The 2008 BMW HP2 Megamoto is a 440lb monster (with a full tank of gas) with 113 horsepower and a seat height of 35”! Now let’s be clear, my inseam is 30”. I was a bit concerned about the height, but it turned out not to be an issue. The Megamoto’s power has been much discussed in the press and rumored to easily pop wheelies in 2nd gear.

            Roy Oliemuller, BMW Motorsports Communications Manager, and Jim Viola, events manager, were on hand in Santa Monica, California to provide a brief background on BMW sales over the last year, and to introduce the Megamoto.

            Five beautiful new BMW’s were lined up in formation, waiting for us to take them out on the road. I threw my leg over the seat. Yes, I could manage it, but that seat was tall! I eased out of the parking lot and immediately entered LA traffic, got turned around and took a few minutes to locate the freeway again. I had prepared for the cold weather (yes it IS cold in California in January on a naked bike!) and had worn long johns under my riding gear, and a heated vest that I never plugged in. I was also wearing a brand new Scorpion helmet (more on that later).

            Once underway, I started to feel this machine out a bit. The first thing I noticed was the incredible raw power in any gear at any speed. Roy had told us these motors were hand built, and that with the light weight, they would move right along. Yes they did! I immediately thought back to the muscle cars that were around when I was beginning to drive. You had to be a bit careful when starting to keep things in control, but once moving, WATCH OUT! The next thing you notice is the seriously stiff suspension. Southern California freeways were recently reported as the worst in the nation. I know Chicago and some other areas might disagree with this, but the roads in California are bad enough to provide a rough ride for a bike set up for canyon riding. I felt my arms pumping up on the wide bars, and managed to settle down, relax and go with it.

            Those bars were wide, not what I’m used to on K100LT, RS or Airheads that I ride. I was glad I had brought a new pair of Lee Parks padded deerskin gloves to absorb some of the pounding. I was also a little concerned about the minimally padded seat, but it proved to be OK for a tank of gas at a time. As I neared home, a fuel light came up on the display. Now I had no idea what kind of mileage I was getting, but after fooling with the info button, found I was going to make it. After a few tanks of gas I found that it was really crying wolf and that even with “0 miles to go” I still had probably a half gallon left at least. I learned that the bike was returning almost 40mpg, no matter how I rode.

            As I pulled into my neighborhood someone of course pulled out in front of me and I hit the brakes as I normally would. Dual disc 12.6 inch rotors grabbed by dual 4-piston calipers made their presence known. I stopped on a dime, throwing me a bit off balance and tweaking the forks to one side. Thanks to the low center of gravity and light weight I kept it upright, while throwing a glaring look a the offending driver. The bike I had did not have the optional ABS.

            Once into the garage I finally had the chance to slowly take a long hard look at what I had brought home. The exposed frame is a nice touch; with Marzocchi upside down forks up front and an Ohlins shock in the rear. The front is fully compression and rebound adjustable, as well as the rear. Mine was set up in the middle settings for both front and rear. The Akropovic exhaust looks good and sounds beefy, too. Liberal use of carbon fiber on the front fender, tank, headlight cowling and exhaust heel guard are a nice touch visually, and also lend to the light weight of this bike. The white-over-blue paint scheme makes a definite BMW statement.

            The next day was a workday and I rode the Megamoto to work (instead of the K100LT) and it was in the 30s at 5:30 in the morning. I sure missed that LT fairing, but even being cold, the joy of riding quickly put that out of my mind. I was looking forward to the ride home in warmer weather. I certainly drew a crowd of the usual motorcycle commuters at work!

            Once I arrived home, I took a brief jaunt down a local twisty route. After racing a /5 in vintage racing, I felt confident about setting up corners and powering out. Every time I dove into a corner I found I wasn’t carrying enough speed to hold a good line. The reward was instant power leaving each corner. There was no lag and no waiting to come up to speed, but bam—power when you asked for it! I had to be a bit careful not to spin the rear, but that never became an issue.

            The next ride was a longer one. I took a route that took me through some familiar mountains and again I marveled at how fast I could enter a corner without any concern for pulling through. I sure wish I had a chance to get this bike on a track, but winter timing didn’t lend me an opportunity for that. Returning home I found an open stretch and while cruising in 6th gear at indicated 85mph hit the throttle hard for about four seconds, and the speedometer read 125 in a hurry, with no sign of slowing down. Since the LEO presence is high on Saturdays, I backed off before finding the top speed. I had no doubt that the speedometer top speed of 150 was easily achievable. I did note that the speedometer read about +10% optimistic, typical of BMW instruments.

            I took an opportunity to show the bike a bit and stopped in at several of the local dealers and for Sunday breakfast with my local club, the BMW Owners Club of San Diego. There was certainly plenty of interest at each stop. There will be fewer than 200 of these built and there were only five in the country at the time. Some will be supplied with ABS, but that number is yet to be determined.

            Arriving home I found that I had a serious fork seal leak. It was serious enough that I had puddles on the floor in the garage. BMW came and picked up the bike and brought it back to me a week later in good condition.

            On my next test ride in the mountains I found myself really getting comfortable with this machine. Passing in the mountains was so easy it just wasn’t fair. Usually I have to plan ahead a bit when approaching a slower moving vehicle, but I quickly learned that I could be by almost any vehicle in two seconds or less. What a sense of freedom!

            Despite all the fun I was having, I did notice some things that could be improved. The first was that the handlebar grips were small in diameter. I don’t know why they were narrowed down from the main area where they mounted to the steering head. Personally I prefer a beefy grip. Next the shift lever was shorter than I thought necessary. This piece could never drag, and was spring loaded to lift if you did, so I would prefer it to be a bit longer (same with the side stand tab). With the height of this bike, I wanted to be able to put the stand down before dismounting. The left foot peg interfered with the ankle of my boot when trying to deploy the stand in the appropriate position. This is of course no problem if you dismount first before setting the bike on the stand. After gaining experience with the bike this was my preference. Another disappointment is really a “nit.” The dual front brake steel braided lines are routed rather haphazardly, not being evenly splayed and one rubbed the front carbon fiber fender leaving a mark on the surface. The rear brake was almost non existent. I noticed after examination that the brake line followed quite a serpentine route after leaving the master cylinder. This resulted in a lengthy hose probably contributing to the lack of braking effect. I did not try to bleed the brakes to improve this performance. Lastly, when attempting to adjust the compression on the front forks, the adjuster broke. I was surprised that these were brass adjusters, not able to provide a solid feel of “stop” when the last position was reached. This could easily have been an Allen head rather than a slotted adjuster; less likely to break.

            This is a limited edition bike, offered in limited quantities that will appeal to a very specific set of riders. The list price of $20,520 (without ABS) will make this a unique ride for the local supermotard-style rider.

SIDEBAR:

During this test I had the opportunity to try several new purchases. One was the Scorpion EXO 700 helmet. I bought this helmet because of safety testing (Snell, DOT) reporting that this helmet rivaled others for safety that were up to 4 times the cost. I paid $109 shipped to me for a helmet with stylish graphics. The fit was tight at first, but soon became more comfortable after 200 miles or so. Behind a full fairing I found this helmet to be amazing! The shield incorporates a design that totally eliminates fogging. I commute to work daily on a motorcycle and this is a first. There are separate vents for the bottom and top of the face shield, and others that provide cooling for your head on really hot days. I would appreciate a smaller first setting for the helmet shield opening but this is a small trade off for a fog free visor. Also, I noticed a small amount of whistling from air on the unfaired Megamoto. Since I wear earplugs whenever I ride, this was not a problem.

            I also tried a new pair of Lee Parks’s deerskin gloves. These gloves offer extra padding in the palm delivering comfort with the small diameter grip of the Megamoto. I know from personal testing experience that deerskin provides excellent protection in a crash, and I have every confidence that the comfort these gloves provide will also deliver on the abrasion resistance I have grown to count on from deerskin.