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

Ok I've got a qstn and I'd love to hear ya'lls genuine thoughts. I bought a R1200R a few months ago and I LOVE IT: http://picasaweb.google.com/tlovejr/R12 ... OfJuly2008

My problem is that before I could even reach the 600 mile service, I was downsized from my job (yay economy). I've been out of work for about 6 weeks now and am in the process of starting up my own business. In other words, who knows how long it will be before I actually have money coming in the door...

...in the meantime, I am somewhat regretting having just spent a total of nearly $18k on a brand new bike ($15k+ out the door plus another almost $2k on mods, especially the full Remus Carbon Fiber Hexacone system).

I've ridden the R1150R and wasn't terribly thrilled with it. I've recently discovered the R1100R and am in the process of investigating it. I've found a 1999 with 38k miles, black with white stripe, bags, pipe, etc. They say it was serious rider owned, fully maintained, etc. The price is right at $5k.

So my question to you fine folks is, what do you think about switching rides from a R1200R to a R1100R? I don't care about the visual side. I know its an increase in weight and a decrease in power - something that is concerning to me as I am a "sporty" type of driver (not crazy, however). I do mostly in-town driving (Hot-Lanta), commuting to work, dinner, etc, but I occasionally take a short road trip.

One pro I already like about the 1100 (other than price) is that it can be lowered to a sub-30" seat height. As a 29 inseam, I am on my tippy-toes on the R1200R at stoplights.

Anyway, comments, thoughts, suggestions?

Thx

The personalities of the two bikes are pretty different. To me, the gearbox of the r1200r is quite a bit smoother, and the general refinement of the new bike is pretty evident. That said, the r1100r certainly has its own charm, and I love mine. I think the r1100r has more than enough power for what it's designed to do, you won't miss the horsepower.

One thing to bear in mind is that you're going to take a big hit when you sell the new bike, and you also need to consider the loss of warranty and the transition to a bike that is easy to maintain, but is a rolling set of possibilities for fairly expensive repairs. Hopefully, the 99 you're considering doesn't have ABS. I wouldn't consider a 10-year old Beemer with ABS. I have to think that the financial concerns underlying your contemplation of downsizing the investment will only get bigger. I realize you didn't ask for this advice, but it's free. Sell the r1200r if circumstances force it, and once all the dust settles financially make a second decision about getting another, less expensive ride. Remember, even if you pay cash for everything, you're still rolling the depreciation hit on the r1200r into the cost of the older bike. If you lose 3 grand on the r1200r, you're looking at an 8 thousand dollar r1100r with no protection from the cost of repairs that are at least somewhat magnified by time and mileage in terms of probability.

Hope I didn't rain on your parade. I probably told you a lot of things you already knew.

The R100R will do anything a R1200R can do the only real difference is how quickly you hit the rev limiter...

The R1100R does not have plastic master cylinders nor does it have a gear indicator...

The boxer engine is almost the same with the 1200 being 20 hp more.

Basically you will be hit and hit hard on the loss due to deprecation of the 1200 but the short term loss may be better the the long term loss of income on the possibility of credit being harmed and more importantly having cash in your pocket while redirecting your working life. If you look hard you'll find some really fantastic deals and it took me about a month in October to find my ride I bought a 1996 R1100 R with a lot of toys for 4500.00 with 23K and about as mint as you can get. I did this as I wanted to cut down the mileage I was putting on my ultra classic and frankly I wanted a new toy. I love my R1100 its a dream to ride, I have ridden the 1200 and like the 1100 its very much the same ride and in looking at your bike photos its very much the same style. The gear box on the 1100 is clunky and not nearly as precise as the 1200 but once engaged the ride is smooooth and a pleasure. Good luck this is a tough economy I hope your business endeavor will work out.

Only you can evaluate the financial wisdom (or otherwise) of the move. I'm in a similar position (just got downsized), but I recently bought an R1100R...
From an biking point of view, there is no doubt that the R1200R is mechanically more sophisticated, and the gearbox is much improved, but it does have a small but significant incidence of failing Final Drives, and BMW has been notoriously unhelpful in covering them (The problem appears to be excessive assembly tolerances in the shimming).
The R1100R is still an excellent bike. The top speed is lower, but, to me, the difference (120mph vs 130) mph is trivial (I've never had mine over 110). There are no known disastrous problems with the R1100R, except for possible ABS issues (not a problem if you don't have ABS). The R1100R is easier to work on yourself, and maintenance is even less intensive. The only other known problem is 'surging', and proper throttle body synching will fix that, it's less of a problem with late model R1100R's anyway. The R1100R has a more upright, more 'standard', riding position, and personally I prefer that. While it does have less torque than the 1200, it really is not short on torque at all. It impressed the hell out of my eldest, who rides a Blackbird.
You'll also not lose much ability to ride fast through the twisties. That, too, impressed my son,. I've never exceeded it's cornering abilities, though it does reach its limits on a couple of sweeping adverse camber right and left handers up a steep hill that I used to travel twice a day. That's at around 110mph, mind you. I believe that's the tires limits, the bike has more lean available, but starts drifting outwards...
You'd love an R1100R as much as the R1200R, I'm sure.

atldinan3 wrote:Ok I've got a qstn and I'd love to hear ya'lls genuine thoughts. I bought a R1200R a few months ago and I LOVE IT: http://picasaweb.google.com/tlovejr/R12 ... OfJuly2008

My problem is that before I could even reach the 600 mile service, I was downsized from my job (yay economy). I've been out of work for about 6 weeks now and am in the process of starting up my own business. In other words, who knows how long it will be before I actually have money coming in the door...

...in the meantime, I am somewhat regretting having just spent a total of nearly $18k on a brand new bike ($15k+ out the door plus another almost $2k on mods, especially the full Remus Carbon Fiber Hexacone system).

I've ridden the R1150R and wasn't terribly thrilled with it. I've recently discovered the R1100R and am in the process of investigating it. I've found a 1999 with 38k miles, black with white stripe, bags, pipe, etc. They say it was serious rider owned, fully maintained, etc. The price is right at $5k.

So my question to you fine folks is, what do you think about switching rides from a R1200R to a R1100R? I don't care about the visual side. I know its an increase in weight and a decrease in power - something that is concerning to me as I am a "sporty" type of driver (not crazy, however). I do mostly in-town driving (Hot-Lanta), commuting to work, dinner, etc, but I occasionally take a short road trip.

One pro I already like about the 1100 (other than price) is that it can be lowered to a sub-30" seat height. As a 29 inseam, I am on my tippy-toes on the R1200R at stoplights.

Anyway, comments, thoughts, suggestions?

Thx

Jikes another spammer around - this time for bloody Nike shoes from China ...

With regards to the above post I suppose you'll be disappointed bearing in mind that you're a more "sporty" driver. The R1100R seating pos. is a more upward straight back touring position and lacks a bit the more sporty forward position. Secondly the engine does not respond as well as the 1200R engine. I own a R1100R and because of the forementioned "lacks" I have changed to a tubular bar, and got my engine worked on and changed the exhaust system. But the 1100 is a fine bike. From 1999 onwards the gearbox has been changed to a better quality. I wouldn't exchange mine (because it has been modified a lot) for any of the newer models. But if I had a 1200R I would probably not want to downgrade to the 1100 ...

Best regards from freezing Germany
Oliver