[sportrider - sport bikes] - 2008 BMW K1200GT, Kawasaki Concours 14 And Yamaha FJR130

[Ninjette Newsbot]

2008 BMW K1200GT, Kawasaki Concours 14 And Yamaha FJR1300A - Long-Range Missiles

Sport Rider's Sport-Touring Shootout.Opinions

Troy Siahaan
Are we there yet?
By the time we had reached our lunch stop on the first day of our ride my verdict was in: BMW would not be winning this test. The numbness and lack of feel from the K12GT was something I couldn't get over. Combine that with the abrupt braking, and I immediately turned my attention to the other two. With the might of the ZX-14 engine at my disposal the Concours was great fun when the miles needed to be shed quickly. Unfortunately the extremely high effort to turn the bike really put a sour taste in my mouth-so much so that it prevented the Concours from taking top honors in my mind. I was never able to get along with the transmission, either. Shifts always felt vague to me and required long throws. Sure, the ergos were great, the brakes were amazing and the motor ripped, but the Yamaha was right there with it-and was an absolute blast when the roads started to bend. Writing this test was a bit of a challenge considering I was the one who went against the majority vote and picked the FJR as my winner, but to me that bike did everything just as well as the Kawi. And it turns, too.


Photo Gallery: 2008 BMW K1200GT, Kawasaki Concours 14 And Yamaha FJR1300A - Sport Rider Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2008 BMW K1200GT, Kawasaki Concours 14 And Yamaha FJR1300A - Sport Rider Magazine


Read More | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us


Click here for full story...