Looking at a Craigslist 2002 R1150RT....

[dwerbil]

http://austin.craigslist.org/mcy/4348555184.html

Will be seeing/riding the bike tomorrow 2/28. Ad states about 15k mileage. Any issues with '02 year? ....rear end problems?.....trans? Haven't seen the bike yet. Sure has low miles. If it's good, I'll pick it up. If so, I'll sell my '93 K1100RS.

[Garnet]

Didn't they come with some overly complicated/expensive to repair, power assisted, linked, ABS?

[dwerbil]

Didn't they come with some overly complicated/expensive to repair, power assisted, linked, ABS?

Yeah, think most all of the RTs have ABS.
I've owned a '93KRS with ABS for a few years now. It's never given a problem over some 30k miles. I know its braking power has saved my neck in traffic a couple of times. I'm sold on it. (so far)

[Garnet]

Sometime in the early 2000's BMW went with a combined braking system that was not very reliable and very expensive to repair. As a result a lot of those bikes have the ABS removed, not what you want.

[Major Softie]

Yeah, they dumped that system with the 1200. ABS is good, but that linked system didn't turn out to be very popular. It is not just linked, it's also servo-assist. Some really like it, but not most. On the upside, because of its unpopularity, and the lingering surging issues on the 1150 (though not as bad as my 1100), and the lighter weight of the 1200, 1150's are WAY cheaper than the 1200. I'd much rather have a 1200 myself, but you get a lot more bike for your money with the 1150. I think only the last year (2004) of the 1150 had the twin plugged heads. Those are supposed to be the best of the bunch (as far as the surging issue), and only surpassed by the 1200.

The six-speed tranny was the first one in a boxer to actually have the "snick snick" feel of the best Japanese trannies. I remember it getting a lot of praise when those bikes came out. Significantly better than the 1100's 5-speed.

And: yes, that mileage is super low. Those things still run like new at 75k miles. I'm sure they start to feel a little looser somewhere up over 100k, but that bike has a LOT of like new miles in her.

Now, whether or not you'll like it better than your K1100, that's another question. Tons more weather protection with the RT. It will feel and steer way lighter than your K, and not have that top-heavy feel that the K has, but it certainly doesn't have the power of the K. It's got more than you need, but the K has way more than you need.

[Steve in Golden]

I had an '02 R1150R for a year or so. It was a great bike except for the lack of legroom and incurable surging. I sold it because of the surging. No matter what I did it surged. Drove me nuts.

[CVA-42]

I had an '04 K1100LT for awhile. Kind of automotive in feel with very linear power. Seemed unbreakable and ran like a freight train. Not the greatest handling bike, pretty heavy, and a beast to ride in summer. Then had an '03 1150RT for several years. Big improvement, for me. Liked it fine and took some long trips on it. Servo brakes never bothered me or gave me any trouble. Now have a 1200RT which is, by far, the best of any faired bike I've ever owned. It does everything, IMO, just a little bit better than the '03. I'd buy another when the time came except that I'm getting out of the fully faired sport/touring thing and back to a GS.

[dwerbil]

Thanks for the input, guys.

Yesterday after work, I stopped by the guy's house to see the bike. He's a tech for industrial 3D printers and jets around the country. He's in town for just a few days with a lot on his plate to get
done, besides selling this bike.

Well, I get there and the garaged bike hadn't been started since last October. Last it had been driven much was last May. He had the left fairing off and the battery out to charge or change. Cobwebs all over the thing. I didn't ask get the bike out to look at it since it couldn't be started for test ride. Besides, he said the clutch needed bleeding.

Appears the RT is loaded with all kinds of add-ons, radio, CB, highway pegs, a pair of spendy looking add-on lights. Bike has been lowered. Not sure how I'd like that.

Said he was going the get it to run today. Hope to find that out tomorrow on Sunday. It comes with all the bags. Odometer reads a bit over 15k. I could not see any evidence of outside wear points indicating more mileage than that.

Yeah, it was a bit disappointing to not test ride it yesterday. If it's good to go tomorrow, and it checks out, I'll buy it.

Stay tuned.

[CVA-42]

What happened??

[SteveD]

What happened??

I'm guessing the long way home?