GS story .... BMW story

[Redman]

Saturday.....

........after a good ride a couple counties away....

I was cruising home on highway (US-31, Oceania County)

I had just merged onto the highway and see a couple headlights in mirror.
THought could be 2 motorcycles, in which case would be the only ones had seen all day.
They appear to be approaching fairly quick, so I pick up the speed to upper 70s.

Yep, two motorcyles.
They catch up to me and I pick it up to keep up and fall in right behind them, buzzing along just under 85mph.

THe lead bike was a K1600, which is BMWs answer to GOldWing but still something of a sport tourer, big 6 cyclinder inline.

The 2nd bike a R-1150RT

Yah, like my other bike (in SanDiego, long story) . . . yah, I was laughing to my self thinking "whats the hand sign for hey, I have a one of those " and thinking what a big dork I would be if we to all to pull off the highway.
Hey, I have a BMW too ha-yuck ha-yuk
(But I dont have 800 dollar jacket and 300 dollar pants and 500 dollar helmet and 400 dollar boots.)

We cruised along together for a while at about 85mph. All I could hear was the little bit of wind noise behind that big fairing and the gearwhine that my GK has had in recent years.
Traffic is light and we are just zipping along, passing the occasional car.
Then they pick it up to about 90, and step ahead, and I accelerated at a slow rate and engine doing pinging and rattling...... and I slowly catch back up
And we cruise along at just under 90 for a while.
I am enjoying this.
Wondering if these guys live nearby, of if further south closer to me, if they will head east on I-96 toward Grand Rapids or what.
Am thinking that will want to slow back down before get closer to Whitehall or Muskegon.

Then I notice the K1600 just stepps up ahead, and is further and furtherm ahead, and the 1150RT takes off not far behind, and they both get further ahead, and before too long I am seeing them way off in the disatance just getting smaller.
Scheesch.
I didnt hear any grunt, didnt hear any downshift, just the K1600 going ahead and the RT following.
Wow....

I suppose an Connie or a FJR or others can do about that ...
... but man, that K1600 took off like we were both starting from a stop, but we were all doing 90 to start with. They must have been going 40 - 50 mph faster, maybe more.

Man, that was impressive.
Didnt hear a thing, just was here and a short time later was way up there.....

.

 

[Rob S.]

One of those 1600s came up on me a while back; we rode together for a while at 90 mph. He raised the bet, I backed off at 115 (I was on my GS). He never downshifted.

I'm not terribly familiar with current Goldwings, but I think it's a safe bet to say that the BMW is a LOT more capable.

I recall Cycle World saying that the 1600 might be the perfect motorcycle engine, that it was self-balancing.

 

[BurntKittyForge]

I had a BMW story from last night myself: I was cruising 90 on the gsx1100g just playing along, neverending muscle flexing and pass a BMW car.
He speeds up I guess, maybe trying to show off since I had passed him .
I'm just cruising and realized he's really really trying to pass me/race but can't LOL because I was just steady cruising (not much throttle at all) . He had the BMW (car) pegged, high RPM and all , so I barely turn the throttle and he gets like almost even, so I open up and man my GSX is running smooth lately!!
He was like a memory, way back ,still trying , hard!
It was rediculous.
I was thinking from a car's perspective he's really "balling out" and I'm just cruising, LOL.
...When I saw the yellow light right after no way I'm waiting with these cars...No sight of BMW not even expected after that. Got to be careful on the GSX1100, though.

Idle even sounds different/great with the fuel pump, choke only needed for a moment lately on start up too.
I'd love to ride a couple hundred miles on it. "Each day is like a kid on his B-day with this machine", I was thinking last night....

The liter something BMW sportbike can hit 100 in first gear(some youtube vid).
That's just weird, pretty cool though too.

The last BMW bike I saw up close looked like a giant matchbox car motorcycle: Cast EVERYTHING.
very ugly. Don't know what model it was. Looked disgusting up close.

The k75 has almost exact weight to H.P. ratio as the '86 Honda Magna V45. Probably the sabre and interceptor also...But the top speed is a bit less somehow...There was one (k75) for $900 near me recently.
I was interested but at that weight to H.P. is boring. (Prefer the Magna for what it is).
The k75 is a short version of the K100 (one less cylinder) Don't *think* the k100 will fit in the k75 frame(?) either.
Some have an exhaust that sounds like BrrrbrrrBrrrrBrrrrrrr!!!
Well the "Brick" can be rebuilt a lot ...cool practical boring riding gear ...just rambling is all.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

One of those 1600s came up on me a while back; we rode together for a while at 90 mph. He raised the bet, I backed off at 115 (I was on my GS). He never downshifted.

I'm not terribly familiar with current Goldwings, but I think it's a safe bet to say that the BMW is a LOT more capable.

I recall Cycle World saying that the 1600 might be the perfect motorcycle engine, that it was self-balancing.

Two different recipes that happen to share the same number of cylinders. One (BMW) is a sporty tourer, the other is a luxo-tourer. A bit like comparing an M3 to an S500. Both are plenty fast, but one is quicker. Both have similar top speeds, but one is more comfortable.

 

[trevor]

My GS bikes are fast but my BMW is on a whole other level!!

 

[Guest]

When the GTL1600 first came out I think 3 years ago, I put about 3000 km on it on a road trip from Toronto through about a half dozen states as part of testing the bike for a magazine. My son is the Editor of Inside Motorcycles magazine (www.insidemotorcycles.com) a popular publication here in Canada. That big straight six is electric motor smooth and drew attention whenever we stopped. It's a very ponderous machine at low speeds and a little tall for a 5'6" rider like me. Being a BMW you can bet they had that bike figured out before they released it to the public. Ergonomics were great, lots of features and that amazing motor.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

My GS bikes are fast but my BMW is on a whole other level!!

Heh heh. My favorite Beemer.

I'd bet there are a few big bore 1150s here that could hang onto it-at least in a straight line.

 

[trevor]

Heh heh. My favorite Beemer.

I'd bet there are a few big bore 1150s here that could hang onto it-at least in a straight line.

The stats say the k1300r is the quickest bike ever made (sorry Busa) 0-60 in 2.6 seconds and 0-125mph in under 10 seconds. A big reason for those numbers, other than the 173hp...is that it has a quick shifter...no lag..just upshift at full throttle!!! Now that is intoxicating!!!

 

[bobgroger]

The stats say the k1300r is the quickest bike ever made (sorry Busa) 0-60 in 2.6 seconds and 0-125mph in under 10 seconds. A big reason for those numbers, other than the 173hp...is that it has a quick shifter...no lag..just upshift at full throttle!!! Now that is intoxicating!!!

over priced, euro trash, ego trip machine.....

 

[trevor]

over priced, euro trash, ego trip machine.....

lol....you are correct sir!

 

[BurntKittyForge]

Here's the vid (where at right after 6:30 the BMW rider mentions that the rally car is in sixth when he's in second AND about 6:34 says he's in first to 100mph)...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTAUV1Yj4NE

(Save 8 1/2 minutes of life though and don't watch it, it rains. Skip to the end. BS rain vid).

I saw the 1/4 mile time though back when I was looking at a CBR600 and the quarter mile is about the same (as CBR600)...Think a lot of 1/4 times are BS/ manipulatable. 1/4 mile isn't very far anyway....the speeds on the sport BMW look like milliseconds on the 'busa too...

The Triumph Daytona seemed interesting , very light. So light, the wiki IIRC states the cylinders are made entirely from aluminum (to save weight) Dunno if that's accurate(?)
Like how many miles will it have compression with aluminum cylinder walls (?)

Seems like some "R" bikes are designed for "R" couple miles (lifespan) on a track mostly (?)...

 

[Rob S.]

Quarter-mile time is the standard for quickness. And the quickest bike that Cycle World has ever tested is the Kaw ZX14R (March 2012).

The time is 9.47 seconds at 153 mph, but that is corrected for altitude and humidity. Uncorrected was 9.64 @149.

 

[bobgroger]

Here's the vid (where at right after 6:30 the BMW rider mentions that the rally car is in sixth when he's in second AND about 6:34 says he's in first to 100mph)...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTAUV1Yj4NE

(Save 8 1/2 minutes of life though and don't watch it, it rains. Skip to the end. BS rain vid).

I saw the 1/4 mile time though back when I was looking at a CBR600 and the quarter mile is about the same (as CBR600)...Think a lot of 1/4 times are BS/ manipulatable. 1/4 mile isn't very far anyway....the speeds on the sport BMW look like milliseconds on the 'busa too...

The Triumph Daytona seemed interesting , very light. So light, the wiki IIRC states the cylinders are made entirely from aluminum (to save weight) Dunno if that's accurate(?)
Like how many miles will it have compression with aluminum cylinder walls (?)

Seems like some "R" bikes are designed for "R" couple miles (lifespan) on a track mostly (?)...

Many modern vehicles have aluminum cylinders, starting with the Chevrolet Vega. OK, bad example but that was early on and used silicon embedded in the aluminum for wear resistance. Modern cylinders are plated with Nikasil, Alusil, and other proprietary methods. The Hayabusa has plated cylinders as well using Suzuki Composite Electrochemical Material (SCEM). Porsche, BMW, Mercedes all use plated cylinders and go hundreds of thousands of miles.

 

[Redman]

Another one of those goofy things with cylinders sticking out both sides.

 

[Redman]

I should disclose that I am somewhat joking around about the goofy things with cylinders sticking out both sides.

not joking about that K1600 being so impressive.

 

[850 Combat]

I went on a multi day central California tour a couple years ago. Most were on 'Busa's and ZX14 Rs and Concours 14s. There was one fellow on a Victory, and one on a 6 cylinder BMW tourer. I was on my '81 GS1000G. The BMW was remarkably compact, and quite handsome and tidy looking. I'm sure that it is very densely packaged between those spars on the frame. Nice looking, too.

I've never had a truly fast bike. Only stuff that you would have to lay gown on to reach 135 MPH, like a '79 CBX. Even that was done pulling hard at about 95. I suspect that a bike that is electronically limited to 186 still pulls pretty hard at 130.

For me, when the speedometer stops swinging, and it is more creeping up, holding the throttle open on the highway isn't that fun any more.

I'm pretty sure that I don't have the correct level of self restraint for a truly fast bike. I would be fun to try it sometime though.

 

[Nessism]

Those big 1600 BMW's are a marvel in engineering excellence. The engine performance is nothing short of remarkable in that they are both powerful and civilized. So under stressed too. I wonder how many miles they can cover before wearing out parts?

Oddly, the opposed twin BMW's have had quite a lot of drivetrain issues over the years. From rear ends that blow up to stripped splines on output shafts or what have you. I don't know all the particulars but every time I see a nice BMW on craigslist and lust after it I double take and think about all the issues and how expensive they are to fix.

 

[Guest]

I've ridden Trevor's bike, it really is a whole other level. The smoothness, the acceleration. And it doesn't matter if you're at 30 or 130 the acceleration is neck snapping...instant!

 

[bobgroger]

Bet he won't let you ride it now

 

[gustovh]

I will stick to my 919, anything else might get me in trouble. Very quick and capable, but one of the worst seats that I have ever set my butt to.