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/128386
The primary changes that were made to the bike all revolved around the bike's motor - specifically, the fully sequential. cylinder-specific fuel-injection system. The bike's 46mm throttle bodies were updated, although BMW wasn't specific about what changes were made to them. The ECU is new and has updated ignition and injection mapping in its little brain. At the same time. there were a couple of other changes. including a redeSigned combustion chamber, which the engineers felt was a contributing factor and made mapping the fuel-injection system difficult. Changes were also made to the camshaft material, which suffered from premature wear on the cam lobes. making the engineers worry about quality control. HaVing spent an entire day on an updated K 1200 S. I'm pleased to report that the primary issues I had with the fuel-injection a year ago have been improved. The pickup from a closed throttle is much smoother than that of the bike I rode in Germany last summer. It no longer seems to hunt, surge or struggle with mapping like it did before. The improvement in fuel delivery has made riding the bike on tight and twisty roads - such as the ones north of Sausalito. California. on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) - much easier. Picking up the throttle exiting a corner doesn't negatively affect the chassis anymore and prOVides the rider with more confidence. The ability to lay the power down smoothly makes the output from the motor seem more impressive because the delivery is much more linear. The motor now seems to pull hard across the rev range. whereas before it just snapped on hard when the EFI started fueling properly. One thing that I did notice. however. was a tendency for the throttle to hang up for a brief moment after chopping it closed. At first I thought that maybe I wasn't backing off the throttle completely when entering a corner. keeping and keeping it cracked open. Once I was cognizant of the issue. I realized that it wasn't me but a slight hangup in the fuel-injection system itself. It's as if the butterflies stay open and the fuel keeps flowing for just a brief fraction of a second when you close the throttle. After talking with a couple of the other editors. I was relieved to know that it wasn't just me. BMW is aware of the problem and already has a fix in place. and it is an issue with the throttle butterflies. To be fair. the fuel-injection system is vastly improved from where it was at a year ago. Having said that. though. it still isn't perfect. When I rode the bike a year ago (Germany). it was difficult to get a feel for the bike in terms of handling. Part of this was due to the poor selection of roads that were picked for our route. and when we did find some nice twisty roads, the fuelinjection problem would raise its ugly head. This time around. BMW couldn't have picked better roads. The roads north of San Francisco. including PCH, are some of the best in the country. The morning started out with a light drizzle on especially tight and wet roads. The K 1200 S will never be described as nimble due to its extra-long wheelbase (61.8 inches). but stability is a positive side effect. In the afternoon, the roads improved (though they were still covered in damp patches). but the level of stability from the bike offers plenty of confidence, especially from the front end. The fuel injection is now smooth enough that riding on a wet road poses no threat. whereas the first bike I rode would have been a nightmare. One item that I wasn't able to revisit on home turf was the ESA (electronic suspension adjustment) system. as my bike didn't come outfitted with the optional system. Having tried it out a year ago. I can attest to its effectiveness. using well selected preload and damping settings for any riding situation. That said. the standard suspension is just fine and offers plenty of spring and damping for most aggressive riding situations. in addition to offering settings for long-haul cruising. The front suspension is unique with its Duolever design. which is a departure from the Telelever front-end units on most BMWs. The Norman Hossack-inspired system features two longitudinal arms arranged in a parallelogram layout. These attach to a girderlike "fork" structure - which holds the wheel - via upper and lower ball joints to allow the steering and lift motion. A scissorlike assembly controls steering input from the handlebar to the Duolever and isolates the lift motion from the This is one of the optional color combinations; it will set yau bock on additional $590. SPECIFICATIONS 2005 BMW K 1200 S $15.750 I 157cc ENGINE TYPE Uquid-cooled. inline four-cylinder BORE x STROKE 79 x 59mm COMPRESSION RATIO 13: 1 CARBURrnON Electronic fuel injection IGNITION BMS K TRANSMISSION Six-speed STARTING SYSTEM Electric FUEL CAPACITY 5.0 gal. WHEELBASE 61.8 in. RAKEfTRAIL 29.4°/111.76mm SEAT HEIGHT 32.3 in. FRONT TIRE 120/70-17 REAR TIRE 190/50-1 7 FRONT-WHEEL TRAVEL .4.S in. REAR·WHEEL TRAVEL 5.3 in. FRONT BRAKE Dual 320mm disc REAR BRAKE 264mm disc FINAL DRIVE Shaft CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT 499 Ibs. STANDARD COLORS Granite Gray Metallic. Indigo Blue Metallic OPTIONAL COLORS .......... Indigo Blue Metallic/Alpine White ($590); Sun YellowlWhite Aluminum! Dark Graphite ($590) OPTIONS ........ ESA ($750). ABS ($995). heated grips ($200). Anti-theft system ($210) UST PRICE DISPLACEMENT (Left) The Duolever front suspension provides the rider with more feel and confidence than a Telelever design. (Right) BMW's first transverse-mounted four-cylinder motor is a powerhouse. steering motion. The front end of the K 1200 S feels more communicative than any of BMW's other attempts at alternative suspension to date. The Duolever dives a bit under braking - although not as much as a fork - which conveys more security to the rider by communicating what the tire is doing. and it feels more familiar to the rider raised on conventional fork front ends. On the patchy. wet roads that I rode the bike on. this was a welcome trait that allowed me to trust the bike, especially under harder braking. It seems that BMW has worked the bugs out of the K I200 S and should be able to save face with the fact that it didn't release the bike prematurely. Although the K 1200 S isn't as hard-core as a Hayabusa or ZX-12R. the K bike can do things that neither of those bikes can - namely. get you there in comfort with heated grips. the peace of mind of ABS and the Simplicity of the ESA. Some may cite these as unnecessary luxuries that have no place on a motorcycle. but the customers buying these bikes will undoubtedly appreciate their benefits. All those creature comforts and an ultrapowerful motor to boot - think BMW M5 minus two wheels and you get the idea - and that's an idea I think quite a CN few consumers will like. CYCLE NEWS • JULY 13,2005 43