Rs Ergonomics: One Size Fits All

RS ERGONOMICS: ONE SIZE FITS ALL

Better to fit machines to people than for people to fit themselves to machines. After all, people were here first. Yet how many 1971 Triumphs went unsold because few riders were tall enough to find comfort on their towering saddles? What about the sportbikes with pegs so high, and bars so far away, that they seemed built for 6-foot riders with 18inch inseams?

With the 1100RS, BMW has adopted the handlebar-angle adjustments found on some other machines, plus fore-and-aft movement of about an inch, easily adjusted with an Allen wrench. The handlebars are not adjustable for height, but the rider’s portion of the split saddle is: Metal loops attached to the seat base plug into one of three levels of plastic clips for seat-height adjustment over a range of an inch-and-a-half. Windscreen position can also be varied manually by turning a telescoping star-adjuster located between the instrument faces-higher to deflect wind overhead during highspeed cruise; lower when so desired.

Kevin Cameron