fnfalman
01-24-2005, 09:34
The bike is solidly built and slightly hefty at around 530-lbs wet with a 5.something-gal tank (include reserve). It's fuel injected but still have a "non-choke" for cold days. From what the BMW guys are telling me it's not a choke, but you use it like a choke. Ooooookay.
The bike is equipped with ABS and it works really well. The brake system itself is very impressive without the ABS. Stops this heavy bike on a dime. Two issues: not very good feel on the brake and it's very sensitive. For a street bike it's not bad, but for more aggressive riding, it's probably going to take a lot of practice to get used to the way the brake works. It's a partial integral brake with the hand lever operate both front and rear and the foot lever operates the rear only. It's obvious that the BMW engineers had put some thoughts into this. I like this setup. You can use the rear brake for low speed maneuvering and pre-cornering or even trailing braking. The hand lever has four positions in order to accomodate various hand sizes. I have small hands and set mine at the lowest setting. It really helps not having to reach too far for the lever.
Clutch lever also has four positions like the brake lever. It's hydraulically operated but it's not that light. Interesting... I'm still getting used to the bike so I haven't mastered the smooth shifts yet except when I get lucky a couple of times. The gear lever requires a firm push. It's not hard, but it's not smooth and light like a Jap bike either. But it clicks in place nicely. Frankly it reminds me of the BMW car's manual.
I'm not brave enough to do any aggressive riding on it yet, but I can tell the difference in the sportier suspension setup over the standard R1150R. The riding position is also more forward and crouchy than the R1150R. I need more exercise because my forearms are sore from holding up my weight.
I guess I'm lucky because the factory seat is comfy for me. After an hour's worth of riding, my ass feels no pain or cramp.
Throttle is rather abrupt. Even with the dual spark design, it's still pretty abrupt. Gotta be real careful with the wrist management. It's a torquey engine, that's for sure. Loafing around at 50-MPH in 6th gear is no problem, even when need to do some passing.
Wind is a MoFo!!! I'm gonna need a wind shield. I feel too floaty at 70-MPH+.
Hate the stupid signal lights. I don't mind the left button for left and right button for right. But they also have a cancelling button which is placed on the right and it's really hard for the thumb to hit. I don't know why you can't just tap on the same signal button to deactivate it. Or better yet, go with the Jap's style of putting the whole shebang on the left! It's self-canceling, but it only works sporadically.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the purchase. Maybe in a few years, I'll upgrade to the K1200S with its 167-HP inline four engine. But right now I like this bike a lot. It's a good compromise between a sportsbike and a cruiser. I like the way the flat twin vibrate at low RPM and smoothing itself out when the rev goes up. It beats the hell out of a V-twin configuration. Lots of people were wondering about the boxer setup as well. I was asked, even by, motorcyclists, whether or not the protruding heads are some sort of blowers.;f
Chicks seem to dig the paint scheme, which isn't a bad thing.:cool: But almost universally people couldn't believe that it's a BMW.
PS I forgot to mention that the rear view mirrors work quite well. I can see directly behind me with the right one and the left one covers the left lane perfectly.
The bike is equipped with ABS and it works really well. The brake system itself is very impressive without the ABS. Stops this heavy bike on a dime. Two issues: not very good feel on the brake and it's very sensitive. For a street bike it's not bad, but for more aggressive riding, it's probably going to take a lot of practice to get used to the way the brake works. It's a partial integral brake with the hand lever operate both front and rear and the foot lever operates the rear only. It's obvious that the BMW engineers had put some thoughts into this. I like this setup. You can use the rear brake for low speed maneuvering and pre-cornering or even trailing braking. The hand lever has four positions in order to accomodate various hand sizes. I have small hands and set mine at the lowest setting. It really helps not having to reach too far for the lever.
Clutch lever also has four positions like the brake lever. It's hydraulically operated but it's not that light. Interesting... I'm still getting used to the bike so I haven't mastered the smooth shifts yet except when I get lucky a couple of times. The gear lever requires a firm push. It's not hard, but it's not smooth and light like a Jap bike either. But it clicks in place nicely. Frankly it reminds me of the BMW car's manual.
I'm not brave enough to do any aggressive riding on it yet, but I can tell the difference in the sportier suspension setup over the standard R1150R. The riding position is also more forward and crouchy than the R1150R. I need more exercise because my forearms are sore from holding up my weight.
I guess I'm lucky because the factory seat is comfy for me. After an hour's worth of riding, my ass feels no pain or cramp.
Throttle is rather abrupt. Even with the dual spark design, it's still pretty abrupt. Gotta be real careful with the wrist management. It's a torquey engine, that's for sure. Loafing around at 50-MPH in 6th gear is no problem, even when need to do some passing.
Wind is a MoFo!!! I'm gonna need a wind shield. I feel too floaty at 70-MPH+.
Hate the stupid signal lights. I don't mind the left button for left and right button for right. But they also have a cancelling button which is placed on the right and it's really hard for the thumb to hit. I don't know why you can't just tap on the same signal button to deactivate it. Or better yet, go with the Jap's style of putting the whole shebang on the left! It's self-canceling, but it only works sporadically.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the purchase. Maybe in a few years, I'll upgrade to the K1200S with its 167-HP inline four engine. But right now I like this bike a lot. It's a good compromise between a sportsbike and a cruiser. I like the way the flat twin vibrate at low RPM and smoothing itself out when the rev goes up. It beats the hell out of a V-twin configuration. Lots of people were wondering about the boxer setup as well. I was asked, even by, motorcyclists, whether or not the protruding heads are some sort of blowers.;f
Chicks seem to dig the paint scheme, which isn't a bad thing.:cool: But almost universally people couldn't believe that it's a BMW.
PS I forgot to mention that the rear view mirrors work quite well. I can see directly behind me with the right one and the left one covers the left lane perfectly.