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

Were you guys aware of James Parker's take on the change from telelever?

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/conve ... awing-line

Bogdan wrote:Were you guys aware of James Parker's take on the change from telelever?

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/conve ... awing-line

interesting. All makes sense to me. I like the tele.....

Wow, The Radiator???
Never would have guessed that. I thought, like most others, that it was cost.

** About the TeleLever:
1--- When I first rode my new 2002 R1150R, I was amazed at the smooth, solid stability of the TeleLever, especially in bumpy corners.
2--- It took a while to not expect the front end to dive on hard braking.
3--- Best part of it all was that for about $1,200 and 1 hours work you could have the excellence of Ohlins Front and Rear suspension.
4--- The fork seals are way high up just below the top tree, where road dirt and wheel spray do not reach, helping them to stay clean and last 2x longer.
5--- The upper/lower fork tube bushings and steering stem bearings are spaced over twice the distance apart than the same conventional front fork parts, enhancing stability and extending longevity.
6--- When needed many years later, changing the fork oil or fork seals is a surprisingly easy job, requiring NO special tools.
7--- Its only flaw is that front end rider feedback, what the front tire contact patch is experiencing for traction, is very weak when cornering.

There are other bikes that slant twin water radiators outward on each side, or place it under the seat with ducting and fans. Like so many other Boxer motor owners, I was disappointed when the TeleLever was dropped on some . . . . and sometime later, most models. Hey BMW! Your quality engineering is defined by it. Its performance, durability and longevity is an ASSET to riders that live with it.

I also will NOT own a M/C with inverted (UpSideDown) front forks. They are very expensive to repair or replace, difficult to keep clean and cursed with a shorter service life, all for a tiny performance gain that 80% of riders will never see or utilize. Their endless possibilities of 3 adjustable parameters guarantees that very few will have their bike "Dialed-In." All that because race bikes use them and you will be cool too if you have them. The full Tension, Compression, Spring Preload adjustability of USD forks seems to be only intentionally denied from being in conventional forks, to maintain their low price buy-in while reinforcing the USDF exclusivity of being special Race-Quality equipment. These things I know after working on hundreds of bike's forks over 11 years in WCW service dept.

So, that'll be the same rad fitted to the GS and RT then?
It's nothing more sinister than BMW targeting mainstream riders that prefer a 'conventional' front end, hence fitting forks to the R and RS while the big sellers with a more loyal buying base keep the telelever. There's a BMW press release or interview saying so somewhere on the tinternet.

After 350K miles on telelever front forks and with a club racing background I can say that although the front does not have the feel of the conventional forks, when they do lose traction they tend to just slide like the rear rather than tuck under. I have lost and saved the front many times over the years and have never crashed.
I have my Ohlins rebuilt every 25k front 35K rear for about $400 and its a 1 hour job to change.
Bottom line is once your used to and trust the front, it works!

Interesting theory - I'd bet there's a lot of weight coming from the motorcycle press though who simply don't 'get' the the benefits of Telelever (and other BMW oddities like the 3-button indicators, which are disappearing rapidly )

I've grown to really appreciate the Telelever, and I'm not sure how well I'm going to manage with conventional forks in the future.

kirby wrote:After 350K miles on telelever front forks and with a club racing background I can say that although the front does not have the feel of the conventional forks, when they do lose traction they tend to just slide like the rear rather than tuck under. I have lost and saved the front many times over the years and have never crashed.
I have my Ohlins rebuilt every 25k front 35K rear for about $400 and its a 1 hour job to change.
Bottom line is once your used to and trust the front, it works!

Since we don't have a "Like" button.