From http://www.best.com/~citybike/ "The BMW R1150R Roadster reminds me of Kreuz's BBQ. It's a basic bike - it doesn't come with a windscreen, hot grips, or saddlebags (though they're available);but, like Kreuz's, is the best of its kind. It shares the same engine and 6 speed gearbox as the R1150GS, with a "short" 6th gear for more power. The cast aluminum wheels with five double spokes are taken from the R 1100 S, reducing unsprung weight by about a kilo. Everything on the new Roadster has been changed from the previous R1100R . . . " It's definitely worth going to the URL to read the rest of this great review.

BMW has always had interesting technology. Their first bike was built in the mid-Twenties; their first chain-driven bike was built in the late 80s or early 90s (by Aprilia, who stuck a BMW badge on it...) All BMW bikes before the first F650 were shaft-driven. In the mid-30s, BMW built the first production bikes with hydraulic telescoping front forks, and abandoned them in the '50s when everyone else was turning to them. They used Earles forks for the next ten years before returning to the hydraulic telescoping forks they pioneered. Now they have abandoned them again for their Telelever suspension that separates the steering (telescoping forks) from the suspension (swingarm & ball joint). All BMWs have the Telelever fork now except, once again, the F650 variants (F650s are no longer made for BMW by Aprilia, they are now built in-house by BMW) BMW bikes being sold in the US today include the K-series (liquid-cooled DOHC inline four mounted horizontally at the bottom of the bike), the R-series (air/oil cooled OHV horizontally-opposed "boxer" twins), and the F-series (conventional liquid-cooled single-cylinder chain-driven bike). The F650CS is by far the ugliest bike I have ever seen a picture of. Of BMW's current line-up, the bike I would most want is the R1150R. It is plain, unadorned, good-looking in its own way, and with the addition of a pair of saddlebags would have everything I want in a motorcycle and more. But I think I would prefer a Honda Nighthawk 750 or Suzuki GS500E...