R1200R - would it be a wise choice? - Decision made!

[Karamazov]

But on topic...

I've put thousands of miles on F800 twins, G650 singles, and have had both the Hexhead and Camhead versions of the R1200R. I never found there to be a lack of power on any of them. My 650 would carve up twisties just fine with sport bikes and I spent lots of time touring with it at highway speeds and never felt wrung out. The F800 twins (and oddly badged F650 twins) have plenty of power to keep up with friends on bigger bikes - unless your friends are professional riders, I'd say any issues you have keeping up probably aren't your bike's fault.

That said, I can only have one bike in my stable at the moment, and the R1200R is among the best all rounders. It's a great sporty standard, and is easly converted to a dedicated touring rig. It looks exactly how I want a bike to look and does everything I want it to well. The improvements to the newer R1200R are noticeable, but marginal. I wouldn't let them stop me from buying a '10 or earlier RR in good condition.

Either way, it sounds like you're set on ditching your F650 and I think the R1200R, because of its versatility is a great bike to switch to. You'll lose some in gas mileage, but you should find that in every other way it will meet your requirements.

Best of luck!

[Lost Rider]

But on topic...

I've put thousands of miles on F800 twins, G650 singles, and have had both the Hexhead and Camhead versions of the R1200R. I never found there to be a lack of power on any of them. My 650 would carve up twisties just fine with sport bikes and I spent lots of time touring with it at highway speeds and never felt wrung out. The F800 twins (and oddly badged F650 twins) have plenty of power to keep up with friends on bigger bikes - unless your friends are professional riders, I'd say any issues you have keeping up probably aren't your bike's fault.

That said, I can only have one bike in my stable at the moment, and the R1200R is among the best all rounders. It's a great sporty standard, and is easly converted to a dedicated touring rig. It looks exactly how I want a bike to look and does everything I want it to well. The improvements to the newer R1200R are noticeable, but marginal. I wouldn't let them stop me from buying a '10 or earlier RR in good condition.

Either way, it sounds like you're set on ditching your F650 and I think the R1200R, because of its versatility is a great bike to switch to. You'll lose some in gas mileage, but you should find that in every other way it will meet your requirements.

Best of luck!

This.

Great post, I've also put many miles on a 650 single, 800 twin and the 1200R (hex head) and agree completely.
Even though the smaller bikes CAN get better gas milage, for spirited riding they take more throttle to go the same speeds and therefore got similar MPG to the R, with less twisting of the throttle.

I wonder if all the folks that commented on how much better the cam head is vs. the hexhead have actually owned both... I know on paper there is a slight bump in hp, but not much in torque, which to me is far more usable in real world situations anyways. Marginally improved difference sounds like an honest opinion to me. But I've not ridden a camhead R, I have ridden a camhead GS and RT and didn't find the engine to be much different than my 07' R, but they were also heavier bikes so maybe that's the difference in performance.
According to everything I could find the weight of the two 1200R models are the same, as is the stock shocks so I don't know how the "lighter and more agile" comments could be true, but like I said I haven't ridden one so I don't really know. Maybe those big fork tubes help in handling or they tweaked the geometry.
One thing is for sure, the differences between the two 1200R's (hex/cam) is much smaller than the differences between the 1150 and the 1200, that was night and day with a big jump in HP and significant loss in weight.
You can't go wrong with either when buying a 12R, money saved on buying a pre 11' then spent on quality suspension will make a huge difference when it comes to performance, more than a few HP IMO.

Since the camhead has longer valve check intervals if you are paying for service it might be a little cheaper in the long run, but adjusting your own valves on the hexhead is easy quick and doesn't cost anything since no parts are needed, lots of online posts to DIY. The rest of the service costs would be the same from what I know.

With that said I've have been lusting over one of the black and white 1200R classic's since they came out, the main reason being the looks, spoke wheels and more modern instrument cluster. I just hit 90,000 miles on my 07' R and figure in the not so distant future the price of keeping on racking up the miles will become not so cost effective along with potential reliability issues when off the beaten path... being proactive I could easily dump thousands into my R now and give her a full refresh with a new clutch, rotors, rebuild the Ohlins shocks again, etc. I want a new bike before I do that all though, I always have wanted to keep it to 100K miles, then it will be time to figure out what's next. I have no illusions that buying the camhead bike would make me go faster or ride smoother, only improving my own riding skills will do that no matter what bike I'm on.
Give me a black with pinstriped wethead please!

Good luck on your decision!

[angellr]

But on topic...

I've put thousands of miles on F800 twins, G650 singles, and have had both the Hexhead and Camhead versions of the R1200R. I never found there to be a lack of power on any of them. My 650 would carve up twisties just fine with sport bikes and I spent lots of time touring with it at highway speeds and never felt wrung out. The F800 twins (and oddly badged F650 twins) have plenty of power to keep up with friends on bigger bikes - unless your friends are professional riders, I'd say any issues you have keeping up probably aren't your bike's fault.

That said, I can only have one bike in my stable at the moment, and the R1200R is among the best all rounders. It's a great sporty standard, and is easly converted to a dedicated touring rig. It looks exactly how I want a bike to look and does everything I want it to well. The improvements to the newer R1200R are noticeable, but marginal. I wouldn't let them stop me from buying a '10 or earlier RR in good condition.

Either way, it sounds like you're set on ditching your F650 and I think the R1200R, because of its versatility is a great bike to switch to. You'll lose some in gas mileage, but you should find that in every other way it will meet your requirements.

Best of luck!

This.

Great post, I've also put many miles on a 650 single, 800 twin and the 1200R (hex head) and agree completely.
Even though the smaller bikes CAN get better gas milage, for spirited riding they take more throttle to go the same speeds and therefore got similar MPG to the R, with less twisting of the throttle.

I wonder if all the folks that commented on how much better the cam head is vs. the hexhead have actually owned both... I know on paper there is a slight bump in hp, but not much in torque, which to me is far more usable in real world situations anyways. Marginally improved difference sounds like an honest opinion to me. But I've not ridden a camhead R, I have ridden a camhead GS and RT and didn't find the engine to be much different than my 07' R, but they were also heavier bikes so maybe that's the difference in performance.
According to everything I could find the weight of the two 1200R models are the same, as is the stock shocks so I don't know how the "lighter and more agile" comments could be true, but like I said I haven't ridden one so I don't really know. Maybe those big fork tubes help in handling or they tweaked the geometry.
One thing is for sure, the differences between the two 1200R's (hex/cam) is much smaller than the differences between the 1150 and the 1200, that was night and day with a big jump in HP and significant loss in weight.
You can't go wrong with either when buying a 12R, money saved on buying a pre 11' then spent on quality suspension will make a huge difference when it comes to performance, more than a few HP IMO.

Since the camhead has longer valve check intervals if you are paying for service it might be a little cheaper in the long run, but adjusting your own valves on the hexhead is easy quick and doesn't cost anything since no parts are needed, lots of online posts to DIY. The rest of the service costs would be the same from what I know.

With that said I've have been lusting over one of the black and white 1200R classic's since they came out, the main reason being the looks, spoke wheels and more modern instrument cluster. I just hit 90,000 miles on my 07' R and figure in the not so distant future the price of keeping on racking up the miles will become not so cost effective along with potential reliability issues when off the beaten path... being proactive I could easily dump thousands into my R now and give her a full refresh with a new clutch, rotors, rebuild the Ohlins shocks again, etc. I want a new bike before I do that all though, I always have wanted to keep it to 100K miles, then it will be time to figure out what's next. I have no illusions that buying the camhead bike would make me go faster or ride smoother, only improving my own riding skills will do that no matter what bike I'm on.
Give me a black with pinstriped wethead please!

Good luck on your decision!

Joe,

I guess you will be ready for a new one here in the next month or so .... I will probably hold out to see if there is much of a difference when the H20 cooled come out ... but at 56000 miles, mine is still being broken in. Might be down near your 'hood in a couple of weeks, btw.

I have ridden other bikes and the R12 is one of the best all around bikes as per Karamazov. Can't go wrong with the R12! Good luck on your decision.

[Karamazov]

I wonder if all the folks that commented on how much better the cam head is vs. the hexhead have actually owned both... I know on paper there is a slight bump in hp, but not much in torque, which to me is far more usable in real world situations anyways. Marginally improved difference sounds like an honest opinion to me. But I've not ridden a camhead R, I have ridden a camhead GS and RT and didn't find the engine to be much different than my 07' R, but they were also heavier bikes so maybe that's the difference in performance.

There was a good 2+ years between my RRs but I remember thinking on my test ride that the camhead did have a little more oompf. To be fair, I'd spent the time in between on an F650GS (single), G650X, and an F800GS - so it's very likely the perceived performance boost was just in my head. I've also become much more comfortable, from my time on smaller bikes, with exploiting the higher end of the RPM range. That, combined with a redline increase of 500 RPM may account for the pep I've observed on the camhead. I have noticed that I spend a lot more time in 3rd on this bike than the previous, where 4th was a comfortable gear for the bulk of the twisties.

In any case, a 3-5% performance increase on paper is about as useful as a couple of weeks of dieting, or choosing to lighten the contents of your luggage before a ride. There are less subjective improvements to the newer model, mostly aesthetic. As you mentioned, the instrument cluster - I much prefer it. I love the spoke wheels, the stock grabrails, and the comfort seat (in this arse's opinion) is a huge improvement over the "sport" seats that came stock on the pre-11 bikes. And the stock can is without a doubt smaller and louder than on my '07. It barks just loud enough to make you smile, but not enough to be obnoxious. I also feel the beefier front forks and the smooshed in headlight give it a slightly meaner stance. But like I said, none of it is enough to make the bike a must have over a good hexhead. I just feel it's a more refined package out of the box, but is easily rivaled by a quality used bike with the right farkles.

With that said I've have been lusting over one of the black and white 1200R classic's since they came out...

I know EXACTLY what you mean. I stopped by the dealership for shizzengiggles on a Saturday and saw the Classic. I looked at the sales guy and said "that's my bike." I was back the next weekend to pick it up

[Pensive]

A 2010 model is coming home on Friday!!

[deilenberger]

A 2010 model is coming home on Friday!!

Congrats! Bet you become a regular around here!

Photos are of course required..

[Steve H.]

Please, do not understand me wrong way!
I love every tipe of bikes,becouse I just love them.I know ,Harleys are"patriot bikes".Harley is a simbole of America.That's OK.But realistically,compared to "modern"bikes,Harlley CAN NOT kik in the football.Today 50-70 HP from a bike,is quite low.Leaning angle in curves???Well answer it yourselfs.Low speed manuverability??Ansver it yourselfs.Weight? Ansver it yourselfs.If you are in love with Harley,why do you drive BMW??Just a question.

[deilenberger]

Steve - I don't understand the point of your posts. This IS a forum for R1200R's - not for bashing other bikes, or misunderstanding other riding environments. We know at this point that you don't like HD's. That really is of no concern to me at all since this IS an R1200R forum, and I'd assume most people are here because that's what they like.

Can we please return to R1200R discussions, and drop the stereotypes of SUVs and whatever..