Is There Such a Thing as Too Fast?

I'm lucky enough to have driven some very fast cars. Name an Italian marque that uses a pissed-off quadraped for a logo, and I've taken one of their vehicles well into the triple digits. Same goes for pretty much any other exotic—Porsche, Bentley, BMW, the list goes on. And I've NEVER even contemplated thinking that one of them was too fast. Until today. I just stepped off BMW's 2007 K1200R, one of the most powerful motorcycles in the world. I picked it up last night and almost died. Like, a thousand times. I can't pin down an exact 0-60 time—the number I see a lot is 2.8 seconds, but I think that's the figure for it's even more powerful, fully-f! aired brother, the K1200S, which, thanks to a more efficient air intake that's integrated into its fairing, has a 4-hp advantage over the R's 163. Yeah, that's right, I said 1-6-3. Horsepower. In a 529-lb bike. The Suzuki GSX1300R Hyabusa, unofficially touted as a 200-mph machine, has 175 ponies.

Take the jump to see if I severely injured myself riding the thing.

After about 20 minutes in traffic, I was astonished at the K-bike's violent acceleration—I drive an old Moto Guzzi, you know, when it runs. It was a pretty fast bike in its day. The BMW, however, pulled so hard my spine felt like it was about 2-inches shorter. But a figure kept popping into my head: 10,250. Where had I seen that number before? As I pulled into my driveway it hit me: that was the number of rpms where the bike achieved maximum horsepower. I hadn't cleared 5k on my ride home, which meant that I hadn't even begun to experience the bike's true power. Shit. I backed out of my dr! iveway and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge, then the Marin H! eadlands , and eventually one of my favorite roads (sorry, but I'm not revealing its location).

The bike is definitely at home on the highway, a Bahnstormer in the truest BMW fashion. Each gear, each twist of the throttle brings to mind a new clichéd comparison with a winged vehicle. I didn't spend a lot of time looking at the speedometer, because, well, you really have to pay attention when you can hit 60 in less than three seconds and 100 in about five. Once, when passing a semi that was choking up the two-lane road at 60mph, I did hazard a look down to see the needle touching 130. Yikes! BMW claims the K1200R can do 155, but the bike had plenty more to give at 130. I'll leave it to someone else to test this motorcycle's actual top speed. I'm happy piloting something slower... you know, like a Ferrari.



Source Wired

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