BMW R 80RT

The 800cc RT was designed for the UK market. Seeing the Britishers down on their luck and being extra cautious with their money, BMW came up with this cut-price package to put a dream tourer in reach of more people.  Not that every hard-up rider is toing to rush out and buy this re-launched R80 costing close to £3,000.

But at £900 less than the R100 RT, this tourer is going to make a lot of riders think again about buying the bike which many enthusiasts defend as "the best".

BMW GB say the cost cutting was quite an easy exercise once they started taking away the frills, the little luxury touches, which feature as standard equipment on the R100 RT.

Yet the list of missing features is not all that long. The 800 has a plain paint job, ratherthan the smoked finish, clock, and voltmeter are missing, standard rear suspension units replace the auto-levelling Nivomat units -but these remain as options, like the power socket and oil cooler, and can be added as finances allow.

Our test bike certainly looked a real cracker, brand new and glinting in the midday sun at BMW's Munich HQ when I jetted over to collect it.

Under heatwave conditions I began to wonder if the bike fairing was going to be a disadvantage -but, like it or not, I was going to live with it for the coming 750 miles. Transforming the tourer into a Grand Tourer, the RT fairing looks as good today as it did when it first appeared in February 1 979 -a classic design.

Though it looks big, a lightweight construction keeps the weight down. It's made of moulded plastic, containing 30 per cent glass fibre for strength and spray painted ratherthan impregnated with colour. While the screen is not optically perfect, this is no problem because it's adjustable by slackening two knobs and can be moved so neither the screen nor its edge beading is obstruct the view ahead.

With this set to suit me, my first couple of miles through the congested outskirts of Munich were like meeting an old friend.One of my favourite machines was the R80/7, characterised by a sweet running engine. The new series 800cc power unit, producing just 50bhp, has a new feel thanks to various modifications aimed primarily at smoothing the gearchange.

The clutch is excetpionally light to use and the lightened flywheel means instant engine response. Not that this can be used to best advantage in traffic, since the extra weight of the fairing puts a damper on acceleration.

It was easy to settle down into a BMW riding style, adapting to the high first gear, the footpedal positions and quickly getting into a steady running-in rhythm.

Heading west, hoping to make the Rhine valley before looking for bed and breakfast, surprise number one was running onto reserve at 145 miles.

Fair enough, it hadn't been filled to the brim to start with, but running steadily at around 60mph I would have expected 200 miles before reserve.

More accurate fuel checks showed it was burning a gallon of Super every 48 miles. Not wonderful, especially since I was travelling light.

A minor irritation was the tendency for the left hand mirror -most freequently used -to blur at cruising speeds. The other one stayed clear so maybe some fine tuning on the mounting bracket could cure this.

Some turbulence was stirred up by the wide screen, but not enough to make the ride a strain on the neck muscles. My visorchattered a bit on its press studs.

An overnight stop was made at the little town of Weisloch in the middle of a wine producing area. After this, the bike had to carry a little extra weight -just souvenirs . . .

The next day's ride to Calais showed that BMW don't make the best dual seats in the world. These sports-styled seats seem to feel better on low handlebar models, but the RT

rider with his upright posture should be given something better. And pillion riders complain it is neither long enough nor comfortable enough.

This is not so much a sign that BMW have got the seat wrong, rather that other manufacturers have made a lot of progress in seat comfort, leading us to expect more.

Back in the UK, the bike was treated to a well-overdue first service. Predictably, the tappets had tightened up and it ran freely and well -if a little noisier -after we took our tools to it.

Strangely, the electrics had developed a fault within the headlight shell which caused the headlight to fail. Leaving the headlamp rim a little loose solved the problem!

Once this was all working, I could test the optional extra spot and fog lamps fitted to the bike. These are cunningly designed to fold into the holes normally occupied by the air vents.

The nearside spot light switches on with main beam, the fog light on with dip beam. A wide spread of light from the spot adds to the penetration of main beam rather than offering a slim beam. The fog light illuminates both hedges at once and seems to be more an aid to being seen than probing through the gloom.

Both lights automatically stay switched off while they are folded away. Personally, I prefer the three-way adjustable rear suspension units to the Nivomats. I can't seethe need for an automatic levelling system when these are so easily changed to suit solo-pillion/luggage weights. It was a pleasure to use the long travel suspension over back roads known to be bad, and find most of the lumps simply ironed out.

  Handling is a real pleasure and excessive fork dive under heavy breaking can be reduced by pulling down the back end with the rear brake. I'd like to try an anti-dive system, though.

Those brakes were quite adequate under most circumstances, though extra stopping power on the front discs -with less lever pressure -could be useful.

If you want an idea about spares and extras, a new fairing shell would set you back £214 plus VAT, panniers are just over £100 plus VAT with an extra £35 for the frame mountings and a power socket is about £6.  Those spot lights cost £132 for the pair, though the covers will have to be colour matched to the fairing.

Maintenance schedules are at 5,000 miles -BMW recommend agents to spend just over two hours on a minor service and four hours on a major service.  Our performance figures show the penalty you pay for saving £900 and losing 200cc. The 800 RT failed to reach the ton, though it was far from fully run-in at the time.

And it was a second slower than the one litre tourer over the quarter mile.  But if 80mph cruising is the kind of performance you would regularly use, then there's no penalty for opting for the 800. It will do the job just as well, even though you won't save any petrol. For faster riding or heavier two-up touring the R100 will feel more at ease.

Don't forget £900 buys a lot of petrol, and when you take the R80 for an unhurried spin and appreciate its unique character, you are likely to think of £2,900 well spent.

This smooth twin would like to seduce you into believing it is one of the best touring machines on the road. Some owners have their doubts-and this is the disappointing thing about BMWs. The fact is that bikes do go wrong and most owners will complain that the German twins are not as good as they used to be. These riders might grumble but, more often than not, they stay with a BMW. There's no alternative! TS.

Source MCN of 1981