R11 vs R1150 handling

[JemandSi]

Anyone have any ideas on this,

I swapped bikes with a friend last night for a little while, when I was on the R1150rt I noticed that it seemed to be a lot more nimble, wanting to turn into corners much quicker than my R1100rt.

He runs Ohlins and I run a Hagon on the rear of mine, surely that cant make that much difference. The frames are principally the same, tyre pressures were not far off, is it something inherent to the bikes or can I tweak the R1100rt?

any thoughts? before this I was thinking of sticking to the R1100rt for a while more (118K on the clock now!)

 

[kennyc]

Anyone have any ideas on this,

I swapped bikes with a friend last night for a little while, when I was on the R1150rt I noticed that it seemed to be a lot more nimble, wanting to turn into corners much quicker than my R1100rt.

He runs Ohlins and I run a Hagon on the rear of mine, surely that cant make that much difference. The frames are principally the same, tyre pressures were not far off, is it something inherent to the bikes or can I tweak the R1100rt?

any thoughts? before this I was thinking of sticking to the R1100rt for a while more (118K on the clock now!)

what tyres and how much mileage on them? this can all make a difference

 

[JemandSi]

what tyres and how much mileage on them? this can all make a difference

He is running Michelin PR2's I'm running PR3's mine (1100rt) do have more tread left however that should work in favour of my bike?

 

[Wrigsby1]

y experience of selling both bikes for a dealer and riding both a fair bit was that for all the boxer range, the 11's were slightly softer as standard and the 1150's slightly taughter... I preferred the 11's such as the GS etc but 1150 shock at the front will probably be that little bit less vague when you turn in...

Other easily checkable things are...

- Height of the rear shock preload... If the 1150 one is longer then it will turn in quicker...

- Profile if the front tyre... The 1150 one may be slightly more triangulated or have different wear allowing it to turn in quicker...

When the 1150 were delivered they came with Mich, Metz, Bridgestone or Dunlops for the early ones... The Metz at the time were very "round" and dog slow to turn in... The Dunlops were not far behind, the Michelins were in the middle and the Bridgestones were by far the best "handling" tyre... On 1150RS's and K12RS's this really was a black and white difference if you were used to quick steering bikes...

- Less common... 1150RT's could have a 180 rear tyre/wheel rather than the standard 160 (?)... Again a fair difference if you rode them back to back...

My checks would be front shock suppleness, rear shock length, tyre profile and wear and then the oversize rear wheel...

PS Check your head bearings as well and the only real way to check it accurately in with a jack under the bike and even the front wheel removed... Any notch will make it different to turn in...

PPS Just seen your mileage... A few more reasons wear related there too...

 

[JemandSi]

Thanks Wrigsby, I think my bike certainly needs a new front shock I wasn't sure if it would make that much difference due to the tele-leaver. I'll check the SHB's as well, I love R1100 it would be great to sharpen it up!

 

[kennyc]

Thanks Wrigsby, I think my bike certainly needs a new front shock I wasn't sure if it would make that much difference due to the tele-leaver. I'll check the SHB's as well, I love R1100 it would be great to sharpen it up!

its a shame, I've just changed tyres,you could have had the front, the fronts on mine would speed up the turn in on a Tiger tank! the RT's in my experience tend to have a distinctive wear pattern on the front where the tyres "cup" and become very pointed in profile, resulting in low speed handling reminiscent of the good old TT100's of yore

 

[Firefox]

1100 vs 1150

I had both for about two years each. both kept in OEM spec.
There is a major difference between them, the 1150 being much better handling. To the best of my knowledge, the wheels are slightly different sizes between the two and so is the frame geometry. Gearbox is also better on the 1150.

the tyres certainly make a huge difference and even a few psi in the pressures can have a serious effect. Cant speak for changing shocks etc.

 

[Eng]

1100 vs 1150 RT

Done tens of thousands on both; currently have an 1100. Apart from tyre choice which will have a significant effect on every aspect of the ride, there is nothing to choose between their performance on the road. Whichever you have you will get used to and think it is the norm. My current 1995 RT has the best gearbox out of the 30 odd 1100/1150's that I've owned. Buy on condition; a good 1100 will depreciate less and be easy to maintain.