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

I just picked up a brand new leftover 2008 R1200R, had a 2007 R 1200R but had to sell due to job loss at DaimlerChrysler.

With this new R-1200R does anyone have experience with the L.E.D. Tail light from Clear-Alternatives, does it work and make a real difference worth the $150. How about the K1200R replacement mirrors for this bike? Just installed two new PIA Headlight Bulbs "WOW". I also installed a new Hepco & Becker rear luggage rack - fits perfect. My wife complains about the seat being to uncomfortable - any remedy?

Thanks
Windsurfer

I was seriously looking at the Clear Alternatives clear LED tail light but was put off by various posts found around the net. Seems there is a quality issue about the lens unit. Their are reports of moisture getting inside the sealed lens and causing it to fog up. Also some early failures of the leds and some opinions that the light put out by the unit was less than the stock unit. I e-mailed Clear Alternatives with my concerns and never received an answer. Pirates Lair ( http://piratesk12site.net/CleartailS.htm ) has the best price I could find. Goggle ' CTL-0087-L' the Clear Alternatives part number to get more info.
The only other rear LED tail light replacement I could find was the Triton 2. I couldn't find any reviews from people that have gone for the $270 it costs to buy one. Remember that the R1200R uses the same tail light unit as the K1200S.

I'm sure your familiar with the short comings of LEDs (directional light). I have an LED unit on another bike and the light to the rear is definitely superior to the original (1971 BMW). I'm not sure either one of these units will be an improvement over the stock unit. They both would look better, but I have a few friends that have been rear ended at night and won't take a chance putting sub-standard lights on the rear of my bike.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

Thanks so much I appreciate your time in responding. Do you know who the MV Motorrad U.S. Distributor is or how to contact them, I'm looking for bar risers.

Thanks Again,
Windsurfer

we were just discussing bar risers in a thread right HERE, it may be helpful.

wes

Windsurfer,

I bought Airhawks for both me and the bride. It did the trick for me for full days on the bike and the bride is good for four hour stints on the back with her's.

Doug

Somebody mentioned to me that the LED taillight of the new K1300S might fit a R1200R. Any opinions?

Be careful when putting in an LED taillight. With the low power draw of the LEDs, you might activate the bike's "burned out bulb detector." Of course, you could fix this by adding a load resistor to fake out the detector, but that's defeating one of the advantages of the LEDs.

red baron wrote:Somebody mentioned to me that the LED taillight of the new K1300S might fit a R1200R. Any opinions?

Here's info on this. Looks these guys have covered it pretty well.: http://www.i-bmw.com/showthread.php?t=21815

I bought the Clear Alternative LED after having an LED tail light on my F800 which was great. Have to say that overall I am disappointed. Some of the LEDs (I am told) flicker on and off. The lights are more pink than red and the overall quality is pretty ordinary, ie cheap looking plastic. I am not convinced it is brighter.

It is however a simple plug and play installation - worked perfectly from day 1 and no warning lights.

If anyone knows of a better one, I may go for that (and give you my current one).

I would give it 6 out of 10...

PS Did we work out if the K1300S fits the R1200R?

I haven't tried them on the RR (because I didn't think they'd work with the burned-out bulb detector), but I've used LED 1157 replacements on several other bikes with good results. I don't think they're significantly brighter than the stock 1157s, but they have the advantages of 1) lower power consumption, 2) virtually infinite life, 3) greater vibration resistance, and 4) the "instant-on" characteristic of LEDs which IMO makes them more visible. These, of course, use the stock lens, so if your objective is the "clear lens" look it won't meet your needs.

They're readily available on eBay, but there are good ones and not-so-good ones for sale, so there's some caveat emptor required. The company I've used, TMI, appears to have left the automotive LED business to concentrate on other things, so I can't offer a specific recommendation.