BMW > R Series

Advantages: Weather protection, comfort, handling, fuel range etc.
Disadvantages: Poor headlamp, people think you are too old for bikes when you buy a BMW

The BMW R1100RT is by far the BEST moorcycle for someone who likes touring at high (or low) speeds, and who likes to cover large distances at the same time. I have been riding for 37 years and have riden every type of machine there are. I feel the bMW is the best machine I have ever owned (up to now) I like the comfort. The weather protection, The handling, and the performance. On paper it isn't that quick, and to be fair it isn't, but we all know ...
...(with a good rider) give most sport bike riders a run for their money. But when they are getting off to renew their circulation and filling up with fuel, you will be flying past, leaving them in your wake. Typically 200-250 miles without stopping is easy to achieve. Load space is superb too. With the panniers off the bike, you still have acres of room under the seat and a glove box in the fairing that will swallow so much you won't believe it. To ... Read review

Advantages: Fast
Disadvantages: Heavy

The BMW Bike is a good bike to ride, it is available pretty cheaply now so if you don't like taking your car into work and like dodging all the heavy traffic pick yourself up one of these !! The bike has adequete performance and if you pull back hard enough you will be able to beat even the most enthusiastic bikers and most definately all of the cars. The bike has a large comfortable padded seat which is comfortable for all journeys from 1 - 1000 ...
...and it is serviced by BMW every 6 months, it manages to give me 35mpg on the whole which is good because it is mostly used in town in the mornings and then in the evening. The bike handles well for the most but sometimes after a long ride it feels slightly heavy. It is quite a flash looking bike and I recommend this to all people who don't need the passenger space or the comfort of a car. ... Read review

Advantages: Nimble, quick and forgiving handling
Disadvantages: Heavy, expensive and less than adequate toolkit

...falls within this category. BMW have been building bikes for over 70 years - you'd think they just about got it right but every now and again they pull something out of the hat where the sum of the parts are very much greater than the whole. Until Messrs Boorman and McGregor did their 'Long Way Round' trip, BMW were probably best known (in the non-motorcycling world) for making big expensive touring bikes - either owned by middle aged blokes, or ...
...so what? My previous BMW was a ten year old R1100R - whilst it had a lower saddle, the geometry of the steering head and the steering damper made this quite difficult to push backwards and forwards in confined spaces such as a garage. (It only really felt safe if you were sitting astride the bike) The lighter weight, wider handle bars and new steering geometry means that the GS can be pushed and shoved whilst standing alongside it. The GS also ... Read review

Advantages: Big, comfortable, everything you'd expect
Disadvantages: Heavy, expensive, needs a different riding style

...in it. Your typical BMW is an object lesson in defining motorcycling your own way. Take the engine. BMW made their first horizontally opposed twin (or BOXER) in the 1920s - and have generally stuck to that in one form or another for the remaining seventy five years. Yes - they've toyed with other configurations, the rather odd in-line triple which was featured on the 'K' series engines, and they make a 'lightweight' single (that's in BMW terms!) ...
...first and only experience of BMW bikes is on an R1100R. The first 'R' identifies it as a 'boxer' engine (all the 'R' series machines are based on this configuration) and the final 'R' indicates 'Roadster' - or put it another way - 'naked' - ie without fairling. The R1100R was made in the second half of the 1990s, and features the usual 'big twin' design, with a huge air cooled cylinder poking out of each side of the massive engine block. Beyond ... Read review

Advantages: Comfortable, Nice Beemers
Disadvantages: Pricey

...‘Beemer Boxer Twin’, as all BMW twins are often called, means different things to different people. To myself, and I think most BMW owners, The Beemer bit explains itself (BMW = Beemer) Boxer (The engine is a box!) and Twin (2 Cylinders). In the time I had mine it needed 2 new tyres and a battery. I had it for 4 years. But then the engine blew :-) BMW made 28,158 of these bikes between 1978 – 1985. Not too many have survived until ...
...wouldn’t want to take a BMW r45 engine over 80MPH. Ever. And the same goes for the r65, which is basically the same engine. In fact, the r45 ad r65 look the same, just the r65 is 200cc more powerful. However, presuming a valve doesn’t stick open and blow your engine up, they are very good bikes. They have small frames, so handling is better than that of a larger bike. As they are made by BMW, spares can be very pricey. For example, a ... Read review