amorley
Site Supporter
Yes, just ridden over Chief Joseph so up to the Crandall Rd junction to turn right to ride over Beartooth Pass into Montana. One of my favorite rides.
'21 BMW R1250RT
- Thread starter Mellow
- Start date
amorley
Site Supporter
Andy, that's a fine road! (Apparently no LEO presence when you went thru!)
Hey, ignore the bad BMW speedo, I was only doing 80 according to the GPS!
Black bear had run across the road in front of me a few miles back.
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2009
- Messages
- 2,542
- Age
- 69
- Location
- West Des Moines, IA
- Bike
- 2022 Kymco AK 550
- 2024 Miles
- 006503
Looks like that speedo is about 6% off. A little better than many mc speedos IME. Usually bike speedos are closer to 10% off. My CTX was spot on with the GPS. My current AK is 5% tested using the mile markers on the highway and the analog clock until I achieved 60 mph actual, 63 mph indicated, and verified by several relatively accurate portable radar signs around the area at slower city street speeds. It's always good to know what your speedo is actually showing you regardless how fast or slow you choose to ride.
OP
OP
Yes sorry, forgot to answer that, it appears to be viewable in all light, no glare I've noticed so far but I've yet to do an all-day tour in various sun angles.
OP
OP
Finally rigged for nighttime riding... during the last ride to WinterSTOC I was quite impressed with the main headlight at night - the adaptive headlight is amazing as it follows you through a turn - the 4 OEM LED high beams are also not bad at all and give a good spread and distance... but, when you have something with extra punch sitting in a box, it just doesn't make sense.
Oh I thought you were putting it up for sale already!! 
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2018
- Messages
- 99
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Titanic America, Banana Republic
- Bike
- 2022 BMW RT 1250
Hi Mellow, now that you've had the bike for some time, how about an update on your new purchase? (I'm living vicariously thru you! 
)
Are you loving it more than you thought you would? Ease of maintenance you have performed? I hope not, but any issues with the bike?
Any pleasant surprises? Have you found a BMW forum comparable to ST-Owners.com (not likely !) ?
)Are you loving it more than you thought you would? Ease of maintenance you have performed? I hope not, but any issues with the bike?
Any pleasant surprises? Have you found a BMW forum comparable to ST-Owners.com (not likely !) ?
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OP
OP
Still need more time on it but so far I'm very impressed. I've only changed the oil and that's pretty easy.
The adaptive headlight works surprisingly well. The high beam switch is different from all the other bikes I've had (forefinger instead of thumb) but actually makes more sense. The main headlight throws a good amount of light and the high beams are very good, of course you always want more lol
It's smooth, powerful and feels like a merge between my previous wings and STs. The range is a dependable 220 miles with a gallon of reserve after that.
Taking plastic off to install stuff is easy but it's also way too easy to cross thread stuff for some reason so you have to not get in a hurry.
I've been on adv style bikes the last few years so amazed how little noise you get on this bike.
It has mirrors similar to the ST so I added some mirror clamps from a GS and added Rizoma 4D mirrors I had on the Tracer. Not sure if I'll keep them, need some riding time...
...and you know there's no other forum like this one.
The adaptive headlight works surprisingly well. The high beam switch is different from all the other bikes I've had (forefinger instead of thumb) but actually makes more sense. The main headlight throws a good amount of light and the high beams are very good, of course you always want more lol
It's smooth, powerful and feels like a merge between my previous wings and STs. The range is a dependable 220 miles with a gallon of reserve after that.
Taking plastic off to install stuff is easy but it's also way too easy to cross thread stuff for some reason so you have to not get in a hurry.
I've been on adv style bikes the last few years so amazed how little noise you get on this bike.
It has mirrors similar to the ST so I added some mirror clamps from a GS and added Rizoma 4D mirrors I had on the Tracer. Not sure if I'll keep them, need some riding time...
...and you know there's no other forum like this one.
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- Joined
- Oct 1, 2018
- Messages
- 99
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Titanic America, Banana Republic
- Bike
- 2022 BMW RT 1250
Hi BakerBoy, another bullet I'm interested in is heat from the bike engine. In warm So Cal weather, I have to ride my 1300 with a 'heat shield' on my right calf.
As it appears you've had your RT for some time, how is it to ride in warm/hot weather? Do you ever find heat coming from the bike uncomfortable?
One last question, how loud do you find the wind noise? I ride the ST with the stock windscreen in the full up position, Neotec 2, along with earplugs and still find the wind noise to be uncomfortable. I'm 5' 11".
Inquiring mind wants to know. I appreciate your and any other RT owner's input.
BakerBoy
It's all small stuff.
2010: the BMW subforum here has many threads that give more people's input than mine.
For a starter, these two threads are worth fully reading through (especially any posts by Bones):
www.st-owners.com
https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/2016-bmw-1200rt.153008/post-2029137
I did go directly from ST to an RT, and it was a great improvement in so many ways--it is unlikely you'd think otherwise.
The two points you asked about specifically:
Engine heat: simply much less, not uncomfortable. Can a 1200+cc engine get warm? Yes. But the ST is more hotter than the RT.
Wind noise: less. But I never rode with the windshields fully up for a couple reasons (nor fully down), so can't attest to how sounds compares fully up as you describe.
Others can/will chime in.
For a starter, these two threads are worth fully reading through (especially any posts by Bones):
Thoughts on my 2014 BMW R1200RT | BMW
Several people have asked me for my $.02 on my 2014 BMW R1200RT. Not surprisingly, I have been accumulating my thoughts since I picked up my slightly used RT on November 1. Now that my driveway is solid ice, I decided to take time to organize those thoughts. Rewind to November 2002. I bought...
I did go directly from ST to an RT, and it was a great improvement in so many ways--it is unlikely you'd think otherwise.
The two points you asked about specifically:
Engine heat: simply much less, not uncomfortable. Can a 1200+cc engine get warm? Yes. But the ST is more hotter than the RT.
Wind noise: less. But I never rode with the windshields fully up for a couple reasons (nor fully down), so can't attest to how sounds compares fully up as you describe.
Others can/will chime in.
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skipcurt
Skip
Hey Joe,
Nice to see you enjoying the RT1250. I ended up buying an '18 GSA Rallye on a Fly N Ride from Minnesota back in October. That was a nice trip back home to GA. I've been farkling it up over the last few months and now I'm wanting to add additional lighting which I already have two sets of (LED Rider LD5's & Rigid Ind. SR-M Pro spot). Which EZcan did you end up going with to mount your Rigid's? Did you end up direct wiring to the EZcan or did you buy connectors to match what comes off of the EZcan?
Skip
Nice to see you enjoying the RT1250. I ended up buying an '18 GSA Rallye on a Fly N Ride from Minnesota back in October. That was a nice trip back home to GA. I've been farkling it up over the last few months and now I'm wanting to add additional lighting which I already have two sets of (LED Rider LD5's & Rigid Ind. SR-M Pro spot). Which EZcan did you end up going with to mount your Rigid's? Did you end up direct wiring to the EZcan or did you buy connectors to match what comes off of the EZcan?
Skip
Attachments
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Noise wise I had a bike quip
I think you would use the same one I do...
HEXHEX.H3-EZL-002
Nice!.. The excan came with several prewired connectors so I just soldered the lights to those after extending the light wires. I use one circuit for each light so I used up the 4 available. I have my GPS and Radar detector tapped into the oem bmw connector since it's not good enough for full heated gear but the nice part of that is it takes a couple mins to power off when the bike is off so I can stop for gas, fill up and get back on the road without having the gps ask me to stay on.. but it still goes off after 5-10 mins I think so will turn off and not kill the battery.
I think you would use the same one I do...
Hex Ez Can gen 2-HEX
www.cyclopsadventuresports.com
Much as I don’t like to admit it (Read: cringing while saying bmw and great bike in the same sentence lol), this bmw sounds like a great bike. And its got a classic Sport Touring look to it as well that I really like. And an excellent on going review, Mellow. Two things holding me back right now, my loyalty to Honda and my 05 in particular. And the $ involved for this upgrade. And, how much of an upgrade would it really be? I’ve got less than $10k into my 05 incl purchase price and all repairs since I bought it as salvage in 09. And it just went past the 100k miles last season. And, thanks to Igofar’s rebuild a couple years ago, I can’t see any reason why it won’t outlast me and the riding years I’ve got left I’m sure. I’ve no doubt that this new bmw is superior to my old Honda in just about every way, but for now, I’ll stay with my faithful ole ST. Cuz it never fails to make me smile, and it’s those smiles is why I ride.
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OP
I agree, when you find some that just works perfect for you, no reason to change. The weight of the ST was always an issue for me, the RT feels deceptively light.
That would be my biggest gripe with the ST, but I’ve ridden it so long now, that it’s just part of the price that I have learned to pay. And it helps too that my inseam is, shall I say, more conducive than some (32”), to the ST‘s weight and height. But I agree lighter and less top heavy would be huge for me too.
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I finally figured out the fuel gauge.. reading the manual it makes sense, the wording was just something I missed.
The low fuel warning, I thought, was when I hit reserve... but, I put 230 miles on the bike this last weekend and was into that warning with 20 miles left but was close to home so I kept going and when I filled up it was around 5.5 gallons in a 6.6 gallon tank. The manual says 'fuel TO reserve'.
I'm impressed with that warning as I've been used to the Yamaha gauges which you'd better pay attention to as soon as you get any flashing warning. I like how BMW did this.
The low fuel warning, I thought, was when I hit reserve... but, I put 230 miles on the bike this last weekend and was into that warning with 20 miles left but was close to home so I kept going and when I filled up it was around 5.5 gallons in a 6.6 gallon tank. The manual says 'fuel TO reserve'.
I'm impressed with that warning as I've been used to the Yamaha gauges which you'd better pay attention to as soon as you get any flashing warning. I like how BMW did this.
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Bulitt
Flori-Duh-Man
BTW Operation Night Vision is complete.
Joe, is that the stock “sport short” windshield or a werks shield? I gotta change the tall one on my bike. It works ok, but I don’t like the look…..too tall. The werks 24 looks about right to me. Very much like the one above on your bike.