Is anyone ever here?

Topics related to the ownership, maintenance, equipping, operation, and riding of the R1200R.

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deilenberger
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Is anyone ever here?

Post by deilenberger »

I can remember when this would be my first-visited forum every day (of course I was working then.. so I wasted a lot of time on forums..) Now - I open the main page of the forums, and if I see the date on the latest posting hasn't changed I don't bother going any further.

Where did all the R1200R people go? I know where Joe went (to a liquid cooled one), and I know a few other members who've sold their bikes and gotten newer ones, but there are still a number of people I'm friends with who are riding their R1200R's. Do we have such a reliable bike that we never need to post about it?

FWIW - I'm on my 2nd. First one was at 96,000 miles (including one C2C2C trip, and lots of Canada trips, and lots of other long trips) when a 2012 came along that I just couldn't pass up, so I didn't (thanks Cy!). It had no miles on it, hadn't been even close to broken in. It's now broken in. It's first long trip was to Canada (Nova Scotia) right after I got it, then the spring of last year was a long ride south (eventually to New Orleans, then across to Florida, and wandering back up through the southern states to NJ), and this spring it did it's first Coast2Coast2Coast trip. It ran flawlessly. It was never a worry or concern. In the course of 6,250 miles it consumed about 200cc of oil. I did find a ding in the front rim about a week after I got home - I think caused by some repaving by NJ-DOT where they milled a road (I-195) and didn't bother paving a little ramp to the metal edges of some concrete bridges. Figures that happened in NJ. Last time that happened (on the first R12R) I replaced the rim, submitted it to my insurance company (who paid about half the cost, then raised my rates) spent $1,000 for a new rim. This time - I had the rim straightened. Found a guy who has been doing rims about forever, and is a motorcyclist, and is reasonable, careful and not expensive. Cost was $100 instead of $1,000 (plus tire-demounting/remounting.)

So - where is everyone? Knock-knock, anyone home?
Don Eilenberger - NJ Shore
2012 R1200R - I love this bike!
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dbrick
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by dbrick »

Hi Don,

My experience (with the forum) exactly replicated. I used to spend a lot of time here, but lately no one's home. I wander over to http://www.r1200rforum.com/ sometimes; they're more heavily UK/NZ/AUS, but a nice group too. But as you say: the bike's set up as I like it and there's little to say about mechanical issues.

I retired in 2011, and interestingly enough (to me, anyway) I ride a bunch less now than when I was working. Not only because I'm no longer commuting (it wasn't a long commute in any event), but also because my riding partner hung up his helmet.

Mary and I are in Molde, Norway now. She gave us an Edelweiss Tour https://www.edelweissbike.com/en/touren/?c=CVE for my 70th, and arranged a home exchange here for afterwards. It was a great trip, Norway's really interesting and beautiful...but one feels a bit illiterate as the written and oral language is pretty opaque to those of us who only speak English, or French, or Spanish. OTOH, everyone here speaks English and most are cordial and helpful. Mary dropped a wool glove on a pier (we were taking a tiny people-only ferry from a tiny town to an offshore island) one morning, and we found it left for her (pushed partially into a grove between boards on a picnic table so the owner would see it) when we returned at the end of the day. Getting onto a tram in Oslo (I arrived the day before she did), the driver pointed out he couldn't sell me a ticket -- my guidebook had suggested otherwise. When he saw me struggling with the bags to get back off, he invited me to get on anyway, pointing out to me (when I later exited at my stop) the local shop when I could buy them.

Thinking the weather might be rainy and cold, I chose an R1200RTW for the trip. We had rain only one day, and it handled that very very well...but OMG it was heavy! The engine and brakes were very good, but I thought the gearbox was not -- there were two RTs on the trip, and I tried both; both sucked in that regard. The heft and the gearbox took it right off my "maybe someday" list. I longed for the R. We'll be home next week, and I'll get it again. No big trips planned, but I will ride down to UCLA for a law school reunion in September.
David Brick
Santa Cruz CA
2007 R1200R
priors: R50, R50, R69, R69S, R65, FJ1200, K75S, R1100RSL
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Photo
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by Photo »

FWIW, I came back after a LONG period away from owning a Roadster. I finally found an affordable 2007 R1200R and realized that I absolutely missed the daylights out of the BMW Telelever/Paralever suspension. Still putting the last few farkles on the bike to get it how I like it, but it's pretty close to perfect, as-is.

Also, as summer progresses, don't most of us stop posting to go outside and run up the mileage on our bikes? I realized that my job took up most of my other slack-time (since our economy is no longer booming). If time permits, hopefully enough R riders will form another national or regional meetup that I could attend. While the "national rally" is becoming a smaller entity for those who have enough leisure time & money to attend, I think most here would still like to have a get-together to meet & greet others with similar interests. A bit of seat time to hang with other R-bike owners is never a bad thing....
The EZ-board poster formerly known as "Photo82"
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by Catchina »

I still lurk. 38,000 miles on the 2011 so far, for sale.
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hjsbmw
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by hjsbmw »

Same here. Used to be here every day. May be that some of the most active people (forum-wise and road-wise) left. There were a number of 'sold the bike' posts also over the months, so less of a community, I guess. I don't have bike problems, still have the same 07, and I am not riding as much as I used to, hence much less time here.
Harald
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by roger l »

I am still here as well. I mostly look at the BMW Sport Touring forum and the BMW MOA forums. I will occasionally look at this forum but it is not a daily thing like it used to be. My 2013 R1200R is doing good. I bought it in January 2016 with 1300 miles to replace my 2008 with 56,000 miles. My 2013 had a voracious thirst for oil. It would consume 1 liter in 1000 miles. The dealer said it was within spec. The bike now had over 15,000 miles on it and the oil consumption has dropped to 1 liter in 3000 miles. I hope it continues to drop. I will be taking a week long trip from North East Ohio to Arkansas this September. I hope that this trip helps to finally break the engine in. We will see what happens.

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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by deilenberger »

As an update - I sold my '07 R12R with 96,000 miles on it to a chap in Alabama (hi Brian!), it now has in excess of 100,000 on it. The only reason I sold it (I was going to keep it to try to wear it out..) was a 2012 R12R with very low miles on it became available locally. So - I bought the 2012, sold the 2007. The 2012 started out life with Cy Young's wife. Went to a local club member (at my suggestion) who then fell in love with waterhead GS's. Thence it came to me. So far it's been to New Brunswick/Nova Scotia, New Orleans (and Barber Motorsports), MOA National last year and California. It might go back to Nova Scotia again this fall - I have a hankering for some seafood.. It took quite a while to fully break in, but since it made it 6,300 miles from NJ to VA to CA and back to NJ this spring, and only used about 200cc of oil - I think I can say it's broken in. It currently has around 31,000 miles on it and is running better then ever. No problems with it at all.. it starts, goes and brings me back home. And it looks good doing it.

I finally settled on a shield. The original CeeBailey's short shield works fine for me once I tilted it back about an additional 10 degrees. No buffeting, adequate protection against bugs and big rain (and hard frozen rain.) Plus I'm still on the Sargent custom seat I had made for the first R12R - that with a FreedomAir cushion lets me go all day if the pavement isn't too awful. Moved my Hyperpro shocks over from the '07. And running on PR4's.

So where else have people been? What'cha riding now?
Don Eilenberger - NJ Shore
2012 R1200R - I love this bike!
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by deilenberger »

BTW - the one thing I always liked about this forum - it's not a bunch of whiners. We actually seem happy with our bikes. It becomes tiresome on the other forums reading all the unhappy, whiny posts from people who apparently hate their bikes.

I think the R12R has a basic "goodness" that comes out to the owners. I don't recall ever meeting anyone who actually regretted buying one.
Don Eilenberger - NJ Shore
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dbrick
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by dbrick »

That's a good point, Don. I agree that as a group R riders are surprisingly satisfied.

Last winter, Mary thought she'd have us do something memorable for my 70th birthday, and so as a surprise set us up for a Viking Experience Edelweiss tour in Norway https://www.edelweissbike.com/en/touren/?c=cve, followed by a two-week house exchange with a Norwegian family from Molde. Pretty big present that was!

Norwegian weather is sometimes poor, so I chose a wethead RT, thinking that it'd be more comfortable for both our senior bottoms and provide better weather protection. It was more comfortable, and indeed provided very good protection on the (luckily) very few days it was wet. The tour group was varied and the leaders capable, the hotels ranged from good to absolutely charming. The scenery was fabulous and the tour took us to many of the most memorable and interesting places in southern Norway. The home exchange (we've done a lot of them, here and overseas) was also a great success.

But weather protection and seat aside, the RT was surprisingly unsatisfying. The first thing I noticed was its mass: it was heavy, and it took awhile before I began to feel comfortable moving it around at a stop or low speeds. Having Mary on the back added to the mass, and the occasional city hills of wet paving stones didn't help, either. Unlike the R, it was hard to reach the sidestand tab with my foot, and when deployed, the stand was so far forward that it couldn't be seen by the rider nor its tab easily reached. Of course, the tour guides had more experience at this than I did, and were younger; they had no trouble with this and were quick and fluid.

Mary found that getting on and off was difficult; while the small top box provided some support, it made mounting and dismounting tough. After a few days, I pulled the top box off and put it in the van; she found getting on and off much improved, and well worth the loss of back support.

At anything over walking speed, the RT was easy and smooth and plenty powerful. I liked the suspension and engine, and the brakes were really good. But the gearbox was awful, and colored the whole experience. There were two RTs on the trip, and I rode both; while one was a bit better than the other (and the guides happily let me ride that bike instead of the one I'd been assigned), both were not good. Neither bike had Shift Assist.

The worst aspect was a reluctance to upshift from 2 > 3. I've ridden BMW twins since beginning with /2 bikes in the early 70s, and have a decent ability to shift smoothly and without noise. The R is lovely for this; I can dance up and down with my left foot easily. The worst of the two RTs, however, often wouldn't leave 2d: no matter what combination of timing of clutch and throttle and gear lever pressure I made, most shifts were terribly un-smooth; even if there wasn't aural crunching, there was jerking. A small proportion of shifts could be made properly and easily, but I could never determine what I was doing, if anything, to allow them. The best workaround for the 2 > 3 shift was to upshift really early (i.e., before reaching 2K rpm), which the motor tolerated surprisingly well.

The other RT was better and I ended up riding it, although the shifting issue was always there, a faint miasma in the background. Once above 3d, the gearboxes shifted reasonably well, 'though still not as smoothly as the R. Oddly, the 1 > 2 and 2 > 1 shifts on both RTs were very fluid. Serial switchbacks were pretty easy.

It's hard to believe the gearboxes were as poor as I experienced; I wondered if perhaps as rentals they'd been mistreated. But I found some discussions of difficult wethead twin shifting online, so perhaps they're just like that. I haven't ridden a wethead R, so I can't compare it. There was a wethead R bike on the tour, and that rider had no complaint.

It all made me long for my own R. When we got home and I rode it again, it was very satisfying, and felt great.
David Brick
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by Newportcycle »

I pop in from time to time, mostly when I need real answers, not just hear about the latest bolt on farkles. My 2011, just turned 38,000 miles returning from a 5,560 round trip to the MOA rally in Salt Lake City. As some here know the only real issue I've had were the seal leaks I encountered last year, but 12 hours shop time, some advice from this forum and Ive put 10k miles on since with no issues. Funny thing is I met some guys form Canada at the Rally and they both had 2011 engines in their GS bikes and had to have the same seals replaced. I love my R, its got to be the best bike I've ever owned. Though secretly I did lust over a few of the K1600GTL's at the Rally.

If east coasters want to do a ride in meet and eat, we could pick a central spot and meet for lunch or something. I can do a ride most any weekend with some notice.
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by kbnesbitt »

I still pop by at least once a week, to check in on what is happening on the board. I am still riding my '07 R, while waiting for it to sell (until then, the RTW stays in storage). I was wondering where everyone else had gone, though I do see the occasional name pop up on the MOA Forum. While I am anxious to get riding on the new bike, the R has been so trouble-free, it will be hard to let it go. Apart from oil changes and scheduled service, the only unplanned expense was having to replace a rear tire after encountering some roofing nails this week.
Ken Nesbitt

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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by jkhomes »

When I bought my used R1200R many moons ago, I got so much useful information from this board it was hard to believe. Everyone was really helpful and I could really feel the personality of the typical (kind of particular) BMW owner. I still ride my 2007 plenty, but only come to this board for specific issues. Depending on how much my kids college tuition costs, I may be moving on to another bike in a couple years. I rarely log onto any boards these days, including this one.
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by gibbo111 »

Still on my 2007R just over 100,000km with no issues. Done a few long trips lately and heading off to far north Queensland in just over a month. Had this bike 9 years now, by far the longest I have ever had a bike and cant see any reason to change. Also have Hyper pro suspension which is great. Also have a HP2 sport which after 6 years has 3,800km on it!! . Too old (63) to ride it with any comfort, so the R gets all the kms. Check in here occasionally but no problems so spend the time riding, which we can do all year round in south Queensland. All the best to all :D
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by mogu83 »

I'm still here, check in every now and then. 120000+ and just came back from the MOA National, 6,500+ trip checking out Southern Utah and TOR on way back. Good news is most of those miles were NOT in New Jersey. Been C2C (I guess you could make that C2C2C as I did come home) three times, all the lower 48 (except Rhode Island) all the Maritime Provences and all the border Provences. I had the crown bearing go at 40,000 and the driveshaft at 70,000 both caught before any major damage. Still not using oil between changes and seal in the rear has a very slight seep, Ohlins are 40,000 old and need a rebuild. Overall bike looks good with slight dings on bottom (GS skid plate is ugly on bottom) from banging over rocks.
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Terry Kronlund
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by Terry Kronlund »

How long does it take to get a posting of a question to get posted?
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by Doug »

You're all set Terry- just the first couple posts need to be approved, thats how we deal with spam now. You wont need to get approval anymore!

I agree with all of the above. We have many lurkers! I think the reality is that its an aging bike and we've pretty much covered every issue now, so the site has gone from asking questions and discussing, to a great resource for all things R-R. I really appreciate you all making the site so nice to visit and so useful to so many people over the years. I'm proud of what we created! :)

At one point, the motorcycle.com folks offered to buy the site (for a lot of cash, actually), but I felt obligated to support you guys and keep true to the (ad-free) nature. It seems that they stole a lot of our traffic, I'm not sure how - they probably had a team of marketing and web crawling folks who know how to do it. Perhaps I should have updated the look, or, perhaps people actually like looking at ads!?

Either way, we're still here.. Just a little quieter, and wiser. :)
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by mogu83 »

Doug wrote: Either way, we're still here.. Just a little quieter, and wiser. :)
:lol:
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by peels »

Doug wrote:You're all set Terry- just the first couple posts need to be approved, thats how we deal with spam now. You wont need to get approval anymore!

I agree with all of the above. We have many lurkers! I think the reality is that its an aging bike and we've pretty much covered every issue now, so the site has gone from asking questions and discussing, to a great resource for all things R-R. I really appreciate you all making the site so nice to visit and so useful to so many people over the years. I'm proud of what we created! :)

At one point, the motorcycle.com folks offered to buy the site (for a lot of cash, actually), but I felt obligated to support you guys and keep true to the (ad-free) nature. It seems that they stole a lot of our traffic, I'm not sure how - they probably had a team of marketing and web crawling folks who know how to do it. Perhaps I should have updated the look, or, perhaps people actually like looking at ads!?

Either way, we're still here.. Just a little quieter, and wiser. :)
wait. 1200's are considered "aging"?

I might as roll my 1150 into the river. :lol:

Ive found that many guys like us, that are REALLY Into their machines, are also the same guys that trade them in once they are improved on. the LC bikes are hard to beat, if you're that type. I am not. I get into something and stick to it, until its completely useless lol

thanks for keeping the site up. its always easy to use/peruse when there's an issue Im tackling.
2002 R1150R. Helmets save more lives than loud pipes.
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by Doug »

Thanks Peels!
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Re: Is anyone ever here?

Post by kirby »

Bravo Doug!!!

much appreciated.
mike Mojave CA
'04 ROCKSTER
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