BACKGROUND
BMW has established a “tuner” division for motorcycles: HP for High Performance. Like the M division for BMW cars, HP will build special versions of production models. The first product is the HP2 Enduro, based on the production R1200GS and heavily influenced by the 900RR raced in the Dakar Rally. The HP2 is street-legal and equipped for serious off-road riding. It has 105 hp and a dry weight of only 386 pounds. Top speed is 200 km/hr; 0-100 takes 3.2 seconds. I was lucky enough to be one of three winners in a contest among Canadian dealers to attend a special event riding the new bike in Spain.

CHRONOLOGY
Thursday 08 September
06:00 Eastern Time – Alarm
08:00 Move out Chris’ bike to ride in for use as a courtesy bike for a service job booked for today (usual 2-bike fleet already in use) 08:45 Arrive at work. Normal (i.e; busy) day.
16:30 Leave for London Airport
17:30 Fly London-Toronto on Jazz; arrive 18:15
20:00 fly Toronto-Munich on Air Canada; arrive 04:00 Friday

Friday 09 September
05:20 (11:20 local European Central Time) Fly Munich-Valencia on Spanair; arrive 07:45
08:30 Bus to “secret location”
09:45 Arrive at “secret location”. Local time is 3:45 pm; a shower would be nice. So would a beer. The only thing remotely resembling accommodation is a large tent with a grass floor and some benches in it. Find luggage; change into riding gear in the tent.
10:10 Find my assigned bike (“Make no adjustments. We will go on a small ride and explain the motorcycle later”) and riding group
10:15 Leave on the “small ride”. My group is lead by an Enduro racer. Speeds to 160 km/hr. Terrain is very hilly with a little pavement, lots of loose gravel, some narrow trails with large rocks and deep ruts. Great fun, although I find myself playing catch-up in some of the gnarlier off-road stuff. As a more pavement-oriented type my personal highlight is following the leader through smoothly-paved mountain switchbacks at lean angles that scrubbed the Metzeler Karoo tires to the very edge of their knobby tread blocks. A fellow rider (with whom I can never keep up off-road) drops back and later calls me a “wizard on the pavement”. As I said, a highlight.
13:00 (7:00 pm local) Return to the “secret location” in another area where picnic tables (and a bar!)are set up under tents. We are greeted by comely blondes carrying trays of beer. Our luggage has followed us to this new site. Still no signs of accommodation… a rumour circulates that there are hammocks for us down the hill. Briefly consider looking for the hammocks. Beer is more attractive.
14:00-16:00 (8:00-10:00 pm local) Dinner is served. Bench racing begins. One rider says he has “never been more scared in his life”. Beer and wine continues to flow
16:00-17:00 Riding groups for the following day are assigned. Relieved not to be included in the “fast group” of past and present off-road racers. Tech sessions focus on bike setup and adjustment.
17:00-18:00 Flow of beer and wine resumes. Shooters appear. Rumour circulates that there are cabins waiting for us at the bottom of the hill. Luggage has disappeared; rumoured to be in the cabins. Rumours are confirmed; told to wait for rides to our cabins.
18:00 Give up on ride. Decide to find cabin for self. Eventually successful. Cabin is locked.
18:20 Re-ascend hill to look for key to cabin.
18:25 Comely blonde appears with key to cabin.
19:00 (01:00 Saturday local time) Sleep. Blissful sleep for the first time in a day and a half.
5 hours later: Wake up call: group leader bouncing an HP2 off the rev limiter outside the cabins.

Saturday 10 September
12 more hours and 200+ km of riding. A competition amongst groups is organized for the “HP2 Trophy”. Exercises consist of:
-Rally map making and map reading
-Tire changing
-Trials riding
-Stream push-crossing in knee-deep water below a spectacular waterfall.

RIDING IMPRESSIONS
In the end, the group I am lumped in with is too slow for my tastes. Also too whiny: one rider bruises his arm in a low-speed get off, begs off riding for the rest of the day and rides back in one of the chase vehicles. His bike is ridden back for him - by a girl. I crash myself twice without falling down in lurid locked-rear-wheel slides around descending gravel switchback corners with steep dropoffs. Also once for real when the gravel I was sliding on turned into concrete strewn with marble-like stones (an exciting feature introduced apparently at random at the apex of some of the switchbacks). The bike turned out to be very “crashable” with only a scratched valve cover to show for it. Valve cover guards will be standard on production models and would have probably taken all the damage.

Suspension: The air suspension works as it sounds: it’s as if you’re riding a big puffy pillow. Why upside-down forks instead of Telelever at the front, though? This is part of the optimization for severe off-road use. The forks are lighter with more travel and steering lock than Telelever. Travel-dependent damping in both the rear and front suspensions is a feature unique to BMW. The forks of course dive under braking, which is not necessarily welcome (although far from unusual in the greater world of motorcycling) but not so much noticed in off-road situations as loose surfaces don’t allow for heavy front-wheel braking. Skilled riders can take advantage of the fork dive to hop the bike backwards and some other trials-riding tricks.

Brakes: Far better than expected given the single front disc and sliding 2-piston caliper. Braking action was strong with good feel. Whether they would fade in heavy 2-up use is a question. Perhaps the standard R1200GS is overendowed with brakes: the same hardware is used in much heavier and faster bikes such as the K1200LT or K1200S.

Engine: It seems as though the power increase is much more than the claimed 5 horsepower. Perhaps the effect is amplified by the weight reduction and throatier exhaust sound. The engine revs more easily thanks to the deletion of the balancer shaft and its’ associated flywheel effect. The latter does increase vibration; an effect noticeable only at constant high speeds on pavement.

Gearbox: All the “knife through hot butter” clichés apply. We have been asked many times whether the HP2 would have a lower “enduro” first gear as offered on the previous Adventure model. Gear ratios and the final drive ratio are the same as the R1200GS and I can report that it works just fine. First is plenty low and in fact seldom used even in climbing steep hills at walking speed – second gear has much less tendency to spin the rear wheel and there is torque enough that the engine has no tendency to stall. The clutch seems immune to the abuse of being slipped under these conditions.

Ergonomics: The bike has lots of room and a good seat. The riding position works well for sport riding on pavement. For serious off-roading, you should stand on the footpegs and the bike has been carefully designed to encourage this. It is narrow in the middle to be easily gripped by the rider’s knees on rough roads or leaned between them to turn. A flip-up block on the rear brake pedal makes it easier to operate when standing. This is a tall bike, no doubt about it; set up to the factory recommendations I was most comfortable sliding over to put only one foot on the ground at stops. This was sort of an equalizer: I was not tall enough to have an advantage here over the shorter riders! The bike’s weight and balance make this technique easy, as ably demonstrated by the Japanese dealers and one woman rider. The optional lower seat and unique adjustable air suspension offer some relief.

WRAP UP: So the bike is almost unbelievably good in extreme usage. Seemingly bulletproof, it can make a casual off-roader feel like Jimmy Lewis. But why would the average rider buy this bike? Well, probably he won’t, but maybe he should. For a premium (but not stratospheric) price, the HP2 elevates the do-everything R1200GS to a new level of performance and exclusivity. Sure, you give up some amenities, but sometimes the finest things are best experienced undiluted. This bike is like a good single malt Scotch: best served straight up but appreciated only by a few. If I was looking for a bike to commute on or for solo Adventure Touring, I would buy the HP2 in a heartbeat. Its’ stripped-down nature (although not its’ performance) is much like that of BMW’s original R80G/S, which was the original Adventure Tourer and itself was a technological breakthrough when first introduced.

POSTSCRIPT: I arrived back in London around 7:00 pm on Monday. My luggage arrived around noon on Thursday. No problem; I didn’t really need anything in there but my boots were still wet from the river crossing and had started to smell pretty funky.

-Ian

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS - BMW HP2 Enduro

Drivetrain
Engine Displacement	1170 ccm
Horsepower	105 hp @ 7000 RPM
Torque	85 ft.lbs. @ 5500 RPM
Fuel requirement	Premium for best performance; any grade acceptable
Gearbox	6-speed; heavy-duty
Chassis
Frame	Full tubular steel space frame
Front wheel suspension	Upside-down forks with travel-dependent damping and full adjustability
Rear wheel suspension	Reinforced BMW Paralever with rock guard
Rear suspension strut	Patented air spring/damper unit
Brakes	Disc front & rear; non-ABS
Wheels	BMW patented cross-spoke tubeless, 21" front; 17" rear
Dimensions and Weights
Fuel tank capacity	13 litre
Seat height @ curb weight	920 mm (36.2 in) or 895 mm (35.2 in)
Curb weight (full fuel tank)	195 kg (430 lbs)
Performance and fuel consumption
Top Speed	200 km/h (125 mph)
Acceleration 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph)	3.2 seconds