I don't care to ever ride a motorcycle on an interstate highway again. Last night a couple of tractor and trailer rigs decided to tango on I-95 in Virginia resulting in 40,000 pounds of frozen meatballs being disbursed in the roadway. Shit like this happens every week. Even the secondary roads are risky business for motorcycles but it hasn't deterred me from riding. I spent about 10 years in Alaska without owning a motorcycle, and avoided riding for the first few years in Virginia being horrified at the general stupidity of drivers of all types. The crystalizing moment for me was losing my younger brother to cancer. Life is too short and precious to sit timidly in the sidelines. Do what you love as often as possible.
Love the bike reviews. I've done more reading than riding in the past week and realized that many of the modern moto journalism outlets - possibly to a greater extent than in the auto world - are basically just long-form brochures for product. And that's exactly how you KNOW the R18 is truly bad - even they are brutal towards that thing.
The only Beemer I ever wanted was the R90S— silver smoke. Almost bought one at Vintage Motorcycle Days (Mid-O); probably ’06. Looked at it, wandered around thinking about it, came back— gone. All original, including paint. Precisely the only way I will buy something.
Have had many motorcycle marques but not BMW. Was tempted by their open class thing a while back but had had enough of bikes that could only be serviced in a big city. My brother rode his from Ohio to Michigan and had to have it shipped back home due to service issues. Never worry about my Harley even though it’s 22 years old. Think the new bikes have too much tech so not tempted. My Road Glide can still get the hole shot on a Tesla!
Disappointing to hear that an engine which should be full of character is let down by noise strangulation (Euro 5 doing motorcycles no favors from what I can tell) and that this is firmly targeted to the highway rider which I am not.
Bought a new CBR600RR from a little shop in LA to save thousands and rode it back home to Tennessee. The amount of fun I had made up for the numb hands. A trucker tried to kill me somewhere in Kansas. I doubt I could have escaped that attack on the R1250RT.
Agreed on the original mighty R1100. 4 years into my stint at the motorcycle dealership, they put me on the showroom floor. My first sale was the very first R1100RT we got in the year they came out. The old timers balked at the complexity of the new engines, but damn they were brilliant on the road. I’d love to find a clean R1100R.
" a not insignificant risk of getting yeeted off your bike" ~ you never fail to disappoint jack and this in the first couple paragraphs .
BONUS : you gave me two new words and a sidebar to read about the 'Kapchai' which I ass-U-me is all about Chinese clones of the world beating Honda Cub and derivatives .
" a stolen Silverado operated by four members of the MS-13 crime syndicate. " might be some fellows from 'The Vineland Boys', a gang started by the big brother of one of my old mates, the old guys are all gone now so the kiddies brag their ignorance by spelling it "boyze" .
"the noises you’ll hear on the R1250RT are simply awful, from the clicky-clack of the engine to the tortured way in which the gearbox responds to even the most delicately clutched of shifts."
Beemers are _SUPPOSED_ to make those loud clacks and clanks ! if you rode it sedately and ever so lightly pre loaded the shift lever it would shift *much* quieter . you should hear the noises my Kooky Kommie Russian Ural makes with it's 1930's ratchet gearbox made by drunken communists on a Friday.... as long as it shifts and doesn't pop out of gear I'm happy .
RE : linked brakes " I tried it for a whole run down Laurel Canyon without any ill effects." ~ is this indeed a safe thing ? . I wonder .
"If that’s why you ride a bike, of course. To shrink the miles." Sadly yes, this is a real thing for many Beemer riders, just like for those Gold Wing guys with teddy bears in the back of their Scoot - Boot .
" and my sidebars about Concours Kwackers or Suzuki GSX1000s are something between irrelevant and outright pathetic."
~ Not at all Jack, just different, very different like the guys who make Bobbers out of dead Honda CX500s and think they're "! BIKERS !" .
Overall a good article ~ not everyone who rides wants to ride an old bike be it in design (the Kapchai) or an honest to God old nail that still runs fine and is (for me) easy to keep running and in tip top shape .
If BMW doesn't make these and the RT1100RT-P bikes there won't be any parts for the older ones...
I dunno about the modern bikes, but my father put Ohlins shocks, Staintune exhausts, and Power Commander modules on his R1100RT and R1150GS. Sounded pretty good.
Yes and no ~ I almost always buy better tires and stock exhausts tend to bother me with strangling the engine as well as being too quiet ~ I usually remove the catalytic converters if any and then use a long(ish) 5'8" Pinch Bar (if you don't now what this is I doubt you live in Rural areas) and a single - jack to open the mufflers to full flow, most of the time this requires re jetting of the carbys or maybe shimming the needles, form my reading here I'm pretty sure you know far more than I about these things .
.
I don't want to wake up nor bother anyone with my engine's exhaust but I -do- expect any I.C.E. to make decent sounds .
.
If I want to go faster I buy a bigger engined bike (I think I just mangled English there) but yes, you can Hot Rod a Beemer but why ? .
.
If you need quicker handling and better acceleration just buy the correct bike in the first place .
The low centre of gravity was one of the claimed advantages of the BMW boxer engines, which was part of the outcry. At least amongst the beard-stroking devotees of R60 & R80s.
“It stuck like mud to the road when I had to do a sudden counter-steer manoeuvre at speed in the wet. That low centre of gravity, mate!”
Not riding at 10/10s on a public road would have been a better idea.
The first time I experienced linked brakes was on a friend's VFR, which was a strange experience when cornering.
Are linked brakes of any use with a bike equipped with ABS?
The Beemer boxers are no longer my thing, but I loved the RT1150 that I inherited from my father. It did everything well, and was about as perfect a commuter as you can imagine. Comfortable enough to ride all day, in all conditions, and surprisingly nimble on even the tightest twisties. It wasn't very fast (maxed out at 115 with its brick-like Jesse bags attached), but it had good torque and the reliability of an anvil.
That said, I rode it less and less after getting my 5th-gen VFR, and finally sold it a couple of years to a guy who wanted to get into adventure riding. It had about 90k miles on it IIRC. I have little doubt it'll go another 90k.
Just getting around to reading this…neat bike. I always liked the idea of the k1600 but after owning a k1200s I can’t imagine maintaining something that has even more cylinders. Unimaginably complex bikes with needless “innovations”. Great bikes to own under warranty.
I think the pull from revving the engine is actually from the shaft drive, not the engine itself.
I respectfully disagree on motorcycles not being significantly less complex and easier to make compared to cars. They simply are (maybe not for much longer once the impending emissions regs choke them off).
How much of the valvetrain noise, the shitty gearbox behaviour and the rest could be explained by the (who knows how long) deferred maintenance? I can notice a significant difference on every bike I've owned right after an oil change in these regards. Kind of one of the limits of not getting a fair candidate for the review with it being a rental like that.
I don't care to ever ride a motorcycle on an interstate highway again. Last night a couple of tractor and trailer rigs decided to tango on I-95 in Virginia resulting in 40,000 pounds of frozen meatballs being disbursed in the roadway. Shit like this happens every week. Even the secondary roads are risky business for motorcycles but it hasn't deterred me from riding. I spent about 10 years in Alaska without owning a motorcycle, and avoided riding for the first few years in Virginia being horrified at the general stupidity of drivers of all types. The crystalizing moment for me was losing my younger brother to cancer. Life is too short and precious to sit timidly in the sidelines. Do what you love as often as possible.
I recommend a snowboard and a waverunner. Most of the motorcycle fun but it's all your fault when you fuck up.
I've got no problem riding a bike like an idiot but I just don't trust myself to ski or snowboard without wrecking my knees
Yabbutt ;
_water_ knowhutimean ? .
-Nate
Love the bike reviews. I've done more reading than riding in the past week and realized that many of the modern moto journalism outlets - possibly to a greater extent than in the auto world - are basically just long-form brochures for product. And that's exactly how you KNOW the R18 is truly bad - even they are brutal towards that thing.
I remain bewildered by the R18, even though I've put HUNDREDS of miles on one in all conditions. It's better than being in a CR-V is all I can say.
Kevin Cameron is still writing for Cycle World. I don’t think he’s ever written a word not worth reading.
Oh yeah, car reviewers are much better at hiding the original press release than bike ones. New bike reviews often share the exact same sentences.
Everybody panned the R18 except MCN who named it cruiser of the year. They obviously have never looked at a Harley.
The last paragraph says it all.
The only Beemer I ever wanted was the R90S— silver smoke. Almost bought one at Vintage Motorcycle Days (Mid-O); probably ’06. Looked at it, wandered around thinking about it, came back— gone. All original, including paint. Precisely the only way I will buy something.
Both Sam Smith and an ex-girlfriend of mine owned R90Ses. Only Sam kept his.
R90S was the peak of the original R series.
Maybe ~ it depends on what you want to do : I loved my short wheel base 1972 R75/5 and foolishly sold it on in a fit of pique .
It didn't do wheelies / burnouts but very few ever kept up with it and it didn't beat the crap out of me to ride it all day long .
Bone stock and sharply tuned, I could ride it as hard as I wanted and it never complained .
Different bikes for different riding .
-Nate
Have had many motorcycle marques but not BMW. Was tempted by their open class thing a while back but had had enough of bikes that could only be serviced in a big city. My brother rode his from Ohio to Michigan and had to have it shipped back home due to service issues. Never worry about my Harley even though it’s 22 years old. Think the new bikes have too much tech so not tempted. My Road Glide can still get the hole shot on a Tesla!
Disappointing to hear that an engine which should be full of character is let down by noise strangulation (Euro 5 doing motorcycles no favors from what I can tell) and that this is firmly targeted to the highway rider which I am not.
Bought a new CBR600RR from a little shop in LA to save thousands and rode it back home to Tennessee. The amount of fun I had made up for the numb hands. A trucker tried to kill me somewhere in Kansas. I doubt I could have escaped that attack on the R1250RT.
Agreed on the original mighty R1100. 4 years into my stint at the motorcycle dealership, they put me on the showroom floor. My first sale was the very first R1100RT we got in the year they came out. The old timers balked at the complexity of the new engines, but damn they were brilliant on the road. I’d love to find a clean R1100R.
" a not insignificant risk of getting yeeted off your bike" ~ you never fail to disappoint jack and this in the first couple paragraphs .
BONUS : you gave me two new words and a sidebar to read about the 'Kapchai' which I ass-U-me is all about Chinese clones of the world beating Honda Cub and derivatives .
" a stolen Silverado operated by four members of the MS-13 crime syndicate. " might be some fellows from 'The Vineland Boys', a gang started by the big brother of one of my old mates, the old guys are all gone now so the kiddies brag their ignorance by spelling it "boyze" .
"the noises you’ll hear on the R1250RT are simply awful, from the clicky-clack of the engine to the tortured way in which the gearbox responds to even the most delicately clutched of shifts."
Beemers are _SUPPOSED_ to make those loud clacks and clanks ! if you rode it sedately and ever so lightly pre loaded the shift lever it would shift *much* quieter . you should hear the noises my Kooky Kommie Russian Ural makes with it's 1930's ratchet gearbox made by drunken communists on a Friday.... as long as it shifts and doesn't pop out of gear I'm happy .
RE : linked brakes " I tried it for a whole run down Laurel Canyon without any ill effects." ~ is this indeed a safe thing ? . I wonder .
"If that’s why you ride a bike, of course. To shrink the miles." Sadly yes, this is a real thing for many Beemer riders, just like for those Gold Wing guys with teddy bears in the back of their Scoot - Boot .
" and my sidebars about Concours Kwackers or Suzuki GSX1000s are something between irrelevant and outright pathetic."
~ Not at all Jack, just different, very different like the guys who make Bobbers out of dead Honda CX500s and think they're "! BIKERS !" .
Overall a good article ~ not everyone who rides wants to ride an old bike be it in design (the Kapchai) or an honest to God old nail that still runs fine and is (for me) easy to keep running and in tip top shape .
If BMW doesn't make these and the RT1100RT-P bikes there won't be any parts for the older ones...
-Nate
You know, Nate; when you’re good, you’re very, very good.
The primary difference between this and my old site is that the idiots didn't come over. I've never read a bad comment from a Substack subscriber.
*cracks knuckles*
" I've never read a bad comment from a Substack subscriber. "
.
Don't rush me Sir .
.
-Nate
? This sounds suspiciously like a _compliment_ ~ is it ? . (serious question)
.
-Nate
Of course.
Thank you Sir .
.
-Nate
It doesn't really look the part, which seems to be the point of its existence. It look like someone engine swapped a boxer into a k.
edit-or more accurately as JMcG said an HPC on the PCH.
It looks like the old Honda Pacific Coast. It looks huge in that rear quarter shot.
That's an awfully valid statement. We could be charitable and say Gen 1 ST1100.
Be honest Jack ~ it looks like a porker but like Chris Farley has dance moves you don't expect .
-Nate
Knowing next to nothing about BMW motorcycle culture, or motorcycle culture much in general, does one customize the sound and handling on such bikes?
BMWs are typically "farkled" rather than modified, which is to say they have accessories added to them.
I checked out the cruiser build on BMW the site. Started at 23k but was 30k with a few upgrades just like the cars…
I dunno about the modern bikes, but my father put Ohlins shocks, Staintune exhausts, and Power Commander modules on his R1100RT and R1150GS. Sounded pretty good.
@ Harry ;
.
Yes and no ~ I almost always buy better tires and stock exhausts tend to bother me with strangling the engine as well as being too quiet ~ I usually remove the catalytic converters if any and then use a long(ish) 5'8" Pinch Bar (if you don't now what this is I doubt you live in Rural areas) and a single - jack to open the mufflers to full flow, most of the time this requires re jetting of the carbys or maybe shimming the needles, form my reading here I'm pretty sure you know far more than I about these things .
.
I don't want to wake up nor bother anyone with my engine's exhaust but I -do- expect any I.C.E. to make decent sounds .
.
If I want to go faster I buy a bigger engined bike (I think I just mangled English there) but yes, you can Hot Rod a Beemer but why ? .
.
If you need quicker handling and better acceleration just buy the correct bike in the first place .
.
-Nate
The low centre of gravity was one of the claimed advantages of the BMW boxer engines, which was part of the outcry. At least amongst the beard-stroking devotees of R60 & R80s.
“It stuck like mud to the road when I had to do a sudden counter-steer manoeuvre at speed in the wet. That low centre of gravity, mate!”
Not riding at 10/10s on a public road would have been a better idea.
The first time I experienced linked brakes was on a friend's VFR, which was a strange experience when cornering.
Are linked brakes of any use with a bike equipped with ABS?
I do not believe they are EVER of any use at any time. Why take that control from the rider?
Do your Radicals let you adjust f/r brake bias on the fly?
Yes.
I always wanted one of these but it sounds kinda boring. Maybe I’ll just get a sportster in 5 years.
New gen or air cooled? Demoed the new one but found the engine kinda boring. Good but doesn’t have the kevorka.
The new one is the first sportster thats ever intrigued me. I am not a harley guy. My hips cant take any aggressive style anymore. Getting old sucks
I’ve got test riding a sportster/nightster on the list for this summer. Going to try and get on as many bikes as I can.
The riding stance on the new one is a bit odd, it’s half forward, you may want the mid sets which costs a little more of course
Of course
The Beemer boxers are no longer my thing, but I loved the RT1150 that I inherited from my father. It did everything well, and was about as perfect a commuter as you can imagine. Comfortable enough to ride all day, in all conditions, and surprisingly nimble on even the tightest twisties. It wasn't very fast (maxed out at 115 with its brick-like Jesse bags attached), but it had good torque and the reliability of an anvil.
That said, I rode it less and less after getting my 5th-gen VFR, and finally sold it a couple of years to a guy who wanted to get into adventure riding. It had about 90k miles on it IIRC. I have little doubt it'll go another 90k.
Just getting around to reading this…neat bike. I always liked the idea of the k1600 but after owning a k1200s I can’t imagine maintaining something that has even more cylinders. Unimaginably complex bikes with needless “innovations”. Great bikes to own under warranty.
I think the pull from revving the engine is actually from the shaft drive, not the engine itself.
2 things:
I respectfully disagree on motorcycles not being significantly less complex and easier to make compared to cars. They simply are (maybe not for much longer once the impending emissions regs choke them off).
How much of the valvetrain noise, the shitty gearbox behaviour and the rest could be explained by the (who knows how long) deferred maintenance? I can notice a significant difference on every bike I've owned right after an oil change in these regards. Kind of one of the limits of not getting a fair candidate for the review with it being a rental like that.