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Is the R1100/1150rt a good freeway bike?

oldnslow

oldnslow

It's a way of life!
I have a K100Rt, love it and ride it alot. No complaints 'except' it sucks on the interstates. The winds really push it around, even when riding two up. I'm considering a K1200LT for a highway bike, but the GF really likes the looks of the R1100/1150RT's. I'm concerned it won't be much more stable on the freeways than the K100 we have now.

Opinions and experience please? And please, be honest about the topic at hand. I know the RT is a fantastic bike, but I want a freeway bike to go along with the K bike I have now.
 
I have a R1150RT and have rode it on real windy days 35 to 40mph winds, for me it does good and thats with two up. Me and my wife was coming back from out west couple yrs ago and going through South Dakota it was real windy on the interestate and the RT did real good. I had a 87 K100RT and I didn't like riding on real windy days on it, got pushed around alot more on it. I also had a 99 K1200LT and it was the same as the R1150RT in the wind but sure like the 1150 RT alot better.:D
 
I have a 04RT and ride two up 90% of the time. The wind doesn't push us around near as much as it did on our Goldwing. The only issue I have is when following a large van or semi truck we get a bit of buffeting on the RT. I think that is more the fault of the larger than stock windshield that I have on the bike. I have never been uncomfortable with the bike on a windy day. I can't say the same for the GW.
 
more than, say...

my 11RT is more affected by heavy crosswinds and buffeting from larger vehicles than say my old airhead with a full Pichler, or my RS airhead. That's a lot of plastic on the RT. But I've yet to find it a very big deal.

On the other hand it's less affected by crosswinds than my Toyota Echo

seriously.

i hope this helps
 
I ride one up and find it much less effected by wind on the super slab when the tach is north of 4000 rpm! :D
 
I guess "wind reaction" is a matter of taste, as I don't see any one bike being better than another. I have ridden everything from a CB350F to a K1200LT in windy conditions. Most all my freeway riding has been on my 94 RS, and sure it gets blown around, but it is just something to expect and adjust to. Though, weight and wheelbase, along with speed are probably the major factors, and if the bike has a high tail trunk.

I would expect a R1100R to be less reactive to wind than a R1150RT, as the R1100 presents less "sail" effect.
 
How stable is it? Return to track?

My current bike does get affected by wind. It seems to waggle a bit back and forth of the original track, with a damped oscillation. I consider this a sign of stability.

The sail area of bike, rider(s), and luggage will cause the bike to move. Mine does not move all over the road, but i have not riden it in huge winds either.

Could you arrange a test ride? Finding trucks should let you get a feel for how one behaves in turbulence.
 
The windshield will have some effect on the handling. I bought the Z tech screen and it really reduced the buffeting quite a bit. This is on my 02 1150RT and I have been very happy with how it handles on the freeway, especially when passing bigrigs. I tend to ride in the right side of the lane where traffic can readily spot me in their rear view mirrors so when passing trucks, I'm only 2-4 feet off their left side.
 
Free way bike

Freeway bike? If you are going to be putting a lot of miles on the bike I'd go to a K1100LT. It is similar to your K100, handles a lot better and gets better gas mileage. K1200LT, had one nice bike, but feels more like riding in a convertible. Then along the R11XXRT line,the 1150 handles wind better than the 1100. The 1150RT with set up after market shocks is a great ride, The down side to an R11XXRT is that it just doesn't have the ability to carry a lot of weight. The bike I would recommend would be an R1200CLC. It is by far the most comfortable of the bikes discussed, gets almost as good of gas mileage as the K1200LT.

If you want an R1150RT I have two, one of them can be had.

Jon
 
It is the turbulance from other traffic that is my concern. On my K100RT, I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when Im on the interstates. Im not being blown off line, just a whole lot of shaking/buffetting type of sensation. With 'clean air' at freeway speeds, the bike is great, just in traffic at speeds, it is a little sketchy.
 
We have 99 r1100rt and wife and I love it for long distance travel. Last year we rode 2up 2500 miles round trip to Denver. Wonderful trip. Rock steady and very comfortable. Now, heavy crosswinds will move it around, just like any other bike. If winds are a major factor then get the big Harley or big Honda for the sheer weight and mass.
 
I don't ride an R1100RT, but I do ride a K75RT, a K75 standard, an F650 Dakar, and an R1150R.

I lived in Kansas for 23 years. I now live in far southwest Texas. I have ridden across the windy great plains more times than any sane person would. I just rode the F650 Dakar Miami, OK to Wichita Falls, TX in crosswinds gusting to 45 mph or so.

The wind bothers the F650 more than the K75s, and bothers them more than the R1150R. BUT - most of what moves the bike around is ME more than the wind actually. Unless I work to keep my grip loose and my arms relaxed, wind knocking my upper body around provides inputs to the handlebars and moves the bike around. I would mistake it for the wind moving the bike if I hadn't already discovered it was actually wind hitting me and me moving the bars.
 
Not sideline this discussion, but is this right: "The down side to an R11XXRT is that it just doesn't have the ability to carry a lot of weight."

Maybe my 94RS is better than a RT. I think the 450 lb capability is plenty. I know my RS can carry a lot more than most other large touring bikes. I also bet that many touring bikes are over-loaded.
 
I have owned a K100RT and a R1100RT. The K100RT was more stable in the wind. But, it also depends upon the weight distribution, tires, and windshield. My initial thought is that moving from a K100RT to a R1100RT for the primary purpose of wind stability will be a disappointment.
 
and once again...

PGlaves said:
I don't ride an R1100RT, but I do ride a K75RT, a K75 standard, an F650 Dakar, and an R1150R.

I lived in Kansas for 23 years. I now live in far southwest Texas. I have ridden across the windy great plains more times than any sane person would. I just rode the F650 Dakar Miami, OK to Wichita Falls, TX in crosswinds gusting to 45 mph or so.

The wind bothers the F650 more than the K75s, and bothers them more than the R1150R. BUT - most of what moves the bike around is ME more than the wind actually. Unless I work to keep my grip loose and my arms relaxed, wind knocking my upper body around provides inputs to the handlebars and moves the bike around. I would mistake it for the wind moving the bike if I hadn't already discovered it was actually wind hitting me and me moving the bars.
Click to expand...

...on the screws! I find that in trying to hold myself steady and kind of "hunker down" in the wind or with passing trucks, I'm tensing up and putting the death grip on the bars. All in all, a bad combination. Thanx again, paul for the sensible reminder.
 
I don't mean any disrespect, but when I first read the title of this thread, I let out a quick chuckle.

I spent 4 hours over the weekend on Interstate 5, riding from Seattle to the Canadian border on Saturday, and then back home yesterday. For most of the ride, I had my feet up on the highway pegs, I was leaning back in the seat, and I was enjoying the spectacle of watching the cars in front of me peel off to the right as my white RTP with the flashing headlight quickly approached from the rear.

There were a few rain showers along the way both days, but the RT's huge fairing and large adjustable windscreen meant most drops slid by me in the bike's slipstream.

As she's an RTP, she has crash bars that stick out into the wind. She has a couple of huge auxiliary lights above the front turn signals that push through the air. She has two batteries. So she's heavier than a "conventional" RT, and she slices through the air less efficiently than a "conventional" RT. Over the 260 mile round-trip, she averaged 40 mpg.

I can't imagine anything better suited for eating up highway miles than my RT.
 
I have both a K100RT and a R1100RT. I don't notice an big difference in the wind. With perhaps the exception of transports approaching me on two lane roads (and that depends on wind direction), I consider both bikes to be very stable at interstate speed. :thumb

Of course I always ride solo. I can not speak of interstate stability with a pillion.
 
+ on the CLC - practically impervious to the crosswinds (probably the weight, and the fact that the hardcases are teardrop shaped). Huge back seat (bigger than the LT). The wife loved that bike, but she likes the R1200 RT better, because her head doesn't stick way up over mine anymore). Watch those stepped seats. I see the K1600 models have the passenger's head way up, too.
 
I can't comment on the K100 to the R1100, having not owned a K. But I would say that the main reason I sold my R80RT was the poor performance on the freeway. Very disappointing, and, I often felt, dangerous. I believe the fairing, and especially the tall, huge windscreen were the problem. Being passed by a large truck, it just slapped the bike around as it vacuumed it along. So I know what you are talking about. I realized that BMW felt the same way about huge screens and shrunk them on their future models. My 1100 is much better. I don't feel like I am risking my life on the interstate on windy days. Also,I have found that I now ride most of the time with the windshield in the lowest position. It seems to be the smoothest for me. That being said, I have to admit being envious of those huge Goldwings, who appear to be impervious to wind.

Of course another factor is that everyone is now driving at 80+ mph on those roads. I believe wind turbulence science would back me up that it is a lot more nerve racking to pilot any bike at those high speeds, with even a slight wind, than it would be at say, 60 MPH.
 
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