The bike is an 04 R1100S ridden by a 5'6" female and has a set of barbacks plus a Z-Technic windscreen and an electrified tankbag. It is used for touring and short runs though she has had it at a few track days. The R1100S is one of a very few bikes BMW has made in the past decade with a "full size" motor that is sized at all reasonably for an average height woman and IMO BMW has lost and continues to lose sales through shortage of models sized correctly for highly experienced smaller riders like the owner of this R1100S- but that's another thread...(There are female riders in our local club who won't switch from cruisers partly due to the seat height problems endemic to most BMWs and the shortage of dealerships is also a deterrent to these non-mechanics now that BMW forced out all the smaller local places by demanding unreasonable investment in a poor economy)
To extend the low end temp range of light gloves and provide a bit of hand protection from wind, rain and objects a set of Barkbuster S-7s were fitted to the bike.
The S-7 is not listed by the maker as fitting the R1100S and indeed it will not do so UNLESS a simple adaptation is made. The S-7 is meant to fit bikes like the current RT and the trick is simply to make an R1100S bar end weight that is the same length, or at least close, to the RT but that has the bored hole diameter at the inside end of the weight that matches the R1100S bar end. The rest of the needed mounting parts are in the S-7 kit (bolts, spacers, braces) for an RT and will work fine.
The pic below shows the S-7 mounted on the bike. The next post will describe the needed shop work to make a correct bar end weight required to mount it.
To make a proper bar end weight, the first consideration is length. The S-7 fits a current RT so that length or few mm shorter will work fine. The stock R1100S weight is too short. IIRC, the RT weight is 36 mm long but don't quote me on that.
The next step required is to bore a correct depth and diameter hole on the inside end of the longer than stock weight so it will fit the R1100S bar ends. The dimensions for that hole is that it needs to be 0.440" deep and 0.905" diameter.
I could have used some RT bar ends as the starting point but they're a bit pricey new and I didn't see any used ones in a quick web search. So instead I used some K bike bar ends bought used from Beemer Boneyard and had a local machine shop bore them for me. Then I bolted the S-7s to the bike using the necessary parts from the RT kit.
There are probably other ways to do this. Again, the key dimensions are a weight about 36 mm long or close to it, a hole on the inside end that is 0.440" deep and 0.905" diameter and the through hole has to be large enough to pass the mounting bolt used on the R1100S.
The setup requires some careful adjustment but when adjusted correctly it clears both the gas tank and the windscreen at full lock though clearance is not large.
The principle of making an adapter from a bar end weight can no doubt be adapted to allow fitting the S-7 Barkbusters to other bikes not listed as a normal fitment by the maker. Any BMW with bolt on bar ends and Magura controls can likely be fitted even if not listed by makers of the S-7. It would require determining proper length and inside hole diameters for the bar end weight adapter for that bike and then selecting an available bar end weight to use/modify as needed. I got length dimensions from the parts fiches on the MAXBMW website and one could also get them by meauring other bikes at a club event, for example. One could even get a shop to make a complete custom set from bar stock and then powder coat them at a local shop or in your own oven though that approach would likely put one at $100 - $200 for a pair compared to a fraction of that for used or scrapyard parts. New RT bar end weights are about $70/pair IIRC.
Another benefit of fitting Barkbusters is that the added weight on the bar end acts to dampen bar end vibration the same as a heavier set of weights can. Of course, the flip side is that lock to lock flickability is slowed a tiny fraction so this isn't recommended for a serious sport bike that sees a lot of track duty.
One more photo of the installed setup showing the bar end weight (black) as part of the setup. The rest of the mounting hardware is from the adapter kit for the RT.
Great idea!!
Do they hit the fairing?
Are they notched so if she goes down they will break like the levers and not cut her fingers off?
Please don't take that as a negative question, just one I thought of looking at the picture. I had some Airhead GS hand guards on my R100 and loved them in the winter.
Thanks for the detailed write up.
Jerry
Jerry,
They do not hit anything and go lock to lock with no problems. BUT note that this bike has barbacks and a larger than stock windscreen. Perhaps without the barbacks, interference might occur at full lock with the larger windscreen but I haven't tested it because the bike isn't used that way. I would not expect any problems serious enough to prevent use, however.
Re the finger safety issue, I thought about it when I fitted a set to my RT a couple years ago. The Barkbuster plastic shell is screwed to a fairly stiff aluminum brace than might get bent in if it gets hit but the typical hit on the bar end that snags a lever and bends or breaks it won't happen. I would expect the plastic shell to shatter or break off the aluminum brace and for that brace to bend to some extent but that set is more likely to provide a degree of hand protection than to further endanger the hand in most situations. I would expect the S-7 support to provide some protection against broken control levers, also.
This is Becky's bike and she had originally planned to ride to the rally tomorrow with me but caught an infection/fever so I'm going solo. Otherwise you'd have been able to inspect it tomorrow night. See you then- I'll be on my blue hexhead RT that is easily recognized- its the one with the "all out" lighting setup as well as a set of S-7's.
No photo of the attachment point for the most basic of reasons- it does not attach at all to the bar near the reservoir. It attaches only at the outside edge with the bolt you can see at the end of the bar in the second photo. IRC that takes a 5mm allen. 6mm or 8mm bolts are the usual thicknesses for BMWs with ar end weights attached in this manner.
The install shown on the R11000S is the same as the makers install setup for the RT other than needing to create a unique bar end weight as an adapter for the R1100S.
I have used the RT install on my own bike for a couple years with no problems. The system does not vibrate around a lot and seems adequately robust. I have not found it necessary to "improve" the makers bits for the RT and do not expect any problems to develop with this install either.
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