| BMW R1200ST - A personal view < Back By Brian parish (CVAM) When putting my bike in for a service I had the opportunity to satisfy a desire to try one of the newish range of BMW boxers. I had already been impressed with a short acquaintance with an R1200GS. It was very good but strangely, unsatisfying. Compared to my old R850GS and current R1100SS it seemed a little, well, bland. I can hardly believe I am saying it and can’t quite explain why. Anyhow, here I was with the ST to play with for a few hours.
First off, the aesthetics. From the front, I have seen prettier pigs, side on or from the rear, it’s OK. Of course when riding it is fine and I guess that is where an owner would see it from for most of the time. The one I had was silver which the least appealing to me. It also is available in red and blue the later of which is reasonably attractive but hey, it’s a subjective thing.
Mounting the thing is straight forward enough with a low seat and a very comfortable, and adjustable, riding position. I can foresee no aches and pains even after a long day in the saddle. There is a fairly upright riding position with an excellent view of the instrument, controls and the road both a head and, via the good mirrors, behind. The controls are light and positive and, with the exception of the indicators, of which, more later, intuitive to use. The bike moves off briskly without excessive revs and completely without drama. Having said that, the acceleration can be more than brisk when required. Indeed the magazine road test figures put it on a par with just about anything the sane side of an R1 up to 60 mph should you so choose. Cruising at motorway speeds was very relaxed with little vibration and no wind buffeting partly due to the adjustable windshield and what I suspect are excellent aerodynamics. This feature of the design also is apparent in the fuel consumption figures. I averaged over 50mpg over a mix of (legal, of course) motorway, town and fast A road riding. The tank is well sized in light of that fuel consumption at 21litres. On the design front, as mentioned before, more on the indicator switches. The left indicator switch is on the left hand, the right indicator switch and the cancel are both on the right. I am well use to this as it is a BMW “feature” so had no difficulty what so ever but it does take an hour or so to get use to first time you encounter it. Can’t see any advantage though, I put it down to tectonic stubbornness. One the most impressive things of the R1200GS which as good or even better on the ST are the brakes. Never known anything like it! Very powerful yet sensitive even on greasy surfaces. Whilst trying to find their limits I perpetually found myself stopping well short of my intended target. Very impressive Overall a nice bike but not better I suspect than the much cheaper F800ST that I have yet to try (Bath rd BMW please note) I like
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