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motorcycles
Tourer
Test BMW R 1100 S.
Test BMW R 1100 S.
sport event
The crowning glory of the four-valve boxer series is a happy event: with the R 1100 S, BMW delivers a late, but all the more clear, commitment to the sporty motorcycle.
Jurgen Schmitz, Angela Schmitz
08/17/1998
Sports tourers, travel enduro bikes, roadsters, tourers, cruisers – since 1993, BMW has developed a large motorcycle family under the designation “R”, whose members have one thing in common, despite their differences in character: the four-valve injection boxer.
Now follows – as the provisional final and climax of the family planning – the R 1100 S. A veritable sports machine, this youngest child from Munich, and unmistakably the pride of its producers. Not without reason: with a stronger engine, new gearbox, conceptually thoroughly revised chassis and sensational design, the sports boxer has become much more than the superficial interpretation of a well-known topic. No question about it, the “S” is an original and thoroughly independent newcomer to sports motorcycle circles.
Keyword engine. Thanks to the more throughput-friendly airways and subtle accompanying measures on mechanics and electronics, the transverse driver has risen to nominally 98 hp at 7500 rpm. No exaggeration, as the walk to the test stand proves: With a proud 102 HP in the test report, the test candidate can leave the place of truth with his head held high.
The increase in creativity shapes the character of the sports boxer more than expected. Compared to its weaker conspecifics, it appears less powerful in the lower and middle speed range. From about 6000 / min he bites all the harder, however, at 7500 / min he becomes afflicted with pronounced listlessness. Unfortunately, the urge for higher things goes hand in hand with a loss of smoothness: violent vibrations, which can be felt especially in the footrests, dampen the desire for high continuous revs. The fun of low-speed hum is not unclouded either: when the throttle valve is opened to the minimum, there is pronounced constant-speed jolting.
Driving at constantly changing speeds is the recipe that makes the side effects of the S-engine fade. It is a good thing that the docked six-speed gearbox offers plenty of variation options. The tight increments of the gearshift box not only benefit the dynamics of the machine, they also have a positive additional effect: Thanks to smaller speed jumps from gear to gear, the effects of the inherent reverse torque are noticeably reduced.
The cultural deficits of boxer power transmission have been alleviated, but by no means eliminated. Especially when driving at low revs, when sorting the lower gears backwards, there is a violent crash in the gear train, and in stop-and-go operation – clutch in, clutch out – the drive train makes adventurous cracking noises.
Keyword chassis. A new frame concept relieves the transmission housing of its task of accommodating the rear swing arm and at the same time restricts the load-bearing function of the engine block. One goal of this exercise – to decouple disturbing engine vibrations – can confidently be regarded as a failure: see above.
On the other hand, the project to create a track-stable chassis that can hardly be disturbed even in adverse road conditions has been crowned with success. Slapping the handlebars when accelerating on bumpy roads – a highly topical topic in supersport circles – the sports boxer only knows from hearsay. Impurities in straight-line stability at top speed are also completely alien to him. Ugly bridge edges on fast sections of the autobahn, in view of which you see yourself in a mood of crisis on some other machines, leave them behind R 1100 S. unmoved.
However, elevated suspension comfort – otherwise a BMW trademark – should not be expected. As far as the vehicle set-up is concerned, the number “S” clearly stands for “tight”. The Telelever fork in particular is annoying with its excessive hardness. Their response behavior is disappointingly poor, even the smallest bumps are hardly filtered and passed through to the handlebars. In return, the chassis shows hardly any reaction to the interplay with the throttle grip. The R 1100 S, for example, earns very good posture marks when driving quickly on a winding country road: Nothing pumps, rocks or wobbles, and the search for clues is rewarded with exemplary adherence to the line.
No reward without effort, of course: The sports boxer has not become a model of handiness. It takes some emphasis on the halves of the handlebar – fortunately blessed with sufficient leverage – to drive the machine through alternating curves. Despite all efforts to the contrary, the rather impressive weight and the high center of gravity take their toll in terms of handling.
On the other hand, nothing more than a finger exercise is required if the speed of the machine is to be compressed with the power of its double disc brake. Good effect, good controllability – and somehow takes some getting used to: The brake buckling compensation implemented by the geometry of the Telelever wheel guidance repeatedly disguises the actually achieved deceleration rates – with the consequence that the ABS system installed on the test machine, which is subject to a surcharge, is far more frequent than expected Must provide assistance.
Keyword user interface. The team led by Head of Design David Robb has unquestionably succeeded in setting the optical signals of the R 1100 S to “Sport”. Nevertheless, it has not become a filigree motorbike with racing machine appeal – which, given the technical framework, would have been a miracle. But it doesn’t matter, on the contrary: the stately proportions of the »S«, its paneling with a surprisingly high protection factor and finally the renouncement of an excessively sporty design of the workplace ensure spontaneous and – as it turns out – lasting well-being. Nothing is stuck there, nothing is pressing, there are no painful wrists, and no neck freezes. Sport is murder? No talk of it.
Even the claim for pillion suitability stands up to an examination: the rear seat, hidden under a cover (subject to a surcharge), in conjunction with the sensibly placed footrests, offers astonishingly good conditions for reaching travel destinations far beyond the nearest ice cream parlor in good physical condition.
From the driver’s point of view, a puristic set of instruments with no frills: speedometer, rev counter, timer and the relevant control lights. The switch units borrowed from the K 1200 RS are foolproof to operate after a period of familiarization, and the mirrors attached to long arms allow largely undisturbed consideration. Foresight at night is provided by an asymmetrically designed double headlight, the low beam of which makes a difference between right and left turns when illuminating the lane. That at least takes getting used to.
Like the whole machine. It makes no secret of its – mostly concept-related – inadequacies in order to then play out its strengths little by little, but all the more sustainably. A sports event in the beautiful BMW tradition.
Conclusion
With the R 1100 S, BMW has made an impressive contribution to the topic of sports motorcycles: powerful engine, stable chassis, good brakes and high seating comfort – prerequisites for a lot of driving pleasure. In addition, there is an appearance that signals serious charisma, dynamism and individuality. Everybodys Darling will not be the “S” anyway. In addition, the lack of cultural offerings of the engine, transmission and suspension as well as the conceptual peculiarities of the boxer layout take too much getting used to.
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