Some impressions of the R850

While they were still fresh in my mind, I wanted to make some comparisons between the '96 R850 that I just returned, and my normal bike, the R65 LS.

(The background: I had my R65 in for electrical service at Cascade, and they loaned me this thing for Saturday evening through Tuesday afternoon. Also, see the picture collection.)

Things I didn't like about the R850:

• Riding position - I'm too tall for that bike (seat as high as it'll go) I guess. My legs were folded up uncomfortably to get my feet on the pegs, and I didn't feel like I was in total control. My knees also went past the indents on the (freakin' huge) gas tank.
• Twitchy throttle - I had a terrible time using this throttle. Unless I was paying most of my attention to throttle control, I'd jerk back and forth over bumps, while going slowly, and any time I was accelerating lightly (like in slow traffic).
• The turn-signal system - Having commonly-used controls on the right hand was difficult to get used to, and contributed to the twitchy throttle -- but I suspect one would get used to this (and it was better by the time I turned the bike back in). Although I don't much like the "you have to push it back to center to cancel" turn signals I've got on the R65, they're better than the R850 if only due to it all being on the left hand.
• The suspension - Yes, I know it's a much "better" design, but that bike felt really squirrely at low speeds. It followed every crack in the road, and gave me a distinct feeling of unease. I'm pretty sure the tires were properly inflated (although I admit I didn't check).
• The gas tank - The tank on this machine rides really high, and is really wide. Due to the way you have to sit on the bike, the tank comes up to mid-chest level -- this would make it difficult to reasonably use a tank bag, for instance. Two comments which describe it really well: "I feel like I'm way too intimate with this bike!" and "It's a real ball-buster if you have to hit the brakes hard..." On top of all that, it only holds 5.5 gallons, which is .3 gallons less than my R65's tank, for a ridiculous increase in apparent size.
• The appearance - I guess I'm living life 15 years ago, but I really don't like the voluptuous line of this motorcycle. It's way too curvy for me, with bulbous protrusions and a seat that's sculpted far too much. The overall difference in height between the highest part of the bike and the lowest part of the bike (at least along the top line) is too much, and it should all be flattened out.

Things I did like about the R850:

• The clutch - It was very precise-feeling, and had a very sharp uptake. This did, however, contribute to some fairly jerky shifting on my part.
• The gearbox - It was also much more precise-feeling than the R65's setup, and I never once found a false neutral. Both these things can partially be attributed to the 14 year differential in age between the bikes.
• The engine noise level - The R850, being a second (third?) generation Boxer engine, was much quieter than the R65. I think this was partially better mufflers, and partially different engine design.
• The avaliable power - Naturally, being a much newer engine, with 200 more cc's to play with, it developed more power. Getting on the R65 again, it felt kind of anemic, which it never had before (and hopefully I'll forget how the R850 feels before too long on this count).
• The suspension - (I know, it's in both lists) The suspension was quite nice at speed, and when stopping. The elimination of brake dive was complete, and felt very secure.
• Starting - This bike was exceedingly easy to start, just blip the starter once or twice and it was humming along - never felt any need to rev the engine to keep it running. One of the advantages of fuel injection, I guess.

Overall, I think I wouldn't choose to buy an R850 in the future. The riding position was a major gripe for me, and would result in much less enjoyment while riding. While the increased power and quieter engine were nice, they wouldn't make up for how uncomfortable I'd be sitting on the thing. This is an entirely subjective opinion, and shouldn't be looked upon as an objective answer to whether you, the reader, should buy this model of motorcycle. If it had a similar seating position to my R65, I would probably have an entirely different opinion on the bike.

Created by Ian Johnston. Questions? Please mail me.

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