Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.TEST. 1995 BMW R1100R Th e odd-shape d steel fuel tank holds a genero us 5.5 gal lons of gas, including one gallon of re serve. There is no fu el petcock, o nly a lo w -o n -f ue l li ght to warn the rider. The Roadster, like th e RS and GS, offers a three-position adjustment fo r th e sea t hei ght, the lo w e st being 29.9 inch es . A s far as instrum entation, the R1100R uses a large, centrall y loc ated circu la r speedomete r, while a se para te and significantly smalle r tachom et er is rubber-m ounted to th e righ t of th e spe edo. On the op posite side is an analog clock . Pos iti on e d jus t bel o w the spe edometer are all the usu al in formation lights. HITTIN' THE ROAD-STER . There's no mistaking that you're rid ing a Beemer when you run through the R1100R's five-speed transmission for the firs t ti m e , p rimari ly becau se of it s sm oo th, lin ear powerband and di stinctive pull as you roll on the throttle - a pull that is ve ry sim ilar to th at of the RllOOGS. Torque is the Roadster 's fo r te. It loves to be sho rt-shifted and responds with a he althy su rge o f power . The re's By Kit Palme r Photos by Randy Phillips fl ~ ~ 24 ither yo u like it , o r yo u h ate it . This seems to b e the immediate reaction of . those w ho first look at the un ique - b ord e rin g on bizarre - styling of the allnew BMW Rll OOR Roads ter, which is now the th ird BMW motorcycle powered by the new-genera tion, eight-valve, horizontally opposed, tw o-cylinder Boxer R259 motor th at w as firs t in trod uced in th e RllOORS model two years ago. But whether you like th e w ay it looks o r not, yo u ' ll probabl y agree tha t it certa inly looks - weird. The new Roadster, w h ich replaces th e prev io us R1 00R BMW th at a lso m ad e its deb u t in '92, features a lot mo re than new loo ks . It now takes on much of the modern technol o g y tha t ha s been av ailable o n the pre v iou s s port R1100RS and adven ture-to u ri ng Rl lOOGS m odel s, s uch as e lect ron ic fuel injecti o n, Teleleverfront suspension, optio nal anti-loc k brakes and, of course, th e R259 mot or, whi ch is tuned d ifferen tly than th e RS and GS's Boxer m o t o r s . U n like th e 90 - h o rs e po we r RllOORS, w h ich is tu ned for hi gh -rpm p o w e r, th e Roa dste r's SO-h orse power (20 more than the R100R) powerplant is a d juste d m o re to w ard midr an g e to rque, m uch like th at of the GS model. Revi sed cam tim ing and intak e tuning, together with a sligh tly low er comp ression r a t io a n d a repro gr amm ed Motronic eng ine-managemen t syste m, are designed to pro vid e even m ore m id range g r u n t in th e Roadster th an th e GS o n! o ff -roa d Be emer . BMW claims that the peak horsepow er of the -R1100R is attained at 6750 rpm and that it p rod uces m aximum torque of 71 ft.lb . at 5250 rpm. Again, like the RS an d GS m od el s, the RllOOR uses BMW ' s eccen tr ic Te lelever fron t s us pension sys tem, which is designed to be more rigid and stronger than traditional telescop ic front su spens ion systems. Also, for all intents and purposes, th e d es ig n elimi na tes fro n t-e n d d ive under hea vy brak in g . BMW cla ims, h o w e ve r, that m ore im portant than th warting b rake d ive, th e Telelever d esign enables engineers to se lect sp ring rates more suited to the ride qu ality o f th e Road ster. Why? Becau se the system d oes n't hav e to com p en sate fo r s uspension squat., w hich wo uld normally require a stiffer spring. The si ngle, sp ring ! oil-d amped sh ock w hic h is used u p fron t is m ade b y Showa, and features no exte rna l adjust men ts. However, the Roa ds ter' s Tel elever system fea tu res some differences as com pare d to the GS and RS Bee mers, Unli ke both those models, the Roadster is fitted with a bolt -on stee ring damper to fo il kick back over ro ugh surfaces, whi ch BMW claims arises on the R1100R du e to it s lighter u n fa ired front e nd. Plus, unlike on the RS where the han dl ebars mount di rectly to th e top Telelever p iv ot, the Road s ter u se s a separate, so lid- mou nted handlebar bracke t si milar to the GS. Ha nd ling the suspension duties out back is, of course, BMW's singl e-s hock, Pa ra lever (shaft-d riven) sys tem and a ce n t ral ly loca ted "BMW b y Showa " s hock, th a t offe rs re b ound -d a mping a dj us t me n ts , a n d a s p ri n g -p re lo a d (Above) If you want something a .littledifferent, then the new BMW Rl l00R just might be your bike. Nothing a bout the bike is "normal." The Boxer motor, Telelever front and Para lever rear suspensions, ABS brakes, cata lyst exhuasl, EA, and just plain unique styling assure tha I. (Right) The Boxer motor is tuned for torque. a d jus te r via a frame- moun ted h an dwheel. Th e th ree- spo ke w heels a nd ra d ia l tires are borrowed from th e Rl lOORS. Braking power is su p plied by two, 12.0inch fron t di scs th at use dual tw o-pist on Brembo calipe rs, and a single 10.9-inch rear disc that uses a two-pist on calipe r. BMW's ABS II is available as an op tion for an extra $1500. . . . Like the Rll OORS and R1100GS mo del s, the Rll OOR h as n o real frame to speak of, as the motor and transm ission act as a stressed member . A framework of tubula r rear su p po rts pro vid es th e upper shock bracket and mo unts for th e seat, bodywork, rear fende r and optio nal luggage. no h ard h it or abrupt po w e r cha nges throu gh out th e p o w e r band, just a sm oo th, controlla ble pull . We wou ld n' t ca ll th e Roads ter ex traordi narily fast, ye t, on the o ther h a n d , we ce rta inly wou ldn't call it slow, either. It just gets the jobdone without int im id ati on. An added bonus is th at vib ration isn' t a factor as yo u o pe n ' er up and p o w er through the gears. Most of the bu zzi ng that is felt rad iates throu gh th e sea t and footpegs. Very little vibr atio n makes its w ay to th e ride r's arms. Th e Roadster cru ises do wn the highwa y nicely and effo rtlessly. The Boxer motor hard ly st rains at all at 65 mph as th e tach need le hovers ju st abo ve 3500 rpm. Roll on the thrott le and th e Beem er

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