Findings: 2021 R1250RT

[TexasCountry]

The first week has passed with my new RT and over the first 250 miles I can report that;


1.  The indicated speed on the TFT is consistently 3-4 mph higher than what my handheld gps indicated as ‘true speed over ground.’  This is true at all speeds tested, 10mph-114mph.  I haven’t yet been above 114mph.  BMW needs to tweak it and get it right.  Even a Yugo came with an accurate speedometer.  Thanks BMW.  So much for your “claimed refinement.”


2.  From 20-55mph there is a strange, high-frequency whistling sound, with intermittent pulses that sound like Morse code coming from the right-side upper fairing.  Changing the windscreen height doesn’t affect it.  Above 55mph the whistling disappears.  So much for real-world wind tunnel testing of the new fairing design. Thanks BMW.  I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t listen to the abhorrent whistling when riding below 55mph.  Work-around; turn up the volume on your speaker(s) and increase the treble.


3.  The bike is very quick and really pulls hard above 4500 and up to 6000rpm where I rolled off.  I’m staying below 6k until full break-in is complete at 1,000 miles.  It pulls hard enough to lift the front forks to their maximum extension.  Wheelies are a given - although I don’t abuse my bikes like that. 


4.  The first[size=78%] engine and final drive oil change was completed at 25 miles.  Engine oil contained the first set of larger metal shavings expected in the first run-in.  I chose Castrol Power 4T 5W40 Full Synthetic.  This oil exceeds BMW’s oil requirements.  Here’s an IMPORTANT NOTE for you.  I began measuring out oil into a laboratory type beaker years ago after finding the average quart of Amsoil contained 34+ ounces.  I measured out the Castrol and to no surprise each quart contained a full 2 ounces more than the 1 US Qt (946ml) indicated on the bottle.  See picture of the 8 extra ounces of oil left over from four, quart size bottles, after putting in the correct 128 ounces of oil (before adding the additional .1 qt (12.8 oz) the bike calls for (4.1 qts with filter chg).  Had I believed Castrol’s fill process was accurate, I would have added 8 oz of overfill.  Overfilling any engine with too much oil can cause too high of oil pressure that stresses seals and gaskets over time, and causes oil to be pushed passed the rings into the combustion chamber.  A few ounces under a full fill is ok, and this is one of those times where ‘less is more.’  Never overfill your engine.  Even an additional few ounces over time can cause higher than normal oil pressures.  I highly recommend you get a quality beaker and measure out your oil.  The final drive oil came out gritty and dark, even though it only spun for 25 miles.  I chose Amsoil 75W110 Severe Gear oil and will stick with that oil for the life of the bike.  Next change was at 100 miles and again at 250.  At each oil change the gear oil comes out cleaner and cleaner.  After the break-in change at 1,000 miles, the rear gets fresh gear oil every 2,500 miles when I change the engine’s oil and filter.  It’s so incredibly easy to do it doesn’t make any sense not to change the rear drive’s gear oil often.  I don’t care that the life of the gear oil goes far beyond 2,500 miles.  When my gear oil starts getting dirty, it gets changed.[/size]


5. I like the Michelin’s.  Both are very road-worthy and handle well right from a cold start.  Michelin states 42.6 psi rear and 36.3 psi front.


6. The suspension is near flawless in all Riding Modes and the Dynamic Engine Breaking will slow you down faster than a police radar can lock onto your speed. You just have to see them first. Dynamic Traction Control is also flawless.  Don’t bother trying a burnout.  The system will not allow it and if you force a burnout...you will break it. BMW went to length in explaining that in the Owner’s Manual.


7. The TFT Display works well and is gorgeous, however, it’s not all that intuitive so read your manual. 


8.  I had some difficulty using the BMW Connect app to display my gps map and data from my iPhone.  Likely operator error - so I’ll have the manual with me when I attempt it the next time.  If you don’t keep your phone unlocked and open on the Connect app, the TFT will immediately loose sync and return to the main RPM/Spd display.  This is plain ignorant and stupid on BMW’s part.  No taking a call, checking a text or even changing the volume on your tunes without the Connect app closing and you then lose your Nav display.  Regaining it is too stupidly hard to do while riding so plan to have to stop to reset your Nav.  Whoever (and their Manager) wrote that line of code or left out the proper line of code to maintain sync when Connect is not displayed, should be fired, hog-tied, shot and tar’d and feathered before being hung.  This is unconscionable for a $25,000 motorcycle.  Why not just imbed the Nav into the TFT?  It’s what every other manufacturer does and it works!  Obviously too simple a fix for BMW to comprehend.


9.  I won’t even get started on the fact that the 2021 RT DOES NOT come with a radio/stereo system or speakers.  And, according to my awesome dealer (Gulf Coast BMW Houston) the bike CANNOT BE RETROFITTED for one at a later date.  Touring bike - No stereo, No speakers.  STUPID STUPID STUPID.  Something about a microchip being unavailable until Summer or Fall 2021 so they release the bike anyway.  If you’ve seen videos that show a stereo and speakers, that is a EU model.  EU models got the last of the available microchips and the US got none.  If by some chance you got a stereo and speakers in your US model, it’s an exception.  Thanks BMW.  Great planning ahead!  Did your German parts manager even consider working with a different supplier well ahead of the release date so that all units would get a stereo?  Obviously not.  I still bought the bike because I had a work-around.  See picture.  First, purchase [size=9px]a Bluetooth speaker and mount it just above the TFT or wherever you want.  I bought one that is round, has speakers on all sides (360*) and is 6” long.  It fits perfectly and rests on the back edge of the TFT and a couple fairing points on the rear.  I used Velcro for easy on and off. Buy a USB 2.0 splitter (Amazon) that has one male to two female USB ports [/size][size=78%]and connect your Bluetooth power cord to one female and your iPhone power cord to the other.  Connect the male side to the factory-installed USB port inside the right-side[/size][size=78%] storage compartment.  Must be magic BMW.  For less than $50 I installed my own Bluetooth stereo that remains charged, plays everything I can play or listen to on my iPhone and will continue playing my music while I check texts or email. As long as I have a strong-enough cell signal while riding, I can even watch and listen to Discovery+ or YouTube, even though I wouldn’t.  Too much of a distraction and definitely not safe.  What a revelation!  It even plays my Google maps app voice during turn by turn navigation.  Because I’m use to using Google Maps for navigation I don’t even need BMW’s Connect App that is kind of crappy anyway.  The ease and simplicity of this work-around must boggle the minds of BMW engineers and corporate.  Unbelievable.  Someone from BMW please explain why the average buyer has to figure this out and why BMW couldn’t.  Or wouldn’t.  I’m sure the almighty dollar and BMW’s corporate greed played a role.[/size]
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[size=9px]More to come after I get more miles on her and run across whatever else BMW ignored or forgot.[/size]
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[size=9px]The engine alone is so incredible that I’d buy this bike for the engine alone.  The rest is just fluff but for $25,000 you should get a lot of fluff and without some ridiculous whistling Morse-code playing in the background.  Evidently BMW disagrees.[/size]
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[size=9px]Ride safe and God Bless[/size]

[Jefla]

Informative piece. Thanks.
I’m new to bmw and riding a 2020 rt. Really remarkable bike. Precise. 
I’m going to follow you on final drive oil.

[KCMoto]

The first week has passed with my new RT and over the first 250 miles I can report that;

4.  The first[size=78%] engine and final drive oil change was completed at 25 miles.  Engine oil contained the first set of larger metal shavings expected in the first run-in.  I chose Castrol Power 4T 5W40 Full Synthetic.  This oil exceeds BMW’s oil requirements.  Here’s an IMPORTANT NOTE for you.  I began measuring out oil into a laboratory type beaker years ago after finding the average quart of Amsoil contained 34+ ounces.  I measured out the Castrol and to no surprise each quart contained a full 2 ounces more than the 1 US Qt (946ml) indicated on the bottle.  See picture of the 8 extra ounces of oil left over from four, quart size bottles, after putting in the correct 128 ounces of oil (before adding the additional .1 qt (12.8 oz) the bike calls for (4.1 qts with filter chg).  Had I believed Castrol’s fill process was accurate, I would have added 8 oz of overfill.  Overfilling any engine with too much oil can cause too high of oil pressure that stresses seals and gaskets over time, and causes oil to be pushed passed the rings into the combustion chamber.  A few ounces under a full fill is ok, and this is one of those times where ‘less is more.’  Never overfill your engine.  Even an additional few ounces over time can cause higher than normal oil pressures.  I highly recommend you get a quality beaker and measure out your oil.  The final drive oil came out gritty and dark, even though it only spun for 25 miles.  I chose Amsoil 75W110 Severe Gear oil and will stick with that oil for the life of the bike.  Next change was at 100 miles and again at 250.  At each oil change the gear oil comes out cleaner and cleaner.  After the break-in change at 1,000 miles, the rear gets fresh gear oil every 2,500 miles when I change the engine’s oil and filter.  It’s so incredibly easy to do it doesn’t make any sense not to change the rear drive’s gear oil often.  I don’t care that the life of the gear oil goes far beyond 2,500 miles.  When my gear oil starts getting dirty, it gets changed.[/size]

Ride safe and God Bless

Thanks for the summation!  I'm buying a '22 this week.

Do you have a YouTube link or DIY page you can share to show/teach me how to do my own oil service?  I'd love to get it right and not overfill it like that!  Not sure what products my dealership uses but I'd love to learn to do it myself anyways.  :D

[dpickens]

1. This issue is not limited to BMW motorcycles or even motorcycles at all. Simply put EU (and other governing bodies) do not let manufacturers ship vehicles with speedometers that read low. They *do* allow them to ready as much as 10% faster. So BMW, like other manufacturers, make certain that all their vehicles indicate a 2-3 mph faster speed than you are actually going. The only way to get a more accurate speedometer on a BMW Motorcycle is to have an "authority" model with the factory calibration which only then makes the error level within 2 mph.


2. The whistling is a known issue and has been determined to be caused by gaps in the fit-finish between headlight and fairing. The informal fix is to use electrical tape or rubber gasketing. Not sure if there hasn't been a BMW tech notice on this with formal fix as of yet. Would report it to your dealer and have them address it whilst you're having your initial break-in servicing done.


4. Why are you changing fluids before the 600 mile / 1000 km break in period is complete?


9. Audio with speakers can be retrofit to the RT regardless of how they came from the factory. Mind you it's not cheap if the bike didn't come as "audio prepped" as that provides the wiring harness and speakers from the factory. The "chip" is in the audio unit which I readily added on and took my dealer about 30 mins from start to finish to install. Without the wiring harness, the dealer has to add speakers, additional wiring *plus* the audio module. And that takes a good 6 hours or more because of all the body panels, etc.