The sporty version of the GT and replacement for the K1200S. Cubes are upped to 1293cc and power to a whopping 175 bhp, plus 103 lb-ft of torque making this shunt on very impressively. Add in a quick shifter and the thing is absolutely hilarious. Don't expect to get much over 1000 miles out of your back tyre though!

The dry weight looks lardy at 230 kilos but isn't a problem on the road, and this bike is not intended for serious track use. Rather the weight helps keep the bike planted on the road rather well, less flighty than a Gixer or whatever over the bumpy stuff.

Being a BMW the suspension is of course all to cock. The back end is vaguely familiar, although the single sided swingarm is in fact a drive shaft housing, but the front is reminiscent of the old Saxon/Hossack design, with a pivoting swinging arm linked to a central shock. This layout removes front-end dive under braking, and combined with the linked brakes and optional ABS means phenomenal stopping power. Just make sure your mates aren't up your chuff when you show them!

The aforementioned ABS is an optional goody, as are most of the electronic whizz-bangs. You can also have ESA, which electronically adjusts the rear shock spring and damping rates on both shocks, and ASC, a form of traction control which cuts the ignition momentarily when things get slidey. Or bumpy, which can be a bit annoying when having a good chase over a rough old backroad.

Then there is the magic info button, which cycles the bike 'pooter through mpg, range, average this and that - enough to keep you entertained on a boring motorway if you must go on such things.

And a big bonus, a proper indicator switch!

Oh, and a final mad option for the S, a quickshifter. You must get this, it is bonkers and essential for confusing people on R1s who must think half their spark plugs have just fallen out.

There is one fly in the steering ointment. It seems that to counter the humungus forward motion potential of the 1300S, BMW have raked out the steering a bit more than the nimble GT, so steering is noticeably heavier and slower at speed. Not that awful and it does give the bike tremendous poise and stability going into a bend, whereas the GT can be a bit tippy-toppy. You pays yer money ..

All in all this is not a bad bike and worth comparison with Japanese sports bikes for road use. The engine does get a bit vibey after 7000 rpm and that can spoil the enjoyment, but as there's so much grunt below this it's not the end of the world.

Steering is a bit slow at times but very planted and you can take liberties in bumpy bends and on rubbish road surfaces - although the back end can feel a bit slippy at times on the Comfort setting. Better on Normal. Not sure about the Sport setting though, just made things very bumpy - better left for German roads perhaps.

From testing the bounce at a standstill it seems that the front suspension is adjusted by the ESA, but travel seems a bit limited and the ride can be crashy on pot-holed UK roads. It's doubtful this could be dialled out by adjustment as the spring has been stiffened up to improve feel, and certainly it's good on half decent surfaces. Another issue could be the swinging arm setup - as the suspension compresses the arm pivots up and moves the wheel forwards, rather than backwards as with conventional forks, so the bump is exaggerated. Plus there's a lot of unsprung weight which must affect the suspension's reaction times.

The mirrors are excellent, affording an unobstructed view of the fast disappearing R1 and no arms / shoulders in the mix at all. Unfortunately they incorporate the indicators, a deplorable modern fad, but do have the saving grace of flipping backwards or forwards easily when knocked, which will save some big replacement bills when twatting the odd Mumtruck poking out in the traffic queue.

For an old gimmer the standard instruments are a bit hopeless, specifically the speedo. With all those little numbers scrunched in there it's not very clear for those with more mature seeing levels. Much better is the usual modern digital arrangement. BMW do yet another option, some sort of race setup which may give the answer.

And don't go looking for any storage space under the seat, it ain't there. A lock at the rear gets you access and allows you to wiggle the dual seat off, but zilch in the holdall department. Ooh, bring back the old Fireblade hinged pillion seat and capacious storage space.

Where to place this bike? If you fancy a bit of continental touring but don't want the fully dressed tourer, the S could be a good compromise and is a fair bit more relaxing than a full-on sports bike. It's also a hoot on scrabbly back roads where the sheer grunt, ABS and ASC make it a potent bolide. Riding position is a bit odd, you sit in the bike more than on it, with the big tank giving you good braking support, and your arms splayed out with a fairly long reach to the wide bars. Feels weird to start with but you get used to it and it does work well when giving the bike some stick.