BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

I recently traded in a MY11 for a MY20. The cash incentives made me pull the trigger now, rather than to wait for the MY21


Overall, I really like the new model. You can appreciate the 10 years of evolution. It’s familiar, yet refreshingly new in the following areas


Handling—feels a bit bigger and heavier, but not very noticeable once you get going
Powertrain—the extra HP and Torque is quite noticeable!
Wind protection—Mine came with a tall shield. I think the old one had better airflow management. Not bad, but noticeable
Creature comfort (passenger)—heated rear seat is definitely appreciated by the Mrs.
Styling—purely subjective. I like the Angel Eyes, but prefer the old bike. The new one is a bit too voluptuous. (I like the styling for MY21). Mars Red for the new Polar Metallic for the old. PM is a better color.
Handling—not sure yet. Haven’t had the time to scape pegs with the new one. The old one, the feelers were lost pretty early and the foot pegs were ground down. Hope to do the same with the new one soon
Seats—comparing apples to oranges here. I like the new OEM seats. Perhaps not as comfy as the Sargent in my old bike. I appreciate the lower seat for the new one.
Build quality—I see a lot of cost reduction measures made with fairing and plastic parts. The finish on the MY11 is much better.
Suspension—moving from non-ESA to a D-ESA is a night and day!
Smartphone connectivity and BT—Not much progress. Still stuck in the past. The biggest complaint is that the USB connection still has low current limit.No volume control via wonderwheel for (non-BMW) BT connected device? Lags other premium bikes here (thus the MY21 update?)


Overall, the only real complaint I have with the new bike is the added weight. The addition of 50lbs+ (?) is noticeable around the garage.


However, the Powertrain and the suspension makes the new one a hands-down winner. No buyers remorse!


*for those of you who have ridden different generations of RT’s, what do you think?*

Ridden lots of miles on R80RT, 2007RT, 2010RT, 2014RT and now have a 1250RT. Love them all, but the latest puts a bigger smile on my face. Can't say I've noticed any weight difference, mind you the 2007s and 2010 and one of the 2014s were RTps fully kitted out. I traded my own 2014RT for the 1250 and haven't noticed any difference in weight.

However, the Powertrain and the suspension makes the new one a hands-down winner. No buyers remorse!



A good bike only needs 2 main ingredients.  A superb engine and sublime suspension - the rest is gravy.

I think RT riders look for much more than powertrain and suspension from a bike.

Hi everyone, first post on this forum. My name is Eric and I live in the south San Francisco Bay. English is my second language, so please forgive my broken English.

My 2012 just broke down (some stupid bracket holding the gear selector),so I got a 2020 today.

- I agree that it feels a bit heavier and harder to turn, but also zippier. I suppose it will take a few miles to get used to it.

- I got the riding mode pro option and it feels like nothing could be added to that bike. Traction control, stability control, abs with controlled braking and that pretty cool automatic hill start control which automatically locks the brake stopping at > 5% uphill. That is going to help a lot of people in San Francisco.

- I found the Neutral a bit hard to find and I do not like that the bike jumps forward when switching to first gear. After that switching is smooth and you always end up looking for a seventh.

- Everything else feels about the same, I hate that my custom seats do not fit, but the original feel firmer than on the 2012. Being 6'2, I preferred the taller height.

- At least it looks like I can switch the top case.

- I like the simplification of the audio buttons on the left

- Oh yes! big thing! the rear wheel air valve is now accessible from the side like on the front! That will save a lot of swearing.

- One more big thing, I hear that changing the headlight bulbs is still a nightmare, but that it happens much less often. Is that true?

- I think I like having less plastic, removing 250 screws every time was a bit of a pain.

- 278-page manual, that is geeky enough, some like, some don't, I do.

what else...

- Ah! The new road side assistance here in the US during the warranty. Hopefully I will never need it, but I would rather have BMW call a towing truck. That way I am covered if they mess up as they often do with bikes.

- It is, cough, not cheap, but BMW's service in my area is miles above any other brand.

That's it for some very first impressions. I hope it's as reliable as the first one.

Good observations Eric, enjoy your new machine.