Damn! 8.6Ah on an R1! What is it that makes these batteries so expensive then? The Pulsar series runs 9Ah batteries which are so cheap. Is it the size,weight?

19ah for a bike is a lot!

Many thanks to all of you for appreciating the effort.

Actually, why I took the time out to do this tutorial for all of you was for a few simple reasons. Firstly, due to the prestige associated with BMW cars, most people generally pass off BMW bikes as another prestige symbol etc, whereas only when you get to know them, you appreciate these bikes. Secondly, you dont have to be a millionaire to own these bikes. Just need a little better understanding of these bikes and you are on your way to enjoying them. Thirdly, I grew up using the public transport even upto the last day of college, wherein I could not afford even a moped. Long story short- i always dreamt of sbks, but not a BMW. Later, one BMW bike catalogue in my ex-boss' office got me fascinated (I actually stole it from him!) and from there on I started reading more about them, searching the net etc and then was lucky to find a good deal on my bike in Dubai which I imported to Saudi (as there was no BMW bike dealer here) and there started the love story and better understanding of these bikes. Have some more plans, but shall keep that for another thread, another day!

@ Ken. Thanks again. Actually, I mixed up a little on the turn signal. On all BMWs (old & new), there is a separate switch (as marked in the pic below) on the right side to cancel the left or right turn signal. Yes on the newer bikes there is an automatic cancel for the turn signal, however, if you wish to manually cancel the signal, the same cancel switch can be used.


@ spiderweb- Unlike their cars, on the pricing front BMW bikes would be not be double or triple the jap price. International pricing for a 2009 Hyabusa is about US$ 13,199, while the BMW K1300S is about US$ 15,250 (ofcourse, we cant compare them 1:1 as the BMW has a lot more features like ESA, ABS, Linked brakes, heated grips & seat, etc). I understand that the soon to be introduced BMW S1000RR supersport should be about US$ 2,500 costlier than an R1 or CBR1000.

@ silver_falcon-46- I had seen that link a while ago and wanted to put it here, but could not locate. Thanks for putting it here.

@leon_nerd- Actually, they dont cost a fortune in relative terms. As I have mentioned here above on the pricing, especially given the functional features they put into each of their bikes.

@ Trigger- Next to the BC button is the started button. The red lever is the 'engine kill switch'. You can turn the red lever to either side to put off the engine. The headlight control switch is 1- Low-beam, 2-High-beam, 3-Headlight flasher (the jap sbks have a separate flaser switch)

@ Old Fox. The R1100 & R1150 bikes have the 19Ah battery, but the newer R1200 series have a smaller 15Ah battery, but that also is more than adequate to do the job.

Great stuff there Haroon. A tremendous effort to collect, collate and put up info this detailed.

Love German engineering for its sheer solidity and user-friendliness. The removable mirrors, the sheer simplicity of seat height adjustment, the suspension adjustment accessibility all reek of thought and sympathy for the rider. These are true blue honest to God touring machines and don't pretend to be anything else. Just great!

What amazed me most was the 19Ah battery that comes as standard. Compare that to the puny 8.6 Ah they give with the R1. I have to keep one projector lamp permanently disconnected to allow the horns to be effective when the cooling fans were working on the bike. The battery just isn't able to take the load of all three (the fans, the lights and the horn). Crazy!

Thanks for this amazing 'walk-through' through the world of BMW bikes.

thank you haroon... feels so good to read and see all those pics... now, thats probably how close i will get to a BMW bike in my life. Thank you.
two doubts. what is that button to the right side of the BC button (the one that has some kind of red lever)? and, why does the headlight low/hi button have three positions?

wow..that's quite good Haroon sir

Holy Smoke.....It is hard for me to imagine how much time it took you to organise this writeup. It took me like more than half an hour to go through the pics nicely and understand. Your effort deserves a huge round of applause.

These machines are really few of the top notch bikes involving the unimaginable technologies. BMW has literally given a control for every thing that the rider would want to change and the most amazing part is the way they have implemented them. Now that's why BMWs cost a fortune and I would say they deserve that price tag.

Amazing Stuff and really great effort Haroon.

A very informative thread Haroon Sir.. Kudos to your effort for putting up this thread

Thanks Haroon, was looking forward to this. I will also post a little on the Paralever rear suspension used on Shaft driven bikes a lil later.

To get a clear idea of the difference b/w Telelever and Duolever:


The Telelever suspension on the R1200RT



The Duolever working, present on the K1200 series - Totally disconnects the rider from road surface undulations.




And this would be the link that helped me understand Paralever Rear suspension system when I started loving BMWs.



Some intricate details on your report. Loved it. The new BMW R1200GS looks even more killer. I guess this is the limited edition GS, apparently BMW is celebrating the ?th anniversary and hence the limited edition.

The F800S looks a lil like our P220 doesn't it

thanks man really informative piece & with a those pics really nice presentation, great man kudos to you

Excellent stuff man.
I had a very lil or say no knowledge about these 2 wheeled BMWs. Awesome piece of info, took me almost an hour to go thru all that, but worth! thx for sharing. Loved all the functions on the side panels, superb!
One simple Q, whats the pricing of these bikes, as Am totally unaware?
thx

That is a Huge effort in demystifying the little known world of BMW motorcycles. Little known in our part of the world where we are obsessed with Race Replica Japs only.

These bikes are very avant garde looking I find. Very different from our regular crop of R1 and Blades and Ninjas!

The turn signals are indeed like Harleys. On Harleys however, the turn off is automatic after the turn has been taken. Is it the same with BMWs?

Now I can imagine myself riding along endless highways at 6500 RPM at 190Kmph with Sweet Home Alabama

Wow!!!
meticulous and informative!!
Thank you for the effort you have put in..
really enjoyed the post..

Thanks guys for the compliments and I hope more people here also consider BMWs in their wishlists.

Please however dont be so formal. I may be a lil older than many of you guys but still very much young at heart. So calling me Haroon is fine.

@ awasay: OT, we ride on all the roads here. The Harley group of jeddah itself should be about 300 strong. The other jeddah superbikers should easily be another 500 or more. Ladies also ride as pillion on many of our rides. Its just that many non-bikers here presume things are illegal. All you need is a valid motorcycle license & registration plate.

Thanks for the hard work sir...

great stuff here sir where in jeddah do you stay ?
and how many 2 wheel riders are there I guess there aren't many of them
I got to know that its not legal to drive a two wheeler on highways is it true ??

Plz shower some light on these..