BMW RT1200 first impressions

DavidR8

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2013 BMW R1200RT
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8968
Picked up the rental RT this morning. It's a fully loaded 2015 with about 35k miles.

First thing I'll say is that it is brimming with tech. The GPS works great though it's a bit finicky because there's so many options. Could be entirely my inexperience with such devices.
Likewise there's a plethora of menu items to adjust. One thing I wasn't fussy about is adjusting the heated grips via the menu vs. a switch on the bars.

Riding-wise (all of about 30 miles) it has bags of power with just me aboard though I don't suppose another person will make much difference.
Handles quite well with a less tippy feeling on turn-in. It's running the new Bridgestone T30 tires which seem fine this far.

This water cooled bike is a completely different beast than the 2008 we test ride. That vibrated while idling and juddered pulling away. This is butter smooth all the way from idle to way past useful rpm.

I'll say more after more miles [emoji1]


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mlheck

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You should be able to set the heated grips as a favorite on the menu button. Find the grip setting and toggle the menu switch up and hold it in this position for a few seconds. That should set the grips to come up whenever you toggle up on the menu button.

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Surrey, BC
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2007 ST1300A
David,
I rented one of these when I did a week long tour through Alps in 2015, the highlight being the Stelvio Pass. The RT1200 handled great. That being said, I still find the ST more comfortable.
Enjoy the rest of your trip,
Jeff
 
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DavidR8

DavidR8

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2013 BMW R1200RT
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8968
Spent more time on the RT yesterday carving corners with Larry (Igofar) who is possibly one of the nicest people I've met.

Shared lots of laughs and he shared about the equivalent of an ST's weight in his first-hand ST technical and mechanical knowledge. I truly appreciate meeting Larry.

More about the bike:
Pluses:
Long-legged. We did a brief freeway stint and it just lopes along at somewhat extra legal speeds.

Suspension:
The ESA is very cool. I switched from one person (preload) normal(rebound and ?) setting to one person comfort when we got to the freeway and the expansion strips almost disappeared.
Later that night when I picked up my partner I set it to two person and the bike perceptibly rises as the suspension adjusts.

Comfort:
The stock screen is not that great for me (5' 10â€) although there's none of the vacuum effect felt on the ST.

The stock seat was fine for me all day.
The bars feel wider (the whole bike is wider) than an ST though I appreciated the extra leverage muscling it through the switchbacks and dodging fallen tree branches and piles of pine needles.

Mechanical:
When I picked the bike up from Mo at Eaglerider (so easy to deal with!) it felt quite refined compared to the other RTs we rode. Now it feels a bit more clunky; shifts are loud no matter how I try to finesse them. One aspect that is uber-cool is the pro-shift. Downshifting for a corner is slick; close the throttle, press down on the shifter and then just crack the throttle and it clicks down. Done.

Power:
Yup, it's got some! Under 4K rpm it's docile. Above that and it gets really serious about moving.

More later but here's a shot Larry took while we stopped on the coast.
Thanks Larry!




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SupraSabre

48 Years of SoCal Lane Splitting/Commuting-Retired
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That's great you were able to spend time with Larry! Hopefully you'll have enough time there so Larry can teach you some of his tricks on ST1300 maintenance! :D

Enjoy the trip! :hat3:
 
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Nice Picture....
This is along Hwy 1 at Pescadero.
We made a short little loop from Alice's to San Gregorio, down Hwy 1 to Pescadero, then across the mountain to Page Mill road (which we decided not to go because of all the Pine needles, branches, rock slides, gravel, you know all the stuff we're used to) :rofl1:
We turned left and ended back at Alice's, then down Sandhill to 280. We then rode over to Armadillo Willy's and I got to feed him some Texas style BBQ Ribs for lunch.
Thanks for the day out.
Larry
 
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DavidR8

DavidR8

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Just back from Sausalito.
Solid ride all the way, two-up. Had to battle San Francisco traffic on the way back to #1.
Probably took more than a few miles off the poor clutch in the RT. It was definitely getting grabby as the engine temp rose. Seemed to return to smooth engagement after a few miles of non-usage.


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DavidR8

DavidR8

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We arrived back home on Saturday so wanted to wrap up this semi-review.

On Friday we rode down to see Larry/IGoFar in his natural environs. He managed to source a brake bleeder for me for which I'm very grateful.
After visiting OCD Enterprises the next item on my list is a K&L lift. Definitely getting too old to be laying on the concrete!

Back to the bike impressions.
Larry joined us and we rode down #9 to Saratoga then off on #236 to the Big Basin Redwood Woods State Park. Both # 9 and #236 offered some pretty serious riding challenges with 20 mph uphill switchbacks. The BMW was steady as a rock though I often wished for a gear in between first and second. The ESA suspension proved its worth again as I swapped from soft to normal as we hit the twisties.

The boxer motor has plenty of grunt. I'll not soon forget its rumble as I rolled on throttle coming out of corners, it's torque was a blessing in the really tight stuff.
The temperature was cool in the forest so the heated seats and grips were a real blessing.

We stopped in Boulder Creek for lunch and gas. Some of you will be amused to know that I didn't care what kind of mileage we got :)

We carried on to Felton then out to the coast on Empire Rd then to #1 up to Half Moon Bay. The ride was completely uneventful save for amazing blueberry crumble at a brewery whose name I cannot recall.

A right turn at Half Moon Bay out to 280 then a bit of slabbling down to Palo Alto and our hotel by around 7 pm.

Saturday Morning we returned the bike to Mo at Eaglerider.

All in I/we rode 500 miles in the week we had the bike. I liked it but over all it didn't do it for me as much as STella. Certainly not for the huge cost differential.
 
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David, it was a true pleasure meeting you guys! Thanks for letting me tag along on a couple rides with you, just wished they would have been longer.
OCD Enterprises will always be open to you, and call me on the white courtesy :call: when you get ready to flush/bleed your brakes.
Ride safe my friend.
Igofar
 
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DavidR8

DavidR8

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8968
David, it was a true pleasure meeting you guys! Thanks for letting me tag along on a couple rides with you, just wished they would have been longer.
OCD Enterprises will always be open to you, and call me on the white courtesy :call: when you get ready to flush/bleed your brakes.
Ride safe my friend.
Igofar
Was all bleak and rainy today. How I wish we were blasting down a nice NorCal road instead.

Looking forward to bringing STella down for a visit :)


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