Down to third gear for the somewhat scary but eminently satisfying Lukey Heights then a big squeeze on the brakes and down to second gear for the tight MG Hairpin. You would imagine that two massive cylinders would create more than few dramas in regards to compression lock-ups but I’m glad to report that for some reason the BMW posed very little problems in this regard. Only when I got a little hamfisted on a couple of occasions did the rear slither around a little under compression, but never did it threaten to get untidy. When I went down one cog too many in a moment of brain fade the rear stepped out to the side quite nicely but it never threatened to get ugly. Pity the photographer wasn’t there. I could have pretended to do it on purpose and show off the photograph as testament to my level of bike control. Cough… Wake up Trevor, no one is that easily fooled.

So anyway, back to reality.

Second gear is the chosen cog for MG Hairpin followed by a short shift to third before that always satisfying change of direction for turn 11. Squeeze the throttle on as hard as you dare through turn 11 and then nail it to the stop as you straighten out of the turn. Click fourth as redline approaches and tip in again for turn 12. The cleanup marks from an oil spill some days earlier were clearly evident on the inside line through turn 12. A few times I braved it enough to go through a little quicker and take turn 12 in fifth but visions of me highsiding in fifth gear and being banged on the back of the head by a somersaulting R 1200 S saw me exercise caution. Thus I was a bit of a pansy through here and utilised the upper reaches of fourth before clicking fifth, then sixth as I cross the start/finish line and again I see 240kph on the conventional white faced speedo. No matter how long the straight I don’t think I would see the full 260kph mark on the speedo but on a long run I am fairly sure 250kph would be easily achieved. Generally, BMW speedometers are actually somewhere in the ballpark of reality and not 20kph or more optimistic like most Japanese machines. Make no mistake, this Boxer boogies.

Let’s get technical….

Now to the numbers game…

The R 1200 S is 18kg lighter than its predecessor and with a full tank of fuel and other fluids tips the scales at a very respectable 213kg. That’s just 20kg more than the latest lightweight litre weapons from Japan and a massive 35kg less than BMW’s premier sporting four-cylinder machine, the K 1200 S.

BMW will offer a tankbag and tailbag for the R 1200 S but no panniers will appear in the BMW Rider Equipment and Motorcycle Equipment catalogue. BMW will point riders that want a sporting Boxer with panniers towards the R 1200 ST. The R 1200 S will be marketed purely as a sportsbike and BMW hopes the model may steal customers that are considering machines such as Ducati’s 1000SS and other large capacity sporting twins. That said though the R 1200 S does feel quite slim between the knees and offers a very comfortable seat and nice reach to the bars that would make big days in the saddle an attractive prospect.

BMW claim 90 kW (that’s 122 ponies in the old scale) and my seat of the pants tells me that figure has to be somewhere near the mark. That peak power figure arrives at 8250rpm while a prodigious peak torque figure of 112 Nm reaches its peak at 6800rpm. More than 100 Nm of torque is available all the way from 3500rpm to the 8800rpm rev-limiter.

That type of performance from an air-cooled twin means that it must be fed a diet of premium unleaded, preferably the best 98 octane you can get. However a knock sensor ensures the machine performs just fine on 95 octane and can even brave the poorest Australian fuel when there is no other option. It may be smart though not to lean on the motor too hard for long periods of time if running on low octane fuel. The machine is more vibe free than other Boxers with a third cam bearing helping to minimise vibrations.

Changes to the engine that enable it to reach those heady power figures include a very high 12.5:1 compression ratio, stiffer valve springs, new steel alloy con-rods, larger 52mm throttle bodies and intake manifolds help get more premium unleaded into the reshaped cylinder heads while a 5mm larger 50mm exhaust headers help shift the gases out of the revised exhaust ports.