Yesterday was just beautiful, weather-wise, but I couldn't get out on my bike until mid-afternoon. Not having tons of time to ride out somewhere, I decided to head over to BMW of Denver and ride some bikes. I may have said it before, but I have to say it again - I love BMW's attitude toward test rides. They not only offer them, they encourage them! This makes test riding a few bikes a nice way to spend an afternoon or morning, as long as you don't mind only riding BMWs (now if only a Ducati dealership allowed test rides, then we'd be in business!).

The R1150GS
Anyway, the first bike I rode was a new R1150GS, in yellow. I'd wanted to ride one a couple of weeks ago, but it was so popular that day that I never got to ride it (I rode an R-RS and an R-S -- see the separate review). My first impression of the GS, once underway, was that of feeling like a circus bear on a bicycle -- the bars are very high, close, and wide, so you sit bolt-upright on this machine. My second impression was that the thing seems to accelerate like crazy. Now, this is the same engine as in the other R-bikes (give or take a few cc's and tuning), but it felt very strong. It must be tuned for torque down low, because it certainly has it. The bike handles much better than I expected, given this oddly upright position. I took my DTC ride, and kept a higher average speed through the area than I normally do on my own K1100RS. The bike feels planted, but it is weird to be riding agressively while sitting so stiffly. One very annoying thing is that, because of the seating position, you take bumps directly in your spine. There is no weight at all distributed to your arms. Another related effect is that under hard acceleration, you have to fight to stay upright on the bike by pulling yourself forward against your body's inertia. On bikes with some forward lean, you don't have to work so hard. All in all, not my cup of tea.

The R1150R
Next on the menu was the R1150R. This is a beautiful, buff, naked-bike. I've loved the styling since I first saw one last year. This is the bike I was sure I'd buy when I did my test rides last October (I found the K1100RS instead). Anyway, I've been looking forward to riding this bike again because my test ride last fall is lost in hazy recollections -- all those early test rides were my first rides in years, aside from my MSF class, so I was in no position to analyze things like handling and riding position. The salesman set me up on a silver bike with no fairing whatsoever, not even a bikini. That was fine by me -- I wanted the unadulterated experience. On this particular bike, the idle was super-smooth -- not something I've experienced a lot on R-bikes. The seating position is, like that of the R1150GS, pretty upright. It felt a bit more natural than the GS, but not as natural as my K1100RS feels to me (naturally). I was also aware of the need to hold the bars tightly under hard acceleration. But the low-slung feel of the bike provided tons of confidence in the turns.

I really want to love this bike, but there was one major problem with it for me: seat comfort. The seat on this bike is significantly stepped. The slot that my fat ass has to fit into is pretty narrow. It was impossible not to feel wedged against the gas tank. This resulted in significant gonad-crushing, and had me fiddling with my boys at nearly every stop light (OK, maybe I'd do that anyway, but this particular fiddling wasn't for fun). The peg position also felt strangely cramped, like being on the R1100S, but with an upgright upper body. My final opinion is that this bike is not for me, but if it fits you, I bet you'll like it.

Side Notes
OK, I think it's worth mentioning that yesterday was a sunny, 80+ degree, day. I really couldn't bear the thought of getting into my thick black CyclePort riding pants, so I rode in jeans, jacket, boots, and gloves. My god, it felt good! At speed, I was very comfy, and at stop lights I didn't start sweating immediately, like I would have in my full-on riding pants. I don't think I rode any more conservatively than usual (I'm pretty darn conservative anyway), and I still enjoyed the ride -- no thoughts of skin grafts entered my head (well except for when I was doing 80+ mph down I-25).

Another thing is I noticed that my helmet was much quieter on both bikes than on my K-RS. This surprised me, but then I remembered reading that the real problem with helmet noise is often turbulence from the bike's fairing. I believe the GS must have routed the turbs well over my head, while the R let my helmet do its own aero work. When I got back on my bike, I experimented a bit with the spoiler on the windscreen, and my head position and could never get it as quiet as on either of those bikes. Maybe an alternate windscreen would be a good idea. I don't know.

It's worth mentioning that I was happy to be back on my K-RS. No, it doesn't have that "on rails" feel that the telelever front-end seems to provide, but it fits me great, and certainly handles well enough. I spoke to the salesman about converting to better springs to stiffen up my front-end, rather than buying a new bike with telelever, and he said that doing so would definitely make a positive difference.

All that being said, there's a used blue '95 R1100RS at the dealership with 35K miles on it. Asking price is $6500 ($500 less than my K-RS was marked). The tires are very worn, and the bags are pretty scuffed (they are the shiny kind). The salesman said that the bike is being sold on consignment, and that the seller is "motivated", and that I could probably name some conditions of sale (like new tires) and get a great deal. The shop was closing soon, so I didn't have time to ride it. I'm off this coming Wednesday (my birthday), so I'll probably go and ride it. If I'm going to trade away my K-RS and get decent trade for it, I feel that I need to do so before it goes over 10k miles. This may be the chance!