Quick question on 12RT weight

[Mike O]

I was poking around the BMW site for 12RT specs. BMWNA indicates:

 

R1200RT Dry weight 571 lbs without cases.

 

What is it WITH cases?

 

I wouldn't think the cases weigh that much as to spec it without. And is this just a marketing specsmanship to sell the bike as lite as possible?

 

Regards,

 

Mike O

[ScottT]

I was poking around the BMW site for 12RT specs. BMWNA indicates:

 

R1200RT Dry weight 571 lbs without cases.

Go back to the website and read it again. This is what it says:

 

Weight, unladen, with full tank kg/lbs 259/571 without cases

[Mike O]

I was poking around the BMW site for 12RT specs. BMWNA indicates:

 

R1200RT Dry weight 571 lbs without cases.

Go back to the website and read it again. This is what it says:

 

Weight, unladen, with full tank kg/lbs 259/571 without cases

 

I stand corrected. But my question is still "why WITHOUT cases?"

 

Regards,

 

Mike O

[Joe_Rocket]

If the cases push the weight over the 600lb magic number, I'd say it would be a pretty good marketing idea to spec it without the cases.

 

JW

[MoroCycler]

There was also a liter or two taken away from the gas tank by means of using a ruber piece, just to keep inside that magic number ok pounds.

It is like the professional boxers who do not eat or drink anything a few days before the weighting ceremony.

[CraCol]

Cases are ~ 18 lbs a piece.. pushes the published number over 600.

 

Craig

[PaulW42]

There was also a liter or two taken away from the gas tank by means of using a ruber piece

If you mean the rubber piece at the bottom of the filler neck, I think you will find it quite small and doesn't take up much space - certainly not a litre. Anyway I would have thought that rubber was heavier than petrol.

 

My cases weigh about 13lbs so that would keep it below 600lbs. All academic over here anyway as everything is speced in kilograms!

 

Paul

[ScottT]

There was also a liter or two taken away from the gas tank by means of using a ruber piece, just to keep inside that magic number ok pounds.

BMWRA "On The Level" has just published their long-term test they were able to get 7.4 gallons in after running the tank dry. So it looks like the rubber thingy costs .3 gallons or about a liter of fuel. That's about two pounds so I doubt they have it in there to save weight. It is probably there to ensure proper venting of the tank. This is something critical to meeting EPA/California emissions standards.

 

As for the weight of the bags, I weighed myself then the bags. I got about 14.5 pounds per bag. When the magazines weigh the bikes I think they weigh the bikes with the bags if they come with the bike when they get it from the manufacturer for testing. As for why the manufacturers weight the bikes without the bags, as Mike O asks, it's probably because they can and it makes the numbers look better. I really don't know, I work for a major telecom comapany, not a bike manufacturer. Also, I think some other reasons the bike rags are getting wet weights of about 631 pounds for the RT is because the bikes they are testing have ESA and the sound system. I believe the weight BMW prints in their literature is a bike with minimal features. Since my RT does not have ESA or the sound system and it has lighter Wilbers shocks it probably comes very close to or is slightly less than the claimed 571 pound wet weight (without bags). I can tell you that my RT feels no heavier pushing it around the garage or parking lot than my old R1150RS did. In everyday riding my RT feels a lot lighter than my R1150RS did.

 

Of course none of this explains how BMW arrived at a dry weight figure of 507 pounds. The combination of 7.1 gallons of gasoline and 4 liters of motor oil accounts for about 52 pounds. I guess the remaining 13 pounds is the battery with I beleive they do not include in the dry weight figure. All in all it looks like BMW's claims for the weight of just the bike are pretty close for an RT with no bags and options (that add weight). Anyone know how much the sound system weighs and how much more the ESA weighs than non-ESA shocks?