November 24, 2006

Traded 2 bikes for 1: My new 2006BMW R1200RT

So two months ago I traded my BMW R1150GS and my Triumph Daytona 955i for a BMW R1200RT.

I wasn't using the Daytona for track days anymore and I wasn't taking the GS offroad since I have a collection of dirt bikes. I thought a lot about what I needed out of a motorcycle. I wanted a comfortable, quick, sport/touring bike. With Katie and Tonya at home I've been only riding to work. However, over a single day that means I ride my motorcycle over an hour each day. I was looking primarily at the R1200RT and the K1200GT both BMW since I have a great relationship with California BMW. I would have had to order a K1200GT and wait for it to come in. The R1200RT was in stock. When I got the bike there was a special that the R1200RT came with a free BMW Navigator III and a free 49Liter Top Case. That really tipped the favor in to the RT. I am the proud owner of a dark gray 2006 BMW R1200RT.

After 2 months I really like the bike. The bike has more power then the R1150 it replaces but much less then the 955i that it replaced. It is a happy medium. The R1150 was just a little under powered while the 955i was probably over powered for what I need. The RT is also just as comfortable as the GS for Tonya on back. That was also an important consideration. The RT delivers on every thing.

The motor is slowly breaking in. As it brakes in it get torqueier at the bottom end and quicker at the top end. It cruises nicely in any gear. For the new R1200 they lowered 6th gear to make it less of an over drive and more of a 6th gear. Passing cars on the freeway no longer requires down shifting to 5th in the general case.

My bike has the optional ESA (Electronic Suspension Adjust). It has 3 modes and 3 weight settings. The modes are Comfort, Normal, and Sport. The 3 weight settings are Solo, Two-up, and Two-up with luggage. I normally keep the suspension in Comfort mode which eats up the bumps and irregularities in the local roads in the bay area. However, the bike can be vague in the corners at speed so I generally switch to sport mode if I'm going to be aggressively cornering. I find myself only in normal in wet weather when I want to ensure minimal brake dive or acceleration squat and less vagueness in the corners. Over all the suspension is nice. I just hope that by the time I wear out the shocks that there are ESA compatible after market parts available. Currently, the only way to get the ESA suspension replaced is to go with the stock suspension or to loose the ESA feature. There have been some reports of WP rebuilding and adjusting the ESA shocks to allow reuse.

I'm currently in the planning stage of adding in two options I didn't get when I bought the bike. The first is the radio system. I've speced it out and made some plans. It is now down to buying the parts and installing the hardware. The second piece is the heated seats. During the cold winter months when it is raining it would be awfully nice to have a nice warm seat to sit on.

Finally, I'm planning two system integrations/modifications. I'm going to hook my Autocom Pro7 into the bike. I'm installing waterproof jacks front and rear and going to use patch cables to for helmet connectivity. I have the Pro7, the jacks, and the headsets. All I need is some cable. I'm also planning on adding a built in a heat troller. I'm going to add a single controller to the front for now as Tonya doesn't wear heated clothing and I only wear a vest.

So far, I've put 1,600 miles on the bike. I've really enjoyed it so far. I do miss both the bikes I traded. I miss them a lot, however, for my riding the RT is doing a better job. The bike has better weather protection especially for my lower body. I've worn jeans in light rain on the RT and come out only slightly wet when on the GS or Daytona I would have been soaked. The RT also has an electrically adjustable windscreen. This is a huge feature that makes a big difference. I can block all the air on a cold wet day or none on a nice dry day when I want to enjoy the air. All in all the RT was a good choice.

Posted by pqbon at November 24, 2006 5:52 PM