Shopping for an R1200RT

[Ed Harley]

So, I find myself shopping for an R1200RT despite I had decided not to get more bikes.  ^-^

After the 2014 R1200RT LC I had it has taken a while to notice the diffences per years: hexhead, camhead, servo brakes, non-servo brakes and so on. Slowly I start to understand the differences/changes.

There seems to be several bikes available with good options and decent kilometers. They all just seem to be of different "era" bikes.

If there are two bikes, say 2009 Hexhead and 2010 Camhead with comparable kilometers, options and prices available, would it be advisable to go with a late model Hexhead instead of an early model Camhead? Or other way around?

Did the Camhead have 'teething' problems?

And to make things even more complicated there is a fairly decent 2007 available, as well...

[David.]

I've had both a 2007 Hexhead (non-servo) and a 2010 Camhead, now got a 2012 Camhead. My preferred choice is the Camhead.

Had the 2010 Camhead from new for 4 years, covering 38,000 miles, I don't remember having any particular problems with it.

With the VIN number from the bike, a BMW Motorrad dealer should be able to check for any completed/outstanding recalls or technical campaigns.

[Ed Harley]

Thank you for your reply.

Is one able to feel the difference between Hexhead and Camhead engines as the power and torque numbers seem to be very close?

I'm mostly thinking about torque.

[David.]

From the Rider's Manuals, both the Hexhead and Camhead have the same power output of 81 kW (110 bhp) at 7,500 RPM and 7,750 RPM respectively.

The torque figures are, Hexhead 115 Nm and Camhead 120 Nm, both at the same 6,000 RPM.

My feeling is that the Camhead engine is a little "crisper" than the Hexhead.

[Our Gee]

My feeling is that the Camhead engine is a little "crisper" than the Hexhead.

Agreed, and the Camhead is a little "Prettier" overall.

[beemerboy9]

Thank you for your reply.

Is one able to feel the difference between Hexhead and Camhead engines as the power and torque numbers seem to be very close?

I'm mostly thinking about torque.

The comparison tests at the time suggested to owners of the Hexheads that there was no compelling need to switch over to the Camheads.


So, nice if you can get it but no urgency required.


It was a different matter when the water-cooled machines appeared, providing you were not going to be a beta-tester.


Personally I do not get anywhere quicker on my 1250RT than I did on my 2005 Hexhead.

[Ed Harley]

Thank you for the comments. Let's see how this progresses.  ^-^

[Ed Harley]

"Shopping for an R1200RT" and this is how it turned out.  :-[

Could be that it was nostalgia which was one factor as I had one of these 21 years ago. Jeez, I'm getting old...

It is a 1996 Siena Rot with 43k miles on the clock.

Any R1100 forum you could recommend?

[BoB21]

Stay here your only 100cc out between friends.

[David.]

Stay here your only 100cc out between friends.

Agreed, the Forum was originally for R1200RT only until the R1250RT came along and then the title was changed, viewtopic.php?t=3

This thread shows that 13 forum members have either got or owned R1100RT's, viewtopic.php?p=7275#p7275

[Ed Harley]

That is very kind of you, thank you.  ^-^

[bandytales]

Any R1100 forum you could recommend?

Yes, very much this one: https://www.bmwsporttouring.com/forum/16-oilheads/


Also stick around here. But there is a really useful depth of knowledge on model specific forums such as the one I linked to above.

[Ed Harley]

Well,

had ups and downs with the R1100RT chasing down the poor running and ended changing just about everything. Finally it turned out to be the CO potentiometer which some idiot had played with and CO% was around 0.3%. After it was changed to around 2% everything worked really well.

But I think that countdown had started for the bike and I ended trading that in for a pristine Evo engined -97 FLHR.

But I still wanted an R1200RT. So this is what I found few weeks ago:



It is a 2013 registered in 2014. It has 47000 kms on the clock and it is in very good condition.

With full service history by previous owner there is not much that needs to be done now. Although I did change the tyres last week - after two weeks of going back and forth I finally decided to get Dunlop Roadsmart IV GTs.

It is getting wet and cold but there may be some half decent weather still to go for a bit longer rides before the winter arrives.

[Ed Harley]

We had reasonably OK weather today, sun was shining, roads were dry and it was around 13 degrees Celsius.

This was the first time to test the Dunlops in the dry - did notice two weeks ago that they work in heavy rain well.

While I understand that any tyre from my short list would feel good these feel really good. Turn in is quick and light, they feel stable and planted and there is no tyre noise. Will be interesting to see how they last.



Additionally I noticed (again) that Shoei GT Air 2 is a very good touring helmet. I used to have an "Arai-head" but either Shoei have changed their helmet shape or my head is different. I guess the first one.




At the same time with new tyres I changed the windscreen. Eventually I went with ZTechnik VStream Z2402. I'm 6'2" and it felt like the taller Z2403 would have been too tall. There is plenty left of height adjustment with Z2402 so it was the right choice for me.



And last: Halvarssons Logan gloves. Bought them early this summer but was slightly disappointed as they were way too warm to use in the summer. Now I realised that they are for spring and autumn. Even with heated grips it is good to have well insulated gloves against the wind.



Tomorrow seems to be also good weather. I'm going for a longer ride as good weather days start to get less and less in October.