Well, I've done it now.

[txmxrider]

I sold my '74 R90/6 a few weeks ago and I just couldn't tolerate that empty spot in my garage. So I'm flying to Chicago in a few days to purchase a '99 R1100S sight unseen and then I'm going to ride it 1000 miles back to TX. I can still hardly believe I'm doing this and the reality of it all probably won't sink in until I'm dodging cars as I exit the Windy City. Even though the 'S is almost 10 years old, it's still 25 years newer than what I was riding and I can't wait to feel the difference out on the road. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the whole thing but I'll prepare the best I can and take my time coming back and enjoy the adventure. On the preparation front I'm getting new Metzeler Z6s, the 6000 mile service was just recently completed (yes, you read that correctly...6000 mile service!) and I got a new Axis Yellow Shoei RF-1000 to replace my old lid.

What do you experienced sport-touring folks recommend that I take on this journey? I expect this will be a two day trip and I'll be staying in a motel so I can pack fairly light. I plan to ship some items via UPS (rainsuit, Totes, tire plug kit, duct tape, safety wire, zip ties etc) so some of the cargo can be waiting for me when I get to Chicago. Everything else will have to fit in a carry-on bag with my helmet.

One other quick question: Assuming I keep it somewhere close the posted speed limit, what kind of fuel range can I expect from the R1100S?

Thanks in advance for the tips and Ill look for you out on the road. If you see a red 'S and a yellow helmet it'll probably be me :)

txmxrider

[MotorradMike]

Hi TXM:

I'd take some butt relief, either a Beadrider or a sheepskin. Does it have some sort of cruise control for the superslab?

I get 60MPG (Canadian gallons) in my 1996 R1100RS.

Have a great trip, you're on an adventure now!

[drummer]

Congrats on the bike - if you haven't taken one for a ride in a while, you will find them a bit top heavy, but wonderful. Once you get used to that, your golden. I bring this up because five years ago when I inherited my bike, I had to drive it 550 miles from Penn. to NC. I had never been on an R before and was used to Rice Burners which sit much lower. It seems to me that the /6 also sits much lower. When I picked up the bike, a friend in PA gave me some great advice, he is a BMW rider. He said, "the bike in a corner almost steers itself, you just think through a curve. The R bikes are unstable for short legged people when at speeds below 5 mph, but you will get used to that and it will be nothing for you after a little while." I will say, I LOVED the trip back and have enjoyed the bike ever since.

As for the gas range, if I average 75 mph, I get around 47 mpg on my 1995 R1100R. Granted, this time of year with the change in formulas for petrol, it is a mile or two less per gallon.

Have fun and be safe, enjoy your ride and new bike.

[bikerfish1100]

in stock trim (no pipe or chip), you can expect to get 43-50 mpg out of the 11S at the altitudes you'll be dealing with. it has a 4.75 gal tank, and fuel light should come on around 3.5 gals. that means a fucntioning reserve of about 40-50 miles, with an initial range of about 160 +/- (lots of variables here, so there's a need for vagueness). I've gone as far as 215 indicated miles on a tank, but was sweating bullets for the last few miles. you'll need to run a tank or two into the green light to find what yours does.
Congrats- this bike is so far beyond a /6 that it is ridiculous, and nearly pointless to try to compare them. and the more backroads you can find to get home, the happier you will be. the bike will do the interstate drone just fine, but it is really so much better in the curvy places.
see you over on http://forums.pelicanparts.com/forumdisplay.php?f=24 THE place for all things 11S!!

[billpierce]

Just like bikerfish I get 48-50 tank after tank. As far as what to take I think you have it covered.

You are going to love your new S :thumb

[bikerfish1100]

i only get up near 50 when in tour mode, and then only in the rarefied western air. 40-44 local is most common. speed is not the enemy (some hi speed hi altitude runs of steady triple digits and still pulling 50 mpg pretty well confirms that!)- it's the stops and starts that kill the mileage. but then again, i gotz a Laser chip & exhaust, and that knocked me a few mpgs.

[Jeff488]

I did the same as you in August(bought a bike and rode home).
It was a good trip, and I went places I hadn't been on a bike.

As far as recommendations: Throttlemeister and a camelback.
It sure is nice to take your right hand off the throttle for a bit, and ice water whenever you want it is great on a long trip.
Even though your weather won't be too hot.
Have fun!:thumb

[txmxrider]

So what is the deal with the fuel tank on the R1100S? I read in other forums something about an air bubble that unknowing prevents you from filling the tank up completely? Wouldn't a couple of shakes from side to side resolve that?

txmxrider

[bikerfish1100]

say what? unknown air bubble?

that's news to me, but i've only had my S for 70,000 miles. :dunno

[txmxrider]

say what? unknown air bubble?

that's news to me, but i've only had my S for 70,000 miles. :dunno

Yes, I know it sounds weird, but there were actually quite a few references to it in various forum posts. I've read so many over the last few weeks I can't recall now any specific ones unfortunately. But the bottom line is that the tank will appear full as you're filling it at the pump but once you ride off and the tank sort of burps the bubble, you actually have approx. 2 liters less than a full tank. This may have been a Euro thing though come to think of it because the volume was always referred to in liters. But some people appeared to be so annoyed by it that they bought aftermarket tanks (which also had greater volume to boot). I also read oblique references to drilling something in the filler neck which eliminated the 'bubble' but I never found a post with an exact description and an exact fix. It was always discussed as if it was something that everyone already knew.

txmxrider

[bikerfish1100]

Yes, I know it sounds weird, but there were actually quite a few references to it in various forum posts. I've read so many over the last few weeks I can't recall now any specific ones unfortunately. But the bottom line is that the tank will appear full as you're filling it at the pump but once you ride off and the tank sort of burps the bubble, you actually have approx. 2 liters less than a full tank. This may have been a Euro thing though come to think of it because the volume was always referred to in liters. But some people appeared to be so annoyed by it that they bought aftermarket tanks (which also had greater volume to boot). I also read oblique references to drilling something in the filler neck which eliminated the 'bubble' but I never found a post with an exact description and an exact fix. It was always discussed as if it was something that everyone already knew.

txmxrider

drilling filler neck is done to expand capacity by about a liter or so. check it out on http://forums.pelicanparts.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=24 never heard of the "air bubble". i've put in as much as 4.6 gals of my 4.75 capacity. also, never heard of purchasing a larger tank, but those without ABS have added capacity to theirs by doing some creative cutting and welding (also can find on Pelican with a good search)

[txmxrider]

drilling filler neck is done to expand capacity by about a liter or so. check it out on http://forums.pelicanparts.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=24 never heard of the "air bubble". i've put in as much as 4.6 gals of my 4.75 capacity. also, never heard of purchasing a larger tank, but those without ABS have added capacity to theirs by doing some creative cutting and welding (also can find on Pelican with a good search)

I expect that you are correct. No doubt I was drawing conclusions from insufficient evidence. Thanks!

txmxrider

[motorcymi]

I just came back to Austin from West Point NY on my 97 R1100RT. I had a sheepskin and by butt tolerated the ride a bit better than without it. A buddy in Houston swears on both the beads and sheepskin together. I got 44 MPG at 80-85 MPH (I was riding with the rest of the traffic in the northeast, A bit slower down south.
The throttlemeister cruise control was a must. If you can get to Lonestar BMW in Austin they have the cruise and sheepskin. Don't know about the beads tho. Have a wonderous ride!

[Daedalus214]

In August I flew down to Birmingham to pick up an '01 R1100R and rode it back to Chicago. The best part of the trip was taking the back roads through Northern AL, TN, and KY. Riding on the Interstate got old very quickly. Take some earplugs, you'll be surprised how less fatigued you'll feel at the end of the day. Also, not sure where in Chicago you are picking up the bike, but if you intend to immediately head SW think about taking I57 instead of I55. Far fewer trucks and traffic on I57. Take it to Cape Giradeau(sp?) and then head west across those back roads of southern MO to Springfield. There is some pretty country between here and Austin. Don't ride the broad grey slab all the way. PM me if I can be of assistance when you are in Chicago.

[Red100RT]

I've heard it said that anywhere from 20 to 70 percent of what one reads on the internet should be thought of as questionable and that is being kind. When it comes to motorcycle forums and especially BMW forums I think the 20-70% BS factor is certainly applicable. I mean gigantic air bubbles in the tank large enough to equal the volume occupied by no less than 2 liters?:laugh And all this freaking out over oil seals that weep slightly in the FD, I mean jeez. Seals on beemer bikes have a long history of weeping. Doesn't mean the sky is falling. Gigantic air bubbles, really.:drink

[ragtoplvr]

There is a important space at the top of the tank that allows for expansion of cold fuel in warm air if you fuel in the summer. It also prevents sloshing of gas into the vent on rough roads. I think that is your air bubble.

Some people drill a vent in the filler neck so they can overfill the tank. If you do and ride right off you will usually have no trouble. But if you go get dinner etc then bad things such as saturating the charcoal canister or if removed venting EXPENSIVE gas on the ground.

Since I am a big fan of breathing, I advocate leaving the catalytic converter alone and the charcoal canister in place and not drilling the filler neck. Others have a different opinion and everyone is entitled to that. There have been reports of the canister failing plugged, I have not had this happen to me yet. Maybe I change my opinion then and maybe the plugging mostly happens to those who drill the neck.

Rod

[bikerfish1100]

And all this freaking out over oil seals that weep slightly in the FD, I mean jeez. Seals on beemer bikes have a long history of weeping. Doesn't mean the sky is falling. Gigantic air bubbles, really.:drink


except that in this case, a neglected weeping seal will become a neglected seeping seal, then a neglected leaking seal, and finally it becomes a blown bearing followed in no short order by a failed gear/FD.

airheads were a bit more prone to "non-catastrophic" seal failures- tehy could weep nearly forever, and as long as you kept fluid in them they would often not get much worse, and things would function fine for a long time. oilheads are apparently less tolerant of that kind of neglect.

go ahead and ignore this advice, along with a weeping seal if you choose- that's your option, and your $ to waste when things goet ugly. (2 likely places for an oilhead FD seal failure- bevel gear or crown gear seal. one is bad, the other is worse)
i just had my bevel gear seal replaced (i pulled the FD, had my fave wrench do the seal replacement) at 73,000 miles. all other parts were fine, as it had only been weeping/seeping for a few hundred miles.

[txmxrider]

Thanks for the advice and the offer of assistance. After spending some time looking at the map I've pretty much come to the same conclusion as you. I think I'm going to take an extra day, or maybe two, and do some back road exploring in southern MO and western AR. Heck, I'm on vacation and the most it would cost me is another hundred bucks for motels. The latest National Geographic had an interesting article on the Ozark Highland Trail in northwest AK. I'm betting that wherever good hiking trails exist great motorcycling roads can't be far away.

Cheers,
txmxrider


In August I flew down to Birmingham to pick up an '01 R1100R and rode it back to Chicago. The best part of the trip was taking the back roads through Northern AL, TN, and KY. Riding on the Interstate got old very quickly. Take some earplugs, you'll be surprised how less fatigued you'll feel at the end of the day. Also, not sure where in Chicago you are picking up the bike, but if you intend to immediately head SW think about taking I57 instead of I55. Far fewer trucks and traffic on I57. Take it to Cape Giradeau(sp?) and then head west across those back roads of southern MO to Springfield. There is some pretty country between here and Austin. Don't ride the broad grey slab all the way. PM me if I can be of assistance when you are in Chicago.

[txmxrider]

Yep, I agree. That's what I was interpreting as a "bubble". When I saw bikerfish's reply about the filler neck I kinda put it all together. When I read the original posts on the subject I thought there was some kind of problem preventing you from filling the tank all the way. And me being sort of old-school I hadn't considered the ramifications of the catalytic converter and the charcoal canister.

I'm pretty sure the bike I'm buying has had the charcoal cannister removed. I have to admit that it was pretty ugly the way BMW had it just hanging out there. Do you think any harm was caused by removing it, other than contributing to smog and ozone?

txmxrider


There is a important space at the top of the tank that allows for expansion of cold fuel in warm air if you fuel in the summer. It also prevents sloshing of gas into the vent on rough roads. I think that is your air bubble.

Some people drill a vent in the filler neck so they can overfill the tank. If you do and ride right off you will usually have no trouble. But if you go get dinner etc then bad things such as saturating the charcoal canister or if removed venting EXPENSIVE gas on the ground.

Since I am a big fan of breathing, I advocate leaving the catalytic converter alone and the charcoal canister in place and not drilling the filler neck. Others have a different opinion and everyone is entitled to that. There have been reports of the canister failing plugged, I have not had this happen to me yet. Maybe I change my opinion then and maybe the plugging mostly happens to those who drill the neck.

Rod

[bikerfish1100]

no harm to the bike whatsoever in doing a canisterectomy. have never heard of any first-hand report of damage to any componenet whatsoever following rmoval. mine's been gone for 53K miles- no concerns whatosever.