ALT-1 Comparing the 2004 Bmw R1150rt Motorcycle with the 1986 Bmw R80rt
Great Motorcycles
I currently own a 2004 BMW R1150RT. I have owned several motorcycles over the years but around 1988 I bought my first BMW. It was a used 1986 R80RT, BMW's venerable two cylinder "boxer." With the exception of a Honda Gold Wing I owned for about a year BMW bikes are all I have owned since.
I liked the simplicity of that 1986 boxer, the two air cooled cylinders sticking out the sides, two carburetors, one sitting just above each cylinder. The engine ran smooth at just about any speed and had enough power for touring around. No huge amount of electronics or water cooling to worry about. A single sided swing arm with just four lug nuts holding the rear wheel on made it easy to get the back wheel off to fix a flat.
It had a full fairing that even had rubber boots between the forks and the fairing to block the air providing excellent protection from the wind. Saddlebags that were easy to detach so when we stopped for the night I could take them in like luggage. Overall it was a well thought out motorcycle and I loved it. Unfortunately it was totaled in a crash.
My new one, the 2004, still has the boxer engine, so the cylinders still stick out the side, though they are barely visible now due to the fairing being so wide. It also has more of a sport touring type of design, and seating position.
This motorcycle is also much more complicated than the 1986 version with fuel injection as well as electronic controls and displays. The antilock brakes are electrically boosted, think the power brakes on a car, and are so good you can easily find yourself sliding forward onto the gas tank if you aren't ready and hammer the brakes. Though it isn't as simple as the older models it is still a great bike to ride and it offers a good fairing as well as the detachable luggage. Fortunately it also as the single sided swing arm that makes removing the rear tire so easy, since I have been fighting a loosing battle with road debris for the last twenty thousand miles. So far I have lost to the tune of three new rear tires in that time.
I think one more flat rear tire and I will assume the bike is possessed and will have to go. Not because I want a new motorcycle, this is not about me; this is about my family's finances and the two hundred dollars each tire has cost me. I'm thinking I can find a 2007 R1200RT that's not possessed.
