With some regret I have just watched its new owner ride away my K100RS 16v to make way for a R1200RT, so this is a valediction rather than an introduction. In the four years I have owned K bikes this forum has been my "go to" in contemporary parlance whenever I have needed any help with the bike and its peculiarities; the level of knowledge and expertise from members has been truly astounding and remarkable, as has the way in which such advice has been freely given. Thank you all. I know some members have several BMWs including other models, so if anyone can recommend a similarly friendly and informative community for R Series oilhead owners I would be most grateful. May you all live long and prosper.

Well Mr Grumpy.......very flattering but you don't have to abandon us.

I should hope you will sort of stay around as sometimes its not so much the bike as the meeting of like minds that matters.

As you say there are owners of other bikes here, who have stayed with us and who we enjoy having around.

I hope the new owner of the RS will come in our direction ........ 

Enjoy the R1200......but it ain't a K!

Yes, Olaf, I suspect that I may stay around for precisely the reason that you have stated, and also to post some photographs and impressions of the R1200. And, yes, I have indeed passed on the url for this site to the new owner.

Yeah, stick around Mr Grumpy, ya never know what you might learn here and we're good for a laugh too!

"Enjoy the R1200......but it ain't a K!"  +1 

Not sure whether the purists of both types will appreciate the joining of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Star Trek, but I do. 

I'm far from alone in maintaining the welcome for ex K riders.

Cheers,

Bill

Hi Mr. G.

You are not too far from me (I'm near Daventry). 

As you have bought the R1200 may I suggest The BMW Club. They have a tool hire facility, for which I am the secretary. It has loads of specialist BMW tools and manuals, both paper and on CD. 

The most hired tool is a GS-911 which is a diagnostic tool specially for BMWs. It is very useful on the 1200 series as they have many more sensors and electronic control. If you have a service light, the GS-911 will also enable you to reset it. It can also record real time activity which can be saved to CSV files or graphs. The tool hire facility is open to fully paid up members only, but the forum has sections open to all.

The other forum I would suggest is the BMbikes forum. Run by an experienced independent BMW specialist that I have known for donkeys years. He doesn't really work on the R1200 though as his main interest is the older airheads and K's.

Mike

As promised (or threatened) here is my initial impression of my newly acquired R1200RT. The bike is a 2010 model, the first of the twin cam “hex heads”, with less than 4000 miles on the clock.
As Olaf has noted above “it ain’t a K”! I have yet to do any significant distance on it, but it gives the impression of being simply and single-mindedly the most efficient way of moving one or two people from one place to another on land, similar in this respect to my 1980 R100RS but with another 30 years refinement. It has very long metaphorical legs, 80 miles/hour in top gear (of six) being a little over 4000 revs/min; the trade-off for this, of course, is that city traffic at 30 miles/hour is a second and third gear affair. It certainly, but not surprisingly given the characteristics of a big twin, lacks the K’s smooth low-speed operation and tolerance. The aerodynamics are superlative and the electric screen a huge advantage. Surprisingly for an English summer I have had no opportunity to ride it in rain yet, but I fully expect the weather protection to impress, with the possible exception of the seat shape which (like the Ks) encourages water to pool in the crotch area. Handling is sure and effortless with the typical BMW low C of G and consequent low-speed stability. I have read some criticism of the OE Metzeler tyres but, subject to the caveat above, I cannot fault them. I will probably switch to my preferred Michelin Pilots when the time for replacement comes though.
I want my K gearbox back! My 16v had the smoothest gearbox of any of the five BMWs I have owned and was a pleasure to use. I do recognise that mine is not even close to being fully run in at 4000 miles and I sincerely hope it improves. I recall from my previous Airheads that the required downshift technique is very much more precise for the big twins, so I will learn again to achieve this familiarity. The precise throttle control required to achieve the above is certainly not helped by my only real gripe about the bike – the twistgrip would be an embarrassment on a Chinese scooter; on a £12000 bike it is inexcusable. With the cable adjusted to a minimum 5mm play there is still way too much free movement and it also has excessive slack in the radial fit of the sleeve. Horrible thing!
The quality and ease of use of the luggage is excellent. For day-to-day use the 46l GIVI top box has sufficient capacity so I have left the panniers off to assist manoeuvring in tight traffic situations, as the bike is intimidatingly wide with them fitted. I habitually rode my K with the OE panniers fitted as it had no top box, so I’m sure it will be no problem even with the greater width when necessary.

So that’s it. With the exception of that twistgrip, which I suppose I must learn to live with, I am well satisfied and pleased with the bike; I may have to consider changing my user name!

Good news I do hope you wont abandon this forum now that you don't have a K. At least you still have the correct badge on it.

Sorry mr grumpy, that gearbox isn't going to get any better.
I bought a twin cam GS last spring with 13k miles and now have just over 19k on it. It hasn't improved, just my changing technique maybe.
I find that changing the top three gears is better without the clutch. I'm sure that you are familiar with the technique if you have ridden the old air heads.
A slight blip of that dodgy throttle for down changes helps.
I fitted a 'Booster Plug' to the air sensor. Supposed to help with blipping the throttle. Don't know if it helps but doesn't do any harm.
Earplugs area big help, too.
If you think the twin cam gearbox is bad, try a K1600 one. It was worse!
We all know that the brick gearbox, while not slick, is a lot better. Why can't BMW build a good gearbox after 30 years?
Despite its shortcomings you'll find it a very satisfying bike to ride with plenty of character. Takes a while to change your thinking while riding.
Keep her above 3000 rpm, use the gears and you'll get the high 50's for fuel consumption.
Love the way you can brake hard without the front end diving.

I was washing my GS today and was checking my throttle.
Very little play between the tube and the bar. I would say only about one, maybe two mm.
Might be worth getting it looked at.
This is mine and I would imagine yours is similar.

Mine looks a little different to that; the seam is slightly off the fore and aft position rather than at the top and a prominent torx screw is visible just forward of the top. However, mine also has the later "conventional" switch gear (how I am struggling to use a "normal" indicator switch!), so perhaps some bean-counter in Purchasing took the opportunity to save a couple of cents when they did the modification. I may ask BMW UK for a comment. Thank you for taking the time to post the photograph.