2016 BMW R1200RT LC
Pete's Review
BMW's R1200RT is one of their range of dedicated touring bikes. I bought mine second hand from Sydney and have since put around 2,500 km on it. My 2016 R1200RT is the current generation of the bike, with the liquid cooled horizontally opposed boxer engine.
Basic SpecsEngine Horizontally Opposed 1170cc Twin, EFI
Power 92 kW
Torque 125 Nm
Fuel Capacity 25 lt, giving a range of around 550km
Tyre Size Front: 120/70-ZR17 Rear: 180/55-ZR17
Weight 275 kg with a full load of fuel
Brakes Brembo 4 piston front & two piston rear, with ABS
Gears Six speed box, with quick-shifter
It comes with....Cruise control
Heated grips and seats
Anti lock and combined brakes
Adjustable traction control
Electronic adjustable suspension & shock absorbers
Automatic hill starts
Alarm
Central Locking to panniers, gloveboxes and top box
Integrated Garmin GPS, controlled from the handlebar
Quick Shifter (clutchless gear changes)
Tyre Pressure Monitors
Bluetooth, Radio, MP3, iPhone connection
Adjustable height screen
All the system monitoring that you could possibly think of, including engine oil level, coolant temp, ambient temp, battery voltage, gear indicator, range to empty, current and average fuel consumption.
My Riding ImpressionsThis is a lot of bike in a relatively small package. I've found the reasonably flat stock seat quite comfortable and even when set on the higher setting, and I can still get my feet flat on the ground.
The windscreen is reasonable, but I do get some buffeting around my neck which causes noise, and therefore I've ordered a Puig screen, which has a recurve at the top, much like the ST's BikeQuip screen. See
https://puig.tv/en/tuning-motos/windscreens-for-fairing-bikes/touring-screen?bike=11773 The riding position is very much a sit up straight position and my feet seem a little further forward that on the ST, so I don't have as much bend in my knees. It feels very similar to the ST.
The bike is significantly lighter than the ST and drops readily and quickly into corners, and is very stable through bumpy corners with no tendency to bump steer.
While she came with the small BMW top box, I suspect that I'm going to need a larger one, as it's pretty dinky. The large BMW top box is pretty well out of the question as it's around $1,600, so I'll be investigating after market if I can't get on with the existing unit.
Fuel consumption is excellent, and I don't know what it's running on, but I don't think it is the petrol I'm putting in the tank. Since picking it up from Sydney, I've averaged just 4.5 l/100km, giving a seriously impressive range of around 550km. The countdown to empty seems pretty accurate and quickly updates as speed and riding conditions change.
The on board GPS is a Garmin, and interfaces with the bikes controls, so zoom and some other functions can be controlled from the handlebar. The bikes clock also takes it's data from the GPS, so when you go from one time-zone to another, the bikes clock changes automatically.
Normal gear changes are sweet and crisp, but it's taking me a while to get used to the six speed box and the revised shift points, as the engine response of the twin is quite different to the V4 of the ST. The quick-shifter is pretty weird to get accustomed to. The changes up from the low gears are harsh and I don't use them, but going up into 4,5 or 6 is smooooth and fast. Down shifts with the quickshifter are smooooth and sweet but must be done when the throttle is closed.
The audio system works via Bluetooth or through the on board speakers. It has the ability to play MP3's from a USB stick, hard connection to an iPhone, or FM/AM radio. Sound quality from the on-board speakers is excellent.
It is a lot of bike, with a lot of features and gadgetry, which could easily be a distraction until you settle into knowing the bike.
I love it......
Further Impressions after riding a 1200km in 24 hours FarRideI've just got home after a FarRide to Glendambo SA, which for me was a 1200km ride from 0330hrs to 1930hrs, with a couple of long breaks, so here's some further comments based upon that experience.
Lights The R1200RT has two 55watt H1 headlights, and these are actually pretty good, but not what I have become accustomed to with the light upgrades on my ST. The lights gave a good spread of light on the sides of the road, and an acceptable throw down the road, such that I was quite comfortable sitting at 90km/h in the dark. The only wildlife I spotted was a fox on a road kill, and I had bags of time to avoid it. For night riders, lights are like drugs, and the more you have, you always want more. I'll probably install some spotties.
Instruments The instrument panel has nice big round analogue speedo and tacho, and the warning and other displays are bright LCD's that are highly visible and easy to read both at night and in full sun. The GPS display dims automatically as it gets darker and this feature, while to can be overridden, works well. However the GPS, even on full brightness, was hard to see in full sun when the sun was shining directly onto the display. I suspect this would be an issue with any GPS.
Left Switch Block The left side switch block has a lot of controls which are close together, including Hi/Lo beam, hazard button, DRL button, Menu selector for various controls, screen control, indicators and horn. It's no trouble to operate in daylight, but at night and while wearing thick winter gloves, it was difficult to select and operate some of the controls, and I would often lower the screen at the same time as selecting a menu option. No such problem with thinner mid-season gloves. Hi/Low Beam switch is simple to operate and was not a problem to find and operate, even with thick gloves.
Screen The OEM screen actually worked pretty well, and while a little noisier than I have become accustomed to, it was not too bad. However, I am changing it. I have not experienced how the OEM screen performs in rain
Seat and Bars While initially the seat seems reasonable, I did get very butt-sore after sitting for 300km. It could perhaps benefit from a sheepskin, beadrider, airhawk, or a treatment by MJM. I found the position of the bars to be initially pretty comfortable for the first 1,000km, but by the time I got home, I has some pain in my neck and shoulders. I experienced something similar with the ST, which was resolved by fitting risers, so I'll be chasing some risers to bring the bars back a little.
Fuel Range At a constant 112km/h, and in no wind, the fuel range to empty for the 25 lt tank was 450km. At 100km/h it would not be difficult to achieve a range of 550km
For a bike, straight out of the box with no mods, the R1200RT performed very well as a touring bike. In it's OEM configuration, it's very well suited for "normal" touring with 500km days and little country night running, there being no need to make any changes or additions. FarRiders and IBA riders will always tweak there bike to improve it for their particular style of riding, and I'll be no different. My first mod will be a different screen and I'll be investigating some risers. Seat and Lighting will be done down the track.
2021 UpdateI now have over 75,000km on the RT, and have done a few farkles. See
https://ozstoc.com/index.php?topic=4592.msg1239570#msg1239570
