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Comparative test all-rounder cardan shaft: BMW R 1150 R, Moto Guzzi Breva V 1100, Yamaha BT 1100 Bulldog

Open and honest

BMW R 1150 R, Breva, Bulldog ?? they carry the banner of classic roadsters. Thick, uncovered two-cylinder with cardan. They offer an attractive appearance, upright proportions and a serene look. The only question that remains is whose character is particularly captivating.

Cast off! Up on the swaying platform and with the Rhine side switched from Germany to France. This is the last crossing for today. And the last of its kind
anyway. Because the ferry in Plittersdorf in Baden, at Rhine kilometer 340 (see page 26), means the only remaining yaw ferry on the river between Basel and Rotterdam. She not only overcomes the 120 meters between the floating jetties on both sides
cost, but also noise and
motorless, solely by the force of the current; held in place by a thick steel-
rope and steered by a sweeping rudder blade.
On deck, the two-wheeled cargo sparkles in the evening sun. Neoclassical "naked bikes", ie undisguised all-rounders, embody a very European archetype of the motorcycle. At least when thick, air-cooled twin cylinders with cardan shafts manage the drive. In three distinctive configurations. At Moto Guzzi now a mono-theme: the 90-degree V2, based on the V7 from 1965. One company, one concept. Now in the new hope, the smooth Breva V 1100 with a new transmission and drive train. Accompanied by a splendid
The archaic bumper motor comes to life with a bark. Alsace ahead.
No less distinctive is the BMW boxer, despite all the one and four cylinders. Ever since the first motorcycle brand, the R 32 from 1923, with a flat cylinder angle of a full 180 degrees. "Sagging-breasted Guzzi" say mockers. In the R 1150 R, the penultimate evolutionary stage is still boxing with 1130 cm3. It lacks the technical delicacies of the 1170 sisters GS, RT and ST such as balancer shaft or cylinder-selective lambda and knock control. It doesn’t matter, for the motorhome captain on the other bank the matter is clear: “Great the BMW, for me it’s the best motorcycle.” Well, in 1956 he had an R 25/3, which of course makes a mark on white-blue.
Yamaha’s 75-degree V2 is the only engine room in this field in which the crankshaft is transverse. It doesn’t just come from the very bottom, as it proves with a sonorous bubbling when maneuvering off board the ferry. But also from very early times. This engine has accompanied the brand in its basic features for half its life, since the TR1 presented in 1980. Fired since 2001 the Bulldog, a product of the Italian Yamaha subsidiary Belgarda and still has 65 instead of 71 hp. A particularly gentle giant.
France will soon greet us with one of the countless roundabouts. Just close the gas for a moment, the Yamaha V2 reacts very directly. Recently, solenoid valves close the spray supply when the gas tap is closed in order to protect the two catalyst cartridges. Yes, they are the most important technical change to the 2005 Bulldog. Unregulated, of course, more is not possible because of the two 37 mm constant pressure carburettors. As before, a secondary air system also blows fresh air into the exhaust gas flow. So undercut
the BT 1100 finally complies with the Euro 2 standard, while the Euro 3 will take effect from January. We take it too. Tarte flambee break, stylish in the half-timbered restaurant.
The Bulldog is a whopping 1500 to 2000 euros cheaper than the other two. Therefore
it is baked according to a simpler recipe. It lacks a lot of the standard that characterizes BMW and Guzzi: It has no injection, no double ignition, no sixth gear, no oil cooler,
no single-sided swing arm, no torque support on the gimbal. Not even a main stand or a practical handwheel to change the spring preload hydraulically. No, Olli has to laboriously put on the hook wrench and can hardly reach the shock absorber.
Kathleen, the companion, likes to come down from the worst of the three pillion seats. Too narrow, too shorts, the passenger pegs too high in comparison. Great
The Breva is built for lasting two-person relationships. The pillion is even better cared for on the expansive, non-slip armchair in the back seat than on
the BMW. And otherwise surprised
the Signora from Mandello del Lario. For example, with high-quality workmanship up to painted stickers. And the most extensive, practical equipment, such as cranked tire valves, two pairs of luggage hooks or the brightest headlights. The night on the Rhine.
Tea highly informative Guzzi cockpit, a stylish mix of round clocks and LCD displays, guides you through the darkness, gloriously illuminated in red. And spoils you with a fast-calculating fuel consumption display. There is a 3 in front of the decimal point in roll mode. Just like now, in the midst of dreamy-looking Alsace villages, in which the storks are visible from afar in wagon-wheel-sized nests on the roofs. In the accompanying program, the V2 caresses the soul, massages the senses. Deep intake snorkeling mixes under the bollern from the voluminous silencer, the valves tick happily in four-stroke. Vibrations? Yes, of course, noticeable, but not annoying. One
extremely lively engine.
Unfortunately not particularly agile. When the gas is drawn in at the end of the village,
leather R 1150 R and Bulldog the Breva
relentlessly in the draft. The Guzzi needs a smooth twelve seconds from 60 to 140 km / h in sixth gear of the easily shiftable transmission. That would have been bad 20 years ago, nowadays every 600 super athlete can do it better. Compared to the V11, the 1100 Breva is moderately motorized with 86 hp peak power, but has inherited the old torque hole of all two-valve Guzzis. It falls into this deep hollow in sixth gear at exactly 100 km / h and hardly looks out of it. Despite the largest stroke (80 millimeters) with the smallest bore (92 millimeters) of the three.
In addition, the current test motorcycle has extreme play in the drive train; every gear and load change is accompanied by unsettling clicking noises from the immensely massive final drive. Moto Guzzi stays with that too
Loyal to modern Breva, builds motorcycles for people who deal with mechanics and want to think in terms of technology. The driving behavior fits in with this. Curves
you should plan a little. In very fast, drawn-out corners, the double-loop chassis moves noticeably, albeit good-naturedly at all times. So so.
The red diva keys down early, especially in two-person operation, hard to the left with the boom of the main stand. And that’s no trivial matter. It is easy to turn corners using the wide and extremely high handlebars. And the Z6 tires? Guzzi trusts like BMW and Yamaha on Metzeler tires ?? offer the best membership. Even on
a moss-covered bridge over the river "Moder", which wrongly bears its name. On the contrary, fly fishermen hunt trout in the crystal clear water, meadowsweet and balsam are in full bloom. Like the BMW R 1150 R..
A simple and functional motorcycle that appeals to rational riders. Who from the Breva to the Bavarian
Berliner changes, initially expires in
deep depression. Your control lights
in the cockpit look like something out of a naive science fiction film from the 1960s, the front fender looks like after a rear-end collision. Rigid hydraulic lines, sterile handlebar fittings and painted footrest carriers exude the sober charm of German mechanical engineering. And then that hollow, tinny sound. The largest motor, of all things, does not sound like a beguiling B flat major beat, but rather like a vacuum cleaner.
But it sucks something away and is the most powerful of them all. The R clearly dominates in acceleration and pulling power. That makes you forget that the Breva
on the German A 8 after a long slipstream duel could easily slide forward. But the Guzzist hangs like a sail in the wind, while the "Speedster" screen from the particularly extensive range of BMW accessories provides surprisingly good protection. And the bulldog? Surrenders when measured 180 things. After all, no BT 1100 has ever run so fast at MOTORRAD, in this test copy the rev limiter pinches later.
New on the 2005 model are a different handlebar, immobilizer ?? like in the Breva ?? as well as the front brake. Otherwise
only subtleties and color design. The frame, wheels and lamp holders are now black instead of shiny silver
therefore. The same applies to the passenger retaining bracket and the covers around the steering head, both of which are solid metal components. Hello sadness or simply noble? Also kept dark: the two-tone paint.
There are also dark sides to the
in terms of performance much fuller BMW. If the hard gear shift when engaging first gear and the hooked gearbox are still blemishes, the rough vibrations from 5000 rpm are really annoying. Driver Georg then tickles it
all in her hands, socialist Kathleen under the soles of her feet. Well, beyond that
Brand seems tormented anyway. Simple
is unworthy of such a techno-motorcycle,
that oil must be topped up regularly. You can argue about the annoying squeaking brake booster.
It is an essential part of the recommended ABS. In this semi-integral composite brake, the hand lever recruits all three brake discs, the foot pedal only tweaks the rear stopper. Good at turning. Nevertheless, the BMW brake is worse to dose than that
conventional braking systems of the two
other. In addition, on bumpy asphalt, the front brakes sometimes open for an irritatingly long time, presumably because the rear wheel threatens to lose minimal contact with the ground and the computer interprets high slip as a "risk of rollover".
This specimen of the Breva slows down a little strange, not only in the serpentine crowd around the Grand Ballon d’Alsace. Your front brembos can be anchored with a lot of hand strength and moderately dosed. Early, too early, the rear wheel locks, whistles and lurches. The prancing
The rear wheel costs valuable brain capacity, and when frightened you usually solve both
Brakes. ABS would be great, it should be 2006
come. Bulldog fans will probably wait for this forever.
Yamaha’s four-piston stoppers now come from the Racer R6, they bite sensitively and powerfully on 298 brake discs from the over-cruiser Wild Star. Tea
Curves become tighter, the pace faster. The deep, dull bubbling of the bull-
dog-V-Zwos almost has a psychotherapeutic effect. The characteristic
of a cruiser, everything below, nothing above.
Get in hard and dismantle early, this also applies to the Yamaha chassis. The aged two-cylinder from distant Nippon hangs fully in the tubular steel frame, which is open at the bottom. The handling of the 1100 is satisfactory, with the longest wheelbase, the steepest steering head and narrow 170 rear tires. The handlebars, which have been cranked better since the beginning of the 2005 season, no longer twist the forearms and are stored in rubber, which is not exactly conducive to accuracy. Feels like understeer.
This Bulldog’s fork works unusually well. Your Achilles heel is the shock absorb. It has less spring travel and damping reserves than with BMW and Breva, and in two-person operation it pumps even with moderate acceleration. It also blows soloists
Mogul slopes off your socks, i.e. the saddle.
In terms of weight, the trio is only separated by a few grams, all three are a good five hundred pounds live weight. The Bulldog is just under the lightest at 251 kilograms, but it feels the center of gravity is the highest.
Midsummer shows its autumn cool side. The optional heated grips of the BMW are very welcome. Your sou-
changed chassis anyway. Quite Bavarian, it conveys trust in God most of all. And that although or precisely because the feedback from the front wheel tends to zero.
The easy-to-swallow Telelever guides the front wheel more safely than one
Pastor his flock of sheep. At the
The Paralever swing arm minimizes annoying load change reactions. And this suspension setup can also convince with the pillion driver Kathleen.
Ultimately, all three motorcycles are built for smooth driving. The road is your friend, nothing to conquer. Gentle, definitely brisk curve swing instead of hanging off. Better to stroll than to burn. The BMW can do that best of the three. Georg wants to know, rasps the protruding valve cover. Even then, the Bavarian naked bike pulls its course unimpressed. Only when the road is wet do the Metzeler ME Z4 reach their limits even earlier than the ME Z3 on the Bulldog.
We also come back to the (open) border, crickets chirp, grasshoppers purr. The Rhine squeezes through the dam
Iffelsheim. Fish ladders allow allis shad and salmon to migrate to the upper reaches of the Rhine. And these motorcycles are a relaxed yet animating way of getting around. Enjoy classic mechanical engineering and neat proportions. Travel instead of lawn, but please with taste. The strenght is to be found in serenity.
The BMW exudes the most of both, albeit with little charisma. The Bulldog, in turn, is not lacking in this, but rather with contemporary chassis and engine technology. And the Breva? It is not enough for the surprise attack in the cave of the Bavarian lion. Despite good approaches.

Comparative test all-rounder cardan shaft: BMW R 1150 R, Moto Guzzi Breva V 1100, Yamaha BT 1100 Bulldog

Open and honest

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