Relative merits of the 1200RT wetheads thru the years.

[Rex R]

I'm considering getting a 1200RT, possibly a new 2016, possibly a used bike.

 

Can anyone point me to threads on the pluses and minuses of different model years and more importantly weak points to look out for (like the dreaded final drives, input spline shaft and iABS controllers of oilheads)?

 

I'm sure this has been covered, but my search skills are not as sharp as I'd like.

 

I'm also open to a camhead, so feel free to compare the wetheads to the camheads. (I am posting a similar thread in the Camhead forum.)

 

 

[Rex R]

I'm considering getting a 1200RT, possibly camhead, but probably a wethead

 

Can anyone point me to threads on the pluses and minuses of different model years of the camheads and more importantly weak points to look out for (like the dreaded final drives, input spline shaft and iABS controllers of oilheads)?

 

I'm sure this has been covered, but my search skills are not as sharp as I'd like.

 

Since I'm also considering the wetheads, feel free to compare the wetheads to the camheads. (I am posting a similar thread in the Wethead forum.)

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2017 by greiffster

[Marty Hill]

[Rob L]

The greatest benefit to the liquid cooled bikes in my opinion is the unitizing of the engine and transmission. This creates a more compact unit with no splines needing lubrication because of the wet clutch. The clutch can be serviced without splitting the entire bike into 2 parts as previous models required.

I have heard of no major mechanical issues on these models. The final drive problems seem to have gone away.

[PadG]

Having owned and ridden hexhead, camhead (rental), and wethead RTs, I would strongly recommend that, if you can afford a wethead ('14 - present) RT, you should buy that! The difference in riding the hexhead to camhead is very little - same hp, same max. torque, but the torque band of the camhead is probably flatter. I wasn't able to tell any difference when I rented a camhead to ride around the Scottish Highland for 7 days. OTOH, the wethead is another animal altogether, and it is the best RT so far!

[tallman]

Newer, better.

New, warranty.

Unle$$ your budget prevent$ that.

[greiffster]

Let's merge these threads up and we'll leave it here since this one took off first.

 

 

[WBinDE]

I often go several days between visits home. I had a camhead and always felt I needed to carry oil for it. Because I don't have steady hands, I also carried paper funnels, and rags, and some latex gloves. And I usually used them. I have yet to use any oil between scheduled changes on the wethead (probably hit 50K this week), so I don't carry it any more.