Todays' Sunday Times motoring section includes an update into what caused the fatal that got Kevin Ash at the BMW launch in South Africa earlier this year. BMW spared no expense but remain 'uncertain' as to the precise cause. There is mention of sudden tank slappers for no obvious reason , a fork leg coming loose , and snapped off headstock steering lock restrictors , but nobody knows (or is not saying). Also details of possibly related recalls. I liked Kevin , always read his articles and seemed very genuine and knowledgable.
Is it the Sunday Times trying to force BMW to be a bit more upfront or just they genuinely don't know?
Kevin, a Telegraph journo who was well liked by those who knew him including me, crashed off road....journos do crash off and on road while testing bikes. We expect them to test close to the limit for our benefit don't we? Kevin was hit by the following rider after he crashed who was a fellow Telegraph employee. Would he have survived if not hit by the other rider? That seems to be a possibility of why the Times would like BMW to be shown to be at fault rather than a fellow journo and are keeping this in the public eye. The other reference to tank slappers and broken lock stops for no apparent reason doesn't ring true...the rider (not Kevin) concerned was reported to be riding with no hands on cruise control and one report even said that he was also standing up! You would have to be mad to do this on any bike. A magazine this month has done the most thorough testing of any bike ever of the new GS in the most dodgy (Health and Safety look away now) hands off manner on various rough test surfaces and surprise surprise no broken lock stops. Hundreds of GSs have been flying out of dealers over the last couple of months in this country alone, making it the top seller in the UK during this time and many many hundreds more have been sold worldwide. Even I, a Ducati nutter, has bought one, after thoroughly testing it on wet rough country lanes within my limit of common sense! Has the world been inundated with tales of tank slapping from these riders? Of course not. They have proven to be excellent machines. My bike has had an update to increase security of the front fork tubes mountings before delivery and a software up date. I understand that one recall for some very early production bikes was to correct some software where switching from extreme off road 'EnduroPro' mode to normal road modes did not fully switch all of the parameters over, which could have given you a fright in extreme road conditions. I understand that no UK bikes needed this s/w correction. However, gets on soap box, I have a word of caution which applies to all brands of bikes with multitude modes for engine/suspension/traction control etc in various rider selectable combinations (thinking of my 2 loves, Ducati and BMW in particular but also KTM and Aprillia) which is that, unlike in simpler bike times, it is possible to switch combinations while on the move and either a) have the wrong set up for the conditions or b) think that you're in one set up but are in another. Recipe for trouble? I think so if you don't pay attention. I love all this latest technology though. In simpler times bikes always responded in the same way since there wasn't anything you could change while on a run. Just a thought. Mind how you go.
My test ride of the new GS 2 up on very bumpy roads in soaking conditions in all engine map modes didn't produce any issues. (2hr 15 min ride). Was riding it just like the Mutley 2 up. So many variables to replicate (on a so far) one off crash. Mind you if a steering damper appears as an option/recall then that will open a can of Bavarian worms :biggrin:
There's no mention in the article (or I missed it ) of Kevin being hit by a following colleague after going down. That's a strong possibility - I'm sure lots of us have been in tankslappers and thrown down the road. My last one, on an early CPC R1 without traction control, broke some bones but nothing major as it was a " track - sky - hello nurse type " type incident . Nothing ran into me and all I hit was the dirt (ta very much Mr.Schuberth). Yep - being run over sounds a very likely cause. I've also ridden the GS model in question and it seemed fine to me.
