BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Hmmm, it's only a 5hp bump (115 HP vs 110HP) on the GS, and testers report less low end grunt, so it's not going to be a big difference with the present motor. The water cooling should let BMW tweak it a bunch when they want to.

BTW, if I were so imprudent as to feed my cam head a fist full of throttle with the traction control shut off, it would readily wheelie a lot more that I need...

Back when I had my 2005 GS, I was passing through a toll booth with my EZPass gizzie in my left pocket. The toll booth didn't read the EZPass so I reached into my pocket to pull it out and wave it at the antenna. I was idling through the tolls in second at this point. As I pulled away and was up to 3,000 RPM, I realized that the car behind me was closing at a rather higher rate of speed. With my left hand still in my pocket I calculated that I either needed to accelerate a lot faster or get an Audi enema. I chose acceleration and found myself at 40+ MPH with about a foot and a half of air under my front tire and my left hand still struggling to get out of my pocket. All turned out well and I motored off with the nonchalant air of "Yeah, I intended to do that..." Which I didn't.

I rode the GSW at my dealership for about 200 miles in all kinds of traffic. Whoever said that the new wethead has no low end grunt was not riding a wethead. The engine has a lot of available torque in all gears. Cruising at 75 and rolling on the power gives instant acceleration without a downshift. The new engine in a RR version will be something to behold. Only gripe I have with the engine in the GS is that the water radiator on the throttle side blows a lot of heat that you can really feel while stopped. It will be interesting to see how the radiators get handled on the RR version.

Anyname wrote:Hmmm, it's only a 5hp bump (115 HP vs 110HP) on the GS,.

Rated HP is 125 for the wethead (not 115) vs 110 for the camhead. That's 13.6% more hp. I'm sure the new motor is a pretty hefty upgrade but the camhead is no slouch either. I like them both.

I rode the the new gsw a couple of weeks ago, I have to say the the engine is as much of an improvement over the hex as the hex was an improvement over the oil head. If BMW decides to build a proper roadster with this engine, I don't think I could resist. Their is no absence of power any where in the rev band, it is smoother, more powerful, more responsive, and shifts slicker than my 07. It will be an entertaining ride for sure.

Acpantera wrote:I rode the the new gsw a couple of weeks ago, I have to say the the engine is as much of an improvement over the hex as the hex was an improvement over the oil head. If BMW decides to build a proper roadster with this engine, I don't think I could resist. Their is no absence of power any where in the rev band, it is smoother, more powerful, more responsive, and shifts slicker than my 07. It will be an entertaining ride for sure.

That's about how I felt after riding after riding the gsw, and having gone from oilhead to hex head... will be very temping to replace my 07' when they come out as long as BMW doesn't screw it all up.

The word is that bmw won't make a 2014 k1300r. Perhaps a 135hp boxer roadster with duolever will spark interest.

I have no imminent desire to replace my 07 and hope I don't run into any situations where I would *have* to get a new one. That being said, if there will be a H2O RR and it turns out to be of great appeal, then maybe some years after its introduction where initial bugs and snags hopefully got addressed it may be a different story. My 07 will be around 10 years old then.

hjsbmw wrote:I have no imminent desire to replace my 07 and hope I don't run into any situations where I would *have* to get a new one. That being said, if there will be a H2O RR and it turns out to be of great appeal, then maybe some years after its introduction where initial bugs and snags hopefully got addressed it may be a different story. My 07 will be around 10 years old then.

I'm of the same sentiment, whenever I get a slight urge to change bike it's enough to look at what the alternatives are for me to want to keep my R. The one thing ( apart from maybe getting a Guzzi) that I feel could make me wanna change bikes would be a wethead R with atleast 130hp, not that I need more power, I just want it

hjsbmw wrote:I have no imminent desire to replace my 07 and hope I don't run into any situations where I would *have* to get a new one. That being said, if there will be a H2O RR and it turns out to be of great appeal, then maybe some years after its introduction where initial bugs and snags hopefully got addressed it may be a different story. My 07 will be around 10 years old then.

Luckily, the "initial bugs and snags" are being worked out on the water cooled GS even as we speak. So when, probably not if, they put the new engine into the R it should be ready for prime time.

I too rode one of the water cooled GS's, it had tons of power. It was pretty dang fun. But I still like my camhead GS. A lot.

I have found I have to be careful predicting what bike I will want in the future, it has become such a moving target for me. I like so many bikes, but I've decided to be a one bike at a time guy.

To that end, I like the looks and like the reviews of the new GS wethead, however, I'm currently enjoying being back on a smaller lighter bike, the R. More HP, I don't need or want. I love to corner and hammering the straights between corners no longer holds any mystery for me. Give me a sub 500lb bike and about 100hp and I'm very content.

It will be fun to see how the beta testing shakes out. The current R is a pretty darn reliable platform, other than that silly fuel strip thing. I wonder what the wethead GS weak points will be in regards to reliability?

rad wrote:I wonder what the wethead GS weak points will be in regards to reliability?

Right now it seems to be switch gear. Horn, signals, starter, heated grips, ... seem to not like rain or washing ... No, I don't have one. I'd like to get a R1200R, current version for the looks. If the waterboxer one looks the same or similar, I'd like it, too.

Everything I have read and hear says the motor is a great upgrade, and the wet clutch is smoother and much easier to get to. Supposedly they tested the heck out of the alternator, because the ones inside the case usually got hot and burn out quicker.

I was disappointed to find out they are still calling for dealer service every 6,000 miles. Many brands are going to much longer intervals. It may make a difference in my next purchase...

Interesting that the valves went from 6000 to 12,000 miles, but the plugs went from 24,000 to 12,000. At leaset it only has 2.

What will the weight difference be with a GS and new RR wethead ? Less weight with a RR = harder acceleration. 2014 is going to be interesting with a new GSA , RT/GT, and maybe a RR wets

tinytrains wrote:Interesting that the valves went from 6000 to 12,000 miles, but the plugs went from 24,000 to 12,000. At leaset it only has 2.

That seems silly short for plugs.. a decent modern plug with direct ignition (stick coils) should easily last 36,000 miles. Many cars now use 100,000 mile plugs. Moving to a water cooled engine would seem to make this more feasible, not require more frequent changes. I also see they're calling for an air filter at 12,000 miles which seems a very short interval to me unless you're doing a lot of desert riding.

Wonder what plugs they're using and if they reduced the size of the air filter?

tinytrains wrote:Interesting that the valves went from 6000 to 12,000 miles, but the plugs went from 24,000 to 12,000. At leaset it only has 2.

Plugs went to 12000 miles with the cam head....all 4 of them!

AttackPug wrote:Will it be possible to keep the front wheel on the pavement with this motor ? It will be a crotch rocket !

ASC. I have raised the wheel in 3rd once by accident. Scared the chit outa me. The ASC kicked in and set it down gently before I knew what was going on.

I should not have any more power than my camhead. I get too stupid.

Love my camhead, so I am keeping it for a long time. By the time its worn out, I will be looking at the water cooled model.

David

My dealer offered me a new GS as a loaner whilst in for a service, but with my short fat hairy legs I couldn't cope with the seat height. Damn, I sure would like to have tried it out!
Phil