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

I had given up motorcycling a year ago after several years on three R1200Rs including a 2009 and two 2011s. However, I always loved the LoRider Concept Bike and I've had it as my laptop wallpaper for years.

I knew the R nine T would suck me back in.

Went to buy one today but they wouldn't sell it to me as they wanted to keep one on the floor. So I took a test drive.

Fabulous bike. Feels like an R1200R with a few differences. First, it feels much lighter. I know it's not really but it feels like it. It's easy to flick back and forth. Feels incredibly nimble compared to an R1200R.

Stock exhaust is dual akrapovic cans and it sounds fabulous. Not BMW like at all.

The brakes are great and it's more twitchy when stopping but the dive under hard braking wasn't an issue. I won't miss the telelever at all once I'm used to it.

Standard turn signal switch. That's a change. Until I get used to it I'll be blowing the horn every time I mean to turn on the turn signals.

Build quality is amazing. The seat is nicer than the R1200R. The stock exhaust is nicer. The air intake is nicer. The forks are nicer. The brakes are nicer. The mirrors are nicer. The bar end caps are nicer. Aluminum pieces such as the front fender brackets and the machined metal brackets that support the seat are beautiful. Aluminum tank. I'm not a fan of the matte finish brake and clutch levers but that's about the only complaint.

The biggest change though is the gas tank. It has the same capacity but on the R1200R you feel like you are sitting behind an enormous tank. On the R nine T you don't really feel like you're sitting behind anything. I felt like the bike was under me rather than in front of me. It really contributes to the lithe feeling of the bike.

The R1200R is a fabulous bike but it's a very different bike. If you want a substantial naked bike with touring capabilities that will always be pretty close to stock the R1200R is the way to go. You can't customize it much because of the telelever and other unique traits. For example, have you seen many R1200Rs with aftermarket headlights or a chopped fender? They really aren't out there. With an R1200R you can add luggage, swap out the shocks and fenders, add a fairing and that's about it.

In short order you'll be able to go to the aftermarket and find all of the following for an R nine T: Headlight alternatives, clip-ons, rear sets, fender chop kit, fork upgrades, alternate seats that do more than offer additional padding.

It's going to be fun.

Great to hear with your test ride, I'm hoping me experience is exactly the same when I get mine.

There's already lots of options coming out for the 9T, I talked with Dan Kyle yesterday and for about $1500 he swap out the fork inners with Ohlins. Hopefully a rear shock is coming soon.

Now, about that dealer that has one but won't sell it to you... not cool. Haven't heard much talk about a dealer doing that with the 9T...

The dealership doubles as a motorcycle museum so the owner likes to keep motorcycles around to look at. That's fine for him since he has about 200 motorcycles. Sucks for me since I have precisely zero motorcycles and riding weather has come to Georgia.

Here's a question I'd be curious to know the answer to if anyone knows. I know the frame and seat for the pillion can be removed with only eight bolts. Do I have to buy anything to go with that configuration such as a different main seat or a different tail light and license plate attachment or can I dump the pillion and reattach the taillight and license plate frame directly behind the main seat? I don't like the bobber look but I might do it just for fun temporarily if I can easily remove and replace the pillion configuration at no cost.

I believe the 8 bolts include the four on the bracket under the seat that splices the two sections, and the additional 4 that attach the frame support. In the Soul Fuel video, released by BMW, they show the removal briefly, and it looks pretty cake. I've wondered about the mudguard/taillight myself. It isn't shown in any photos as attached when the bike is configured with the solo saddle, but my first thought is that for them to make it one of the default configurations, there must be a way to make it street legal out of the box. The seat is the same though.

My first order of business will be to find out how all that works, I'll report back.

I believe you need this bracket to hold the exhaust if you want to lose the foot pegs.
part # 77 11 8 536 136 Silencer bracket $143
Last week when ordering accessories that part was backordered from Germany just like the heated grips, of course.

You'll also need a replacement tail light and turn signals since you'd be removing the tail section for a bobber configuration. I'm sure aftermarket will be releasing a plug and play option soon enough, but that doesn't fall into the "no cost to me category."

BTW, in all these photos BMW shows the Euro spec tail light, the US model is much larger due to DOT regs....

I didn't realize that you could lose the bars for the passenger foot pegs and keep the pillion seat installed. I thought the black bars that hold the passenger foot pegs also supported the pillion seat. I love it with the pillion seat without the pillion pegs. I suspect I'll set mine up without the passenger pegs, seat cover on the pillion and a minimalist aftermarket fender eliminator/tail light/license plate that doesn't extend a foot behind the seat.

Still bothered that they've abandoned the time tested Earle's Fork. Not sure what they were thinking there.

I didn't realize that you could lose the bars for the passenger foot pegs and keep the pillion seat installed. I thought the black bars that hold the passenger foot pegs also supported the pillion seat. I love it with the pillion seat without the pillion pegs. I suspect I'll set mine up without the passenger pegs, seat cover on the pillion and a minimalist aftermarket fender eliminator/tail light/license plate that doesn't extend a foot behind the seat.

Yeah, if you look at any of the official photos with the cowl installed, the frame support is gone. I like that look too, and I ride two-up rarely enough for it to be worth swapping out when necessary. My only concern is luggage. I'd like to think that even without the frame support, the tail section could hold the tailbag, but I'll have to get a closer look to know for sure.

As far as the fender, I've decided to skip an eliminator and just have someone in Europe ship me the euro spec tail set-up. I'm really quite happy with that look and fender eliminators do just that - I kinda like something keeping the spray off my back. The other R NineT forum has a lot of oversees members, I'll try to work out a deal with one of them. It's no wonder you don't see a lot of photos with the US spec tail light, it doesn't do the minimalist lines of the bike any favors. But as people have said elsewhere, in person it's not nearly as bad.

When I saw the bike, I didn't mind the tail light. It's actually pretty cool. The thing that bothered me was that it was at the end of that long fender sticking out behind the seat. The turn signals though have no business on the bike and need to be replaced with something smaller and higher tech.

I'm thinking the solution that suits my taste is to drill a few holes in the seat cowling for a tail light and indicators and set it up so I can plug it in easily when I put the cowling on and take it off. I suspect that I'll ride it with the cowling 90% of the time. I know that means no luggage on the tail or passengers but I'm ok with that most of the time.

won't sell you a bike? They must not have a decent enough exhaust fan in their shop, causing them to breathe fumes all day long.

M-O-R-O-N-S

All nonsense aside...the 9t is a SWEET bike. EXACTLY like a motorcycle should be. Simple, quick, fun to ride, and nice to look at.

Id like to have one eventually.

Kinda the opposite problem here to what Sander experienced, any NineT's that make it to the local dealership are instantly sold so up to now its been impossible to get a test ride.

However our local dealer got in a demonstrator from BMW this week (just for the week) and I was lucky enough to get a test ride today.

I noticed how small and low the bike felt also as soon as I set off, the whole thing feels like its hewn from a single piece of metal, its so well put together, Baffles were out also, what a magical sound.
The other thing I noticed was I got up through the gears so fast, I could not believe I was in 6th when I was. The whole brief test ride put a big grin on my face!

I could see on the picture that you enjoyed it ...What do you mean by "magical sound"?

Scota wrote:I could see on the picture that you enjoyed it ...What do you mean by "magical sound"?

I meant this sound: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E7tc7Pjual4

RSMike wrote:

Scota wrote:I could see on the picture that you enjoyed it ...What do you mean by "magical sound"?

I meant this sound: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E7tc7Pjual4

Ah ok, then I understand that smile even better