VOL. 52 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 13, 2015 P89
electronics take over. Bring
on the hate mail if you will, but
traction control is now so good
you can slam the throttle open
at points of the corner that
would otherwise send you on
a one-way ticket to the moon.
But one of the big omis-
sions, especially considering
the price of the 1200 R relative
to the competition, is the lack
of a quickshifter. Consider-
ing it's now at the top of the
money pile, I'd have liked the
R to come with one as the
gearshift is not the smoothest
I've sampled recently. It's by
no means bad, but its omis-
sion from standard equipment
is a mark against the bike.
The extra torque means
a more flexible desmo, an
engine that's now got hardly
any weak spots. Smooth initial
throttle, plenty of midrange
torque for corner-to-corner
zipping and a bit more up top—
happy days. But that's not the
most impressive thing about
the 1200 R, that honor goes to
the chassis.
The issue with the 1200 S
was never the engine. Yes it's
nice to have the aforemen-
tioned improvements, but
where the S lacked was its
sluggish, heavy steering and
limited ground clearance that
would have you dragging the
pegs way too early in a corner.
(Right) Back
in black. The
second of
the Monster's
color schemes
looks utterly
menacing.
(Left) The
extra 15mm
of ground
clearance are
a godsend to
the Monster,
which now
won't drag its
bum through
corners.
