R12R VS F650GS: which engine is smoother?

[GS George]

i currently ride an '07 F650GS (single cyl) and got the hots for a new R1200R. i read here about the boxer motor being buzzy so i was wondering if anyone who went from a 650GS to the R12R could tell me which is smoother. my little 650 is buzzy at interstate speeds, the mirrors are pretty much useless. i would hate to pick up a new bike only to have it be as buzzy at speeds of 75-80mph as my little single cyl. i know a simple test ride will answer my question but i thought i would ask here first.

[Jed]

My mirrors are perfectly usable at any speed, my eye-sight is a bigger problem than the mirrors. Having owned singles, twins and 4 cylinders: You know you are on a twin, but I wouldn't call it buzzy. Very manageable, and at cruising RPM it's very, very smooth.

cheers,

[Rocketair]

My wife has an 09 G650GS which i believe is the same bike as the 07 F650GS. I have an 07 R1200R, so i can answer this one with some direct experience. To me they are not comparable at all in terms of "buzzy-ness." Driving the 650GS over 70mph is annoying to me after 15 min or so - where the 1200 boxer, while sound and vibrations are a bit on the rough side, they are more a character thing. No problem for me to ride all day in the in the 70-100mph range.

In fact i just rented a K1300GT for a little tour a month ago, and while the engine obviously seemed smoother (inline 4 vs boxer 2) after an hour or so the 4 cylinder "smooth vibrations" were making me wish for my R1200R... Liked that acceleration and winsdscreen though!

[blueviewlaguna]

In fact i just rented a K1300GT for a little tour a month ago, and while the engine obviously seemed smoother (inline 4 vs boxer 2) after an hour or so the 4 cylinder "smooth vibrations" were making me wish for my R1200R... Liked that acceleration and winsdscreen though!

4 cyl vibrations are double the frequency of a 2 cyl and this frequently puts them in the range of a "tingling" sort of buzz that I cannot take for long on some 4 cyl bikes, I much prefer the "thumping" buzz of the Boxer (when it does make it). The R1200R engine is pretty smooth to the rider considering that its rigidly bolted to the frame - the engineers could not "cheat"with motor mounts on this bike, they really had to tune the resonance frequencies....

[Ashveratu]

I bought my 09 R1200R brand new and had to go through breaking it in. If you are getting a new one, vibrations can be a little rough. As the engine breaks in, it becomes much smoother and from what I hear, only gets better with time, mine certainly has.

If I am not mistaken, you have the mickey mouse mirrors on your F650GS which also come stock on the R1200R. Those mirrors are horrible and vibrate just as badly on the R1200R. The stock mirrors from the current F650 or F800GS are far superior vibration wise and also look a hella lot better too. You can get a set of the stock F800GS mirrors for about $130 from your local dealer. There is also a cheaper option if you want to give the Aprilia Tuono mirrors a try. Info about em can be found here> viewtopic.php?f=20&t=20622 If you don't feel like reading through the whole thread, the short of it is they cost about 50-60 dollars, look exactly the same but they do not fit exactly. Threads seem to be off a little bit but with some elbow grease, they will still work.

[Caroanbill]

Well, I feel qualified to comment!

I had an '03 F650CS (single spark) and '04 F650CS (dual spark) - 10,000km on the single spark and 27,000km on the dual spark, much of that doing 500-700km touring days. Longest day was 1100km on the dual spark. This is almost the same motor as the GS, although it is supposed to be slightly smoother thanks to newer-generation electronics and different transmission plus belt drive.

I've now got 30,000km on my '07 R1200R, almost all of that on long-ish touring days. There is no contest. The flat twin is at least an order of magnitude smoother. I had both together for a few years, so there were numerours back-to-back comparisons.

I actually liked the big-single pulse of the 650 motor, and the character it gave the bike. But there is no doubt it was a buzzy little thing - and the selection of F650GS' I've ridden on test or loan were buzzier than my CS (not much, but noticeable). The twin has a couple of vibration ranges (and so did my R1150RS) but at its worst it's still smoother than the single. However, it still has character.

And it's not just that the twin is less buzzy. The shaft drive with paralever is unobtrusive compered to a chain (though maybe not the CS' belt drive) and the telelever suspension has it all over conventional forks out on real-world roads (and certainly the goat tracks of Aussie bush roads!). The extra 21 kgs of the R12R also give a slightly plusher ride - though I my only experience of the standard shocks was at my test ride since I fitted Wilbers in pre-delivery. I used to watch my mates' R12GS' suspension and weight give that bike a ride through bumpy roads, wheras the CS tended to bounce across the top of them - and the R12R has the same advantage.

Whatever worries you might have about a transition from F650GS to R1200R, vibration and buzziness shouldn't be among them. Take a test ride and find out!