BMW Chatter

[Moto-Uno]

So tell me "Scott" what do you think of the Adventure Boxers ? I'll leave my wife's' remarks
out of this . Peter

 

[scottmastrocinque]

This is only my opinion.


Are you kidding?

The Gelände/Straße (GS) was the progenitor of the adventure bike. When it appeared, there was nothing like it. It was unquestionably the Swiss Army knife of two-wheeled motorized vehicles.

I’ve owned every incarnation there was since the R80GS up into the R1150GS and R1150GS Adventure.

The 1150GS was perfection in a motorcycle. I loved my 2001 to death. I have been waiting for a ~10,000 mile mint condition garage queen example to appear on Cycle Trader. When it does, it will be living in Findlay, Ohio!

The models since then, IMO compared to the predecessors, simply suck. Over-complicated clap trap of globally sourced parts. The R1150 GS was born and crafted in Spandau, front to back. Everything on the motorcycle was first quality and worked like a fine Swiss Watch.

My 2012 Stelvio NTX is true perfection just like my R1150GS’s.

I consider it THE BEST, hands down, of my 5 Moto Guzzi motorcycles.


Riding in Baja California on my 1995 R100GS Bumble Bee.



R150GS Outfitted to the teeth at Shasta Trinity Lakes, Northern California



My R150GS was my daily driver when I worked at Brattin Motors BMW in San Diego and was parked just outside the front door every day. It was tricked out with every option and meticulously cared for.




The King of The Alps, the late, great, sweetheart of a man and BMW “Freund der Marke” award winner (the highest award given by BMW), John Herman. aka “ Herm”, with my R1150GS Adventure. Arguably the best road bike I’ve ever owned. Was absolutely flawless in every regard. An unbelievable machine.



My legendary airhead 1995 R100GS. Also flawless in every regard.

 

[davethewelder]

Scott, I had brought a new R1150GS, silver! I think it was a 2001, as I look back it was all you needed. only had it for 3 years then had to get a Harley...

 

[scottmastrocinque]

Scott, I had brought a new R1150GS, silver! I think it was a 2001, as I look back it was all you needed. only had it for 3 years then had to get a Harley...

The R1150GS’ were simply “dialed in” from the factory. I sold a ton of them and they were all universally loved by their owners.

Awesome machines. The ABS fluid had to be changed every year to preserve the control units but other than that, they were bulletproof for sure.

It never ceases to amaze me with the absolutely ridiculous prices people ask for these early bikes.

Here’s a perfect example…a R80GS that they are seriously asking $30,000 for! Are you freaking kidding me? That’s about 600% more than it sold for brand new! Stupid prices from rich people with more money than brains.

 

[maverick9611]

saw this one at deals gap

 

[maverick9611]

one of ridin buddies rides this and he has not had problem keeping up in the twisties

 

[Moto-Uno]

I gotta tell you , I worked on those R80GS models when they were new and to this day I wouldn't be caught
dead on any of those boxer adventure bikes ! It would appear I'm definitely in the minority here ! But then ,
maybe that's easily understood , when I look at the bikes I ride ! To each his own . Peter

 

[Mindis]

My angle grinder would love to meet a K75 or K100 from 80s but those beemers have a serious electrical issue- turn signals are not working, on cars as well. Have ya ever seen a BMW indicating?

 

[lemans850i]

Oh yes I did! And they all made beep beep beep beep 80s are calling... everybody in Germany had the turn signal beeper installed!
Back then I was working for BMW Motorrad..... bought a white/blue R100GS, with the “Knick-Kardan”The finger in the BMW K1 repair manual pointing at the parts is my finger...

 

[Speciality]

Best bike I ever owned was a BMW R850GS, essentially an R1100GS with the motor from the R850R. They only made around 200 of them, using up frames and running gear from the R1100GS when the R1150GS was introduced in 1999.
I have to say also that neither my K100RS SE nor my K75S ever had any problems whatsoever. The K100RS was a special edition in the final incarnation of the 8 valve model (1989). The K75S was a late model with Japanese forks too. Both had ABS - very clunky early version, but no bother. Both models were capable of stellar mileages, which is why despatch riders used them - always a good indication of what is reliable.
That said “bargepole” would figure in my sentence about BMWs today, together with “not touch”. I also know of an 1100GS that did 440,000 with only replacement gearbox bearings IIRC. I doubt my V7 850 would get anywhere near that…

 

[scottmastrocinque]

I love to read these because for many years, I considered BMW the best made motorcycles in the world, hands down.

My 1996 K1100RS (ABS II) purchased brand new, was the most incredible cross country motorcycle I ever owned. It was smooth, very powerful (100hp), and sliced through the wind with an excellent fairing.

I was able to make tremendous distances (700-1000 miles) in a day on her with ease.

The 3, K-75S models that I owned, were the same way and unbelievable smooth engines. I loved the sound of them too. I do love K bikes as well as Boxers.

Nobody ever called BMW from that era (1985-2005) junk or garbage or bad motorcycles. Never.

UPDATE: Blast from the past! These are my sons who are now 29, 28, and 26. They used to go out riding with me on my K1100RS as I felt very comfortable and safe riding them on this motorcycle.

 

[Moto-Uno]

Maybe some of my experiences with them in the 80's were unique ? Peter

 

[scottmastrocinque]

YMMV.

 

[Speciality]

I have been re-reading my old copies of Motorcycle Sport recently. It was interesting to get the impressions of the testers when the first K100 was launched. Apparently it was unstable at speed, a tendency that was not apparent on the K100RS (or the later K100RT). My late 8- valver seemed to stick to the road the faster we rode. Another issue was smoking after start-up when the bike was left on its sidestand. This had been cured by the time mine was made by pegging the centre piston rings, so the gaps were less likely to align and let by oil. The issue with the exhaust rattling/fracturing had also been resolved, as well as the misting up of the instrument binnacle. It’s issues like this that decided me to buy the last of breed of a particular model and let others expose the shortcomings in mark 1s. Another example is the early oilheads. It took three goes for BMW to permit Getrag to produce an acceptable one. My 850GS had the final version but my R1100RS (nevertheless the second best bike I owned) needed a recon version fitted (done by myself and a friend) as it was the middle version. I kept both oilheads the longest I have kept any of my 30+ bikes in 50+ years, except my T140J Triumph.

 

[lemans850i]

I did love my BMW’s... R100GS, K100 1st model (no cat) and my R100CS! Never had any problems with the BMW side of things...
What I did to the bikes created sometimes problems... LOL

 

[GTM®]

I only have real photos somewhere of the few I've owned below. They lost me with the Telelever front end.

'80 R100 CS
'86 K100 RS
'94 1100 GS

The end.

 

[GerryAZ]

I wanted an R100RS shortly after starting to really ride on the street (got my motorcycle endorsement at 16 and rode small dual sports on the farm and locally). I got my first street bike when I was in college and soon wanted an R100RS. I never got one but graduated first to a 1982 sport touring Yamaha XJ650RJ (rode for 20 years) and then the 2002 R1150RS which I will keep as long as I can ride. I bought the 2004 used in 2006 to ride when visiting my brother in New York.

I find the R series BMW bikes to be easy to work on as long as you follow the instructions and sequences in the factory manual. I jokingly say they are like jigsaw puzzles--take them apart and put them back together doing everything in the correct order to avoid problems. The turn signals and the electrical systems have been more reliable than any other motorcycle electrical system I have owned or worked on. My nephew has an R1100RT that he bought 3 years ago. Unfortunately, previous owner(s) made "modifications" to the wiring harness so we have been forced to sort out a few issues.

I actually like the telelever front and paralever rear suspension because the front does not dive when hammering the brakes hard and the rear does not move up/down excessively when accelerating/decelerating. Again, I have had no problems with the suspension.

 

[Speciality]

That’s a lovely R1150RS. I found mine easy to work on. I never had any issues with the indicators on oilheads or K bikes, nor did they beep…As the RS aged it had the dreaded HES failure. I did the job twice because I had a spare used one that was ok when fitted but eventually expired. I could do the job at the roadside by then. BTW both my K100RS and, later, my R1100RS were bought from BMW dealers at nine years old. They were sold with full warranty that I could have continued after a year for a fee, but of course I would have had to have had them serviced by a dealer back then. The MOT had nearly expired on the K, so they agreed to do it for free when it did. They also replaced the battery and rear shock when they did the test. I doubt that BMW would do any of that now. Piaggio certainly wouldn’t…

 

[lemans850i]

There was an aftermarket product in Germany you’re wired into your turn signal relay… And it beeped each time you used theturn signal.
Every BMW driver installed those!
Was very funny at motorcycle meetings and a bunch of BMWs were leaving and everybody had the turn signal on ...

 

[GerryAZ]

Yes, I know a new HES will be in my future at some point. We recently replaced the HES on my nephew’s 1997 R1100RT—relatively easy project.