BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

After months of contemplation I pulled the trigger on Thursday and got my new R1200R and love it! It's my 5th bike, 2nd BMW and it's replacing my R1100R that was really good to me and took me to every state east of the Mississippi and most of eastern Canada in 8 years and 40K+ miles. My R11R was in good shape but Manhattan potholes had taken a bit of a toll on the old girl and thankfully she found a nice owner down near the Jersey shore and I know she'll be happy living out her many years left down there.

I have to say everything about riding this bike I read here on the forums is true. It feels like I am sitting on well guided rocket when I ride it. The brakes are amazing and I am so glad to not have the singer sewing machine sound of my R11R and happy I have a "politely aggressive" growl coming from the pipe. It's no Ducati in the sound department but it's a nice little rumble and I like it.

I live in Manhattan but bought the bike in Albany at Max BMW and everyone I dealt with there was friendly and professional. They had the color and options I wanted and I was able to put a couple hundred first miles on her on winding country roads instead of the stop and go traffic of Manhattan.


Note
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If you are thinking of getting an R1200R and you live within a few hours of several BMW dealerships I suggest calling around and speaking with a sales manager and be very upfront about what you want and see what they can do for you. Some dealers I talked to basically offered me MSRP and would not do anything off of that which was disappointing. Yet others were willing to work with me. I also mentioned that I will be getting at least the 600 mile service from the dealer I bought the bike from and that can work in your favor as well.
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I got the touring screen which I thought was going to suck especially since the screen on my 11 was fairly high--but at six feet tall the wind ballast starts right at my lower lip and keeps my shoulders and chest protected. That being said I still may try Cee Bailey at some point for comparison.

One thing no one mentioned on this forum is that the bike has NO HELMET lock-!! I know there are aftermarket holders but how hard is it to stick a helmet lock somewhere on the bike! That's pretty much my only gripe right now. At speed my wrists and hands feel fine but around town they do get a bit fatigued and it might just be training new muscles but I think I am going for the foam grips this week to be safe.

The girl's got ABS, center-stand, heated grips, and tall screen, and luggage mounts and the dealer worked with me on the price which I appreciated. Sold my 96 R11R on ebay for $3600 so all in all the out of pocket wasn't too bad. I would have got the side cases but I am still researching options from Givi. I know the BMW cases are nice but considering the latch issue and $900 for a set I can make due for now without them for now.

After reading the posts here I know I want a headlight modulator and I have used my sheepskin seat from Alaska leather and it makes a BIG BIG difference on long rides--for $35 there's no reason not to have this.

But I am a happy camper to be sure. It kind of feels like when I first started riding almost 20 years ago and that's a good thing for sure.

I haven't named her yet but here's some pics of the girl and I.

Sweet!!

Nice...btw are you getting lots of bugs stuck in your teeth when you ride.. ..you must be grinning from ear to ear with a nice new bike like that.

DJ

Congrats on the new R1200R. We all know what you're feeling right about now. Best bike you've ever ridden? That about sums it up.

Congrats on the new addition!

I'm still noodling the purchase of the R1200R; maybe next year I'll have one.

ProductUser

I dropped in at Max's yesterday since I was sorta in the area (Hi Fred!)..
(never let your GPS guide you shortest route there from anywhere east of Albany.. downtown Troy is.. interesting, but I digress..)

Talked with the sales manager Tony - they had two R1200Rs - silver one and black/w/white pins - both with no ABS. I seem to remember seeing them both on Ebay at some point at very attractive prices if you don't want ABS.

Very busy shop - lots of stock and very helpful people. Unfortunately - no free bike wash, which would have been nice since my Roadster got a bit dirty in the rain on Friday riding up that way.

Congratulations! Nice bike and big grin

Congrats! I too am in the market for a new R12R, and as soon as I sell my truck I'll own one. I couldn't help but notice an interesting modification to your bike that I have NEVER seen in 35+ years of riding: exactly how well does that air freshner on the wind screen work? I never would have thought of that. Hope you enjoy the new bike

BigEasy wrote: how well does that air freshner on the wind screen work? I never would have thought of that.

He rides in NY City -- he needs it.

True we do need it here in NYC--you never know when a steam pipe is going to blow these days and that's sad. And that steam pipe was 3 blocks from my apartment.

I originally put it on there as a joke but the thing REALLY works! Must be how the air flows up a bit under the screen -- I swear it works wonders and I will admit people in cars usually do a double take when they see it too. At 99 cents it's bargain as well!

I may be buying the R1200R next week and can not decide on color. the local dealer does not have the Granite Grey Metallic, which is my preferred color. How does the Granite Grey look in person? Alternate color is black with pinstripe.

JPW wrote:I may be buying the R1200R next week and can not decide on color. the local dealer does not have the Granite Grey Metallic, which is my preferred color. How does the Granite Grey look in person? Alternate color is black with pinstripe.

I rather like Granite Grey. It's a dull finish paint - not even really semigloss. Much like the gray paint on the GS series bikes.

The Grey accentuates the lines of the tank IMHO, and the two small side panels. Nice look, it was actually my first choice, but circumstances forced me into buying the black/white-pins (NTTAWWT.)

I like my basic, black, naked bike.

OTOH, I like bikes. Just about any of them.

I have been shopping for them most of the summer and the flat gray is kind of cool looking, though I am leaning toward basic black. The gray is a cool hot rodder retro thing that appeals to me on some level, however I think I'd get tired of it personally. My decision may have to get made for me as my feet dragging (read my wifes intollerance for spending money) is eliminating choices each day. But the truck is sold so hopefully we'll have a new bike shortly. Best of luck with the Fresh bike

I got black coz that was all they had...

After my owning a Black 1984 Rabbit GTI in the late 80s I told myself I'd never own another black vehicle as they are very hard to keep clean. The black does look great when it's clean though. I was out in rainstorm with my granite grey R12R the other day and thought I'd need to clean her the next day but to my surprise there was barely a speck of dried water droplets or any other residue! Since we don't have easy access to hoses in Manhattan this is a total plus. The crystal grey is harder to find than granite grey but it does seem to have an awesome shine reminds me a bit of the pearl white Honda VFR Interceptors of the late 80s--striking and unique color!

I have the granite grey metallic, and I love it. It really provides a nice contrast with the black and power-coated parts, it doesn't show dirt at all and it really easy to clean. Dirt just wipes off. Plus, it is really, really cool looking.

First, congrats on your new R12. This bike rules!

I also have an R12 and bought an aftermarket helmet lock from my local BMW dealer and mounted it on one of the struts on the right side of the bike near the air box. Works great. I can photobucket if you want to see.

Bill

Yes that would be great if you don't mind. Can you attach two full face helmets to it or would you need a 2nd lock? On my R1100R it was possible to attach 2 FF helmets but very very tricky. Usually my passengers used a half helmet which was easier to attach with a FF.

Here is photo of mine - see helmet lock - the shiny thing near airbox. You might be able to squeeze 2 helmet rings on this, tho not sure as I only use mine for 1 helmet.

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m3/B ... t=R12R.jpg.

I believe it this part, tho mine is chrome http://www.ascycles.com/detail.aspx?ID=39111

Hope that helps!

Bill