16 years ago I registered my first R1150GS and I still have it along side a R1200GSA Hexhead. Great bike still puts a smile on my face every time I ride it.
When they first came out there was quite a waiting list, I found a guy who was buying up the press bikes so asked him to get me one AND it had to be silver but they'd dried up leaving only monkey piss yellow
Then I got a call, he'd found a brand new one in Berlin payed for but the owner had unfortunately had a stroke, 2 days later it was at my farmhouse on Anglesey
And so it started, numerous European jaunts and then began the 'GS'ers to Morocco' offroad trips.... although this was a little later and I'd got my hands on an ADV tank when they hit the scene.
Picked up my 1150 in Sept 2001. It was on the Thursday after 9/11 so it sticks in the memory just a bit.
My Wife and her mum ganged up on me one day and asked me how many miles I had on the bumblebee 800GS I was commuting on at the time. I recall it had about 100k miles on it and they reckoned I needed a new one; "Something reliable because winter's coming...". After answering a load of questions about whether BMW still made them (no, but they make a newer version) and how much they cost (about £10k), MIL handed me a cheque for £5k towards a new one. I had my nice shiny black one in the garage within 2wks and sold the old airhead to a kiwi who went all over Europe and Africa on it.
Black was definitely the fastest colour in those days...
Have an 1100GS 75th anniversary in the garage and love riding it ( only 5 gears is great ) . However every time I jump on the 1200LC it seems like a Ferrari , but its nice to have both