Along with adding my congratulations to everyone else's, I would like to add a note of caution. Your new bike is going to be much bigger for you than your old one and since you want to be safe and all, you should seriously think about taking several days off from everything else so you can practice riding it.
Sassa wrote:Ok...not to rub it in, but I live in beautiful, sunny California. It is 75 degrees right now, clear blue skies.....I hope your area warms up soon!
Good thing you're riding tomorrow, I took Friday off hoping to get a ride in but now looks like we're getting rain . Ah well we really need I guess.
Mike...
Ooohh, that's pretty! Black is beautiful, Baby. And it looks like your avocado (Haas?) is setting fruit. That's life in SoCal!
This morning at dawn I rode my R12R from Santa Barbara to Ojai, to get my custom Rocky Meyer saddle, and the temperature dropped to 32° on Casitas Pass. The electric vest and heated grips were certainly appreciated! But by noon it was 84° in Ojai, and I got to shoot up and down Hwy 33, one of the best motorcycle highways in the state, if not the world, in shirtsleeves! But get your ride in tomorrow, 'cause they say it will rain on Thursday and through the weekend.
Enjoy!
Mike in SB
2009 R1200R all black
ex1970 BMW R60/5
ex1959 BMW pre-slash R60
ex Matchless G80CS
Sassa wrote:Hi Bill,
funny you should say that......my boss just gave me the day off tomorrow for that very reason.
if i can figure out how to post pics on here, I will. I know you guys have seen it all before, but I just have to share
I will add my congratulations also. Your boss is a wise person and pretty cool to recognize that he would not get any work out of you
You are going to absolutely have a blast on this machine. I spent all day riding around Baton Rouge doing actual lawyer stuff (to the envy of my fellow attorneys!) then made a quick run down LA 22, a great motorcycle road here, to conclude the day. Life is great !
You are also now obligated to share all your fun with us by text and photos
Oh.... ATGATT Always.
MSF #127350 NAUI #36288
2011 RT WARNING: TEST RIDING THE R1200R IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR FINANCES
You will probably want to consider some of these fairly soon, to avoid scratching those nice cylinders on a drop. They also make great road pegs to stretch out on while riding, and are a perfect match to the tubing on the motorcycle:
MSF #127350 NAUI #36288
2011 RT WARNING: TEST RIDING THE R1200R IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR FINANCES
Don't take this the wrong way, but why screw up the beautiful lean lines of a nice new R bike with those valve cover protectors? Sorry, I can't help myself, but I would rather have to replace a valve cover than put up with those things. BMW got this bike right and it is a shame to mess with it. I should admit to you that I am more than a bit of a minimalist.
One other thought, Rocky Mayer makes the best saddles I have ever encountered in my 40 years plus of riding and the one he made for my black R1200R is just as spare and unobtrusive in appearance as it is comfortable.
I think I am going to wait awhile before buying any accessories or making any mods to the bike...even for something functional like guards. Bill has a good point. The bike looks awesome as-is. I'll start a "cylinder repair fund, just in case.
Quick question: I have noticed that sometimes the bike won't shift from neutral to first. Twice i've had to start off from 2nd gear. Is this a BMW quirk or?
Best I can tell that's normal for BMW, happens to me all the time. If the bike won't go into 1st try releasing the clutch and pulling in again then try 1st gear once more. This usually works for me.
Sassa, if you search the forum there's a thread or two about this. What I've found is there's no problem when the bike's warmed up, but cold it can refuse to go into gear. When that happens I just pull in the clutch, apply light pressure to the shifter, move the bike forward or backwards a little and it drops right into gear.
As noted, simply ease out the clutch if you stop and cannot go to first gear. The gears are not quite mated, and you have to either move the bike a little or let out the clutch then shift. This is not peculiar to BMW's only. I have ridden several other types of bike that do the same thing. My RR does that occasionally even warmed up. One other quirk you may run across is the possiblity of a false neutral when upshifting if you dont pull up with gusto on the shifter.
For those who hate the engine guards, you might want to invest in these:
They are the rubber emergency valve covers that slip over the rocker arm covers and keep the oil from leaking out of the cracked magnesium rocker arm cover when you drop the bike or take a slide down the road like I did.
MSF #127350 NAUI #36288
2011 RT WARNING: TEST RIDING THE R1200R IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR FINANCES
. Ah well we really need I guess.
