I finaly had a chance to ride the R1200R today

[Deans BMW]

Copied from my post on another site.

WOW, just returned from a ride on a new R1200R.......................

Don't know how to describe it, but for us Boxer Beemer Lovers, simply fantastic. Absolutely hauls butt. Lighter and easier to ride than the R1150R many times over. The brakes are simply fantastic, seems to have more torque than my ST, (same motor). I think it is because it is geared slightly lower overall, love the gages, amazing handling, I thought the seat was comfortable.

IMHO, when considering a R1200GS for an on road bike, try the R1200R. My ST is an '05 model and the new Boxer R is an '07 model and you can feel the improvements over my '05. The new R will use the larger RT/ST/GT bags. The new R is priced lower than a simlarly equipped GS. I was very impressed, esp after reading some of the negative reports in some forums.

George, come on down to San Jose BMW and ride one all you want.......They owe you, big time.
__________________

I really liked the bike

[DSKYZD]

Thanks for sharing with us, Dean. Your opinion is valuable.


DSKYZD

[AllanCook]

Glad to read you were impressed, Dean. After 500 miles on mine, it just seems to get better and better. It's a fantastic motorcycle. No regrets.

[motorradguy]

400 miles here on mine and 400 miles of ear to ear grins so far. I truly believe any negatives will be quickly overcome by the all out fantastic-ness of this new bike.

BTW: in memory

06 K1200R
06R1200GS
04R1100S
04R1150R

The R1200R is the best of the bunch

[davevagts]

Hello All! I'm brand new to this board with a brand new bike! I just got the R1200R and I had some questions to some experienced BMW riders. I've ridden dirt bike for a really long time and this is my very first road bike. I was wondering when I shift from 1st gear to 2nd and when slowing down and shifting down from 2nd to 1st, I hear a pretty big clunk. Nothing like the dirt bike. Is this normal? It just sounds loud. Just wondering if this is normal for this bike. The clutch is a dry clutch.

Thanks in ahead!
Dave Vagts

picture on http://www.vagts.net

[DJ Downunder]

G'day Dave..welcome..congrats on the new bike..I think it's one of those "They all do that" things.

Changing down just blip the throttle a little and it will help..and changing up first two second take a little more care than the other gears.

I find that half pulling the clutch (using only two fingers) helps with smoother shifts.

I'm sure it will get better after you get a few thousand miles on it.

DJ

[Deans BMW]

Dave, it would help if you would "blip" the throttle on the down shift, large pistons and heavy flywheel compared to your previous dirt bikes.

[JCsman]

Dave:
I'd worry about that clunking. If you maintain it properly, you might only get, oh, say, 150,000 miles out of your bike.

What DJ and Dean said.

Heck of a first (street) bike. Be careful out there.

I do believe I'm envious. The new Roadster is beginning to look better and better. To make things worse, I mentioned there was a new generation of my bike (I've got an '04 R1150R) to my wife and she said, "You ought to trade yours in. I'll make the payments". My hands have been itching and sweating ever since.

[davevagts]

Like i said above I'm used to dirt bikes...so usually how many miles can you get on a bike like mine?

Thanks,
Dave Vagts

[Ed K]

Clunks, what clunks!

When I rode the R1200R for a 30 minute demo spin, I experienced one of the smoothest tranmissions ever!

[iowabeakster]

you will get the hang of it. then you will think it is super smooth!

it is all about timing, and matching the tranny and motor RPM's

[Boxer]

tee hee...Dave said his bike "clunks".

[MikeCam]

Dave,

It is not unreasonable for a Boxer engined bike to go far north of 100,000.0 miles. Many Airheads still out there. Many R1100xx still out there. Most R1150xx have not had the time or riders to do over 100,000.0 yet but some have. Too soon to say about the R1200xx engine, but there is no reason to think it won't also do the distance.

Cam

PS

Hi, Dean, good to hear from you. Thanks for the review. M

[davevagts]

I've never just used my 2 fingers to pull the clulch. I had a lot more control this morning. Thanks!

Maybe it dosn't clunk it clicks loud.

~dave

[motorradguy]

Probably clicks. My tranny is the smooooothest on any BMW I've owned. Now the K tranny is a WHOLE different story. Wanna hear clunks?? Take a K bike for a test ride!

[johno]

JCsman, you wanna swap wives??
I wish mine looked at it like that.

[boxermania]

Dean-O

Hey, thanks for your seat of the pants experienece with the R1200R, we don't have one yet in our neck of the woods, but I'm looking forward to stradling one...........

[WhoZat]

R1200R..... it's HERE!

I took one for a ride as well, hated that silly seat though. It felt FANTASTIC on the show room floor, but I thought I was riding with a load in my pants when out on the open road. Yeah sure, I could reach the ground better with that narrowed saddle, but it'll need some work.

I believe they may have been listening to us (reading) R1150R.net, because BMW seems to have addressed many of our voiced concerns. I'm dissapointed that they eliminated my beloved beak though.

My impressions? What can I say, a modern Beemer is a modern Beemer. It has a smoother engine than my 2000 had, the non-servo brakes felt no different than the notorious servo ABS, and the suspension still provides a user-friendly/smooth/compliant ride. Not to mention that no other factory system is more capable of supporting hamburger-eating fat Americans AND their System Cases, than a Beemer suspension. Good on ya BEE-M-VAA!

Did it feel more powerful? Was it obviously lighter? Did the engine/exhaust noise remind me of a sewing machine?
NO, NO, and NO.
When we had 75 horsepower, we wanted 85. Give us 85 to the rear wheel, and somebody will want 95. (Okay, so I might be content with 120 horsies on the $20,000.00 R1200S ) But fact is, this puppy can get up to blatantly illegal speeds as quick as any motorcycle enthusiast can want.
They shaved some weight off it. Cool. But it still feels like a big motorcycle, albeit the easiest "big bike" I've ever had to manuever!
And why in God's name did they change the exhaust note of our old 1150? BECAUSE WE ALL COMPLAINED THAT IT SOUNDING TOO WIMPY! Doesn't sound half bad now don'tchaknow.....

But what's up with that stupid (read, EXPENSIVE/USELESS) information center thingy??? Gas mileage, ambient temp??? What else does it do for $250.00?!?!?

Gear indicator is seriously cool, I'm looking forward to see how much they want for that gizmo informing us of tire pressure, but..... traction control? I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to ride my R1200R with it's traction control over all those goat trail roads I like; but remember how we said front-wheel drive would never take off when it was stuck on the big Oldsmobile Tornado. Time will tell.

The headlamp and indicator cluster is seriously LACKING without BMW's sport shield sitting in front of it. I'd paint mine Black..... but DANM, $250.00?! Center-stand, $xtra.... heated grips..... $xtra, chrome headers (WHAT???)..... $xtra, clear lens.... $xtra.

Make my Roadster with integral brakes, center-stand, old fashion headers/brushed can, heated grips, and I'm anxious to see what other sport fairings will be released as after-market. And I like that wannabe pearl Gray or whatever they call it.

So.... with an FZ1 in the garage, and an old school (2005) Bonneville café racer in the makings, why would I stop at three bikes? (dreaming of an R1200R)
Because a fourth is EASILY out of the question!
But I can dream.

Nice bike, the Roadster.

[DJ Downunder]

My dealer said that I would need the tall seat option..and they can order it with the tall seat for me at no extra cost....has anyone seen the tall seat?

DJ

[motorradguy]

My dealer said that I would need the tall seat option..and they can order it with the tall seat for me at no extra cost....has anyone seen the tall seat?

DJ

Mine's been on order for a month now. I'll snap a pic of it when it arrives