Mucking about in the garage and decided one K1200R would look good in the other one's clothing. Now one's a bit of a pimp and one's murdered (as the kids call it). There might even be enough silver for Charlie! 

Pimp

Murdered.

Well, the silver beasty went to a very good home today. The bloke, a BMW riding mate (he has an Oilhead GS and an RT), threw a leg over it, went three miles and said he wanted it. We ended up riding 135 miles in the morning in his rural neighbourhood (from Centralia to Morton via Ike Kinswa dam and every narrow back road, at speed) and he was hooked. It's been a great machine, was sad to see it go, but am keeping the 'all black' version for meself.

After the morning fog lifted over the Greater Puget Sound (pew-jet) and the temp got up to a downright balmy 9c (under 50f) I went out for a roll on Murder, the All Black, to test out the spare windscreen that came with the bike. I had to fab up a top support bracket because it uses six mount points rather than the OEM windscreen's four. It is affectionately known as "the ugliest windscreen known to man" but, damn, does it work well! It's nearing Winter and function prevails over form in these harder times.

Commencement Bay in Old Town Tacoma. A few Lexus, MB and Bimmers parked in gated driveways in cobblestoned streets suggest here be the money. I guess the bike fits right in.

The local pulp mill dispenses steam and the "Aroma of Tacoma" into the otherwise saltwater and mountain air to remind us of Tacoma's working town roots.

With sunrise at about 7:35am and sunset - when it's not cloudy - at 4:30pm, our available daylight is slim so any chance to get out on moss-covered roads and matted Autumn leaves is taken as it comes.

4,392m (14,411-foot) Mt Rainier (Takhoma) looks large over the city of Tacoma near sunset.
The word origin is [təˡqʷuʔbəʔ] "mother of waters" in the Lushootseed language spoken by the local Puyallup people.

May all your rides be with the warm sun on your back and a tailwind, but when they're not, happy riding anyway.

It got up to 13c loverly degrees today, the sun came out, the rain and wind went away, there were green Spring bulbs popping out of the ground, I was all caught up from my recent house moving. What are you gunna do? Go for a ride. The mountain looked good from a distance. The other day - three days ago - this is what it looked like up there.

I was in my Quattro A4 in these conditions...

Re-reading these posts has me fully grasping why I missed that bike model in my garage. I'm very glad to be back with one again, though my impressions back then do differ from now. I could tour on this bike all day long. And I am not any younger.


I plan on riding the latest K1200R, by late August, early September, back down to New Mexico (took the K1300GT there and back in June), but this time via coastal California to see my daughter, then Arizona to New Mexico. Heading north and northwest, back through the Rockies of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, then home through Idaho on a more northerly trajectory.

I suppose it's a human thing that different people get different 'things' from different bikes...

A few of years back, I bought a K1300R. I'd wanted one for a while, but it wasn't going to be one of my usual cheap bike purchases. A test ride in the Gold Coast hinterland proved I NEEDED this bike! Serious fast, and then more FAST with NOISE added!
It was the lava orange model with the full alphabet of options, expando luggage like yours, and a full Akro exhaust system. One of the best sounding 'fours' I'd ever heard meant looking for tunnels got serious (some bikes with 'good' pipes sound horrible).
I was working based in Coolangatta (4 weeks on, 2 off, living in Perth) and had to have a bike in that location for sanity, so the purchase was health based ;-).
That bike was more fun in the twisties and mountains and sugar-cane areas than sex! Suspension on Sport when required, Comfort when not. I did find the position a bit uncomfortable, so Heli-bars went on (slightly better). I also fitted an AC Schnitzer fairing, part looks and part wind relief on longer rides. I think it looked great. (You'll need to look up the fairing for visuals, I'm not allowed to post pics!)

My work base changed to Melbourne, so good opportunity to ride the bike there... after all it's a BMW with shaft drive and it's not the S1000R or RR full SPORTS!
First day, Coolangatta to Dubbo, about 900km. Ambient temps ranged from around 30C early to over 40C after lunch. Arrived Dubbo late (many stops for hydration), thinking "I hate BMW for making this such a crap long distance GT motorcycle!" They pretty much invented the concept of this pastime on a motorcycle, R series bikes being great, and K bricks following suit. I was seriously hurting in the rear end and legs/knees, wrists not far different.
I found a saddlery the next morning selling some sheepskin off-cuts, and put that on the seat hoping for some relief in that region. No real change in (dis-)comfort. Headed for Melbourne (800km), and got there that evening (bucketing rain after midday this day). Still angry with BMW and hated the bike. I put it in the hangar and didn't look at it for 6 months. Sold it when I realised I couldn't love it again.

I realise a persons physiology needs to match the bike for long term distance/comfort, but did none of BMW's test riders resemble me in their probably extensive test program? I've ridden across Australia on bikes as relatively ancient as Yamaha XS1100s', CBX1000s, and even a Guzzi Lemans 2, but never felt as much discomfort as on the K1300. On a fast blast for a few hours, I loved it. But on long relatively straight rides? No.

I would consider the K1200/1300S and stablemate GT to be actual GT bikes for touring, as my long-distance mate says, at the speed of heat. I wouldn't impulsively go for coffee of an arvo in Sydney if I lived in Grafton, on an R. Of course, the naked K1200/1300R can be toured on. At 175cm (5'9") with an 82cm (32") instep, and the added rise of Heli-bars, my anatomy fits them well. The various K12R's have all been quite good for a several hour burn. I don't mind the seat(s), and had the 'comfort' version on one of them. This made zero difference in physical compliance as it relates to comfort, but merely added <20mm to the seat height. Having owned an S version, with its much more relaxed angle of the grips, at basically the same plane as the R, as well as its smoothly sweet full fairing, it is truly an all-day rider. I got from the Seattle area to the the tip of Baja California (Mexico) twice on the K1200S. In the end, the R was marketed as an urbanish bahn burner. The other offerings are better suited to comfortable distance travel. I am glad my route(s) take me on the twisty bits. A straight road is not their intended slice of bitumen, unless you're out to cook Japanese.

Three weeks 'til departure day.

I admit I'm Jonesing for a longer ride lately, and especially as the weather closes in. Most of the rides, since June at least, have been day rides or weekend overnighters, closer to home. I had a recent slight health scare but it's turned out right. There's heaps of time for breaking away, or maybe not, one never knows. Since retirement...plus ça change plus c'est la même chose.

I am now 5,697 miles and two and a half weeks into a month-long cross-country ride, and I have not once regretted kitting this bike out for travel. At 150 miles my arse is ready for a break, and the tank usually has only a gallon and a half left, so two birds, one stone.


The single most effective 'upgrade' was the dorky, squared off, tinted windscreen I had laying about - nearly ditched it once - and which I'd used on an earlier K12R, now sold. It keeps most insects and rain at bay, while providing a welcome respite to the upper body from headwinds. The engine is smooth and vastly capable of quick overtakes, the suspension, while sprung firmly, has enough adjustment within the ESA selections to find a suitable setting for load and road. I'm averaging 42/43 mpg, with a freak low of 37 and high of 51 (US 4 qt gallon). I've ridden 4,500 hard miles at a typical 5,000 to 5,500 rpm drone before changing the oil and filter, using no measurable oil in that distance. My riding days see 450 or 500 miles, typically, up to a 750 mile and long after dark day in driving rain, needing to get somewhere. She's soldiering. I like the substantially lighter and nimbler weight difference over the K1300GT, and even tho' that bike offers greater fairing/wind/water protection, in theory, it should be easier to ride a distance however, it's not.

It is reminiscent in many ways of riding an old Airhead as I did for many thousands of miles and kilometres in the 1970s thru the '90s. The higher-powered engine, suspension and brakes dwarf what a Type 247 boxer could provide, but the 'feel', the ergos, are similar. 

I look forward to continuing my ride, and already have plans brewing for another.

I feel the same way about my 75s. Originally thought it would be great for day or weekend rides but has been to the west coast 2, make that 3 times.