My 2006 R1200R has only covered 295 miles!

[Mort]

Hi everyone - first post by a new R1200R owner. I'm in the UK and bought the bike off Ebay about 4 weeks ago.

And as the title says - the bike is coming up to its 2nd birthday and the previous owner only put 295 miles on the clock. Must be a record! Needless to say it's in 'as new' condition - only problem is that it's not had the 'running in' service yet and the warranty runs out on 30th November. I sent off the new owner card to BMW and they have offered me the option to extend the warranty for a further year for £310 which I think I will do for peace of mind. The weather in the UK has been unseasonally cold for the last couple of weeks and the roads have been salted so I'm struggling to get the miles on before I get the 1st service done.

Having had a look on this site I've now got a list of upgrades to carry out - I've got the Nippy Normans hugger and fender extender waiting to be fitted in the garage - future purchases will include the 20" Cee Baileys, GS handguards, SW Motech engine bars and Givi luggage ( I like the look of the V35 panniers with the silver tops which will match the bike).

Anyway, this is a great site and I'm sure I'll be asking a few questions as things progress.

Mort

[sandycruz]

Welcome Mort,

Look forward to your progress. What a great buy!

Good luck,

David

[PhilSB]

Ah, another Brit rider. The only other R1200R I've seen is a dealer demo bike. Whereabouts are you located?

[Mort]

Hi Phil,

I'm in South Wales. Yes, I've noticed that there aren't many R1200R riders in the UK - it's one of the many reasons why I decided to buy - a bit of exclusivity! For example, if you look at the online MCN ads there are only 4 R1200Rs for sale. On the other hand there are 49 GS1200s For some reason UK bikers seem to be obsessed with the GS and won't consider the R even though it's clearly a better bike for most, especially for those who never venture off road.
The only drawback with exclusivity is that there aren't many s/h add-ons bits for sale on Ebay and I'm probably going to have to buy everything new, which is going to be pricey.

[cheelleebutt]

Be sure not to baby the 12R too much when you break it in. Accelerate hard from first gear (without picking up the front wheel) and make sure to do a lot of engine braking. The first 600 miles is critical to the run in because the factory has clamped down the head assembly for the break in process. When I did the break in, I was accelerating and engine braking as much as I can. You know, accelerate, decelerate, accelerate, decelerate, etc.. I was never at the same RPM. BTW, This was all done on local streets. No freeway/motorway riding. Within the first 600 miles I didn't take the bike above 5K RPM. After the 600 miles mark and service, I started the break in for the above 5K RPM range. From day to day I gradually took the bike up in RPM until I hit the limiter (e.g. somewhere a little beyond 7.5K RPM). Of course as you gradually bring the engine up in RPM, don't stay at the top RPM for any length of time. Once you hit your mark, drop the throttle. By about 850-900 miles I had enough and decided I'm done with the majority of the break in process. The key to all this is always check the oil level and see how much oil you're burning. You should see the bike gradually burn less and less oil. From 1K-3K miles, I still occasionally take the bike up to 7.5K RPM. She still resisted in the beginning, but eventually she gives in and smooth out. By about 5K miles she is so smooth that I don't bother doing anything other than tender to the occasional oil addition. However, that's far and few in between because by 5K my 12R doesn't burn oil at all.

If you don't do this hard break in, you're going to be on dyno oil until 12K-14K miles. As for me, I went straight to synthetic when I hit the 6K mark. Yeah baby!

During the break in, I never reach 5th gear. Oh and down shifting is also a good thing.

Cheers, ride hard and your bike will reward you with no burning of oil and good gas mileage.

[deilenberger]

I'll have to disagree with cheelleebutt..

Follow the factory break-in recommendations. Limit it to 4,000 RPM until you reach 600 miles, then gradually increase the RPMs. DO use engine braking - it helps seat the compression rings. The engineers who design the engine also write the break in recommendations. Somehow I trust their opinion on what works best.

My bike stopped using oil at about 3,200 miles. Went to synthetic at 6,000 and it hasn't used oil since (now at 22k miles.)

[cheelleebutt]

Hm... I guess I can't seem to get it right. The last time I followed the factory guidelines for the R12GS, in accordance with the manufacturer specs, I ended up having to stay with dyno until 12K. Even the mechanics at the BMW dealer told me that the factory recommendations are on the light side. They told me I have to, at a minimum, get it in the power-band to truly break in the engine. They even told me that I should red-line it but don't stay at the top for too long. Once I followed their recommendation to red lined the 12GS, the bike liked it much better and ended up burning less oil. Go figure. In the end, do whatever is best for you. There is always the questions of whether you're waring prematurely or not waring enough. To be on the safe side, stick to the manufacturer's recommendations. Just don't be too surprised if the dealer ends up telling you that you can't go with synthetic at 6K. Worst case, you stay on dyno until you're at 12k.

[Mort]

Thanks for the advice guys - I must admit I have found it hard to keep to 4000 and keep finding myself at 5000 but I've been nowhere near the redline yet!

I've also kept away from long fast roads and stuck to the backroads and villages to keep the speed & revs varied.

Unfortunately I don't know how the previous owner ran it for the first 295 miles - he was an old guy so I think it had an easy time and wasn't thrashed!

He also fitted a Remus powercone but I've swapped back to the standard can until the bike is run in as it was backfiring too much for my liking. I will give it another try next year.