BMW RnineT a classic roadster and a decent Sunday morning.

26/06/2023

BMW RnineT a classic roadster and a decent Sunday morning

Not all bikes are created equal and there really is no good reason why they should be. The RnineT is a bike that is so much more than the sum of its parts … and its parts are all good.

Manufacturers, journalists and bikers have a whole range of categories to fit bikes into: sports, sports tourers, off road, commuters, cruisers dual sports, enduro, adventure and so on.

The Wikipedia entry describes the RnineT as a ‘standard motorcycle’ and a ‘retro styled roadster’. BMW describe it as a classic roadster – ‘thoroughly reduced and entirely present’ and Motor Cycle News describe the bike as a premium bike that set the benchmark for all future retro motorcycles.

I’m not sitting on the fence but…

I don’t mean to sit on the fence on this one but I really can agree with each of those statements. So at the same time as describing it as pretty standard I’d also describe it as pretty special.

It’s pretty standard in terms of equipment or rather lack of it – not even a petrol gauge, but pretty special with the quality of parts, the perfectly balanced looks and so much more – and all of that before the perfect soundtrack from the boxer engine and twin Ackrapovics. Perhaps it’s the bike that Erwin Schrödinger would have owned.

It’s perfect for a ride like yesterdays – a 150 mile round trip in the sunshine for a coffee and a sausage sandwich at a regular stop off for bikers in the Cheshire countryside. But I have also found it ideal for longer trips, including trips to Scotland, and I’ve done a couple of weeks travelling in Spain and Portugal on it

I’d had enough but could have had more

The sausage sandwich I had reminded me in some ways about this bike and it’s what prompted me to write this post. The sandwich was both standard and special at the same time. When I had eaten it, I’d had enough but I could have ate more. Comparing my bike to a sausage sandwich is a theme I may come back to.