Just bought another BMW

[satyajitmenon]

But I think I got scammed on this deal.

It's only got 2 wheels :hmm:

 

[Crono]

Nice looking bike.
(Thus exhausts motorcycle knowledge)

I bet it looks like a very angry zebra at high speeds.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Nice bike! Congrats!

Is that the R1200R or the R1150R? A friend of mine had the R1150R and he let me ride it a couple times. Very nice bike but a little too heavy for my tastes.

 

[satyajitmenon]

Nice bike! Congrats!

Is that the R1200R or the R1150R? A friend of mine had the R1150R and he let me ride it a couple times. Very nice bike but a little too heavy for my tastes.

It's an '04 R1150R ABS. With 10k miles on it, and a pretty comprehensive service history.

Wish it came with a windshield, but that's an easy add-on.

 

[JulesMaximus]

It's an '04 R1150R ABS. With 10k miles on it, and a pretty comprehensive service history.

Wish it came with a windshield, but that's an easy add-on.

I think my friend's was an '03. He bought it used for $7500 with very low mileage, rode it for about a year and a half and sold it for $7000. Great bike. When he got rid of the BMW in 2007 he bought a Ducati which he still has.

This is what he replaced his R1150R with. This bike is what inspired me to get a Ducati although I owned an SV650 between the time he bought this and when I bought my Ducati.



Is that the correct headlight for that bike?

Looks pretty clean. :thumbsup:

 

[satyajitmenon]

Is that the correct headlight for that bike?

Yeah. It's an R1150R Rockster

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/firstrides/bmw_r1150r_rockster/

 

[T2urtle]

is that a front shock I spy in the white?

i dont know crap about BMW's

 

[phucheneh]

What the fudge? You got conned, that's obviously a Porsche and/or Subaru motorcycle.

Also...yeah...what the eff is up with that front suspension? The center coilover controls the movement of the lower legs there? The forks don't look big enough to have any real hardware of their own inside...that's a wonky setup.

 

[Fenixgoon]

nice score!

 

[waggy]

I have always liked the BMW bikes.

its a good looking bike.

 

[satyajitmenon]

What the fudge? You got conned, that's obviously a Porsche and/or Subaru motorcycle.

Also...yeah...what the eff is up with that front suspension? The center coilover controls the movement of the lower legs there? The forks don't look big enough to have any real hardware of their own inside...that's a wonky setup.

It's derived from the Saxon-Motodd design. BMW calls it the Telelever.

http://motoress.com/readarticle.asp?articleid=451

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Very nice! Totally different bike but I loved my k1200r, as goofy as it was. All of the BMW bikes just ooze character.

Take care of the rear end, change the oil in it an lube the splines if you haven't already. And ignore the horror stories

I still keep my eyes open for a r90, but after >10 years of searching I've about given up.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

What the fudge? You got conned, that's obviously a Porsche and/or Subaru motorcycle.

Also...yeah...what the eff is up with that front suspension? The center coilover controls the movement of the lower legs there? The forks don't look big enough to have any real hardware of their own inside...that's a wonky setup.

Almost all "classicish" bmw bikes are flat twins..

The front (and rear, for that matter) BMW suspension eliminates front end dive. Some of the first designs made it feel like the front lifts a bit when braking hard. I really didn't care for the feel, but it helped braking performance significantly.

 

[manimal]

great bike sat! Whats the first long trip planned>?

 

[Throckmorton]

Telelever looks exactly the same as a MacPherson strut, just turned sideways.

I don't understand the advantage. From the diagrams it looks like it as the strut compresses, the wheel also gets pulled back. In order to make the wheel push forward (and gain rake) as it compresses, you'd have to angle the leading arm downward. Of course the "anti dive" effect also means that when the tire hits a bump it gets forced forward into the bump which is bad...

 

[Throckmorton]

Almost all "classicish" bmw bikes are flat twins..

The front (and rear, for that matter) BMW suspension eliminates front end dive. Some of the first designs made it feel like the front lifts a bit when braking hard. I really didn't care for the feel, but it helped braking performance significantly.

That's different from the diagrams I'm finding of Telelever. What you posted is what I THOUGHT BMW bikes had

 

[satyajitmenon]

Almost all "classicish" bmw bikes are flat twins..

The front (and rear, for that matter) BMW suspension eliminates front end dive. Some of the first designs made it feel like the front lifts a bit when braking hard. I really didn't care for the feel, but it helped braking performance significantly.

That's different from the diagrams I'm finding of Telelever. What you posted is what I THOUGHT BMW bikes had

What SpatiallyAware has posted is actually the DuoLever suspension (modelled after the Hossack design), not the Telelever.

 

[satyajitmenon]

great bike sat! Whats the first long trip planned>?

Was planning to head up to Spartanburg later this year to participate in the Dual Sport course.

 

[SSSnail]

Enjoy your piece of crap unreliable heap, douche!

My mom had a BMW bike and it sucked, I had to vacuum the headlights and bits of light from the headlights just came right off!

 

[satyajitmenon]

Enjoy your piece of crap unreliable heap, douche!

My mom had a BMW bike and it sucked, I had to vacuum the headlights and bits of light from the headlights just came right off!

Lol. For a moment I was like

And then I was like

:thumbsup:

 

[phucheneh]

I was gonna say, that suspension doesn't match the description...the photo with the fat fork, that is. That looks essentially the same as 'double wishbone' on a car. Or SLA...just no need for a long arm since you want the rake (translate that to a car and that's a hell of a lot of negative camber ).

The BMW thing is indeed basically mimicking the change that makes a Macpherson strut suspension what it is...telescoping replaces a pivoting upper arm...I can't picture how that helps braking, though. I mean, I'm not saying it doesn't; I just can't quite grasp the physics of that design in my head. There's gott be something to that lack of upper pivot that doesn't allow forward weight transfer to compress the spring...I guess...?

I'm not a bike guy, obviously. I honestly never knew anybody even used a flat twin, especially in that orientation, on a bike. Do those cylinders make a good crashbar? Heh. I was looking at it wondering if snapping a cylinder off is not unheard of...

 

[JulesMaximus]

I was gonna say, that suspension doesn't match the description...the photo with the fat fork, that is. That looks essentially the same as 'double wishbone' on a car. Or SLA...just no need for a long arm since you want the rake (translate that to a car and that's a hell of a lot of negative camber ).

The BMW thing is indeed basically mimicking the change that makes a Macpherson strut suspension what it is...telescoping replaces a pivoting upper arm...I can't picture how that helps braking, though. I mean, I'm not saying it doesn't; I just can't quite grasp the physics of that design in my head. There's gott be something to that lack of upper pivot that doesn't allow forward weight transfer to compress the spring...I guess...?

I'm not a bike guy, obviously. I honestly never knew anybody even used a flat twin, especially in that orientation, on a bike. Do those cylinders make a good crashbar? Heh. I was looking at it wondering if snapping a cylinder off is not unheard of...

Think low center of gravity, rotational weight and cooling. It is actually a really good design. Those cylinder heads stick out there for additional cooling. Never heard of snapping one off though, just rash on the cases.

 

[phucheneh]

Oh, I could immediately recognize the design benfits. I mean, it's basically the same advantages as a boxer in a car, except they're probably multiplied a couple times over since the engine seems to constitute a lot more of the total weight in a bike.

Maybe I'm wrong there; I don't feel like trying to look up weights (though I can probably guess pretty close for the car side...~400lb engine for maybe a 2800-3000lb car?).

That bike engine is just an unusual thing to notice if you can only ever recall seeing inline 4 (or 3) and V-twin engines.

 

[crackerjacks]

congrats, my '04 has 67000 miles and it's the best bike I've owned in 10 years of riding.

They're easy bikes to work on, spend the time to learn how to do your own maintenance if you have any mechanical inclination.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Oh, I could immediately recognize the design benfits. I mean, it's basically the same advantages as a boxer in a car, except they're probably multiplied a couple times over since the engine seems to constitute a lot more of the total weight in a bike.

Maybe I'm wrong there; I don't feel like trying to look up weights (though I can probably guess pretty close for the car side...~400lb engine for maybe a 2800-3000lb car?).

That bike engine is just an unusual thing to notice if you can only ever recall seeing inline 4 (or 3) and V-twin engines.

The entire bike is probably around 520lbs wet. It isn't a light bike and that has always been the biggest complaint about those bikes really. Other than that they are great bikes.

My bike and the Ducati I posted above are closer to 420-430lbs wet and make about the same power as the BMW, maybe a little more actually. The lower weight really makes a difference on a twisty mountain road.