Anyway on to the RiDE…
Given the bikes intended purpose, we thought it only fair to give the machine an intense work out on a variety of different surfaces to really allow the bike to shine. Having already seen action at the infamous Dakar rally and enduring the mammoth 14,000 mile trip to Cape Town there really wasn’t a lot this bike hadn’t done. In order to give it a thorough work over we decided to take it straight from one of BMW’s main showrooms in Napoli and ride up through Italy and then France to get back to the studio here in London. We hoped this would give plenty of different roads to test the 1200 GS’s all round ability. The Saturday morning when we arrived at the Napoli showroom it may not have been raining cats and dogs, but the road was wet and the sky an ominous shade of grey. Still at least we’d know how it handled in the wet. Throughout the day the bike remained solid and stuck to the road like cement.
Having ridden through Italy the previous day in gloomy conditions we woke on Sunday to clear blue sky relieved and anxious to push on, so we geared up straight away and I swung my leg over the now familiar tank of the 1200 like a soldier mounting his stead before a grand battle.
Having crossed from Venezia into Austria we came across an unexpected and unmissable opportunity. The Austrian Trials open day. 52 miles of bike trail requiring the participants to climb steep hills, cross rivers and ride on all manner of terrain to reach the finish line. If ever there was an opportunity to challenge Be’em’s new class leader this would be it, and so we had Dave, the onsite mechanic switch the bike to off road tires and having had a brief look at the rules I took my place in the starting pack. It was interesting to notice several 1150 GS’s in the pack and I was determined to show their owners what the new incarnation could do. As the race began I was instantly gratified by the abundance of grip from the tires and quickly started to advance in position. Several hundred meters in came the races first trial, a particularly steep hill of loose wet mud begging to be churned up by the 100 or so machines belting toward it. Slipping the clutch and shifting down into a lower gear the steady rumble of the shaft driven powerplant sounded confident as the bike climbed the hill with no apparent difficulty. The low end power was quite remarkable for such a big bike as the torque appeared endless as it made mince meat of the first obstacle. As the race continued I saw countless ‘lesser’ machines fail on either the steep slopes or the pot holed tracks but the Be’em seemed in its element. Then came the river, which I had admitted to the team earlier I had been apprehensive about. Rather cautiously (compared to the fearless Austrian riders at least) I began crossing the river. And still the bike kept pulling and never lost grip. I was starting to see the bikes true off road potential by now my machine and I were enjoying every minute of the experience. Truthfully the end of the trial came all too soon, however really the trial had been about testing out the machines off road capabilities, and with that foot note it was hard to feel bad that it was over as the bike from Be’em had performed just as if not better than expected. Suffice to say by now my machine and I were enjoying every minute of the experience
“Several 100 meters in came the races first trial, a particularly steep hill of loose wet mud begging to be churned up by the 100 or so machines belting toward it.”
RiDE Rating: 9/10
Commentary:
The article was designed as a magazine article for a mainstream bike magazine such as RiDE and so the language and techniques used were included to give the piece a hint of authenticity. In order to achieve the write tone for the piece I tried to use ‘Jeremy Clarkson’ style phrases to inject a familiar sense of humor and manner of expression into the article which could instantly be related to by the reader. In the introduction I also tried to include personal opinion as a rhetorical device. Along with this it was important to include relevant technical data that would strengthen the piece in terms of its information content – People interested in motorbikes are more interested in the facts about the bike, the power, the acceleration etc and so that information needs to be included. In order to do this I researched the bike to be reviewed and the hypothetical route I would take across Europe to give the article credibility. Toward the beginning of the article I used the expression “raining cats and dogs” to emphasize how bad the weather was which was an attempt to emulate the style of the magazine RiDE, which often uses familiar phrases to demonstrate a point or opinion.
The piece has no clearly defined age group but obviously the article would only really appeal to those with an interest in bikes, however it should be noted that it is perhaps more likely to appeal to younger riders due to the nature of the machine itself. The primary purpose for the text is to persuade as essentially that is why reviews are written, to provide an expert opinion on a product to encourage and persuade people to buy it. The style model for the piece is from a current popular bike magazine RiDE which features several reviews of motorcycles by their experts every month which tend to be written in a style that is readily accessible to the majority of the public with the only limitation being the technical jargon. To comply with the style model I have kept the tone of the writing similar to the model and included highlighted quotes taken from the main text to emphasize certain information about the review, which is a technique prominent in RiDE. To give the reader a feeling of closer involvement with the machine I tried to use sensory detail that would promote excitement in the reader “a particularly steep hill of loose wet mud begging to be churned up”. To a bike rider this presents a very clear image of the event and one that is quite desirable to those who enjoy trials, this is targeted to appeal primarily to those who enjoy off roading. To emphasize the particular pros and con’s of the machine I used similes “and stuck to the road like cement” demonstrating the machines evident ability to grip in tough situations. I also used “I swung my leg over the now familiar tank of the 1200 like a soldier mounting his stead before a grand battle”. To show how setting off on the bike was a dramatic and exciting moment. To re iterate the bikes apparent ‘love’ for rough conditions I used personification, giving it human qualities. “By now my machine and I were enjoying every minute of the experience. When referring to the trial in Austria I used lexis like “ploughed” and “churned” to re iterate the harsh terrain and the bikes offroading prowess.
In order to get a suitable feel for automotive journalism and the manner in which the articles are composed I researched a lot of magazines for articles similar to that of the one I was going to write and read through ‘The Long Way Down’ which used the bike the R1200 GS over along period. This was effectively a 14,000 mile road test. This combined with reading a lot of articles in the prominent bike magazine RiDE provided me with the right amount of background knowledge to successfully write this piece.
When redrafting I kept trying to adapt the language used to more technical appropriate terms to better reflect the manner in which automotive articles are written.
After further research I tried to adapt the structure of the piece by including quotes in bold and breaking the piece down into two primary components; the technical aspect and the ‘ride’ experience. This featured two different styles, a more formal specific style in the technical section and a more casual humorous style in writing the ‘riding’ section.
Map showing the planned hypothetical route from Napoli in Southern Italy up through Rome and Venezia to reach Osternich in Austria and to then head North West through Germany and then Belgium to cross the channel at Calais.
James Matthews Ph12 (2105)
