2019 BMW C 400 GT ion long-term review

It was the vague outline of the assorted electronics on the dashboard that gave it away, my suspicions soon confirmed in my mirrors by the blazing brake lights on the back of the late-model Commodore. Was I aboard the first example of BMW's new C 400 GT to be pulled over by Victoria Police Highway Patrol?

On similar occasions in the not-so-distant past such encounters were accompanied by a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Speeding fines cost big dollars these days, and points are a precious commodity – especially when your day job involves reviewing all manner of new bikes and cars…

This time, however – and as the unmarked wagon swiftly tucked in behind my mate and I, discreet Christmas lights winking away – I felt confident I'd done nothing wrong. And that, right there, is a big plus for C 400 GT ownership: with its modest output, you don't need one eye glued to the speedo like you do with any high-performance motorcycle.

No, I wasn't speeding, and with breath tests and licence checks duly passed we were free to continue. While the police in question were perfectly courteous and professional, it is a bit affronting to be pulled over for a random check purely, it seems, for being on a bike (or, in this case, scooter).

However, the road toll in Victoria is through the roof this year – it recently passed the total number of deaths for all of 2018 – so expect a heavy police presence on our roads, and presumably plenty of random checks, over the months ahead. But I digress…

Our BMW C 400 GT ion is proving quite the chameleon of the Bikesales garage. Our latest long-termer has already shown itself to be a competent commuter, but can it really justify that 'GT' suffix in its model name? After all, when you think of 'grand tourers', a scooter doesn't immediately spring to mind…

So when an old school mate from Sydney mentioned he was keen to check out some of Victoria's more engaging roads on his recent purchase – a BMW R 1200 GS – a plan quickly formed. This was the perfect opportunity to see how the C 400 GT would fare over some distance.

With a 350cc single-cylinder engine, the C 400 GT could be categorised as a middleweight maxi scooter. That is, it's smaller than an outright maxi scooter like its big brothers, the BMW C 650 Sport and C 650 GT, yet it's clearly a step up from your small-capacity city scoots.

With a larger front fairing and screen than its C 400 X stablemate, and with boosted luggage capacity thanks to an accessory 30-litre top box, our C 400 GT ion appears well equipped to handle some decent distance.

Meeting in Healesville to Melbourne's east, our route saw us head up Black Spur and on to Eildon, before heading east in the direction of Jamieson then north to Mansfield and the quiet hamlet of Whitfield, in the King River Valley.

We'd booked into the nearby Valley View Caravan Park – where you can still stay in actual caravan instead of a static cabin, as it turned out – which was stumbling distance from the Mountain View Hotel. It's a top little country pub with some excellent local beers and wines. What more could you want?

Packing the C 400 GT was easy – the top box swallows quite a bit of gear and there's more room under the seat. The seat release is electronic – just press the button under the handlebars with the ignition on – and it flips up with the aid of a hydraulic strut.

There's an LED light in there along with BMW's 'Flex Case' system, which is just a bit of marketing spin for a concertina-style pocket that drops down into the top of the rear wheel arch, giving you room to store a full-face helmet.

It's a pretty neat solution, really, but then again there are numerous maxi scooters out there that have enough underseat storage to accept a full-face lid without requiring such an inventive solution. Seems a bit of a shame that the top box isn't quite big enough to fit a full-face lid too, if you happened to have a pillion along for the ride…

It's a comfy ride though, and the stepped seat offers good lumber support for the rider. It's heated too – as the top-spec 'ion' variant, this model comes with multi-stage seat and grip heating, along with a large TFT instrument display with phone/music/navigation connectivity, the latter achieved via your smartphone and a BMW Motorrad app.

I'm 188cm tall and I found I had reasonable leg room with my feet in the forward position, and the screen works really well – virtually no buffeting, but good weather protection. All in all, I found the riding position quite roomy and felt quite fresh at the end of both days on this trip, which totaled over 600 kilometres by the end of the weekend.

The biggest surprise of the entire trip, however, was just how well the C 400 GT gets along a winding road. With its low centre of gravity, competent suspension, quality Pirelli Angel Scooter rubber and 15-inch front wheel, the C 400 GT can rail through bends with complete confidence.

The front end will dive a bit under hard brakes but I found the scoot could be cranked over to the very edge of its tyres without anything scraping, even after hitting the odd mid-corner bump.

What's more, its modest (and LAMS-compliant) power-to-weight ratio focuses your attention on extracting every available bit of performance. It's got all the aural appeal of a muffled lawn-mower, but on a tight road it's actually quite an engaging, fun ride, and all (thankfully!) at road-legal speeds.

With 34hp on tap, highway overtakes require a calculated approach, but there's still enough oomph there to do so, and reasonably promptly too.

It's also quite frugal; the C 400 GT ion returned an average fuel economy of 3.5L/100km over this trip, which delivers a safe working range of somewhere approaching 300 kilometres per tank. You do have to stoop a bit when fuelling up though, thanks to the low position of the fuel filler. I had to, anyway...

It's stepping a bit outside the scoot's design brief, but even the odd decent-quality dirt road isn't off-limits. While my mate's R 1200 GS was in its native habitat on a fire trail in Eildon National Park – a bit of a 'short cut' from Jerusalem Creek through to the Eildon-Jamieson road – with its traction control switched off the C 400 GT acquitted itself perfectly well.

Now we're a few thousand kays into our relationship with the C 400 GT here at Bikesales, that really sums up this model for me – it regularly surprises with just what it can accomplish, and how well it can accomplish it.

The maxi scooter segment is never going to dominate the Aussie motorcycle landscape nor gain the traction it has in Europe, but don't pigeon-hole the BMW C 400 GT as simply a scooter, and by inference just a commuter.

It's far more than that, and if the whole feet-forward, twist-n-go thing appeals, you'll find the C 400 GT ion is up for just about anything a traditional motorcycle can handle, and with an extra dash of comfort and convenience.

ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled, OHC four-stroke single-cylinder
Capacity: 350cc
Bore x stroke: 80mm x 69.6mm
Compression ratio: 11.5:1
Fuel system: Electronic fuel injection
Emissions: Euro 4

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: 34hp (25kW) at 7500rpm
Claimed maximum torque: 35Nm at 6000rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Continuously variable
Clutch: Centrifugal dry

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame type: Steel tubing
Front suspension: 35mm fork, 110mm travel
Rear suspension: Twin shocks, preload adjustment, 112mm travel
Front brakes: Twin 265mm discs with four-piston calipers
Rear brake: 265mm disc with single-piston caliper
Wheels: Cast aluminium – front 3.5 x 15, rear 4.25 x 14
Tyres: Front 120/70-15, rear 150/70-14

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Claimed kerb weight: 212kg
Seat height: 775mm
Wheelbase: 1565mm
Fuel capacity: 12.8 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: from $11,890 plus on-road costs
Colours: Alpine White, Moonwalk Grey Metallic or Black Storm Metallic
Test bike supplied by: BMW Motorrad Australia
Warranty: Three years, unlimited kilometres