BMW RT1200

[Lee337]

Another weekend on the blood bikes, another different bike to ride.

A couple of weeks ago we took delivery of three 2016 BMW RT1200 ex. police bikes for our fleet (if you're interested in what we do, have a look at Lincs Emergency Blood Bike Service (http://lebbs.org)).

I've bever ridden a BMW before, let alone an RT1200. My first impression is how 'agricultural' it is. Throwing my leg over for the first time, it seems fairly comfortable, if massively lower than my Tiger 800XC, although the bars are probably just as wide and feel to be about the same position when seated. The foot rests aren't as cramped as I'd expected but time will tell. Thumbing the starter I'm a little surprised at how much the bike shakes side to side and the sound is definitely a twin type of sound, although more tractor than bike.

Setting off down the road the steering feels quite heavy until you get moving, then it's a little easier. The first roundabout I approach with trepidation. I'm expecting it to handle similar to the FJR1300 I rode a few weeks ago, which as somew of you may have read, I don't like. I was expecting to have to hold the bike up, especially with close to 300kg (259kg dry), but it didn't, it stuck to the course I set until I pulled it out with ease, maybe due to the low centre of gravity. For a heavy bike, it's quite easy to push around too. One up for the BMW.

The adjustible screen keepsd the best of what the weather can throw at you off, mostly anyway and I found myself riding mostly with my visor up with very little wind noise. It took some gettign used to with the mirror position as they're situated belpw the bars, not above them. The real difference is I spent quite some time looking at my throttle hand instead of my elbow, which was nice,

The BMW has two maps, road & rain. I didn't try the rain setting although today *Sunday) it's expected to rain where I am this afternoon, so I might give it a go. In Road, I was surprised at the power, while a little rough on delivery, ity pulls well enough if you get the revs right. Too low & it bogs down, too high & it quickly runs out of oomph althoug the rev band of useful power is decent enpough with it's 125bhp. 4500 - 6500 seems top be its sweet spot.

As a fully liveried bike, many drivers see me coming up behind thinking I'm police. sometimes it works to my advantage & they give me a little extra room to pass.Other times they stick to the speed limit like glue. Ithis causes me a problem. I'll explain. All our bikes are tracked, firstly for our safety so our controllers know where we are when out & secondly because of the many complaints we've had about pretending to be police & speeding past them like there's no tomorrow. Because our bikes are tracked, we can counter these complaints with proof we do not exceed the speed limits. Now to my problem. as an ex police bike, the speedo is calibrated, so when it says 60mph, that's exactly what I'm doing. Most cars speedos are up to 10% out, so I found myself constantly following cars ar around 53mph.  Yes, I can overtake when I get an opportunity, but a lot of the roads I ride those opportunities can be rare. I often find myself thinking if I was on my own bike, i.e. not tracked, a quick burst of acceleration up to say, 75mph and I could be past, but not on a blood bike. So, I just have to be selective.

Back to the bike. I spend around 6 hours riding it yesterday. the comfy seat wasn't quite so comfy after a few hours, numb bum set in around the 90 minute mark. Achy shoulders & back set in at around 4 hours, probably less riding time as this incorporated a few stops for pick up & delivery. The twin engine, whilst delivering good power and cruising at 60mph at around 3500rpm vibrated quite a bit & I found my fingers tingly. With cruise control this wouldn't have been so much of a problem as I could have rested my right hand on the throttle, but this bike doesn't have cruise control, so a grip, even a light one meant I suffered with the engine vibes. Just my hands mind, my feet were fine.

So, plusses & minuses. it pulls well, handles well, the seating position si quite comfortable but not for a full days riding. mpg is around 53mpg (22km per litre), which for a big bike, riding around like Miss Daisy drives, is not too bad. But then most of the ride was A roads, not a motorway or duel carriageway to be seen. Maybe at 70+mph that fuel consumption may have been a little different.

As always, I have to compare the riding experience to my Tiger 800xc. I know it's a slightly unfair comparrison as one is a tourer and one an Adv, but here goes, My Tiger is more comfortable for me, but then I have set it up that way. The BMW seating position is lower so you don't get quite the commanding view of the road you have on the Tiger. The BMW seems to vibrate more than the Tiger too, thast'd be the twin engine compared to the Tiger's Triple power plant. The BMW has more power than the Tiger, delivered smoothly but doesn't sound like a real bike, bearing in mind I have both triples & fours in my collection. Slightly unfair, I know, but I'm trying to find something I really don't like about the BMW and I can't really find anything.

Truth is it's a nice bike to ride, the riding position is comfortable, power delivery is good, handling is surprisingly nimble for such a big bike and I can see why the UKs constabulary choose them. The only real negative is I'm just not used to it like I am with the Tiger.

Would I have one? probably not, I like the Tiger's thinner profile for filtering, something I found difficult with the BMW, but then it's all about what you're used to I guess.

[Lee337]

A quick update. Yesterday it rained. The weather protection is rather good across the body although my knees & lower legs were soaked.

I also had to lower the screen. I found what was a comfortable height for wind protection was just the right height for water to stream off the screen directly on to my visor, and too high for any airflow to clear rain from it. With the screen lowered  airflow not only kept my visor clear but stopped everything steaming up. Even my pinlock struggled. Downside is the wind noise in my helmet increased.

I also found out the difference the road/rain settings make. Rain setting makes the throttle less snatchy at low revs, divers less power and it nay have been my imagination, but I felt it hated a little differently. I have no idea if it has active suspension, but it just felt different.

[ghulst]

The RT's are great cruising machines and they can be incredible mile munchers. The seats are not to everyone's liking, but there were comfort options available. The constabulary might have kept those to themselves. Or have really worn out the seats and now you get to sit on someone's old sofa.  I am surprised about the vibration. My 1200GS never really vibrated that much. Then again, I did a ride with my Street Triple R yesterday and switched with a friend and his 1150GS and that thing vibrated from under me... Slight exaggeration, but still. I really had to get used to the different way the engine responded. The STR was much faster (and rightly so with over 40hp more and 65kg less), but when I got the hang of it again (it was my old bike), I could keep up with the STR quite decently. Though he would ride away on the straights and heading towards the STR rev limiter around 12.000rpm.   The GS had no answer to that.

So, a set of foam grips and a pair of biking undies should see you doing some nice miles.  Oh, and no cold feet with your toes under the cylinders during winter. I really missed that when I sold my boxers. 

[Lee337]

I have to admit, while I turned the heatedgrips on briefly on Sunday afternoon & before I switched to warmer more waterproof gloves, I never gave it a thought that my toasty toes was down to the cylinders sticking out like jug handles 

After my weekend duty, it's going in to the garage. front tyre losing 2psi per day and an intermittant starting issue, a bit like the Triumph 'hot start' issue related to the starter motor. It happened twice after a long run. The first time I stopped to styretch my legs. 3-4 minutes no more. Turned the ignition on, thumbed the starter & nothing aside form ythe needles on the clock acting the same as switching the ignition on. 30 seconds later, it started no problems.

I also dropped it in the garage getting off (don't ask) & surprisingly I managed to pick it up again. I think the crash bars helped, it was resting on them & practically upright anyway. Thank God for carpet on the garage floor - there wasn't even a scratch 

Second time, again after a long run, I pulled up on my drive, switched engine off, took helmet off, grabbed keys from the house to open the garage door, thumbed starter & same thing, nothing. Grabbed phone to record what happened to pass on to the fleet manager, pressed record, thumbed startwe again & it started. 

One of my co-volunteers said if it was my money would I go for the RT or the FJR? Based on 400 miles riding the RT, I think I'd opt for the BMW.

And, you're right, foam grips & a comfy seat would do wonders, so would cruise control.

[ghulst]

The starter motor is a known debate on the 1200. It happens on the GS as well. My GS had a bigger cable installed that apparently helped me avoid the issue on mine.

On falling over, the crash bars, but also the cylinder heads will have helped. That makes sure it does not drop that low, so it is easier to pick up. Lovely big bikes. 

And I would choose the RT over an FJR as well, I am sure. Though I have never ridden an FJR.

[Lee337]

A confession!

A couple of weeks ago I looked at a BMW RT1200rt 

I was having a chat with one of my work colleagues as we also use the BMW R1200rt as part of our operational fleet. Not only does he ride one for work, he also has one in his garage for personal use.

Having now ridden the BMW back to back with my Tiger 800XC, you may be asking 'is Lee about to desery Triumph, is he about to jump ship and join 90% of the local Advanced Motorcyclists in his area & switch to BMW?


Short answer - No!

Can't see a reason why I should. The Tiger suits my riding style and to be fair, the only real advantage I can see is the cruise control (my right hand can sometimes cramp up when riding long distances) and if/when I do change bikes, it will have one.

But so does the newer Tigers

I also looked at a Tiger 1200 & if I wanted to go up in engine size, I'd be tempted to get one of those.

 

 

[ghulst]

It would be interesting to compare the Tiger 1200 with the 800. I have understood that it feels a lot heavier than the 800. And then the comparison to the RT might be interesting as well. But the Tiger 800 is a great bike. It just misses that cruise control.