My short relationship with the limited edition BMW R1100S BoxerCup Replika was an adventure to say the least. Yes, it was a little traumatic - not to mention expensive - at times, but an adventure none the less.
All I had wanted to do was get a few miles under my belt in the hope I'd acclimatise myself to the big Bee Emm before racing one at the British GP round of the BoxerCup race series. But I got more than I bargained for. In the space of a few days I experienced my biggest ever 'Oh shit!' aquaplaning moment while on a trip to see Jim Whitham in Doncaster; I was stopped at 1.30am on the M1 by a strange man in a Volvo who put three points on my licence and relieved me of sixty quid; then the thing pinned me to the floor in the Donington Park paddock as I tried to put a Kit Kat and a packet of cheese and onion crisps in my rucksack.
All self inflicted, I hear you say, except maybe the falling over one, which was definitely due to this particular Bee Emm being the tallest road bike I've ever sat my tight wee arse on - the Replika comes with taller, sports-spec suspension over the standard R1100S to help keep the cylinder heads off the floor at big lean angles. And just in case that's not enough, the bike comes with carbon fibre cylinder head protectors too.
But this time big is bonnie, so long as you get at least one foot on the floor and your balance sorted. The contours, colours and graphics are all pleasing on the eye, copied as they are from the BMW Boxer Cup race bikes, and so too are the underseat pipes. And, apart from some slight vibration through the bars, riding is a comfortable experience as I found on two non-stop, 130-mile trips. The high riding position gave good vision over cars, hedges and the like, and my upper body at least seemed to have decent weather
protection.
Considering she weighs in at nearly 230kg the motor delivers reasonable acceleration while sounding quite raspy through the five gears thanks to the 'sound optimised' Laser exhaust. Shifting itself has a positive efficiency to it, and being German I guess it should. Revving it in the gears to 8000rpm feels good, but torque is what this opposed twin is all about so short shifting makes more sense if you're in a hurry. The Telelever front suspension feels and works pretty much like conventional telescopic forks, except there is much less dive under braking. When I tried some extreme front braking the powerful brakes would either lock the front wheel or the front end would hop, which is exactly what would happen with conventional forks. I couldn't fault the shaft drive rear as it behaved well at all times.
Not many negatives here but I have to say BMW's 'sided' indicator switches really wind me up. Okay, maybe my thumbs are always in the wrong place but operating them is just too confusing for my little brain.
Verdict
All in all the R1100S Boxer Cup Replika (and yes, it is spelt with a 'k') is a really individual, fun to ride sports bike that oozes quality and comes with a ton of presence.
