Modern Vespa

I drove down to Long Beach BMW to look into buying a new bike from one of our fellow scooter riders here on Modern Vespa. Her name is Robyn and she is a class act. While I was there I got to ride the C650GT 2-up with my wife Emily and the bike was insanely fast and with lots of torque pretty much everywhere. I was impressed with its ability to merge onto the freeway and climb over the St Tomas bridge under power.





I just picked this up today and I have been wanting one since it was released. Got it with the tall seat, tech package, safety package, the Nav IV, and a couple of new Schuberth helmets with the wireless comm. I know its no where near as good as the Autocom but I am ready to go wireless. Still not sure what I am going to do with the FJR yet?

Very nice machine, and well farkled too. Keep us posted on how it performs as you get more experience on it.

Congratulations. It is a really beautiful scooter. I'm so tempted, but, my wife would absolutely remove my testicles if I brought one home and didn't sell my Vespa and R12R first.

You got it Len. When I get some miles under my belt I will put together a review and let you know my thoughts. To be totally honest it made me a little sick getting this today when I saw the total cost but I know I will use it and love it for many years. I asked to have a stebel horn horn added form the dealer and they told me they would need 3 hours to get it installed. Welcome to BMW or what the hell have I got myself into came to mind. We will be going to Cambria for an extended weekend soon and it will be nice to get her out on the road and get some miles under my belt.

Good for you, Trent. Congrats on a fine machine.

Thanks Arno, it's German and we both know that these guys over engineer everything.

Good engineering is the right amount of engineering... not over-engineering.

Over-engineering implicitly means too much engineering.

Take an engineer's word for it.

Over-engineering is a lazy engineer's expression of envy

From an engineers perspective what are your thoughts on the adaptive headlight?

Isn't that a standard feature on your Vespa?

Touche' Arno!

"I just picked this up today and I have been wanting one since it was released. Got it with the tall seat, tech package, safety package, the Nav IV, and a couple of new Schuberth helmets with the wireless comm. I know its no where near as good as the Autocom but I am ready to go wireless. Still not sure what I am going to do with the FJR yet?"

Can you tell me more about the options for the BMW 650.

What is tall seat? Safety package?
Is the tech package - the heated seat and handlebars?

Thanks so much.

I am 6'5" and I was able to fit on the bike perfectly and there was no safety package or Tech package. I found the handlebars to be very wide which allowed for a very stable feel at speed. They had a topcase option from BMW but I think for the most part there are not many options for this scooter. They come very well equipped. Even in full lock riding two up it fet stable doing turns at slow speed. They really made a wonderful scooter!

I am 6' 4"". Reassured that fits well. How does seat feel? Is the back rest adjustable at all?



This bike is getting solid reviews. Came accross this one:

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcycles/2012models/2012-BMW-C650GT.htm

[b]Highline Package[/b]:

Heated grips.

Heated seat.

Tyre pressure control RDC.

LED daytime running light.

LED turn indicators (C 600 Sport only).

Thanks

That its gonna be expensive when it goes wrong!

This scooter has my interest. Looking forward to more reports as you get some miles on it.

Congrats on your new BMW

Congratulations. I sat on yesterday and was very impressed with the ergo's... I'm test riding one soon if the weather holds here in the North east...

Looking forward to your next ride review... Can't imagine how its going to run once its broken in...

Did you check out the maintenance schedule? I'm curious to know if it will be easy to change oil etc..

H.

I just want to make sure we are talking about the GTL. If so I need to bring it in at 600 miles and then every 6k for an oil change and 18k for valves. The 6k runs about $250 and the 18k runs around $500. That is much less than I thought it would be but many do tires at the same time and that is where you can see some pretty high overall costs.

Once I get a few thousand miles I will do a ride report. The one thing I am a little worried about it the Shub helmets with comm. Not sure how a wireless setup is going to do after coming from a wired background. Fingers crossed it all works well.

Here is an update to the costs to run the bike over time from the lcoal service manager.

600 miles - $300
6,000 miles - $240
12,000 miles - $410
18,000 miles - $900
24,000 miles - $410
30,000 miles - $240
36,000 miles - $1,100
42,000 miles - $240

Congrats on the K1600. I took a drive on one of those and if I was in the market for a tourer, that would be it. Sweet....enjoy.

Also went and saw Robyn yesterday and rode the 650GT. Pretty awesome. Handles, brakes and accelerates better than I imagined and its nice to have a real suspension. I think I like the suspension on this better than my BMW motorcycle. Eats up the freeway. It's pretty tall...ok for me at 5' 10", but I'm on my toes at a stop. The only drawbacks (for me) are the bike is BIG for a scooter, pretty loud, and lots plastic, but all these are to be expected with a 650 cc maxi-scooter. My current scooter is a GTS and all these drawbacks are only in comparion to that (I've never owned a Maxi before). However it's it's MUCH nicer than my GTS for 2-up which is why I'm looking at it.

Like Knight Train, I need to evaluate my current R12R and Vespa before considering. I know its a lot of $$, but it's more to me about what I'm willing to give up and what I will gain. Still thinking.....

I went over to SJ BMW yesterday and they had both a demo C650GT and a showroom floor C600 Sport, and I almost went home with the Sport but decided to give them a deposit check on the next 650GT to hit their inventory instead (it would likely be there already but things have been slowed by the storm, hopefully it'll be there in 10 days or so).

This thing rides really well, the 15" wheels are close enough to motorcycle wheels that you no longer have that unstable feeling you get when moving from a big bike to a smaller scooter. I actually liked the ride on the Sport just slightly better but think I just need to play with the preload and/or adjust the backrest on the GT, or perhaps swap seats (unlike most of the journos I actually liked the Sport's better). In the end I couldn't give up the significant extra storage on the GT, which seemed to me to be about a full grocery bag's worth compared to the sport - I'm used to traveling and commuting with a lot of junk in the bags in my Triumph Sprint ST, to which I'll be saying goodbye when the GT arrives. I also like the appearance of the GT a bit better, though the Sport they had in black was just beautiful other than the model decals - the Sport is much better in black than the blue they're using for the marketing collateral IMHO.

I think I am in that target market BMW may have in mind for these things. My back, hips and knees do not really like being folded up for long periods anymore and these scooters afford a pretty stretched out riding position, the GT even more so. The vibration is also basically imperceptible and there's no weight on your arms at all unless you're leaning forward to put it there on purpose so no more numb hands, etc. On the whole it's a very comfortable and accommodating platform. Could I have gotten the same positioning issues solved on, e.g., an RT or a GTL? Sure, and with a lot more power too, but while the GTL was comfortable, it feels huge by comparison - EDIT: truly a joy to ride but not quite as ideal for a lane splitting commute versus the open road. And I've always been attracted to the CVT and having your legs and feet fully protected by a scooter fairing, esp. since having my foot once nailed by a rock hard enough to really hurt through riding boots!

What made the call for me was that despite having ridden a few scooters (including the MP3 500 and Silverwing), this is the first one that felt like it still had really acceptable passing power on the freeway, once used to a 100+hp motorcycle. It certainly won't launch from lights like the Triumph did (at double the power), or pass with quite the same authority or quickness, but this is *enough* power for me to feel comfortable, safe, and amused, and with lots of storage without either the pain in the rear of a clutch when lane splitting through traffic, or the need to use side bags to carry my stuff to work.

I'll post more thoughts once it arrives and I've had it for some time, but for now, I'm really looking forward to it!

Very nice bike 2011. 8) Just enough farkle. Have fun with it and keep us updated on how it does. One can never have too many bikes.

Ya, but I need a passenger to hold the flashlight. Works well on my Lambretta as well.


Cheers,
Tross

Ridiculously overcomplicated for what it accomplishes.

If you mount a conventional headlight on the headset instead of in fixed bodywork, it mitigates many of the perceived problems the exaggerated demo video purports to demonstrate. That would be far too simplistic for BMW, though... you don't have room to mount complicated mechanical linkages like they'd prefer in a practicable headset.

And WTF is up with that animated video anyway? My "conventional" headlight sure doesn't behave like the one in the video... sweeping wildly back and forth across the road.

Sure, you can "solve" any perceived problem by throwing enough money and engineering at it... but that doesn't mean it is good engineering in the sense of elegantly developing a low-cost, low-maintenance, eminently practical improvement to a product. Over thirty years ago we threw an incredible amount of engineering resources into successfully putting a man on the moon, but putting men on the moon is no more practicable today than it was back then. Good engineering (and good industrial design in general) means finding the right balance between an adequate solution to the problem and the total cost to the end user in terms of purchase cost, cost of maintenance, simplicity of maintenance, and reliability. It ISN'T designing systems that -- while they may indeed initially solve the perceived problem -- are gimmicky, overly costly, inherently unreliable due to overkill complexity, and create inflated ongoing costs to the end user for the life of the product.

It's wonderful engineering for BMW's bottom line -- and that of their dealers -- but it benefits only those customers who place no value on value.

Gosh, adaptive headlights denied

BTW, missed this in your followup post - I have a C3 with the SRC kit and it works flawlessly with the iPhone, and this coming from someone who previously owned/used an Autocom setup. I have not tried to set up multiple input sources with it and it may not be as (or at all) usable if that's your use case, but for a single input, answering and disconnecting are no problem and the speaker volume is adequate even at freeway speed with plugs in. Can't speak to the bike-to-bike functionality as my wife has not been up to passengering enough to get her one since Jr was born two years ago.

Not denied... just this particular solution.

Perhaps -- with a little creativity -- technology could eventually accomplish the same thing at far lower cost and far greater mechanical simplicity using something like phased arrays of solid-state light emitters (laser diodes, perhaps?... I'm no expert in this field). Now THAT would be good, elegant engineering.

In the meantime, complicated electromechanical systems aren't the answer for a practical, affordable vehicle.

That is really great news and thank you for sharing. The 'big ears' manager told me they have a solution that adds a 1/8" jack that you can plug your headpones into for an even cleaner sound. By the way, I just noticed that Schuberth now has a new helmet coming out called the Schuberth C3 Pro. I am especially interested in the new comm system they are putting in it. LINK

Are you partaking of the jack? For my own part, I'm staying full wireless I think, as the sound is fine for going through plugs and freeway speed wind noise anyway, and on the new scoot I'll be plugging the phone into power in the glove box on long trips anyway. Will be curious to hear your eval of the new system after a couple weeks of use.

Indeed congrats on the K1600, I remember when it first came out, I was at a bike show here in England. I remember thinking, WOW, Now THAT is a touring machine! With highline spec(I think) You've got comfort for you and your passenger, especially here in england it gets too cold!

But again congrats!

8)

Thank you and we could not be happier. For me picking a motorcycle always felt like a compromise and with the GTL it was exactly what my wife and I needed. We know how we like to ride and use the bike and I hope to ship her over the pond for an extended ride in the Alps.

I am getting emulous!
But maybe you can rent such a bike over there?

I looked into the cost to rent and it was cheaper to ship the bike. We ship containers and I will make sure to give myself a really go deal.

I thought you would. I guess depreciation of your bike is not a factor.
Even if you could only make it cost neutral, you can cross borders with your own bike at will. Over there, that's a vital point.

Congrats! They just got two in at Cal Motosport in Mountain View, and I dropped in to sit on them. They look awesome, impeccable fit-and-finish, nice engineering from all appearances. I'm going to schedule a test ride this week.

My only complaint (besides the price) is that they are VERY TALL. And the hump in the middle is so high I found it very awkward to get off of the thing. Of course that was with the salesman watching and fretting over how scuffed the glossy black paint on the hump was getting! For me, I was on tip-toes to reach the ground, even off the centerstand (I'm 5'9"). But I'm sure that's just a matter of getting used to it.

Please do post a review once you get more miles on it!

Here's hoping my bonus is good this year from work...

-Dan
EDITED: Oops, just reread your post and realized you got the GTL motorcycle, not the BMW scoot! Never mind... I was wondering why people were asking about the adaptive headlights!

Dan, did you find the bmw scoot hard to handle at your height? i'm only an inch taller so was just wondering as I have not sat on one yet?

thanks

I'll let you know after I've gone on my test ride. I was just trying it out static.

I'm 5'6.5" with a 29-30" inseam and had no difficulty at all with either the Sport or GT.

I am considering replacing my Aprilia Scarabeo 500 with one of the BMW's. I haven't ridden one yet but I did stop by the local dealer and sat on both models while they gave me the ten cent tour. I have a 32" inseam and was able to get both feet flat on the ground - but just barely. I am leaning toward the sport model because it seems a bit lighter, noticeably skinner, and feels more like my Aprilia. Hopefully I can get a test ride this week if it warms up a little bit.

I rode both and it's definitely a little skinnier, the question for me was whether the extra storage on the GT is something you really need/want/value (and of course which aesthetic you prefer - I liked the GT better on that account). The stiffer suspension on the Sport also felt more like what I'm used to on sport bikes if you like that, though it may just be that I need to bump up the preload on the GT. I ended up going for the GT because I want to use it both for long trips (SF<->LA and Vegas) and for grocery shopping, so the storage was kind of a big deal, but the Sport was also fantastic and in some ways even more so, you can't really go wrong either way, these things are amazing IMHO.