Hello to everyone on the forum. I thought I’d better introduce myself having just joined.
It’s strange that I am here as I never ever thought I would ever own a BMW.
Long story short, I’ve been riding motorcycle since I was 21 and always owned a motorcycle. Over the last 10 years I’ve ridden only Harley Davidson, And when I retired in 2016 I bought a new Street Glide for the purpose of touring Scotland and the rest of the country. Unfortunately this Harley Davidson had the Milwaukee eight engine which has some technical issues. Which meant riding two up which is what I do most of the time with my wife had an element of risk which to me was not acceptable. Harley Davidson, were very good and tried to rectify the problem and even replace the motorcycle with a new like-for-like bike which unfortunately also had the problem. As a result I decided my best option was to look at another manufacturer and buy a bike from them which was capable of touring. The obvious choice was BMW and as a result I found myself in a dealership in Manchester looking at all the lovely shiny new bikes. I spotted a new fully loaded R1200 RTLE and despite being told about the new 1250 engine I decided I would stick with the tried and tested 1200. The RT of course is nothing like a Harley Davidson and 10 years of riding Harley Davidson is very hard to get out of your system, but the BMW is definitely growing on me. My only real gripe is the amount of plastic on the bike which is so easy to get marked I’ve had the paint work protected which helps, but it’s still easy to get a little chip, which coming from Harley’s drives me crazy. On the plus side it handles like a dream stops when you ask it to without having to give prior notice two weeks in advance has fantastic fuel economy and goes like......quick. I love the pannier system which is so easy to put on and take off and have the colour coded top box which is a doddle to remove when not in use. Unfortunately like everybody else our plans of holidays seem to have gone awry in the current climate. My Wife and myself were hoping to have gotten away at least twice this year and use the bike touring around North and mid Wales, but for now my only riding is the 20 miles to and from my part time job with the NHS.
As you can see the long story short turned into..... well a long story..... so having said that I will sign off and hope everyone stays safe. I’m quite sure once this is over we will all be out there on our machines once again
Regards RD.
Long Hello
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hammo
- Posts: 379
- Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:43 am
- Location: UK
- Bike Model and Year: 2019 1250rtle
- Been liked: 20 times
Re: Long Hello
Hey welcome!!!! your story is practically the image of myself i had all sorts of bikes over the years from Francis Barnett (d,ont laugh ) through to modern bikes , however as retirement loomed i wanted a comfortable mid weight cruiser and like yourself i purchased and RTLE and its fantastic has every option and a joy to ride , and to boot this forum is great for any type of question about problems you may have in the future .
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jackronner
- Posts: 508
- Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2017 4:45 am
- Location: Oakland, California
- Has liked: 1 time
- Been liked: 9 times
Re: Long Hello
Welcome, Reddog. We've had a strangely parallel bike journey. For 17 years I'd had a succession of Honda Magna 1100's before buying a 1200RT for my 10,000 mile tour of the U.S. (Not a single problem). I'd managed to avoid having a bike that looked more like a rocket ship than a motorcycle (my first was a '71 Bonnie bought in London). The Magna was considerably faster than the RT, but they both handled well in the twisties. I only wish it had twin pipes for that old-fashioned burble of a big twin. Even a Remus muffler doesn't cut it. What I will miss is not having resorted to a mechanic for 25 years since, other than valve clearances and minor stuff, the Beemer requires special care even to flush the brake fluid! My retirement plan (now postponed 'til next year due to the world having "gone viral") was to buy another RT and leave it with my French friend near Avignon for a yearly European tour. It used to be that "Stay safe" was mostly said to and among bikers, now everybody's saying it. So, stay safe.