40 years of BMW progress made apparent

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Chris in TN
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40 years of BMW progress made apparent

#1

Post by Chris in TN »

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It was an absolutely beautiful day here in Tennessee and when my son Ian showed up at my place on a late model BMW S1000rr uber-bike I couldn't resist dragging my BMW out of the garage and joining him for a ride. Nothing fancy, we just zipped down 129 to the new BBQ place to try it out since it's open air seating and he offered to buy. Afterwards we headed up the Foothill Parkway. On the way to eats he was playing with the RR and exploring what it could do and even from where I was sitting it was pretty apparent the bike could do plenty. At one point we were cruising at 60 and he nailed it for maybe 4 or 5 seconds before abruptly shutting down and braking. When we had gotten our food I asked about that and why he had shut down so quickly. His answer? "Dad", he said, "I just rolled the throttle on and enjoyed running through the gears with the quick-shifter and before I knew it the bike was passing through 125 and headed towards really big numbers fast." The hyper BImmer would be impressive if speed was it's only trick but the darn thing does everything well. Ian's usual ride is a 2013 Triumph Daytona 675R, the cool one with the Ohlins suspension, and it handles exceptionally well coupling light weight with top flight suspenders. Yet, on the Bimmer he found himself going though turns 10-12 mph faster than he usually does with his Trumpet. What really amazed me is he was doing those sorts of things while actually thinking he was taking it easy. And that's the real magic the engineers at BMW have managed to pull off. Anybody can build a fast bike these days, and even make it handle pretty well. BMW has done all that and put it in a package that average riders can ride well. This bike will make a good rider look great and an average one look good. I took it for a quick spin (real quick, the riding position kills me) and the bike was so good it was supernatural. After riding it my old R100RS felt like a wheelbarrow! It was good to ride a state of the art bike so I could recalibrate my personal measuring stick for what "good" feels like these days.
Chris
Current fleet:
1976 GL1000, 1978 GS1000E, 1979 GS1000S, 1981 CM400C,
1986 RG500G, 1988 R100RS, 1991 K100RS, 1997 GSF1200
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Whiskerfish
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Re: 40 years of BMW progress made apparent

#2

Post by Whiskerfish »

Nice. Kind of like the difference between my 78 and my 07 Wings I imagine.
"Agreement is not a requirement for Respect" CDR Michael Smith USN (Ret) 2017
"The book is wrong, this whole Conclusion is Fallacious" River Tam
2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
1975 Naked Noisy and Nasty in town bike
and a whole garage full of possibilities!!

Psst. oh and by the way CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!!!
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desertrefugee
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Re: 40 years of BMW progress made apparent

#3

Post by desertrefugee »

Hard to compare that S1000RR to anything other than another rocketship - the R1 comes to mind. A buddy of mine has that BMW - the white one. I got a chance to ride it. Really memorable experience on an open Arizona desert road. 'nuff said.
- Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about learning to ride in the rain.
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CYBORG
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Re: 40 years of BMW progress made apparent

#4

Post by CYBORG »

got to love BMW's I've had a few in my life time. Great bikes
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
Gowing
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Re: 40 years of BMW progress made apparent

#5

Post by Gowing »

I’ve always wanted a 1987-88 R100S bumblebee! My buddy has one and he can yank the front end up.
You see them for 5 grand. I keep waiting for a nice one for 1200.
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Dave

1975 GL 1000
1980 XS650
1981 ct110
1972 F7 KAW 175
2000 moby blaze 40cc
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