1200RT - what's with the 35mm front forks?

[TowJam]

At the dealer today doing some A/B comparisons of the RT and ST. I noticed that although they bikes share the same frame, engine and basic suspension, the RT only has 35mm front forks while the ST has 41mm. (Maybe I'm nitpicking and subconsciously looking for an excuse NOT to buy an RT.) I'm assuming the telelever adds some stability and strength to the front end - otherwise the RT's front end would bend over quicker than a new inmate.

 

Any guesses as to why BMW would not go ahead and share the bigger 41mm forks between the two bikes?

 

I guess this is the only thing left that has me on the fence about ordering an RT. If anyone can convince me that the 35mm tubes will hold up and handle as well as what the remaining 99.9% of the non-BMW bikes in the world have, I (and my dealer) would be grateful.

 

thanks!

[jgrant]

Read this:

 

http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/index.../telelever.html

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Yup. Then read it again.

The diameter of the stanchion tubes has almost nothing to do with the rigidty of the forks for either steering or deflection during cornering. That is almost all handled by the lowers.

 

Cosmetics and preceptions of those not in the know make up the reason for the difference. You can't see the forks on the RT.

[FlyingFinn]

They put larger diameter fork tubes into the ST to make it LOOK BETTER?

Somewhat misplaced effort from BMW's part if you ask me.

Or maybe the tubes just need to even larger. Much larger

 

--

Mikko

[CraCol]

I've got 18K miles on mine, and haven't noticed any issue with teh 35mm forks.. as stated previsouly, the tfork tubes on the telelever only realy give the handlebars something to turn the wheel with.. Order the RT, you won't be sorry..

[John Bentall]

Holy cr*p! The K1200S doesn't have tubes at all!

[ShovelStrokeEd]

See, the K1200S takes the principle to the extreme.

[jgrant]

For Duolever read this:

 

http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/index...w/duolever.html

[cjmkerns]

ToeJam,

 

I had a front impact accident on my '98 RT resulting in minor deformation of the front wheel and "tucking" the ball joint under the strut and bending the nose of the strut. The 35mm tubes and sliders suffered no damage. They are overbuilt if anything.

 

Regards,

 

Carl

[TowJam]

Thanks all for the feedback. I took it to heart: http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/587385/an/0/page/0#587385

[Isettanut]

The very early reports indicated that a smaller tube was designed in for some give in a severe frontal impact. This dates back to 1993-94 R1100RS. After five telelever equipped BMWs I can report no failures. Leon

[jaySTrider]

Yup. Then read it again.

The diameter of the stanchion tubes has almost nothing to do with the rigidty of the forks for either steering or deflection during cornering. That is almost all handled by the lowers.

 

Cosmetics and preceptions of those not in the know make up the reason for the difference. You can't see the forks on the RT.

 

So why the larger stanchion diameter on the new GS Adventure then? Must be more than just cosmetics and you can barely see the stanchions on the ST.