The 25 litre fuel tank provides a touring range in excess of 400km at the national limit. At the same service station that charged me 137.9 cents per litre for fuel, I picked up a just as unattractively priced Michael Buble tape to round out the mellow mood I was enjoying. The stereo is reasonable enough at legal speeds, but does lack the power and sound quality available on some of the Japanese tourers. There is something wonderfully perverse about waiting at intersections with the stereo blaring as car drivers or pedestrians try to work out where the music is coming from. Great entertainment!

Useful side panniers were fitted to the R 1150 RT and I was very impressed by the excellent BMW locking and docking system. A couple of seconds is all it takes to remove or mount the panniers to the machine. The test machine featured the standard luggage rack that integrates with the side panniers. We did not get the opportunity to try the optional top box.

Another highly impressive feature of the machine was a complete and utter resistance to crosswinds or turbulence from oncoming trucks. Many of the large Japanese tourers can get a bit of a weave going at speed when encountering wind turbulence, but nothing could stop the R 1150 RT from tracking true. The thing must be near cyclone proof!

The telelever front end performed well and along with the trademark Paralever rear end, the suspension package proved well up to the task. Preload is hydraulically adjustable for when you are fully loading up the machine or carrying a pillion. Rebound damping is also adjustable.

Surprisingly, the R 1150 RT proved quite light on its feet, even rapid changes of direction are accomplished with ease. If you get really aggressive the rear suspension can complain a little, but so will any other machine in this class of motorcycle.

Stopping the machine is a fuss free affair. Just grab a big handful and the integral ABS system ensures the show remains tidy under full emergency stop conditions. The brakes are linked together, thus a dab on the rear brake also activates some force on the front brakes, and vice-versa. It works well enough, but it would be nice to have an off switch when traversing gravel stretches.

In the gravel the BMW also acquits itself well. Power-on is the order of the day to stop the front ploughing. If your confidence is up you can dial on some more throttle and slide around the turns.

The engine has reasonable power, but is certainly no match for the super powerful four or six cylinder engines available in the large Japanese tourers. Enough mumbo is on tap to put a smile on your dial though, and the machine will happily maintain speeds that would only be legal in the Northern Territory.

BMW claim 95 horsepower @ 7,250rpm from the 1,130cc four-valve boxer twin with 100Nm of torque arriving at 5,500rpm. They also claim that more than 90Nm of torque is available from 3,000rpm all the way through to 6,500rpm. The transmission offers six ratios, the tallest of which is very much an overdrive gear for high speed touring.