorcycle these days.
Where it gets interesting is the new
Dynamic ESA (Electronic Suspension
Adjustment) and Dynamic ESA Pro.
The bike comes standard with Dynam-
ic ESA, which only offers one damp-
ing mode of Road, and manual selec-
tion of how much weight (preload) you
want for the rear, be it rider/rider with
luggage/rider and passenger.
Move up to the optional Dynamic
ESA Pro, and you get two damping
modes of Road and Dynamic, the latter
of which automatically adjusts load
compensation on the shock. It's also
got a neat setting called "Min," which
holds the load on the shock as your
passenger gets off and thus stops the
shock from springing back too quickly.
(Left) Stately, yet spritely
is probably the best way
to describe the XR's
handling. It'll keep up with
most bikes until speeds
get really silly. (Right)
A handy little glovebox
at the front of the bike
means you'll never lose
your key again.
