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So, whats it like Mister?

Been riding an 1150GS since April 2005 and have no recoolection of riding anything else since. I did sit on an Royal Enfield thing at a trade stand at Phillip Island last year, but that is all.

I picked up my 1100S a week ago and first ride was about 100km / 60miles to friends in Brisbane. On the Monday and Tuesday I rode home to FNQ, Far North Queensland. You can read about it here if you like.
viewtopic.php?f=17&p=188401#p188401

The riding position is quite different. As expected I suppose considering that these two are at quite opposite ends of the spectrum. One is a long-range tourer good for off road to an extent. The other is BMW’s take on a sports bike. It will be ok on some dirt roads, but not for long!

I would say to my uncalibrated eye and feeling, it is about 20% faster than my GS, though the GS does need a good service. Where does this extra oomph come from?

Overall the 11S is more slippery, less frontal drag than the GS. I believe that mine has the standard gearbox for the 11S and I know my GS does. Gears 1 thru 5 are the same but the final drive is different, 31:11 for the GS and 33:12 for the 11S. This certainly gives it more get up go. 6th gear is different and so this gives it a higher top speed, not that I have been there officer.
Approaching 4000rpm and above, there is a buzz vibration. Not sure what the cause is as the throttle body vanes are good and open so that rules out an induction imbalance. It does feel smoother all round and so I wonder if it caused by a unbalanced crank, conrods, piston, flywheel and clutch pack. The vibration isn't concerning me at all and I am not putting the $ in to balancing the dynamic components.

I found that in a straight line it is quite comfortable, not too much weight on my hands, but I definitely do notice a different leg position. Funnily enough, on longer rides, eventually my legs seem to get cramped and I will let them hang for a bit. This feeling of cramp takes longer on the 11S and when I did let my legs hang, my feet are much closer to the bitumen! It’s all a bit lower.

Ok, but how does it compare around town?

Well, it doesn’t steer, it doesn’t turn, it has no steering lock, it doesn’t go up kerbs to well, it’s not a GS! Sure it’s not designed and intended for that, but after 12 years of a GS, it is taking a bit to get used to.

The suspension is quite good though, quite comparable to my GS and so not so harsh at all.

My trip from Brisbane home was pretty much a straight line, I think about 5 roundabouts, 4 of which I went straight on. I did it to work on Friday and around town on some business afterwards. That is where I started to have to learn how to ride it.

This afternoon I went for a ride up the coastal road from Cairns north. This has twisty sections and a few hills. I had already worked out that the wider bars and increased height on the GS make turning much easier, gives me much more confidence on roundabouts and turning off at T junctions and so I would need to be conscious of this and REALLY be calm about this.

I headed off and rolled up the road. It is an easy gotcha for the cops and so the chance of getting caught speeding is high. Speed wasn’t the purpose of the ride though, near on anybody can fast in a straight line, it’s the corners where it matters. I rolled around the first few kilometres and it was ok. I know the road fairly well and there are some closing corners to be aware off so I was ready for those.
I found that I was looking further ahead thru the corner, more so than usual (maybe where I should always be looking?) and consciously counter steering more.

I was definitely more cautious on my ride today, knowing that it is a different handling machine.

I did go up a hill, quite steep to a look out over 4mile beach. Not really any different to report there, pulled well just like my GS going up, just the same going down.

So, what is there to report about the differences?
After all the above, you know what it comes down to?
Obviously different seating position, No fuel gauge, no eng oil temp gauge, no gear indicator. Lack of steering and turning and turning circle, Its quicker up to speed and that is about it.
Yep, liking it so far.

Have you worked out model ? The Prep came without ABS, heated grips, centerstand, seat cowl. Think you find it very nimble once used to it, my BCR was beautiful in corners better than my 12s

Mitch1100 wrote:Have you worked out model ? The Prep came without ABS, heated grips, centerstand, seat cowl. Think you find it very nimble once used to it, my BCR was beautiful in corners better than my 12s

Hay Mitch
I dropped by my local stealership on friday and we looked up the VIN on the BMW system, It was delivered with :-
Rear Seat Cover (the previous owner (not first owner) got it changed to dual seat compliance here in QLD)
ABS
Center stand
Wide tire

It does have heated grips as well, but these are not listed on the details.

It is a 2001 build, January I think I saw some where.

I just remembered somethinv else, its really disconcerting when you go ro squeeze and grip the tank area and the side panels flex!

I did the same, I used my 1150GS exclusively for a number of years then bought 2 1100S's in a row (I still have the GS too). I think you've summed up my opinions pretty well - the most obvious being a bit more power (because of the flywheel apparently) and how it's difficult to turn! I bought my first S living in Central London and found it miserable about town compared to the GS but on a good smooth road it's absolutely beautiful. I even find mine relatively comfy for motorway stints but then I'm about the average sort of height the bike is built for so it fits well.

One thing that makes a huge difference when cornering is adding those stomp grip type panels to the fairings. It makes the bike rideable with textile trousers or jeans, the only probably is they're pretty ugly so I'm not putting them on the Boxer Cup fairings!

Is the "PREP" an Aussie spec model, as far as I am aware in the U.K. We had the std bike, sport model( updated suspension, wider wheel etc) early U.K. Boxer cup(Union Jack paint) Mamola BCR rep(twin/single spark) and RWB(the prettiest imo)BCR, heated grips, lasers,belly pan etc were options for the std and sport models.

Al.

I've seen "prep" models mostly being described by Americans for bikes that supposedly were destined for the Boxer Cup series, which is why there were no centre stands, ABS, etc. I don't believe it's an official BMW designation and given all the things listed were just options anyway I'm inclined to think it's not really a thing. I definitely don't believe people who tell you that a "prep" bike is is any way different to a standard bike in terms of performance.

I didnt even know these were options.
For the 1150GS, in Aus, the only option was ABS or not. Came with heated grips and handguards as standard.
When the Adventure model came out, I think the only option was knobby TKC80 tires or Metzler Tourance tires.
Doesnt really matter to me, I have what I have and ride it.

I am getting better to going around corners, went around a round about on the way home and then realised, that was smooth

Ride what you have the best you can.
paint and centerstand arnt going to make much difference to the average joe

Why is it Faster - from memory the 1150 GS is 89 BHP and the 1100S is 98BHP -someone may know better than I but I think that's the main reason (and possibly a lower final drive ratio on the GS).

higher compression pistions, different cams
possibly different spark timeing

metropolis2k wrote:I've seen "prep" models mostly being described by Americans for bikes that supposedly were destined for the Boxer Cup series, which is why there were no centre stands, ABS, etc. I don't believe it's an official BMW designation and given all the things listed were just options anyway I'm inclined to think it's not really a thing. I definitely don't believe people who tell you that a "prep" bike is is any way different to a standard bike in terms of performance.

There's 2 preps/sports near me...both have SSport on fairing, R1100S Sport, which was a standard R1100S fitted with an optional "Sports" pack comprising stiffer suspension via a taller rear yellow spring monoshock, a steering damper, and a wider rear wheel and tyre no center stand. Definitely no performance difference, just quicker steering. A marketing infill before BCR! My RWB BCR had no ABS or heated grips and wasn't offered as option.

Mitch1100 wrote:There's 2 preps/sports near me...both have SSport on fairing, R1100S Sport, which was a standard R1100S fitted with an optional "Sports" pack comprising stiffer suspension via a taller rear yellow spring monoshock, a steering damper, and a wider rear wheel and tyre no center stand. Definitely no performance difference, just quicker steering. A marketing infill before BCR! My RWB BCR had no ABS or heated grips and wasn't offered as option.

I think it's just the term "prep" I object to I'd call them Sport models (wide rear tyre & yellow spring shocks) without heated grips ABS or center stands. All the RWB BCR models were the same (wide rear, yellow shocks, no heated grips, no stand, no ABS) but also had different front forks.