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

I may be behind the times here.... but...well, we stopped at the BMW shop in Iowa City, only to look at gear, fit my wife for a jacket. And then I saw it! I mean....Ive seen photos, but didn't really look further.

Oddly, Shes been wanting me to go BIGGER with an RT or other tourer. but then we both drooled on this bike. To ME, Its what a BMW should be-- a simple boxer. Not flashy, most beauty in function. thing only has a speedo? I loved it. sat on it, loved it more. Going to demo at their open house, hopefully. Spec'd out with heated grips(which I could let go of) it was 12k. I think I'd go with the spoked wheels, instead. which i hadnt seen a photo of yet, and look beautiful.

I must have one. And she gave her blessing.... so I think it might happen. Then just keep the 1150R and fully dress it for 2 up.

only thing missing from this is the telelever. but its still a beauty.

I like the R-Nine series too. The urban GS has excellent retro-modern styling, but the Pure is similarly near-perfection. They don't look like road warrior though, so your R1150 tricked out for travel might be the ideal counterpart to the "less is more" Pure.

sweatmark wrote:I like the R-Nine series too. The urban GS has excellent retro-modern styling, but the Pure is similarly near-perfection. They don't look like road warrior though, so your R1150 tricked out for travel might be the ideal counterpart to the "less is more" Pure.

loved the Urban GS as well! My Older son was REALLY into that one.

love the r-nine-t too... always have.

but this PURE .... just gave me the gooseys. You are right, there wont be much long distance done on it.

peels wrote:
only thing missing from this is the telelever. but its still a beauty.

That's the killer for me.
I'm so used to Telelever now that every bike I ride with telescopic forks feels unstable and bouncy.

The only bike I've ridden that I liked in that regard is the R1200RS with Live Active Suspension - that worked.......... above 35mph! Below 35, the Live Active Suspension turns off and the bike reverts to being a hinged pogo-stick

The telelever works so well why did bmw discard it on the R9T series and more so on the LC boxers?

Tigcraft wrote:The telelever works so well why did bmw discard it on the R9T series and more so on the LC boxers?

Lots of reasons:
Mainly because the 'market' doesn't like 'new' things.
It's heavier than telescopics so any bike with it fitted has a greater gross weight so comes across as heavier in media group tests and so it's something negative that the journalists can point to.
It provides feedback in a much more subtle fashion than telescopics so it's something negative that people (journalists especially, but also normal riders) can point to. (You only really appreciate the feedback from Telelever once you've had a good month or so on the bike, on a short test ride it feels like you are getting no feedback at all).
Race bikes don't have it, so 'bikers' think it's crap. (Race bikes are stripped to be as light as possible, and telescopics have about 100 years of development now so in overall terms they're more developed). On the road, where real riding is done, all that is irrelevant.
Some people don't like the fact that the bike's wheelbase actually lengthens when you brake, (although it's a good thing, makes the bike more stable on approach to a corner, albeit slightly slower to steer around the corner).

I'd also imagine that it's more expensive to make, and it's probably more expensive to maintain (when you take into account the fact that there are more bearings involved). The engine casings have to be designed differently (and more strongly) as well as all the other considerations.

A very unique system for sure. Its one of the reasons I have not gone to the newer 1200s(the other is the can bus system, not easy for self maintenance).
In 16 years and 280K plus miles I have never had to do any maintence to the forks on my Rockster except for a torn rubber cover on the front swivel joint in which I just replaced the unit.
The front end is very strong and maybe a bit heavier than the traditional forks, but the anti dive is worth the extra weight. IMO

I have ohlins shocks and I can pull the shock from the front in about 30 min and send it off for renew for under $200. (about every 25K miles)

Although at first I found the front end a bit vague/numb, I soon got used to the feel and began to trust it. When you loose reaction on the front it will slide the tire(like the rear) and has little tendency to "tuck" or twist the bars. Save me many times.

I've got a lot of miles on all kinds of motorbikes and this is the best system I have had for road use.

BMW marketing pressure caused the change due to weight and perceived preference? of the riding public. (could have been some $$ cost pressure as well).