Paging the newer-BMW-lovehateisti

As time goes by, I'm still failing to fall in love with the Zed. Yes
it's clearly the most competent bike I've ever owned, but I don't feel
that the balance of engine and chassis and brakes is quite right.

Basically I think it would be better with two less cylinders.

That's one of the reasons I've been thoroughly enjoying riding the R80
Garage Queen over the last few weeks. A lot slower, and a lot less
competent, but a lot more balanced.

But having had to pop to London yesterday, whilst the bike was fun when
I was playing catch the dispatcher [1], and the fairing kept me snug on
the A40/M40, the wobbling about at 70ish on the windy motorway and the
way the bike moves about on crossing white lines and changing lanes
reminded me why we call them SOBs rather than just OBs.

Anyway, on the way back my thoughts turned as they occasionally do to
the thought of an R1100S ABS [3].

A browse of ebay turned up 230124622261, which didn't sell, and a quick
e-mail to the seller has determined that he's still got it.

I'm not averse to a bit of mileage if the services have been done, and
this one appears to me to be in the right spec, though a pair of
panniers wouldn't go amiss.

T has expressed permission in principle [4], but has pointed out that
the Zed is mint and this R11 has a bit of corrosion on the ally bits

So, are there better R11SABS out there, or is this about as good as it
gets for about £3k? Most that I've seen out there are comfortably above
£4k to take them out of range.

[1] Except from a couple of "incidents" [2] that reminded me that I'm
not as observant as I thought I was
[2] It's been a while since I've locked the front, but then I was in a
hurry
[3] Even though I've previously described them as a tourer in a
shell-suit
[4] If I put the Givi box on the back to work as a Horse-catcher

 

Of course, Bear, though my gut feeling is that you'd not like it.

I see it as one of those bikes that's a bit of a slow burner - not
enormous power, long chassis that's slow to turn, but very sure-footed
and uneventful in the handling department. Something repeatable 360 days
a year rather than a 20 day a year workout, IYSWIM.

 

<>:

<snip>

When I bought my K1100 from Rainbow motorcycles I could have got an
R1100 instead. The owner suggested that if I wanted something for
distance commuting the K1100 was better, if I wanted something for
distance commuting/touring and playing about on then the R1100 was
better. Since I wanted a tourer rather than a sports bike I went for
the k.

 

The mileage shouldn't be a problem (I've had 1100s with over 70k on the
clock) as long as it's been maintained as BMW said it should be. For 3k
I'd want to see a fully stamped book from someone who knows what they're
doing (or a BMW main dealer at a stretch) for all services (including
the annual services that are quite often 'overlooked').

Panniers will be an issue though; As far as I remember the S is the only
one in the range that won't take the hard luggage rails so you're
restricted to throwovers.

They all do that, sir. I'd say that it actually looks like a rather
clean bike to me. I've certainly seen worse...

I've had anodised parts changed under warranty on the 1150GSA that
wasn't even two years old. Granted, I put over 10k on it in one year but
the quality of the finish really isn't that great.

I think that they're quite in demand as they're a bit of an un-BMW BMW
if you know what I mean. They weren't that big a seller when new
either.

Check if you can get a Givi adapter first.

 

Ah yes, I overlooked the bit about the Evo ABS. In that case,
avoid. It's an insanely complex system with some interesting failure
modes that usually culminate turning the servo for one of the brake
circuits off. Fun, not. According to the Swiss mechanic at the BMW
dealer in Chur, there are also some doubts over the longviety of the
system, again mainly due to the complexity.

And you really don't need servo brakes on a bike.

 

AFAIR it's the same as on all the earlier 1100s and one version up on
the one I've got on the K. Basically, it just works as long as you keep
on top of the fluid changes.

It's probably seen anti-sporty.

TBH with your requirements I'd also look at the R1100RS...

 

I don't think it is just "observance" so much as "riding in london
mode". Although observation is a major part of it.

Last year for the first time in quite a while I had to do battle with
London traffic. It wasn't until I realised I was riding "pure essex"
and changed that the ride became either safe or fun and needless to say
it got faster as a bonus.

 

120118220455 seems to, but I suspect they're not the same as the regular
ones so it'll most likely be a new purchase if not fitted. Hmmm

All things considered then, 320108459208 wasn't too bad a buy, esp if
the 99 was better than the 03. ie I'd rather have paid 3.5k for a 99
that ran for years trouble free than 3k for an 03 that was a right royal
PITA.

Hmmm. They do a monorack, but only from 02 model onwards. And because
it's a full set up, it wouldn't work with BMW panniers.

So if I want a topbox, it's maxia's all round.

 

On 12/5/07 21:03, in article , "Gyp"

<snip>
Might be worth taking a look here:

http://www.boxertrix.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=11

Steve

 

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on that

 

Well, they do look like they're standard pannier rails (as in, rails
that take the standard panniers) so you may get away with purchasing
just the rails at the usual humungous BMW parts price and get a set of
used panniers. OTOH the panniers do look a bit strange as they seem to
be more angular and fitted with narrower lid than the normal ones.

If you want/need luggage with a BMW - any BMW - it's usually a lot
cheaper to pay a little more for one that already has them fitted rather
than trying to source them later on. The latter is usually painful and
expensive.

Unfortunately this one is also an EVO abs model otherwise this looks
like a good deal.

I think that with the services thrown in (the 18k is a minor one, but
the annual adds about 200 quid to that) and the warranty, it was a good
buy even at the buy it now. They're essentially throwing in about
300-400 quids worth of work if you pay main dealer rates and the BMW
used bike warranty (which you can keep re-extending up to 80k AFAIR)
isn't exactly cheap either for Joe Punter.

That's not necessarily a bad thing given that Givi panniers are a lot
cheaper secondhand than BMW panniers.

 

Or even here mate.

http://forum.bmw-club.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=7&sid=a8ab097dc4638c1fd4dcba9af871fe52

 

As true now as it's always been.

If I'd have started looking last week, I'd have been tempted for sure.
Though it would have had to have been at the buy-it-now price as all
those "extras" were not included unless it was bought BIN

Indeed, though the pain is that the Givi kit doesn't fit bikes before
2002 :-(

 

These Beemer owners have a rather inflated opinion of their bikes'
value, don't they?

 

Yes and no.

If you compare it against the cheap stuff along the lines of "I can get
it on ebay for that", then yes.

OTOH most people who are in the club do look after their bikes very,
very well compared to Joe Average, so they may well be worth more than
the average bike.

Mined ewe, I haven't looked at the link as I can't remember my login.

 

Don't think so, my L reg is worth thousands.(1)

(1)pence.

 

Rails and panniers do go on - my current R1100RS is wearing the panniers
I took off my R1100S.

I only changed because my daughter wasn't happy on the pillion of the S
when I picked her up from school - she much prefers the seat on the RS.

The S corners much better than you would expect from a BM, but does give
away quite a lot of power. You do have to get used to the lack of feel
from the funny front though.

 

But does it work the other way round?

When I had an R80ST, the BMW panniers would fit the stock rails on other
BMWs, but the standard panniers wouldn't fit on the ST.

It's down on power compared to the RS?

 

It suggests to me that they're using the same type of plastic rail, so
yes.

The standard panniers should fit the ST but make it asymetric - same
thing with the old GS. Slightly different on the newer ones as the
pannier actually has a cut-out for the exhaust on those.

Shouldn't be. I think what he means is that it's down on power compared
to most other sporty bikes with similar displacement.

 

Sorry I didn't reply - I got dragged off.

The rails are identical on both bikes from a panniers point of view, but
I suspect the panniers I had may be originally be from an RS due to the
exhaust side one being smaller.

No, compared to most other non-bmw things of 750cc upwards. In theory
the RS is down on power compared to the S, but I haven't noticed where
yet. Once I finish my open university riding god course I'll probably
know where.

Anyway, Timo pre-empted all my replies so I'm just doing this as a courtesy.