A change of flavor…..

A friend/riding buddy just traded his GW in on a new 1250 RT with all the bells and whistles. I think his eyes are still watering at the cost though!! They are nice bikes for sure.
 
This one is a 2019 with every available option with 8K miles and still under warranty. Bought from a “motivated” private party.

My Goldwing is jealous……!
 
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drrod said:
A friend/riding buddy just traded his GW in on a new 1250 RT with all the bells and whistles. I think his eyes are still watering at the cost though!! They are nice bikes for sure.
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Same with a new GW.

Th prices on the RT/GW/K16 overlap given various trims. I went for the lightest and, I believe, the easiest to maintain but time will tell.
 
Beautiful bike, the front end design is really a piece of art.
The back design including the saddlebags is maybe more questionable for my taste.
I am still amazed by the fact that BMW was able to produce 134 HP from a flat twin engine.
I am also wondering about the feeling of shifting from a 4 cylinders to a twin...
Can you share your experience about it?
I live in a kind of remote area and what I love about the ST is that you can maintain it pretty easily and encounter very few flaws with the build quality.
I would be curious to know how reliable is this jewel...
 
To our ST1300's what?
________________________

"Sold the VFR "... Traitor! Now I have no Crosstourer allies here! :rofl1:
 
Sidekick said:
Beautiful bike, the front end design is really a piece of art.
The back design including the saddlebags is maybe more questionable for my taste.
I am still amazed by the fact that BMW was able to produce 134 HP from a flat twin engine.
I am also wondering about the feeling of shifting from a 4 cylinders to a twin...
Can you share your experience about it?
I live in a kind of remote area and what I love about the ST is that you can maintain it pretty easily and encounter very few flaws with the build quality.
I would be curious to know how reliable is this jewel...
Click to expand...

Well both my VFR and my Wing are DCT so the shifting on the RT is completely different. I have only run a couple of tanks of gas through it so I am still getting the feel of it but the shifting is precise and predictable. This bike has the “shift assist” so after second gear no clutch or throttle roll off is necessary. It works as advertised.

There is definitely a difference between a multi cylinder bike and a twin, but these new boxers are pretty smooth as twins go and this bike only gets a little buzzy over 80 or 85 mph. No issue for me. I like it, but I have had a bunch of beemers over the years so I knew what I was getting.

As far as power…. , like you, I am amazed at the 1250 motor. A couple of weeks ago at NatSTOC, I was chasing Mellow across a straight in Wyoming with my VFR pegged, wide open (130 claimed hp) and he was pulling away from me, and two other ST’s. We were in triple digits a lot that day. This engine is the real deal, and at about 4K rpm’s, it enters a power band that feels like a turbo.

Once rolling, the bike feels weightless and rolls into corners like it is on rails just like my prior beemers. Still getting used to the ESA suspension which has two options, road and dynamic which can be changed on the fly by rotation of the wonder wheel. Dynamic is stiff and predictable but “road“ seems soft to me with a little bit of pogo. Unless I can figure that out, I will likely run in dynamic all the time unless I am on the slab.

The bike has all the gizmos my 2018 DCT wing has: Adjustable suspension at the touch of a button, TPMS, Bluetooth, satellite radio, cruise, USB, FM, Aux, heated seat, front and back, heated grips, keyless ignition, central locking, elec windshield, etc, etc. All of the above is intuitive and well designed and easy to grasp.

I will review further after I get some more seat time but so far, ….two thumbs up!
 
Mellow said:
Same with a new GW.

Th prices on the RT/GW/K16 overlap given various trims. I went for the lightest and, I believe, the easiest to maintain but time will tell.
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Price and lighter I will agree with but as far as cost to maintain time will surely tell.
 
Kennyray said:
...but as far as cost to maintain time will surely tell.
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"Time" is certainly an important element when looking at motorcycle maintenance cost. For any vehicle there is also a huge difference in cost between maintenance and preventative maintenance. My philosophy for hundreds of thousands of miles is do whatever it takes to keep on the road: change oil, filters, tires, and fix (maintain) things only if they break. For that philosophy, modern anything (BMW, Harley, Honda, Triumph, Yamaha, Suzuki, etc.) costs much less than old, in either $$$ or effort, and I break fewer things requiring more maintenance. ;)

I guarantee maintaining a full fuel tank will cost more over time. :thumb:

Tom
 
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It's too bad you can't get service manuals on DVD anymore for the BMW's. I think going to the online manuals was a mistake, I know there is talk on the BMW boards that people won't buy the newer BMW's because they can't service them themselves (unless you want to pay $30 a day or $2500 a year for the electronic manual!),
 
ST1300A said:
It's too bad you can't get service manuals on DVD anymore for the BMW's. I think going to the online manuals was a mistake, I know there is talk on the BMW boards that people won't buy the newer BMW's because they can't service them themselves (unless you want to pay $30 a day or $2500 a year for the electronic manual!),
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Doesn't matter, there are folks with excellent videos on services, mine will never see a dealership unless there's a warranty issue. I went for a software update and they didn't care I did the 600 mile service and 6k service myself.
 
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ST-venture said:
Is that a factory color matched trunk, or was it painted or after market?
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Good question. I didn’t ask the seller if it came painted or if he had it done. It is definitely a factory trunk with power and a brake light, and pretty sure it is factory paint but not sure who painted it.
 
Question for you RT owners. The friend I mentioned, who just bought an new RT, is wondering if GIVI have a top plate adapter for their Monokey topboxes. They have one for up to 2020 that I can see but no info it would fit the 2022. My friend drew the line at the cost of the BMW topbox. Almost $2k here in the GWN.
 
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