How I came to the BMW k1
When I made the car license at 18 years I met a young woman who made the motorcycle license.
She took me once on her brothers R100S at a ride...
Thank you so much Liane Oe. ;-)
It was the spark that lid the fire
I immediately returned to the driving school and subsequently made the motorcycle license
In my whole family, no one rode a motorcycle or could help me with important criteria for a decision
No idea of motorcycles and no money, I had to save 3 years of money, read up numerous magazines and made test rides with different brands required for a decision next to the design
Five charateristics finally convinced me to buy a BMW R100RS
1: engine providing a high torque at low revolution
2: easy access to service
3: low-maintenance cardan drive
4: low center of mass
5: excellent fairing suitable for travelling
I have driven the R100RS almost 100,000km over 7 years,
taking it on every holiday in Europe and here in Crete
...but then totally destroyed by a heavy accident in Norway.
The wide boxer engine saved my life because the cylinder caught all of the front collision with a car at a speed of 80km/h each...
Since then I have been celebrating
Friday the 13th July 1990
as my second birthday
next step
After the crash my focus was still on motorbike designed for long trips.
The 1990 paralever R80GS caught my attention and met my expectations
After traveling tens of thousands of kilometers to Belgium, Norway, Italy, Greece and crossing Turkey to the Syrian border I noticed decisive differences compared to the R100RS
Positives:
less fuel consumption and the extremely handiness of the R80GS
Negative:
the missing wind and weather protection compared to the R100RS
The lack of fairing, which allows long, fast and fatigue-free travel then led me to the modern BMW k1
The k1 is the aerodynamic successor
I have owned my first k1
since 25th April 1992
- and I still have it ! :-)
I remain very satisfied with the well known 5 advantages of the R100RS as mentioned earlier, which have been carried over to the k1 as part of a long and successful tradition, and I am also convinced by a further five advantages:
6: increased aerodynamic design
7: ABS for motorcycles
8: fuel injection, no carburettors
9: 50% more engine power+torque
10: 30% less fuel consumption
There are many compelling reasons to choose the BMW k1, only the lack of small change...
I had to save up required money until 2 years later I finally could afford my first k1 on 25th April 1992.
I had to pay 15.000DM (~7500€) for a 2 year old k1 with 14.800km
- and of course with ABS!
My former R100RS reached 200km/h with a vengeance and was spongy to frightening by this speed.
The arrow-accurate k1 was much faster and it took a certain amount of time to get used to this speed.
What a feeling!
What a quantum leap to the R100RS after 12 years of difference in development.
Excellent! Well done!
