BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

I was in far north Dallas today so I decided stop by the BMW dealership to order a couple of parts. Since I don't live in that part of the metroplex, I took the opportunity to look around a bit and "sit test" on a few bikes. I loved the R9T, but wow did it feel small compared the R1150R Rockster. Even the R1200R felt smaller. Am I just imagining it or is the R1200R really smaller (shorter) than the R1150R? Maybe my perspective was skewed due to the R1200R sitting near the enormous K1600's and the R1200 GS bikes. I don't know, but after I came home and sat on my bike I was blown away by how big the Rockster felt.

The other thing that I noticed was that the stock seat on the Rockster (the tall seat) felt nice and cushioned compared to some of the seats that I sat on today. Am I crazy or can anyone else confirm this? It made me really appreciate my bike.

dimension wise just about the same.

'16 R1200r
85.3" long
W/B is 59.9"
9T
87.4" long
W/B 58.1"
Rockster
85.4 " long
W/B 58.1"

the height of the saddle and the reach to the bars combined with the centre of mass of the machine tend to be what makes a bike 'feel' different from another.

riceburner wrote:the height of the saddle and the reach to the bars combined with the centre of mass of the machine tend to be what makes a bike 'feel' different from another.

That is probably what I experienced then... a difference in "feel" .... It wasn't so much wheelbase differences that I noticed, but height and weight. Of course, handlebar position and foot peg location also make a difference as well. The R9T felt shorter and lighter as did the R1200R. I sat on a GS, an R1200R, Triumph Bonneville, and a Ducati Diavel. It was nice to be able to get a feel for different motorcycles. The Rockster is the tallest motorcycle I've ridden. Prior hereto, I owned a Yamaha FZ6R. I've also owned two cruisers and I like the fact that I now have comfort and performance all in one bike.

Agreed, I felt the same about the 9t. The bars are lower, and seemed closer to seat. so it FELT smaller, and sportier, but its really still the same bike I looked at them next to each other nearly identical.

Its not different enough from my bike to get me excited to launch $ at it. but I still want one.

I like the "stoutness" of the R1150R bikes, whose wide flat tank (including oil coolers) plus boxer cylinders create visual bulk when viewed from driver's seat. That's the immediate impression I got during first ride of my old '02 Roadster; years later when test riding the R1200R hexhead, the impression was of a much slimmer bike (of course, also lighter/smoother).

sweatmark wrote:I like the "stoutness" of the R1150R bikes, whose wide flat tank (including oil coolers) plus boxer cylinders create visual bulk when viewed from driver's seat. That's the immediate impression I got during first ride of my old '02 Roadster; years later when test riding the R1200R hexhead, the impression was of a much slimmer bike (of course, also lighter/smoother).

Good point and I agree. I like the 'encompassing' tank shape on the R1150R/Rockster too.

sweatmark wrote:I like the "stoutness" of the R1150R bikes, whose wide flat tank (including oil coolers) plus boxer cylinders create visual bulk when viewed from driver's seat.

this.... exactly...

You're right to feel that the new downdraught air-fed, liquid-cooled, multiplate wet-clutched, new spaceframed, shaft-on-the-left boxer bike feels and looks smaller than the dry single-plate clutch, air/oil cooled bikes of yore. It's because the new ones are mainly made by little Chinese people, not muscled Germans as heretofore....