I was at the Seattle show today and asked the question point blank to the BMW rep. The answer was that Dynamic ESA and low suspension are not compatible. It would be awesome if it was though. But it didn't stop me from putting down $$$$ to get in line. It felt good to sit on and can't wait for the first test ride. Red seems to be my color of choice. So far..
Hearing that each dealer will receive (at least?) two bikes upon the first delivery, one of which will most likely be used as a demo. Thoughts?
I use a 12 liter fuel bladder for longer runs here in Western Australia with my 800 GS. Two if its a real stretch. When you don't need it role it up. liquidcontainment.com.au
Looks like cross spoke wheels are not included with the Touring pkg? I wonder if you have to add the additional options to the Enduro pkg or the spoke rims to the Touring?
Option packages for the U.S. have not been announced. May be the same as UK or not. Typically U.S. is different.
Could just be the recording. When I play guitar I think I sould a little like Eric Clapton. When I play it back on my phone not so much!
I don't know. The sound at idle is OK but when the throttle is blipped, it sounds like someone's passing gas . I've had an 08 and a '10 GS and those mufflers sounded much better than this one.
I think the difference is that we are hearing an engine that spins up a lot faster than the previous boxer motors. Also an unloaded engine is going to sound a lot different than when you are riding. Have you really stood behind your bike and had someone rev it to 6k or more and listened to it? I know I haven't. Also, it seems that this engine was probably cold, which could also impact its sound.
I think we are all quite excited about the bike and one little thing we hear, we start o dissect. Nothing wrong with that, I am glad that we are hashing everything, 'cause that keeps me entertained. My take on these two issues - sound and smoke are that it's premature for any conclusion. I like the leaf blower sound at idle, not sure If I like the reving sound though. Of course recording devices make a big difference as someone already pointed out. When riding you won't necessarily hear it with ear plugs, so it doesn't matter. But then again, there is Akropovic (sp) exhaust to fancy your needs.
Pretty hard to fix that on this engine design. Big variations in crankcase pressure (from the pistons' boxing), and a combustion chamber that is gravity-fed oil when the bike is on the sidestand. The amazing thing is that they drink so little oil.