Real buying dilemma

The top box issue has put doubts in my mind over an Airhead - I was
really counting on being able to stick a box on it quite easily as a
back rest and to carry some extra bits and pieces.

Anyway, there are 3 bikes under consideration:

R1100RT. N-plate, 27k miles. 3 piece luggage.

K1100LT-SE. As I recall, an M-plate. Obviously the full 3-piece luggage
set. Around 60k miles.

R100RT. K-plate. Only comes with side panniers.

All 3 are about the same kind of money - the R100RT is towards the top
of the market for one, as it's from a specialist with service, fresh MOT
and 3 month warranty.

I really don't know which one to get.

 

Ride one first. I had one and it was crap. Ugly. Slow. Uncomfortable
(for me). Great fairing, to be fair.

I think they are ugly but that's obviously subjective. I had a K100rs
16v and it was a great bike. The 1100's supposed to be better.

I like the sound of this but I've never ridden one. Both guys at my
local back street garage have one and rate them highly. One of them
has 1/4 million miles on his.

Are you commuting a long way on it? If so I'd want ABS.

Cheers,

nickw

 

This comes up all the time on google searches - very poor riding
position due to the slop of the seat. Also found out that mid-90s
gearboxes have been known to lunch themselves, and valve clearances need
doing at 6k mile intervals.

The weight is what has stopped me on this front so far - 300kgs is
bloody heavy for a shortarse. Although I did manage the one I rode OK.

I'm still coming down in favour of this one myself.

Simple, almost agricultural engineering.

I don't do commuting these days.

 

You really need to ride all three, as they're all very different. I'd be
leaning towards the K though if you absolutely need a topbox.

I like airheads but I'd probably get an R100RS instead of an RT...

 

Do you mean slope? I've not googled about it, but the problem I had
with it was that it's got a huge comfortable-looking seat but it tilts
towards the front and you wind-up only sitting on the narrow bit. To
be fair, I kept it for about 4 years and did 80K on it but it was
always just a tool. I didn't have any feeling for it - unlike all my
other bikes.

Cheers

nickw

 

Yes, I meant slope.

 

Yes, but they're a piece of piss to do. I assume you realise that both
this one and the K have 6k service intervals?

I don't find the seating position on the RT that much of a problem and
IIRC the 1150 has a similar if not the same position. Mind ewe, I've
finally done something about the OEM seat...

They're OK, but I find both boxers slightly easier to handle. Neither of
them are as top heavy as, say, the big Triumph barges or a Guzzi Spada.

They're basic, but not that simple. Keep that in mind when looking after
it.

 

6k valve checks on the K, too?

That's piss-poor for a 'touring' bike - I thought only Suzuki had such
short check intervals on modern bikes.

Don't see anywhere near as many complaints about the R1150RT.

Why do 1100s depreciate so quickly, whilst Ks and 1150s are holding
value?

The all-up weight of me, Katie, luggage and bike worries me a tad -
you're talking around half a tonne.

I was under the impression they would be one of the few vehicles left
running after World War 3....

 

The keyword here being checks, although they may be every
12k. *Adjusting* the valves on a K is a much bigger job than on an
oilhead...

But you'll have to service it anyway? And it's not like you're likely to
have that done every three months like I do...

Because the 1150 is the better bike.

IIRC you're about my size, and I managed a GS Adventure with the 30l
tank, *decent* expedition panniers and Ann on the back. On gravel and
on mountain roads in Switzerland.

So stop wussing about, willya?

They probably are. But that doesn't mean you can neglect them at
will, and if you're used to mainly Japanese machinery they're just a
little quirky.

 

I'm still far too used to just chucking new oil and a filter at bikes
every 12 months. Can't remember the last time I had to have valve
clearances done. Although the Duke will need them, and a belt change,
this spring.

Hmmm, I'm 5ft 8in with a 29in inside leg. I can't reach the floor on my
Hongdou without canting it over to one side.

Hmmmm. I really don't know what to do.

I suppose 'buy a Pan' is the answer, really.

 

Can't comment on the R1100 as it went to above mentioned
"backstreet"
guy once a year, but I put over 100K on my K with oil and filter
changes only
and it was still going strong when it was killed by a National Express
coach.

It wasn't hugely uncomfortable, just disappointing. The seat looks
very
appealing but forces your bollocks against the tank. Perhaps my main
complaint was that it was so slow. An 1100 - even a tourer - should
have "reasonable" performance. It was *useless*.

I don't know if the LT is much heavier than the RS. It looks a lot
bigger but
I think the difference is in the plastic. But I'm 5'11" and of fairly
small build
and really had no probs.

Cheers,

nickw

 

There's 30-40kgs in it, depending on the era of RS - 8v bikes are a fair
bit lighter than the last of the K1100RS 16v bikes.

 

(SteveH) wrote in

So? Once every 3 years for you.

It's a simple job on the boxer twin as access is very easy. It takes Mike
at Cardiff Motorrad a few minutes per pot. I usually get Mike to do a
service on my bike once a year even if I haven't covered 6k. The last 2
services have been £100 and £157. The latter was for a full monty 12k
service.

 

On Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:42:57 +0000, Timo Geusch

snip>

If I decide to get rid of the outfit I'll be looking for a good R100RS
irrespective of cost. They're by far the best R100 made and they're
not depreciating any more so it's miles for service costs only.

 

Not this one.

Maybe this one, of it's in very good nick.

This one, if it's cheap.

 

As a long time boxer owner, (23 years or so; R80ST then the R80RT and
R65RS that I've got at the moment) I find that I enjoy the airheards
over the other bikes. I don't mean that the airheads are in themselves
better, it's just that I enjoy them more.

Of the bikes you've listed here, despite my little legs I found the
R11RT cramped and uncomfortable. While clearly superior to the R100RT in
terms of performance, ride, handling, steering, braking, I find riding
them a somewhat detached experience. As mentioned elsewhere there are
some reliability issues too.

I've only ridden a K1100LT-SE once. That was enough. Big wobbly
supertanker of a bike; more like industrialised sailing than biking. The
fact that the test ride was on country lanes clearly wasn't playing to
its strengths though.

The R100RT (actually I can't talk knowledgeably about the R100RT as
oddly I've never ridden one, but it's not hugely different to my R80RT)
is an old design, the bike wobbles over white lines, it's not fast and
generally feels like riding a bike from another era. Because it is.

What you buy depends greatly on what you want to use it for. The R11 and
K11 are superb transport; and which I opted for would depend on the mix
of roads I was likely to encounter. I know a chap that does 1000 miles a
week on a K and doesn't seem too suffer too much from the experience.

The R100RT is very enjoyable, you're involved in the experience, and
it's fun at 60-80 or so. The other two are technically more competent,
but that IMHO doesn't make them better motorbikes.

 

Thanks for that summary.

It pretty much sums up what my thoughts are in many ways.

After years of owning Jap. bikes, I found I really don't need the
performance and find them really lacking character.

Which is why I went for the 750SS - yes, it's slow, and it really is
from a different era than the VFR I had before it - but it got me
enjoying riding again.

An R100RT would hopefully have the same 'feel good' factor, but with
enough comfort to take Katie and I on weekends away / trips over to
Europe - including, hopefully, future French runs. It wouldn't be used
every weekend, as we have the Ducati for that - but would get used a
handful of times a year for longer stuff.

 

I suspect that the R100 will be slower than the Ducati, but the R100
will be more suitable for trips away. From your described use however,
the pairing of the 750ss and K11 might be a sensible one. At least on
the K you wouldn't get left quite so far behind.

For long outings on slower A and B roads I'd take the R100 over the K
anyday, but if my long day was predominantly motorway, especially 2 up,
the R100 might not be the optimum choice. That said, I've done Lands End
to John O' Groats on the R80RT 3 times (only once in one go mind) and
it's taken me to Monaco 2-up and another time to Andorra. Oh, and people
tend to circumnavigate the globe on R100s without the need for 3 Toyota
Landcruisers.

Can I ask a silly question..? Have you actually ridden an airhead RT for
any period of time? If not, get over to Gloucestershire and take the R80
out for the afternoon. It's just that they're a bit of a Marmite bike,
and if you love them they make more sense than any other bike on the
road. If you don't quite "get" them however, it'll be a slow, wobbly
disappointment of a bike and you'll end up Nigeing it out and probably
taking a bit of a financial hit.

 

That is true, but it's usually on a R100GS that's been on a visit to HPN
before the trip.

Actually, I'd fancy another R100GS...

 

Mere details.

I'd *love* a black and yellow paralever R100GS.