Should I do it??

[air_cooled67]

I have been riding my R1100S for a good few years now, after playing with Ks and various other stuff, now I fancy a change. My eye has been taken by the GS. I wont have much cash other than what I can get for my 1999 'S, maybe about £4000 in total.

Ideally I would like an 1150 but not many come up for that sort of money. So it will most likely be an 1100. Mhat are they like compared to the 1150? What are they like overall? I have heard that they suffer from some wind noise and buffeting at motorway speeds.

Oh, and it would have to be black!

Give me your oppinions!

 

[Gas'd Off]

Oi! 1100 owners! Where are you? This man needs advice
Word on the forum is that the 1100`s had better quality control meaning less flaky paint and generally higher quality finishing. I wouldn`t know though cos I have got a vastly superior 1150

 

[Pint6x]

In practice the 1100 and 1150 are fairly similar, though any 1100 you look at now will be at least 5-6 years old. I've seen some 1150's around for under 5 grand - they do exist, just look thru MCN and www.autotrader.co.uk - they take a bit of finding.

Most 1100 jockeys reckon their steed is superior to the 1150 but then they would say that

Your nearest dealers are probably SPC near Alton or C & W in Dorchester. Finding 1100's in the dealers may prove tricky but there's always plenty of 1150's around. I suggest a visit to SPC and a good test ride.

If you contact our forum member Steptoe - he runs the GS shop in London and can source secondhand stuff, as well as service / repair it. find him here: http://gsshop.co.uk/

After that, just keep an eye on the weekly comics and the for sale section on this forum - something will come up.

 

[gypsy]

or look at this one
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56350
nothing to do with me but she looks a beauty

 

[Pipboy]

Lurker surfaces - Hello all

Hi all, as a 6-year GS1100 owner and (until recently) R1100S owner, looks like it's time for me to share, having benefited over the last few months from this forum's quality contributions. So, greetings to all fellow GSers actual & prospective, and here's my GS vs S story.

Hang on, let me back up a sec - I should introduce myself. My name's Phil, I ride a bathroom suite-yellow 1100GS, I live in Bishops Stortford, UK, I am 40-something, and my beloved Jessie has taken me round France, Spain, & Southern Norway, What's that I hear? You want pics? OK, but first let me attend to the business in hand

The only place where I preferred riding my S over the GS was the M-way - less wind noise and buffeting, and a nice tall 6th gear to keep the revs just at the start of the torque sweet spot at um..motorway speeds. The S's clip-ons also take a lot of bodyweight off yer bum by loading your wrists, but @>60 mph the screen spills enough wind to support your upper body, and I could ride for hours with minimal discomfort & fatigue The flipside is that @<40 mph, you're basically holding yourself in a half press-up whilst trying to steer.

At anything less than 70mph the GS is a better bike IMHO. The S is a tremendously competent bike, but the GS trumps it, and basically is just a more confident & exuberant ride. On paper it weighs more than the S, and is physically much bigger, yet it is easier to manage whether wheeling out of the garage, creeping through traffic feet-up at walking pace, or touring with passenger and full luggage, which it barely seems to notice. The GS's lower gearing make the engine feel smoother and gruntier, and it handles with an intuition that I've never experienced with any other bike (except another GS!)

My GS is a '96 model and still comes up like new. I have had no problems with it, and after 6 years I still can't bear to think of parting with it despite the plentiful offerings BMW have subsequently tempted us with. I love it.

I recently traded in my S after 2 years of ownership, and whilst it was excellent transport, there was no emotional involvement and I don't miss it.

As a postscript, after a long & fruitless quest to improve the GS M-way experience, I replaced the stock screen with the Tobinator/1150GS screen combo (thank-you Tobers, & NN!) and the benefit is fairly dramatic - for the first time ever, I missed having a 6th gear! (And yes, I will get round to posting my settings!)

But now it's time for dins, plus I don't want to overstay my welcome. I'll be happy to post more specifics if you want to continue the thread.

 

[Pipboy]

I just noticed that my first post included a mini-review of the 'S', which is somewhat superfluous, as you already own one. It was for er, comparative purposes, in the spirit of sharing experience with the GS massive. Hope it helps anyway.

 

[air_cooled67]

Thats a good comparison, thanks. So will I loose the ability to cruse at 90 or is it just noisy and buzzy to do so? Does the 1100 have only 5 gears or is 6th really just an overdrive?

If I fit an adventurer screen and tobinators does the problem go away or just improve?

Im still undecided...... I do like my 'S. but feel like a change...

 

[Telford]

I bought my '98 1100GS in May 04 and have done 15,000 miles on it since. I was originally looking for an 1150 but my budget wouldn't stretch and 'made do'. To be fair it was only styling issues which made the 1150 my preference at the time.

After 16 months of 1100 ownership I can heartily reccommend it. It's not as good on wet motorways as an RT/RS/S but it's by no means out of place. 90mph cruising is comfortable (mine's in a 'quiet spot' at that speed) but some initial effort is required to get screen/bars set up to suit the rider.

500 miles in a day is a doddle.

Continental touring, two up, is comfortable.

Some people even off-road them!

It's the ultimate all rounder.

As for the looks - I've grafted an 1150 beak on and I think it looks just as handsome as the rider now

Mark

 

[Pipboy]

At the risk of heresy, and emphasising that this is my personal opinion as a regular GSer and 'S' rider i would say this: If you regularly do big motorway miles, solo, at a brisk clip, the S is quieter, has less windblast, your upper body is floating on an air cushion instead of being a sail, and the engine is loafing at 4000 rpm.

The 1100 GS has a 5-speed box with quite short ratios, and it's spinning pretty fast at 80, compared to the S. The 1150 GS has a 6th gear which I believe is an overdrive for calmer high-speed cruising.

My Tobinators (which require the stock GS1100 screen to be replaced with an 1150 screen ~£50) have made a big improvement, and my GS is much quieter with less windblast, and correspondingly lower accumulation of fatigue over long motorway stints now, but I don't think it will ever achieve the motorway serenity of the S.

If regular, long motorway stints are part of your biking, then you already know how good the 'S' is, and you might be initially disconcerted by the 1100GS's (comparatively) rather busy feel at prolonged high speed. This is comparative however - the GS is still an outstandingly good mile-eater. It's when you get off the motorway that the GS (for my money) runs rings around the S - the GS is simply more agile, confidence-inspiring, and grin-inducing, and that's no disrespect to the S, which is itself a sweet-handling bike.

However the bottom line is that I sold my S after 2 years without a backward glance, whereas I've had my GS for 6 years and I still love it to bits. This is perhaps because ~90% of my riding is @<70 mph, although even if I did do bigger high-speed mileages, I think the GS's character would still win me over. Most BMW dealers seem to be very helpful with test rides (if they have any stock) - why not have a go and see if the magic works for you?

HTH, and enjoy your riding, whatever you decide!

 

[Gas'd Off]

This is perhaps because ~90% of my riding is @<70 mph

FYI: My 1150 has the overdrive top gear & big screen and it will happily sustain 90mph(probably actual 85) when fully loaded and feels quite relaxed. By fully loaded I mean two up FULLY loaded. BUT, I don`t need to go that fast very often.