= Added at the last update

 
R1150R Specs

Dimensions and Weights
Overall length 2170 mm
Overall width 970 mm (over mirrors)
Wheelbase 1487mm
Seat height 800 mm
Weight - wet 525 lbs
Maximum load 992 lbs
 
Performance
Top speed 135.5 mph
0-60mph 3.89 sec
Blue model, 3.88 sec
0-100 10.59 sec
1/4 mile 12.09 @ 108.21
 
~Price
Base $9,990
With Integral ABS $12,190
Frame and Suspension
Frame

Two-section tubular spaceframe, engine
serving as loadbearing component
Front Suspension
Telelever
Front Travel 120mm, 4.7in
Rear Suspension Paralever
Rear Travel 135mm, 5.3in

Drivetrain
Clutch Single plate dry clutch, 165mm in diameter
Gear ratios




1st gear - 3.863
2nd - 3.022
3rd - 2.393
4th - 1.961
5th - 1.700
6th - 1.511
Final drive- 2.82
Secondary Drive Shaft
Gearbox 6 Speed
General
Type
Bore x stroke
2-cylinder 4-stroke flat twin
101 mm x 70.5 mm
Displacement 1130 cc
Horsepower 85 bhp / 6750rpm
Torque 98Nm, 71ft/lb at 5250rpm
Compression ratio 10.3
Valve control HC
Valves 2x34mm intake / 2x29mm exhaust
Valves per cylinder 4
Fuel supply Motronic MA 2.4
Fuel capacity 5.4 gallons, est. 221mi at 75mph
Alternator 700W
Battery 12V/19Ah
Cooling system Air/oil
  R1150R Sound Samples are here

Colors - Past and Present
Black
Red
Atlanta Blue (fastest)
Fastest
Dakar/Ferro Metallic
Bronzite Metallic
Titan Silver Metallic
Piemont Red Metallic
Ferro/Dark Ferro Metallic

Brakes
Front brakes dual disc
Front rotors 320mm
Rear brake single disc
Rear rotor 276mm

Wheels and Tires
Front Tire 120/70-ZR17
Rear Tire 170/60-ZR17
 

Some Specs Courtesy of Motorcycle Consumer News 

Fun Stuff
These are just for fun: Video1(bike), Video2(bike), Video3(car)
Surging?? Wet seat?? Funny noises?? Your problems don't even compare to this guy's: nest1, nest2, nest3
You think you need a bug screen? Not as bad as Bart! This was the damage after a 10 minute ride. The people of The Netherlands call them "muggen." Muggen

WOW, this wasnt an option when I bought my bike! Thanks for the laugh Louis! Power

Other Interesting Stuff & Tech Tips

Here are some tips, tricks and tidbits that people have sent in. If you have something interesting to share, send it in.


Here are some great tips sent in my Richard H. (1150Rich) (Word format - 22K). r1150rtips.doc
Cyclerob's document on installing a temperature sensor is here (Word format - 850K): Temperature gauge.doc (Right click on the link and select "Save target/link as..")
Bart from Holland sent in these nice tidbits:
Handle (Verholen) - handle in, handle out
Thermometer (Verholen) - thermo
Oilplug (Touratech) - plug, installed

Roy was nice enough to put together this article for us. He shows and describes the process for installing a set of PIAA lights with an Autoswitch controller. Check it out here.

Looking for a magnetic tankbag for around $100? Ryno seems to like this Marsee Tank bag:bagtop1, bagtop2, bagside. A link to his description is here.
Here are some pics to show the difference between the standard tan seat and tall tan seat (I assume dimensions are the same for the black seat, but not sure). Please note that in the pictures that show two seats, the TALL seat is always the one on the LEFT. Click here
Fossil Fred installed a Staintune pipe on his R. Click here
I've installed a new Remus titanium pipe on my r-r. Here are some pictures and sound samples.

These are some random pictures of the internals on our bikes. Click here.
Want a simple way to secure your oil fill cap? Click here
Having trouble removing or servicing the shifter? This might help - Cyclerob
Don't know how to store this stuff? Try this! Here is another cute storage trick with coins. - Cyclerob
These are pictures of Dave's (#2) bike with the new Givi screen attached: pic1, pic2, pic3. See down below for another image.
Another screen, the Memphis Shade 1611 is recommended by Daydream: front, side1, side2, behind
Pat sent in this awesome pic of his rear shelf, painted black to match the rest of his bits... rear



"Attached is a RAM mount for holding the Garmin GPS III+. Works well, holds steady, handy to use and good viewing position. Hot wire the unit directly to the bike battery - do not use internal batteries!" -Bill H

Pic 1



"The following is a procedure for adjusting the valves on the 1150r. The procedure is similar to other 1100 models but there are a few things
different - for example, setting TDC is much simpler using the arrow alignment procedure.
This procedure was written up under the guidance of a certified BMW technician - has been reviewed by many and completed by myself and a few friends." -Bill H

Word
Document 1



"I thought the oil cooler ducts on my 11 Roadster did not fit the lines of the scooter and stuck out like a wart. Wanted something that did not dominate the sideview and decided just painting the ducts black wouldnt do it. So I made these up from aluminum and covered with stick-on carbon fiber look vinyl. Attached using silicone sealer. I think it improves the looks, protects the coolers and does not affect the function. Please see attached pix installed on my '99" -Roger

Pic 1


"Here's an image I took of my bike on the way back from Corbin today. The image shows what a Givi A750 looks like with the windshield cut down, a Corbin seat, a removable Corbin backrest, lowered muffler w. "Wudo" parts, and the bags with some City lids on them." -Patrick W.

Pic 1

Pic 2


"I too was less than happy with the BMW windscreen that I had installed on my R1150R: at 70 mph the wind hit my helmet to hard that my neck would ache from fighting against it. Before resigning myself to throwing it away and buying another shield, I tried this fix: I removed the top 2 mounting bolts for the screen, substituted longer bolts, and added spacers in the form of little rubber o-rings. This canted the shield upward slightly. And it works great! My problem now is staying under 75 mph. Here are some pix to show the new mounting bolts and o-rings, and some views of the bike to show that the screen still looks good in its new position." -s2pidduncan

Pic 1

Pic 2


DarthRider submits this great tip: "OK you inveterate tinkerers, here's a good one for you. Went to the BMW shop today and bought a pair of injector/throttle body covers for an early R1100RS. They snap right on the throttle bodies like they are made for them (they are!), they are matte black plastic, they protect the vulnerable plastic injectors and they look cool. And get this - they cost $5.00 for the pair!"



Gene writes: "Just installed my Highway Pegs so here are the pictures. The first picture has the parts and parts numbers. Cost for everything was about $120. I put some special bolts thru the Clevis that were from a high performance auto parts store. Also you need the Harley-Davidson friction clip that you can just barely see.

I have asked Burton if he would route out the mounting holes in the bracket so that I could slip on and off the pegs when I didn't want them. He is going to experiment."



Dave writes: "Attached are pictures of the luggage rack I made for my 1150R, specifically for carrying my Eclipse tail bag. That setup is only on the bike for trips. The rack is made of a sheet of 3/16" T6061 (hard) aluminum sheet on two 3/4" thin wall aluminum tube spacers to attach to the BMW brackets. I put strips of stair tread traction tape from the hardware store on top to keep stuff from sliding around, with countersunk stainless screws to hold it together. It looks just like a Krauser rack I had on a bike in the early 80's.

For fabricating this type of item I would recommend the following machinery as a starting point: Bandsaw with metal cutting blade for all the cutting chores. (Found mine at a yard sale for $20!) A bench mounted belt / disc sander combo is fabulous for finishing the cut edges perfectly straight and smooth, and radiusing corners. Beats the living heck out of using a file, and they are reasonably priced. I also have a sandblasting cabinet (home made for about $30) for applying the final glass beaded finish. Stuff comes out with a factory smooth satin sheen. The only expensive part is a compressor with enough capacity to feed the sandblaster, but it has a lot of other uses as well."

 



Rack-Bottom, rack-rear


Ton submitted some pics of his bike with a BMW topcase installed. Looks like he had to fabricate a bracket: fullbike, close-up before, close-up after, under, side close-up.

"Every after market top box comes with some kind of black plastic ground plate and clamps and bolts. On the BMW rack this does not work out very well, because the rack itself is not flat but slightly rounded. Therefore you need foam to fill up a bit and also on the clamps you need some foam to avoid strong local stresses in the plastic that may induce cracks. All in all not a proper solution.

The better solution is to remove the fantastic looking silver coloured plastic piece of bmw junk that they call a rack. You may try then to bolt the top case on to the four holes in the bmw construction, but in my case it did not fit and I had to take a flat piece of aluminum 0.12" thick to use as a mechanical interface. Modelled it to the shape of my top case ground plate with a jig saw. Drilled some holes at the right places in a square and as close to the pins for the top case as possible. In my case I could do with six holes. Then with bolts, rings, washers, etc. I tried to make it a nice construction." - Ton


One member has realized that inexpensive shields can be found and used with the BMW speedster screen everyone seems to dislike. front, front-closeup

Ton writes: "The shield was bought from a local Dutch (and may be also German) web shop that you can find at www.motozoom.nl or www.louis.nl. Good for your Dutch readers. The name of the shield is "Storm", but that's kind of fancy name, I think. They sell it for 179 guilders (approx. 70 dollars). I threw their brackets away, drilled four extra holes and then it fitted nicely between the turn lights as you can see on the attached pictures. It is also quite effective.

Corbin Seat pics here: 3Quarter.jpg side.jpg top.jpg. (Ps- Here is a link to the New Corbin seat. Its the best one I've seen yet!)

Greg M. writes: "It's hard for me to really know what the pros and cons of this seat are as I bought the bike used (six weeks old) and the previous owner put it on. So, I've never ridden a stock seat. This seat was custom made at the Corbin factory. It uses the original base pan. The owner said they wanted to keep his bike for a week and prototype it for the future release of an R1150R seat but he declined as he rode it daily. He only had the front seat made as he would never be carrying passengers so, the back seat is stock. I wish he had as I do and the hardware would be there for a backrest which my wife would really love! All I can say is, I find it incredibly comfortable! I can't benchmark it with the stock all I can say is I feel moulded to the bike, this puppy was made for me. Oh, tech heads might want to know I'm 5'9, 170lbs(fluctuates ;^) 32 inside leg, (can put feet flat at lowest point, pads of feet at normal seating position, 34" waist, shaved head and a wee goatie thingy. I've just joined the ranks after being an airhead for a while '86 R80. I loved that bike, but this ones feels like an airplane. If any one has any questions, feel free and drive carefully out there...
"


Cyclerob: "I installed this on my VX800 then moved to my R1150R. It is a digital LED voltmeter from Radio Shack purchased 3-27-94. It's $7.35, very accurate, small & self powered. It was meant as a 12V Lighter plug in to test the battery & charge System. I cut off the plug part and wired it to an ignition-on hot wire. The catolog number is 22-1635. It may still be available in a dusty corner of an obscure Radio Shack somewhere. I checked, radioshack.com ,there isn't an exact present day equivalent.
The red/yellow/green
LED's indicated voltage
in an ingenious way:


Color VDC
Red 2.1--11.0
Red&Yell 11.1--11.3
Yell 11.3--13.1
Yell&Green 13.1--14
Green 14.1--15.9
Red&Green 15.9+

Starting your bike it would show bright Yellow with key on. Cranking on starter you'd see Red or Red&Yellow. When motor started, Red fades out, Yellow gets bright, Green appears, Green gets bright, Yellow fades out. Looking at chart above, you'd know your battery & charge system were working AOK. It is so small, you could drill 3 LED holes in any hidden/visible panel & hot glue it in place behind it. Over the years cruising the 'Shack', I've seen variations of this type "12V test equipment" come & go. On my Beemer it's very boring cause the charge system is so stable/powerful normal ALL THE TIME [2 widder vests + HotGrips]. Good luck in your search for Cat# 22-1635."

Cyclerob also Relocated the charcoal canister to the Non-ABS space under the fueltank! It fits there in the exact same position & orientation as on the tail section to not alter any functions. He then bought the BMW system city cases & they have a bulging relief into the bag volume just for that cannister that's not there anymore. C'est la vie.

Here are some of his other cannister re-location pics:
One, Two, Three


Cyclerob writes: "I've always thought that diagnostic plug was a tacked-on afterthought of an eyesore so I just put it where it belongs & eliminated 3 parts. The picture shows the diagnostic plug's bracket removed and the plastic holder re-located to the upper portion of the airfilter lid for more useful storage space & a neater integrated appearance.

First, remove the plug from it's plastic holder. Unscrew the aluminum bracket from the lid. The plastic holder can be removed from the aluminum bracket by firmly pushing the straight center pin out (either way). Then drill a 9/32 hole in the upper middle of the airbox lid, on the "dirty" side of the air filter, missing the internal web, and install the plug holder into it. Lock it in place on the lid with the center pin & re-install the diagnostic plug so it's wires are neatly out of the way. The BMW mechanics can still easily access the plug and may not even realize it's been moved!" Here is a picture - MovePlug.jpg


Rich sent in these pictures of his Givi A750 windscreen and custom carbon fiber fork covers.

He writes: "[a friend] and I are talking about turning out a few carbon fiber goodies for this particular BMW model at realistic prices."

I hope he does and lets us know, they look great!



Cyclerob chopped his rear fender. (He is the master manipulator!!!!)

Here are some tips:

"Before cutting, remove the torx center screw and slide out the spray flap. Be VERY careful about slipping out of the cut groove when sawing. I was, it didn't. I sawed it off with the license plate on, as a guide - - be sure your plate is on straight first. For the radii you can take careful chomps with a pair of dykes (wire cutters) then blend it in with the razor knife. I just eyeballed it & cut, but you can get anal & make a template for the radii & flip it for the other side. If unsure of your skills, try practicing the whole cutting/trimming/blending/heating operation 4 inches lower on the fender to see how you do. The second time is easier and you'll do a better job." -Cyclerob

Tool required


...and one more pic

Someday when I get adventurous, I'll TOTALLY chop up the rear end of my bike. Doesn't this look great? - Doug

Ever wonder where the stock BMW accessory plug goes? Here is a good picture.

Tex writes:
"My R1150R did not come equipped with an accessory plug. Part from Bob's BMW was $27. The plug goes into the plastic cover on the left side of the engine just bellow the fuel injector body. Only one allen head screw secures this cover on its trailing end and then the cover can be pulled back and out. The plug then screws in place of the black plastic coverplate. There is already a power jack that is factory prewired. This is a male plug that is tied on to the solenoid wire and tucked up out of the way. I needed to use a flashlight just to find it because it was behind the bundle of wires above the solenoid. Cut the cable tie securing it to the solenoid wires to give it some slack and then pulled it down to plug into the female end of the accessory plug. Reattach the cover plate and you are done!"


Tom added a set of Hyper-Lites, the brake-light flashers (www.hyperlites.com).

He writes: "These should get me noticed more when stopping, particularly at night. I bought the set from Adventure BMW and it was a bit cheaper than ordering directly from Hyper-Lites. The folks at Hyper recommended the set for the BMW GS. However, the guys at the shop suggested the R1200C set, since it uses spade connectors. [I have these as well, and used a set from my old F650gs -Doug]

The install was pretty easy, about a 1/2 hour all together. I used a mounting bracket that sits behind the license plate and ran the wires up under the brake light. I did have to modify the connectors a little, as the male and female pieces both had protective sleeves. I cut the sleeves off of the Hyper-lites portion, since those were a bit less expensive :-). I also had to expand the female connector for the 12v line so it would fit over the spade on the light assembly. I covered all the connections with electrical tape and gathered the wires behind the brake light cover. It took a little creative maneuvering since I have the tail rack on the bike, but I got them all under there. So far I'm very impressed.


"Here is a recent picture showing the back of my bike which has been modified 2 ways.

1. Hyper lites installed (ABS version bike)
2. Rear fender hacked off" - Brad E.




Thanks for all of the submissions!

DISCLAIMER: The tips located in this section were sent in by dedicated users of r1150r.net. R1150R.net retains no guarantee as to the safety or benefit that these tips provide. Please check with your dealer to see if the manipulation will void your warranty or cause performance problems before attempting the work. Be smart, be careful and be safe - keep the rubber side down. Thanks, Doug.