BMW

[Greybeard]

Who here knows about these motorbikes? They look so well made. Are they good to ride?

[groily]

I'm not well up on the differences between the various models and capacities, but they are very much loved by the owners I know. There are probably rather more of them over here than over there, from the humble R50 to the super-sought-after 69S, and most classic club runs will see one or two being exercised.
For one, they are reliable, long-term. And they stop. The finish and general construction is top class. They don't leak anything, except fuel sometimes from the carbs if the taps are left on when parked. For normal-sized people they are comfortable. But to my eyes, they are  . . . um, dare I say it?  . . . ugly!

[Butch (cb)]

. . . um, dare I say it?  . . . ugly!

Gorgeous in my eyes.

[Seabee]

I've always been afraid to ride one for fear of falling in  love...................

[RDfella]

Or falling over. Motorcycles with in-line engines - especially powerful ones (leaves out Sunbeam etc) have a habit of kicking sideways on the throttle. Reaction against flywheel. Even cars & boats do it, but more noticeable and disconcerting on two wheels.

Add, from a MotoGuzzi review:
"Giving the engine a healthy fistful of throttle, the bike immediately heels over to the left. If you’re not prepared for it, you might likely think the bike is falling over. It is not, it’s just the engine’s torque reaction, something all tranverse twins exhibit, including some of BMW Motorrad’s Heritage series machines like the R nineT."

[Rex]

I'm not well up on the differences between the various models and capacities, but they are very much loved by the owners I know. There are probably rather more of them over here than over there, from the humble R50 to the super-sought-after 69S, and most classic club runs will see one or two being exercised.

Always a few at the Moto Retro every year. As I recall El Presidente (the Mountie) always rode a nice white older example. A little "Teutonic efficiency" for my bike tastes, personally...

[Butch (cb)]

Or falling over. Motorcycles with in-line engines - especially powerful ones (leaves out Sunbeam etc) have a habit of kicking sideways on the throttle. Reaction against flywheel. Even cars & boats do it, but more noticeable and disconcerting on two wheels.

Add, from a MotoGuzzi review:
"Giving the engine a healthy fistful of throttle, the bike immediately heels over to the left. If you’re not prepared for it, you might likely think the bike is falling over. It is not, it’s just the engine’s torque reaction, something all tranverse twins exhibit, including some of BMW Motorrad’s Heritage series machines like the R nineT."

In my experience of riding Guzzis both older and more modern it's something that journalists love to carp on about when in fact it is all but undetectable.

[Swarfcut]

 If truth be known, more the result of the evolution of a military specification for a sidecar bike, where the torque effect of the in-line crank is of no consequence. History shows examples of these machines ending up in Russia and reverse engineered to produce an almost exact copy. Some would say an uglier version resulted, as the finer points of aesthetic finish were never considered.   We know them these days  as Ural, Cossack  and Dnieper, the latter produced in Ukraine.

 Fine as a combo, but coming off  a bike set up as a solo carries the risk of expensive engine damage. The kickstart also takes some getting used to, you kick outwards, toward you. No doubting the quality, reliability and ruggedness of the original design. Copy versions less so and plagued by the usual shortcomings of products from a State Industry.

 Swarfy.

[Kickaha]

In my experience of riding Guzzis both older and more modern it's something that journalists love to carp on about when in fact it is all but undetectable.

In my experience of owning and riding BMWs I would have to say the same, I noticed it for maybe the first day of ownership

They're nicely built and smooth to ride, less vibration than another brand that start with a B

[groily]

We know them these days  as Ural, Cossack  and Dnieper, this later produced in Ukraine.

And I guess we should add the Ratier to the list Swarfy. Designed as a 'non-German' machine for escort duties by the French gendarmerie, and made for a number of years, sv and ohv and always pretty decent - a far cry from the eastern copies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratier

I think I was harsh with 'ugly'. One shouldn't say a person with mostly excellent attributes is ugly - but we might say his or her dress sense or coiffure is not quite to our liking! So I'll downgrade to 'charmingly unpretty'.

As to the torque reaction thing, yup, it's there, but in tens of thousands of miles on an R100RS (see, I overlooked the looks!) I never really felt it was a problem. I thought the clonky transmission was far more of a pain in the proverbial myself, coupled, in my case, with the hassles of Krauser 4-valve heads and excessive compression ratio which made it a hard beast to ride in London. Funnily enough, the awesome 8bhp of my flat-twin and similarly-configured LE Velocette doesn't produce the same reaction  . . .

And yes Rex, our late friend Bernard 'Le Père' Goulet had that nice white R50 with patina and indeed rode it often with his Mountie hat and a French flag on a stick! When, that is, he wasn't on his WLD Harley, or his 'dug out of a shell-hole and restored' Beesa M20 - those were his favourite machines  . . . and glad to say all going strong in new hands.

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,
When I rode an R50 I found the steering heavy and ponderous, Not for Me I'm afraid
I have owned a Guzzi V and an 1150BMW RS , The torque reaction is not noticeable when riding to any extent

John

[Colsbeeza]

Here's my transverse twin. My brother has a nose for a camera, and got in first. A Japanese BMW - 1966 Lilac R92 ST500.
I had a real BMW R80 for about 20 years. On my first ride in 1993 the crank reaction shook me a bit, but after that I never noticed it.
Col

[mikeb]

that's nice Col - never heard of a Lilac- had to google it. i like the tag line (see attached pic)

Edit: hope that's ok to say on this forum - anyone still smarting from the W1?

[Brian]

I've got three Moto Guzzi's and the so called "torque reaction" is almost imperceptable. Some brain dead journalist thought he might sell a few more magazines if he wrote something controversial about transverse engines.

[Kickaha]

I thought the clonky transmission was far more of a pain in the proverbial myself

I told my BMW owning friends that my A10 had a better gear change