epj3 said:
I have heard that BMW motorcycle's do not have a lot of "driver involvement" to them. If i were you, I would look at the buell bikes. They are very fun and are built very well.
I'm not sure quite what they meant regarding "driver involvement", unless they were referring to the brakes. Some BMW bikes have linked antilocked brakes, which means that if you apply the back brake, the front also applies and vice-versa. They have been tweaking this due to the criticism. As last I recall (could be wrong), they went to a semi-linked brake on the K1200RS. If you apply the front, you get a partial rear brake. But if you apply the rear, the front doesn't automatically apply.
I've rented 3 BMWs and 3 Harleys in the last 3 years to really evaluate what I want to buy. After 500 miles on Harleys and 1300 miles on BMWs, here's what I decided:
1. I constantly was scraping footpegs/boards on Harleys at 35 mph in corners. Sometimes I like to ride aggressively - the Harleys/Cruisers just don't cut it.
2. I like shaft drive.
3. I don't like the 'chugginess' of big twins - V twins or the BMW Boxer.
4. I want a Sport - Touring style bike. This type of bike is sport bike performance with a more upright seating style than sport bikes. For long rides it's more comfortable.
I rode a BMW K1200RS for around 450 miles in one day from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe, and fell in love with it. The bike is awesome in the twisty Tahoe mountains even at 70 - 80 mph. For me, it's the perfect combination of what I'm looking for. I think it's the M3 of bikes - 135 hp, 0 - 60 in under 4 seconds, comfortable, smooth ride. I'm on the right in the picture below. K1200 is the red bike, the black one is R1100RT.