wineguyd
WineGuyD
Recovering Jap bike rider(NY)...saw the light!
Greetings! I've been riding Honda's since my childhood CR-50 in 1972 to my V45 Sabre that I sold when my daughter was born in '91. Been off bikes for over 20 years, I can't explain it but when I recently got the bug to get back on two wheels the only thing I could think of was a boxer. I won this 1996 R1100R with 17k miles on ebay for a song and hope to get many enjoyable miles out of it. Since I've never ridden anything but Honda 4's my entire adult life I have no reference point as to how this bike should feel. I like the seating position...very different from my Sabre, and the teutonic shifting is starting to appeal to me. I still can't get used to the turn signal switch setup. The one issue the bike has is that the front wheel has a mild dent in it that is not a problem as far as bead seal but is causing some vibration that gets progressively worse at high speed. I've been looking into either having it straightened and balanced or to replacing it, appears problematic with either choice. I don't have a garage of my own so no place to work on the bike and leave it without the front wheel while it's sent out for repair, conversely I'm having no luck finding a good condition used wheel(buying new is out of the question). I was thinking of bringing it to Manhattan BMW for it's over due 16K service and while its there have them ship the tire for repair...but this only works if they are willing to store the bike without the wheel for 10 days to two weeks. On that note I live equidistant to both Manhattan BMW and Bergen BMW in Rochelle Park, can anyone give me some feedback as to how they compare in both service fees and customer service? I'd like to add hand guards and an iPhone 5 mount...any suggestions?
Lastly, is it just an R1100R thing, or are there other Beemers that don't have a fuel level gauge? BMW is the last bike on earth that I would have thought would cut a corner like that. Can one be added?
I've got lots of questions and I'd welcome any and all comments, feedback and advice!
Greetings! I've been riding Honda's since my childhood CR-50 in 1972 to my V45 Sabre that I sold when my daughter was born in '91. Been off bikes for over 20 years, I can't explain it but when I recently got the bug to get back on two wheels the only thing I could think of was a boxer. I won this 1996 R1100R with 17k miles on ebay for a song and hope to get many enjoyable miles out of it. Since I've never ridden anything but Honda 4's my entire adult life I have no reference point as to how this bike should feel. I like the seating position...very different from my Sabre, and the teutonic shifting is starting to appeal to me. I still can't get used to the turn signal switch setup. The one issue the bike has is that the front wheel has a mild dent in it that is not a problem as far as bead seal but is causing some vibration that gets progressively worse at high speed. I've been looking into either having it straightened and balanced or to replacing it, appears problematic with either choice. I don't have a garage of my own so no place to work on the bike and leave it without the front wheel while it's sent out for repair, conversely I'm having no luck finding a good condition used wheel(buying new is out of the question). I was thinking of bringing it to Manhattan BMW for it's over due 16K service and while its there have them ship the tire for repair...but this only works if they are willing to store the bike without the wheel for 10 days to two weeks. On that note I live equidistant to both Manhattan BMW and Bergen BMW in Rochelle Park, can anyone give me some feedback as to how they compare in both service fees and customer service? I'd like to add hand guards and an iPhone 5 mount...any suggestions?
Lastly, is it just an R1100R thing, or are there other Beemers that don't have a fuel level gauge? BMW is the last bike on earth that I would have thought would cut a corner like that. Can one be added?
I've got lots of questions and I'd welcome any and all comments, feedback and advice!
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