I bought a 2008 Suzuki DRZ400S and put some money into bringing it up to snuff thinking it would be fun to have a dirt bike again.

However, while my ego is 16 and the nostalgia is strong, the reality is I'm about to be 69 years old and I'm a good 20 pounds overweight and off-road riding is just a fond memory.

I put it on CL this morning and a guy has show interest in trading his '95 BMW R1150R for it. He didn't say, but I'm guessing straight up as he has his listed on CL for the same price. Have a look here.

I don't need another street bike, but this has certainly piqued my interest.

Input on that year/model? Known issues? Grab it? Run away?

Its a solid bike. I might jump. But you need to be ready to do your own work on it.
Otherwise, BMW is short for:
B ust
M y
W allet.
Mileage is low for its age. Has it been down?
I just took my S1000XR in for service.
$915 for service and 2 tires.

trade, ride, work on it over winter, ride some more, do it again...

$1,800.00 looks kind of low for that motorcycle.

I am no longer a member of BMWMOA (BMW Motorcycle Owners of America), so I do not have access to the current magazines. Maybe somebody here does, and would be able to look into typical selling prices for that model.

quote:

95 BMW R1150R

Der Review

Looks like it's a decent enough bike, kind of a tweener, not good at high speed, not good on the trails, more of a cruiser....

Quote from the reviews - 'The simple naked look ages really well -- all those fairings get nicked and dated pretty fast...'

'Nicked' has nothing to do with getting minor damage; in English English vernacular it means 'stolen'.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:

Quote from the reviews - 'The simple naked look ages really well -- all those fairings get nicked and dated pretty fast...'

'Nicked' has nothing to do with getting minor damage; in English English vernacular it means 'stolen'.

Two cultures, divided by a common language.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

quote:

95 BMW R1150R

Der Review

Looks like it's a decent enough bike, kind of a tweener, not good at high speed, not good on the trails, more of a cruiser....

Seems to rate a solid "Meh." If somebody offers me $1500 cash for the DRZ I'd probably be better off.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

quote:

95 BMW R1150R

Der Review

Looks like it's a decent enough bike, kind of a tweener, not good at high speed, not good on the trails, more of a cruiser....

Actually, I had that same bike for several years and it was a terrific weekend toy. Rides of up to 100 miles were absolutely terrific. Would I ride it cross country? Probably not. But for local riding, I don't think there's any bike that can do it any better than the 1150R.

I can’t help except by enabling...
Oh, to have the funds for all my Mechanical Addictions....
Guns, motorcycles, knives, old tractors, “unique” devices.....

I probably wouldn’t do it....I don’t know. I’m not thrilled with the vibrations, clunks and general feel of my R1150GS’s engine. Then again it does have 56,000 miles on it so I guess some of that is to be expected. I’m assuming the R1150R has the same engine? The DRZ is just such a different machine that it is hard to compare them. Light and simple minimalist dirt bike with a plate vs a much more refined (and complicated) BMW boxer twin. Can’t really go wrong with either.

It looks like that R1150R has the same tele-lever front fork thing that my GS has. Those are pretty cool. It’s quite a shock how well that front suspension set up handles a twisty road.

Just to be clear, you are referring to the R1100R not an R1150R which began selling around 2001.

I've had several R bikes starting with a 2004 R1150R. They are good standard motorcycles. Nothing exciting about them.

quote:

Originally posted by Suppressed:
Just to be clear, you are referring to the R1100R not an R1150R which began selling around 2001.

I've had several R bikes starting with a 2004 R1150R. They are good standard motorcycles. Nothing exciting about them.

It's listed as an 1150 but yes the '95 version was an 1100. I've pretty much decided to pass unless I don't get any other offers.

Weren't there some fuel injection issues (surging) with those back then?

My last bike was a 1998 BMW R1100R. Sold it in 2015 for $3500 with 35k miles. Great bike but at age 65 I decided to give up 2 wheel thrills and bought a Mustang Gt convertible. Got tired of it and just traded for a 2018 Jeep JK. I loved the bike but too many fools on the road besides me.

I had a 2001 R1100S. Loads of torque and the factory bags make this a capable commuter. Lack of faring keeps it from being a touring bike for me but there are those that do it. That predates the final drive issues as well. Get the throttle bodies synced and run the wheels off it.

doublesharp, what are those things sticking out over the cylinders? Oil coolers?

I have a ‘94 R1100RS. I expect about the same engine as that one. Mentioned above was a possible “surging” issue.

I am 160 lbs soaking wet. My 1100RS does some surging, kind of like it wants you to pour on the power, it’s not happy at a constant speed. My weight is about zero load on it. The bike weighs 400-500 lbs. So if you are thinking about it definitely take it for a ride first, like 30 minutes worth, half that on highway.

The surging can be refined through careful tuning, but I haven’t been completely happy yet.

Also, the 1100RS is my newest Beemer. I also have a ‘77, a ‘67 and a ‘52. I would not buy anything newer because they get so darn complex. To bleed the brakes on the ‘94 (and I expect the ‘95 as well) the gas tank must come off. Adjusting valves needs four feeler gages, as there are four valves per cylinder.

The engine style is called an “Oil head” because it cools the engine with a high volume,low pressure oil pump. There is another oil pump that does high pressure lubrication of the engine. Same oil for both jobs.

I do just about all of my own work on the bikes and can afford them because of that. Our local shop costs $89/hr for labor. There are very good manuals available for doing your own work and parts are available and affordable through the web. I have been to the BMW dealer twice this year and neither time was it for me for parts, I was along with a friend.

^^^ 89 bucks an hour for shop time? Mine was 120.

I lost all interest in BMW motorcycles when new models had telescopic forks.

I loved my R24, 25 and 26, R50 and R50S and R69s...

Had over 100,000 miles on them, all added up, of swift, near-silent joie de vivre.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tacfoley,