I am thinking of buying a second hand R 1150 RT (after my Bonnie) and have tried one out for a fairly short drive. I am 6 foot 2 (approx 1 m. 92)and find the position comfortable with the seat at the highest position but one thing I found amazingly inconvenient, to the point of dangerousness, was the gear lever position. With (admittedly fairly new) winter biking boots on I really needed to twist my ankle and foot downwards and inwards far too much, often missing the changes. Is there any easy solution to this that anyone knows of? And are those expensive brake cylinder replacements really common ? I have two main options now: a 2001 with 40 thousand kms. and a 2003 with only 18. Thanks for any help you can give.