R1150R Good All Around Bike?

MMH · Post by **MMH** » Sat May 12, 2007 6:44 am

I know that I will get somewhat bias answers here, but is the R1150R a good all around bike? I have not ridden in 15 years and am thinking about geting back into it. Initially thought about a Harley, as I was primarily thinking about cruzing. Now I think that I want an all around bike - take on a 200 mile trip, flog a little on the street, and even get in a track day or two.

How would the R1150R do? How sporty is it? Is it really a sporty touring bike or is it a sproty bile w/ some touring capability?

Post by **DJ Downunder** » Sat May 12, 2007 6:59 am

It's the best all-round (do it all) bike there is...end of story..

DJ

Post by **sjbmw** » Sat May 12, 2007 7:08 am

+1 DJ.

Still have not met a more versatile bike. Lugged 500 lbs. worth of people and gear hundreds of miles, or rip off the luggage and bounce like a hooligan.

Meet nice people too.

ScooterCop · Post by **ScooterCop** » Sat May 12, 2007 7:33 am

Watch and decide for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5YJcAe2VSM

Arbee · Post by **Arbee** » Sat May 12, 2007 7:47 am

MMH

What is your definition of good all round as it may be different to mine

If you mean a bike for the freeway, minor roads, commuting, going to the
shops then a R1150R will be fine.

or do you mean doing it all jungles, deserts, mountain treks and across
Tibet in 6 days...? i would choose a GS.

Post by **challey** » Sat May 12, 2007 10:35 am

Obviously a biased reply, but what DJ says is not really hyperbole. And when SJBMW talks about being versatile, he couldn't be more right.

You can easily find bikes with more horsepower; if you looked really hard, you may even be able to find one or 2 with better brakes or suspensions. There are better machines for strictly highway cruising, there are cafe racers that are better for sprinting from point A to B, road race replicas for track days. It may even be that there are better bikes for mundane commuting.

If you want a bike that you can ride coast to coast, take to work every day, blast around on a weekend ride, carry a week's worth groceries back from the supermarket and most importantly, bring a smile to your face while doing any of the above, it's the R1150R.

chris · Post by **chris** » Sat May 12, 2007 12:59 pm

You can also get your knee down and embarrass the hell out of guys on sports bikes who can't!

RRANDY · Post by **RRANDY** » Sat May 12, 2007 2:04 pm

The Swiss Army knife of motorbikes!! It does everything.
In four years I have 75000 km of commuting,touring,2 speeding tickets,met countless cool people,and wear a constant grin.
I could go on,but you get the message.

MartyWadd · Post by **MartyWadd** » Sat May 12, 2007 5:22 pm

Personally, I'd rather run a r1200st because of the power increase, but for the price, the R1150R can't be topped! It REALLY does EVERYTHING well! I don't know of anyone who has one and isn't thrilled with it.

Post by **Daryl_stamp** » Sat May 12, 2007 8:19 pm

I've only had three in my lifetime (42), '72 XS650 Yamaha, '82 750 Virago and '02 R1150R. It is a blast. Maybe faster, hipper, cooler, fatter etc. alternatives out there but if you want a bike for YOU (and SO) then it is a great choice.

It looked dorky to me when I bought it, but it's appearance has grown on me.

The best view is from the seat, but some of the others aren't bad either.

I've ridden a little over 6k miles since August '06 all in Finglerlakes Region of NY (i.e. COLD). Is it perfect? No. Would I trade it for a 'look at me' bike? Never. I've only met a few other BMW riders in person and they all seem to have a common trait; they like to ride, they actually do ride (even in bad weather; New Years Day @ Taughannock Falls NY:

)

and they love their bikes. It was my lovely wife's idea to get a motorcycle anyway, so the grin can be expected, but this is on what turned out to be a rainy 40 degree 3 hour ride.

Maybe the best measure of a bike is how many miles they actually get ridden. I had lunch with someone Friday that has a 100K on a 96 R1150_ that he bought after totaling a K100. If they weren't such a blast to ride, the miles would never add up.

My 10 cents.

DLS

Post by **Buckster** » Sat May 12, 2007 8:53 pm

DITTO

dragonmojo · Post by **dragonmojo** » Sat May 12, 2007 10:37 pm

You betcha.

There may be others out there, but I do not believe it has the same "aura". Sometimes it's the intangibles that sets things apart.

Post by **JCsman** » Sat May 12, 2007 10:52 pm

Give me your money to buy any four bikes I'd want and the R1150R probably won't be in my garage. Let me pick just ONE and...oh wait, I already did.

Mine's red.

MIXR · Post by **MIXR** » Sun May 13, 2007 12:47 am

This is a VERY biased place to ask such a question!

However - I agree that even with its 'modest' horsepower, it will blow away more powerful machines in the hills.

It will outhandle many/most other bikes when the roads get rough and bumpy.

It is quite happy on the dirt and handles rough dirt better than most sportsbikes can even dream of doing. It's a passable 'GS' when it has to be!

It will tour as competently as any tourer, but offers somewhat less weather protection due to it's 'nakedness'. Load it up and go as far as you want, with safety, reliability, and comfort.

It will make a good rider look brilliant, and provide them with a lot of fun. It will make a novice rider look confident with a good margin for safety.

You can't really go wrong. But none of us are biased, are we?

hughey · Post by **hughey** » Sun May 13, 2007 4:56 am

I've got an R1150RS and though I also like the R, the RS has more bhp (95ish). I therefore think an RS with R handlebars would be the best combination giving extra power and a bit smoother bodywork. The R dash looks better though.

(actually, Daryl above has almost ended up with that kind if result which looks good)

Hughey
R1150RS

Post by **MikeCam** » Sun May 13, 2007 5:45 am

Unbiased and Wholly Accurate (I swear)

If what you want is a Roadster, then R1150R matches very well against the other available roadster type models (some call them naked sport bikes, naked standards, etc).

Excellent used prices for '01-'05 models - pick your entry point.

Ease of maintenance, ease of modification - you can make it into a sport tourer (bags, top cases, windscreen), semi-cruiser (barbacks, seat lowering, peg lowering, barn door windscreen), semi-serious sport (ala Rockster bars, Ohlins shocks, RT cam, new chip, open air manifold and exhaust plumbing, etc etc etc).

Drawbacks: too much information available, which clouds decision making; a bit heavier than some other choices; rumors and mis-information abound about potential systemic problems (weak shocks, bad final drives, leaky weepy seals, oil, tires, kill switches.....)
[This last borders on tongue-in-cheek hyperbole, sorry.]

dragonmojo · Post by **dragonmojo** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:01 pm

MikeCam wrote: Drawbacks: too much information available, which clouds decision making; a bit heavier than some other choices; rumors and mis-information abound about potential systemic problems (weak shocks, bad final drives, leaky weepy seals, oil, tires, kill switches.....)
[This last borders on tongue-in-cheek hyperbole, sorry.]

Like I said, those elves living deep in the Bavarian forest who built these machines were doped up on opium! Uh, just a bit more hyperbole fer ya.

Post by **bmwdave52** » Sun May 13, 2007 11:33 pm

That is one old promo. At least six years old. That RR in the promo is single spark and the rider is wearing a Commuter jacket. Both of which I bought in July '01.
Yep I'm still riding my Atlanta Blue RR.
The Perfect All Around Bike.

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R1150R Good All Around Bike?

R1150R Good All Around Bike?

Returned motorcyclist says R1150R is GREAT!!!!!

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