www.boxertrix.com

out on the 23rd of April they are covering the R1100S. Quote:the bike that changed everything for BMW,and why now`s a very good time to buy one.any one on here asked to contribute as an owner/reader?

I received an e-mail from Ride magazine in June 2007 seeking owner feedback information for an upcoming article on the R1100S. I sent a reply but had not heard any more or seen anything printed.

I stopped buying Ride magazine some years ago as the content was not up to much and was rather repetitive. I now tend to browse Ride magazine in WH Smith's; must make sure I see next month's copy.

I was one of the three R1100s' who went to Rockingham on 25th February (mine is the red one).

They wanted the pros and cons of ownership, riding and bike history, why we wanted an S and any modifications made. There was also the opportunity to go on the inner circuit.

I arrived earlier than the other guys as I stayed the night before after a soggy journey up from Plymouth.

The team from Ride were great. We had photos on the track and in the pits. Then Tony Hoare and Ben Wilkes from Ride went out for a photo session on the other two R1100s'. I was going to let them have a go on mine but as Ben had just stacked Tony's TZR250 I decided that I would sit it out!

I have had my S since new 2001 and we have a lot of history; not sure I could face clearing it up with a dustpan and brush!

I was surprised to see my bike in print; the yellow one is more photogenic (better contrast or something) so will be front cover next month.


Neil

Hi guys,

yes, we are doing a feature on the R1100S for next month's issue.

If any of you would like to tell me the good and bad about R1100S ownership, I'd love to hear from you.

Wicker, in the last two years RiDE has changed considerably - hopefully you don't think the current content isn't up to much and repetitive. But then again, if you're only browsing in WHSmith you can't complain.

Mudster, have you received your pictures? Thanks once again for making the effort to come and see us!

Thanks

Ben
RiDE

Hi Ben

Photos received; thank you very much. Hope Tony's TZR is feeling better. Perhaps I should have added that after my own personal siting laps from Ben he then proceeded to b*gger off and lap me at least twice on his Aprilia. And I thought I was going quick!

In response to the quality of the mag, I am just about to bin my subscription to TWO and take up a RIDE one. Magazines do go off the boil; I bought Performance Bikes for 10 years but then it went a bit Max Power after the loss of John Robinson, Gus Scott and Ronnie Smith. The frenzies at Cadwell were the most brilliant weekends and they were at the forefront of on-bike camera footage/lunacy.

Rockingham would be ideal for an R1100s only trackday and I think it is pretty cheap for midweek. It's a long way for me (although central to everyone else) but I would certainly go if there were other S' for a mini frenzy!

It would be nice to meet up with other owners as R1100s are a bit thin on the ground down here.

Neil

Ben,

Like many people here, I have had plenty of bikes in my 30 yaers in the saddle, soem brilliant and others (Hxnda CB500T) best forgotten.

I have had some 'missles' including on of the first Kawa GPZ1100 with fuel injection in 1982 (straight line = fast; corner =accident) and more recently a Blackbird.

If you want to go ballistic and shred your licence then buy one of the latest superbikes. If you want to loose a lot of money then buy a Ducati. If you want to ride fast, smooth, in comfort and with the prospect of a reasonable future sales price, then in my humble view the R1100S is the best bike there is.

It may well be a compromise in some people's view, but if you want a 'Jack of all trades, master of none' then it's the BMW.

BenW wrote:Hi guys,

yes, we are doing a feature on the R1100S for next month's issue.

If any of you would like to tell me the good and bad about R1100S ownership, I'd love to hear from you.

Wicker, in the last two years RiDE has changed considerably - hopefully you don't think the current content isn't up to much and repetitive. But then again, if you're only browsing in WHSmith you can't complain.

Mudster, have you received your pictures? Thanks once again for making the effort to come and see us!

Thanks

Ben
RiDE

Well here's your chance to put your two peneeth in folks.

The two things i'd change on a bog stock S,the Cat and put a bypass pipe on,and Verholen ajustable para arm to make it steer as it should do,the GS arm is Ok,but has zero ajustability.

BenW wrote:Hi guys,

If any of you would like to tell me the good and bad about R1100S ownership, I'd love to hear from you.

Ben
RiDE

Good: telelever front. Makes it a very good tracking bike, not upset by bumps or potholes. I can't get used to telescopic front any more. Another good thing (here in the Netherlands) is BMW's part supply, especially compared to Ducati (don't know about other brands). Most of any part you're after will be delivered within 2-3 days.

Bad: BMW is a premium brand, which is not the same as premium quality. This was a bit disappointing. Built quality is good, but not (much) better then a H*nda or even the Ducati Multistrada I've owned for a while. I suspect even MotoGuzzi nowadays levels their build quality

All together: the R1100S is a perfect all-rounder. Personally I think it's better then the benchmark H*nda VFR, though you might not like the vibes from a boxer twin (I don't mind). Many people, coming from all sorts of bikes, experience that they actually ride faster and with more confidence then they ever did before.

HJ

* p.s. a few years ago another Britisch mag took a R1100S BCR on their public road 'test course' and discovered to their own surprise, that they were faster on the BMW then on the Ducati 999!

BenW wrote:Hi guys,

yes, we are doing a feature on the R1100S for next month's issue.

If any of you would like to tell me the good and bad about R1100S ownership, I'd love to hear from you.

Ben
RiDE

Good : Telelever , parts availibility , routine maintenance is easy, general quirkiness, aerodynamics (for me anyway)
Boxetrix Forum
Bad: Brake disc design (mounting to wheel), poor quality wiring harness (outer sleeve)
Personally I dislike the switch gear,
Can be expensive to buy
General quirkiness
Slightly bigger fuel tank capacity would be good.
Rear shock can fail badly (leak)
Oe cat converter can rattle badly (replace with y piece)

Nigel B

Bad:
sugar coated fork lowers and brace
chocolate fastners
dodgy output shaft splines (a few reported including mine...)
depreciation
BMW service costs
its a pig to clean regularly, especially the front wheel (I gave up fairly recently - linked to depreciation perhaps....).

Good:
its started on the button more or less for 5 years and 34k miles continually parked outside.
Nothing has really gone wrong until recently (bar the output shaft) the brake light started to play up. Its currently at Jap & German for an Mot tyres and a tweak...
great luggage, comfy two up.
its aged well in appearance - look at some 98 jap designs...
it falls over well when stationary (I've tested this twice)
none BMW service costs
parts availability and cost
great city bike, lots of low down grunt (relatively)
this forum and its members


Ade

Ben if you are interested I have the original Motorcycle news road test bike and apart from a new Givi Rack and Vario screen it is pretty original with just under 14k on the clock

As mine is rapidly on the way the'Old Banger' class,am i glad it hasn't got a rad and all the junk that goes with it,it's a doddle to look after,and best of all, thats never mentioned,got be the easiest bike ever to clean(properly),last week could have grown spuds on mine,5 minutes looks great.

I'll take a 10 year old S against a 10 year old VFR every time.

winger wrote:got be the easiest bike ever to clean(properly),last week could have grown spuds on mine,5 minutes looks great.

I guess its all relative and how damaged the finishes are to start with. My R6 was easy to clean. I could drop the panels off in 2 minutes and could get to everything really easily. The wheels had 3 spokes and could be wiped over in a second. The fact it was a track bike and rarely saw wet weather helped alot..

The S front wheel is somehow designed to prevent easy access to half of it to shift brake dust and winter crud because the design of the spokes and the front discs.. I can't get behind the calipers without dropping the wheel out or taking them off.

The engine has countless pockets to pick up crap on top of the actual spaces between the cooling fins. Mine has an oil weep at the base of the front cover making it even more difficult to shift the baked on crud.

I've never had a rear hugger as the back end is actually quite accessible - the rear shock is now well past its best though.

When I first got the bike I would spend 2 hours every weekend going over the thing with a toothbrush and Muc Off stuff. After about 3 winters I got a bit demoralised and stopped being quite so keen as despite my efforts I was fighting a losing battle with the soft paint and baked on stuff. Now I've decided that I have more pressing things to do and the bike is just plain filthy..

I guess the trick is to protect it properly from new and keep it clean which in turn makes it easy to keep clean...


Ade

Everything is relative i guess,in comparison to my Tiger which is just an utter nightmare to clean,the S is a doddle,spray some aftermarket road cleaner on it,wash it off it looks great,do it to the Tiger,looks worse than when you started

The way i get into the nooks and crannys,use a long bristled hand brush,the only pain are fins on the bottom of the barrel.

Hi all,

My two peneth,
Good : Lovely smooth mile muncher
Very versitile. Can do most things with minor mods.
Looks, IMHO. Always attracts attention when parked up next to the usual jap collection.
Ease of maintenance. I'm a home servicer and find the 1100S the easiest bike I've ever worked on. What other bike can you do the valve clearances with an allen key, 10mm spanner and a set of feelers in 20mins flat?. Plastics are removed in 10 mins to expose most parts. One down side to servicing was the fuel filter, utter tw*t of a job.
Parts are easy to source.
Telelever front suspension. Brilliant.
This forum with its wealth of information and members helpfulness.

Bad : CORROSION. Front forks, fastenings, clips, studs, headers, disc bolts. Always been my bug bear with this bike.
Price of parts and any after market stuff.
Heavy yet very stable at speed.
Exhaust mid section and Cat. Junk it and fit a Y peice.
Accesability to the air filter, who dreamt that one up?
L/H/S cam tensioner rattles. Again junk it and fit the replacement model that keeps tension on the chain.
Initial price versus resale value. A bit unfare IMHO.
Engine noise could un-nerve some owners new to R series BMW's but you soon get used to it.