BMW R****R Thread

[mrbreeze]

Originally Posted by hankamy

I'm thinking of getting a new bike and wonder what your thoughts are regarding these 2 bikes. I know it's difficult to ignore your loyalty and allegiance to the 12R but I would like your unbiased opinions. Will mostly use bike for pleasure riding but may later do some touring. The MSRP of the Honda with ABS would be ~ $10,500 while the base R package includes ABS for ~ $15,500. I'd like you to consider the difference in cost of these bikes and their relative maintenance expenses, ease of doing your own wrenching, life expectancy, etc. This may not be a fair question for none of you have ridden the new Honda but the reviews have been good. Maybe I should wait till after some of you have had a chance to ride it.

I'll also be posting this question on other forums. Thanks!

we all LOVE to pay matchmaker!

hmmm - telelever. Some folks love it, others don't. I loved the stability it offered. Hit a bump in a corner and it didn't phase my R1100R at all. Need to change your line sudddenly? Telelever is great for that, too. And it's antidive characteristics are nice. The problem with Telelever is the lack of feel. I KNEW the bike would do what I wanted, but I never could bring myself to trust that the tire wouldn't let go, because it felt so remote. I was impressed with the telelever, but I never fell in love with it.

I rode the R1100R on a two week trip. It got me there and back. The thing was so top heavy with all my crap on it, and the sidestand so short, that the bike wanted to topple over. In fact it tried a couple of times, and fortunately I was there to catch it. It got to be a real pain in the ass. I found a little one inch block of wood, stopped at a hw store and bought an eye screw and some rope, and made a little "foot" for my kickstand. It worked well, but it was kind of embarrassing..

I stopped at a Yamaha dealer in Maine and seriously considered trading it for a RSTD, but didn't. On the way home I stopped for gas and found a bolt in the luggage mounting hw had vibrated out (bad road), and my right saddle bag was barely hanging on.

I didn't fall in love with BMW.

I suspect the Honda would be more reliable than the BMW. The chain is a non issue. Modern chains don't require much mtce and have their share of advantages over both shaft and belt drive systems. I expect mtce on the Honda to be very simple, it's just an air/oil cooled in line four. Nothing fancy. There are tons of them out there that are 30 yrs old and still getting around just fine. If it were my money, I would buy the Honda.

[ninepeaks9]

Two things would persuade me away from buying Honda CB1100 as my primary mount: weight and fuel tank size. The bike stands at 540 lbs at the curb naked. That's pretty hefty w/o any bags or fairing. Fuel tank is 3.9 gal at full. Limited range if any touring is to be planned with the bike. With that said, I'd love to have it for a second bike if I can afford it.

[Hoop71]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

WOW! that is a good looking bike!

Does it have the stock exhaust? I would like to hear one of these with a good aftermarket can on it.

I don't much care for the seat, though. It looks painful to me.

Has a Remus Hexacone exhaust. Very nice! Definitely adds some character to the exhut note.

[Rapid Dog]

...YO!!!!! Try $400!

[Pantah]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

WOW! that is a good looking bike!

Does it have the stock exhaust? I would like to hear one of these with a good aftermarket can on it.

I don't much care for the seat, though. It looks painful to me.

Yeah, that is the first BMW that captures my fancy. Sort of a BMW version of the steel tank Ducati Monsters. Love those spoked wheels. Makes the bike, plus the naked see-through look and air-cooled jugs. It is air/oil cooled, right? No radiator?

[Rapid Dog]

...no rad, but an oil cooler.

[uberaudi]

Got new exhaust on! Really loud, gotta get the baffle



Sounds great though. Love the sound of a boxer opened up!

[Rapid Dog]

...that a custom pipe or what brand? Nice.

[uberaudi]

GPR, I just didn't put the badge on it

[SQ Beemer]

Originally Posted by Rapid Dog

...which windscreen is this? Does it require OEM or other bracketry?

Want an R1200R all of a sudden.... Simply gorgeous. By the time I get around to getting one, BMW will probably have made the next gen.

[ninepeaks9]

Not sure what BMW would do to top this one. That would be a tall order.

[uberaudi]

I'm having a heckuva time finding hand guards for my '99. Can anyone help? I know GS ones will fit but I don't know from what year or anything.

[DiabloADV]

Originally Posted by ninepeaks9

Not sure what BMW would do to top this one. That would be a tall order.

It'll get the water cooled motor...my guess is one year after the GS.

There are hints on the website of a special model with front forks instead of telelever, coming in 2013. Maybe the "last edition" of the hexhead motor?

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by uberaudi

I'm having a heckuva time finding hand guards for my '99. Can anyone help? I know GS ones will fit but I don't know from what year or anything.

Any year R1100GS the handguards are all the same, the part number is 71 60 2 340 208, they are $48.25 each. The picture below is of the complete set off the Max BMW website

[Snake Doctor]

There are days that I miss her, I liked the Oilhead R so much I bought it twice. Owned a 99' and a 00' five years apart, they were even the same color.