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

Very, very different actually. "Things are different on a Harley" used to be a tag line in Harley advertisements and it really is true. Not saying better but undeniably different. I tend to stop by the Harley dealership about every 3 months just to see the bikes and feel superior, with the...

Sure wish I could get those saddlebags.

Agree on the oil. I just changed to 10w-40 a week ago. I would have bought 5w-40 if I could have found some in the Walmart.

Coldest it's been since I bought the bike and it's been sitting outdoors under a little carport since the new car took it's place in the garage. I didn't plan on actually going for a ride but I was interested to see how the bike would act in the low temps. The first two attempts didn't work. I used ...

The noise seems to be coming from the left side on my bike. It could be the way the bike is parked because only the left side is accessible. Is it hard to replace the left side tensioner? I have some warranty remaining but it's a big deal leaving the bike - at least a $50 cab ride necessary on the d...

I've noticed a noise during cold starts that I think is the cam chain. It goes away within a few seconds, maybe 15 seconds after I start the bike. I bought the bike used and maybe it's always done it. I changed my routine and now I start the bike, then put on the helmet. Up till now I've always had ...

I had a new rear mounted at a local independent shop recently and he couldn't balance it because the big center hole couldn't fit on his machine. So I put it on without any balancing as an experiment. I can't feel or see anything different. I'm not advocating going without balancing and I'll switch ...

I want to put an ad on craigslist offering to buy a set of BMW R12R saddlebags. What is the BMW terminology for these units and what other BMW models use the same bags?

Thank you.

I pulled my rear wheel for the first time today to get a new tire mounted. I've got the wheel ready to put back on and normally I put a little antisieze on pretty much everything but I'm having second thoughts about it for the wheel bolts. There wasn't any on the bolts coming off and maybe it would ...

I live near Hot Springs, in Hot Springs Village. You might want to rent a condo here in the Village. It probably wouldn't be any more expensive than a motel in town and about 100 times safer for you and the bike. Most of the local real estate outfits will rent them on a daily fee basis. PM me if you...

I had a weird profile on my front tire recently too, with a noticable ridge at a certain point and the bike wouldn't turn left worth a damn. I had a theory the ridge might be at the dividing point between different tread compounds but what do I know? Put on a new front (don't own a belt sander) and ...

You have no idea how exotic that sounds to someone in central Arkansas. Good luck with the bike and your trip. Please post some pictures.

I visited the dealer today. I'll give them credit, this was a no BS deal. They had choice of colors, etc. I went in really defensive with thoughts like "if they won't give me a test ride I'll leave", etc. The sales guy actually suggested a test ride without any prompting from me so I took ...

I doubt any BMW built since the 60's will be collectible in a financial sense. Seems to me collectibility comes from an almost irrational passion often linked to high performance vehicles that were available when a person was a teenager or young adult. BMWs strike me as being more of a thoughtful, r...

I had a K75S in the early-mid 90's. For the most part the R12R is better but I've got to admit I liked the easy spinning K motor, especially the transistion off idle. The multi cylinder, medium size motor had a nice smooth quality - like a good car motor. The R12R is nice and smooth once you get it ...

new 08 CBR1000RR's on sale for less than $6,900 That's a great deal. I have a Buell XB for trackdays and general nonsense that wouldn't be appropriate for my Rockster. The XB's slow down the straight compared with anything 600cc+, but it's extreme fun in the turns, and it crashes inexpensively. My ...

One of my strategies for staying safe is avoiding high density traffic but I thought I'd be safe today (Labor Day) at 9:00AM visiting the commercial strip in Hot Springs and checking out the new car lots. A black sedan made a left turn across my bow and I had to brake hard enough the ABS came on for...

The big discount Honda dealer in Russlleville, AR (only 50 miles away) has new 08 CBR1000RR's on sale for less than $6,900 and I'm thinking about buying one. Now to tell the truth I don't begin to use the full performance of the R12R but the idea of a really sweet handling sport bike kind of appeals...

New tires are awesome. When I bought my R12R used in the spring, the dealer had installed a new rear tire. I didn't look at it real closely until later and found it was a Shinko. At first I was a little irritated that they put on such a cheap tire but it certainly seemed to work acceptably. The fron...