returning rider's questions on wetheads

[bendbill]

 

I hope to return to BMW, probably a used 2016-2018 (while keeping my ST1300 as it's rock solid--except for resale). Long ago, I sold my 2003 1150 RT because of its unreliability. Everything I read now shows that wethead reliability is excellent--and apparently fd issues are now rare.

I miss the front telelever suspension and lighter weight of the RT. While I have long given up hope that BMW would return to the beautiful sleek design of the 1150 series, the newer white and carbon black wetheads look really nice.

 

Before I take the next step to contact private owners or dealers on a wethead RT, I'd appreciate advice from owners on other factors:

 

1--Is pttr now a thing of the past?

2—I read that more owners are installing LED bulbs. Which brands are easiest for plug and play? If so, is the warranty affected?

3—Is preloading still the technique for smoother shifts ?

4—Any luck with using lithium ion batteries? My Ballistic is now 6 years old and still strong. Better yet, it has never needed trickle charging over 5 long winters.

5—What about cupping on the front tire? I remember my old RT front would suffer cupping before 8K on Oregon roads. My current ST1300 Michelins go 9000-10,000 miles—never cupping. I always keep tire pressures at recommended levels.

6—Do some wetheads use a lot of oil after break in? When I sold my 1150 @30K, it still used a quart every 1500-1600 miles.

7-- Is high-speed stability affected by shock preload? Or does ESA automatically firm up the shocks at high speeds? Most of my riding is in the dry intermountain west where lonely roads combine with sparse vegetation, resulting in lots of fast.

 

Thanks for your insight--bill

 

 

[Green RT]

I will comment on a couple of your items. I have an R, not an RT, maybe different maybe not.

 

1. PTTR (Pulls to the right, I assume) is gone. With the cruise control set, I have ridden for what seems like extended periods with my hands off the bars. It is absolutely stable. It feels like you could ride straight or gently curving roads forever without touching the handlebars.

 

3. Probably yes, but shifting is so second nature that I am not really conscious of it. The Shift Assist is also really smooth in the upper gears if, and only if, you are accelerating going up or have a closed throttle going down. It is very unsmooth if you are just cruising in gear and want to change up or down to be in different gear for any reason.

 

5. My first set of tires showed some cupping on the front tire. The second set is nearing the end of its life now without any cupping.

[realshelby]

I hope to return to BMW, probably a used 2016-2018 (while keeping my ST1300 as it's rock solid--except for resale). Long ago, I sold my 2003 1150 RT because of its unreliability. Everything I read now shows that wethead reliability is excellent--and apparently fd issues are now rare.

I miss the front telelever suspension and lighter weight of the RT. While I have long given up hope that BMW would return to the beautiful sleek design of the 1150 series, the newer white and carbon black wetheads look really nice.

 

Before I take the next step to contact private owners or dealers on a wethead RT, I'd appreciate advice from owners on other factors:

 

1--Is pttr now a thing of the past? Yes

2—I read that more owners are installing LED bulbs. Which brands are easiest for plug and play? If so, is the warranty affected? There is a thread here about which ones are found to work. Warranty? Not on the whole bike, but it could effect the headlight warranty. No problems that I know of doing it.

3—Is preloading still the technique for smoother shifts ? The Wethead shifts better from 1-2 and overall. It does have a pronounced clunk going from neutral to first while at a stop. Not a problem, get used to it.

4—Any luck with using lithium ion batteries? My Ballistic is now 6 years old and still strong. Better yet, it has never needed trickle charging over 5 long winters. Up to you. Not a fan of Lithium as I travel in the cold some

5—What about cupping on the front tire? I remember my old RT front would suffer cupping before 8K on Oregon roads. My current ST1300 Michelins go 9000-10,000 miles—never cupping. I always keep tire pressures at recommended levels. Front tire wear is better than on the Oilheads. Some tires are better than others. Still wears the left side a bit more.

6—Do some wetheads use a lot of oil after break in? When I sold my 1150 @30K, it still used a quart every 1500-1600 miles. Right at 40,000 miles on mine. I have never added oil between changes. Or needed to. It may drop 1/8" in 6000 miles. These don't use oil.

7-- Is high-speed stability affected by shock preload? Or does ESA automatically firm up the shocks at high speeds? Most of my riding is in the dry intermountain west where lonely roads combine with sparse vegetation, resulting in lots of fast. The Wethead RT is a LOT different handling bike. Comes from the factory with a steering damper. Much more responsive and that means any input makes the bike move. Feels 150 lbs lighter than the Oilhead in the turns. But at 100+ mph the Oilhead was very stable. This one is too, but ever so slightly more nervous feeling.

Thanks for your insight--bill

 

 

At 40K and have had zero issues. Maintenance is so much easier on this than the Oilhead, with the exception of when you might actually have to change valve clearances. Which won't be often with the shim/bucket design. Indeed they are proving to be the best bike BMW has offered in possibly decades as far as reliability and dependability. You won't keep the ST 1300 long after getting one.

 

[Paul4450]

 

 

Is pttr now a thing of the past? As others have said, yes. Due to the wet counter rotating clutch.

 

Preloading shifts- while I have not ridden older BMW's much, I find from 2nd gear up, my ‘14 RT shifts the same as my 83 Suzuki GS1100. As realshelby mentions, it does clunk putting into 1st at a stop. I find if I roll off the throttle just before I pull in the clutch, my 1-2 shifts are less clunky. It seems to that there are a couple of techniques to smooth out shifts in lower gears, such as preloading.

 

Cupping tires- it's my opinion that particular wear patterns are just as much, if not more so, the result of riding techniques/patterns versus inherent bike characteristics. Trail braking and/or trailing throttle into turns will cause more cupping than if one brakes upright then corners at a constant speed or accelerating, I believe. I'm not saying one technique is better than the other.

 

I do sport touring on my bike, for example, riding on Pashnit Tours. Which means oftentimes trying to keep up with sportier, lighter bikes. I've adjusted my riding techniques and for me, at least, I've reduced my trailing throttle while cornering, keeping a constant speed or acceleration, which has helped me carry more speed at the apex and feel more confident while cornering. My front tire has less wear on the sides, less feathering/cupping, while reducing my chicken strip on the rear tire. I'm a large guy, too, 6', over 250 in riding gear.

 

Like realshelby, my ‘14 RT has zero oil usage between changes.

 

I replaced my 4 year old battery (AGM) with one from BatteryMart ( on the recommendation of others on this forum) as a precaution. I keep mine on an Optimate charger between rides now (also a forum recommendation).

 

I can't comment on high speed stability between models, but I can say it's never been an issue, regardless of surface. I'm using Dunlop RoadSmart 3's.

 

I haven't had any regrets with my decision to buy my RT! It's been fast, comfortable, handles great, reliable and easy to maintain.

[bendbill]

 

Thank you all very much for relating your experiences with trouble free riding on your wetheads. It's especially nice to know that pttr is dead AND oil usage is negligible. I like those kinds of advances in engineering and design.

 

I will now be able to start my search for a lightly used 2016-2018 wethead through private parties or dealers here in the west. If all goes well, I'll be riding on the marque by spring. :-)

[Red]

Hope to si ewe at the BMW rally in John Day on the last weekend of June. Fantastic 100-200 mile loops out of John Day. It's a good intro into the 'local' bmw group. Check it out at the BMW Riders of Oregon web site.

[bendbill]

Thanks, Red. I've been to several of the Chief Jo rallies over the last decade. Great group of riders there and at Torrey

[WBinDE]

I find if I do a lot of hard acceleration oil use goes up. Like backroads when routinely passing on the DY. More gentle acceleration it goes to nothing. Even so, it's only an issue if I go beyond the 6K recommended interval - at 6K, it'll be at the bottom of the ring with hard acceleration, middle of the ring without. So if I'm going beyond 6K I'll end up adding some oil. UOA tells me 8K is fine, not even close to marginal, so 10K probably will be fine too. I've long since run out the warranty and am thinking of just doing a "12K" service (oil, filter, FD, plugs, air filter if needed) every 10K and just skipping the "6K" service (oil & filter only) altogether.

[jimmyd]

I had a 2012 Rt that I put 110000 Km on . I traded this year on a 2018 W/C Rt. My 2012 was great bike BUT , needed to replace rear oil seals twice , the rear shock on warranty . I too have an St 1300 ,my third, simply for its rock solid dependability. I researched the W/C extensively and see very few if any reports of major issues. Mine has been trouble free so far. As mention earlier the W/C based on my experience is a significant improvement dynamiclly over the 2012. The st1300 fells very heavy and sluggish compared to the 2018. Much more so than compared to the 2012.

[bendbill]

Nice notes on oil use, WB. I'm past really fast, so it's nice to know I won't have to carry oil all the time

 

And thanks, jiimmyd. As an ST owner, I'm hoping for the same feeling of lightness on a wethead

 

bill

 

[JamesW]

Interesting comments about the wetheads with their wet clutches clunking into first gear. My FJR and in fact most FJRs will clunk pretty bad when going from neutral into first. What works every time is when in neutral blip the throttle to about 3K revs with clutch pulled in then when revs drop to idle RPM shift to first gear. No clunk every time. When coming to a stop don't shift to first until the bike is barely moving. Also, I found it better to upshift at around 2 - 2.5K revs when going from first to second (short shift) then from second on up rev to 4K or above. Never preload the shift lever if you value your shift dogs, just saying. Of course I tend to think most original owners of new BMWs won't keep the bike out of warranty anyway so it won't matter how much they abuse the transmission.

 

There, my shift theories for what they're worth or not..

Edited January 13, 2019 by JamesW

[Pappy35]

Every motorcycle I've ever had clunked going from neutral to 1st (Hondas, Suzukis, Yamaha FJR, and now my RT). I honestly don't get why folks feel compelled to develop any special procedures to drop into first. Just do it and stop worrying about it.

[Green RT]

…

Of course I tend to think most original owners of new BMWs won't keep the bike out of warranty anyway so it won't matter how much they abuse the transmission.

…

Out of curiosity, what is the basis for saying that. I have had four BMWs, Two were purchased new and another was two weeks old with a few hundred miles when I purchased it. Of those three, I kept one for 25 years, a second for 8 years, and I'm currently 4 years into the third one with no plans to sell it ever.

[rapz]

ST feels heavy compared to RT, jmho.

[Bill_Walker]

…

Of course I tend to think most original owners of new BMWs won't keep the bike out of warranty anyway so it won't matter how much they abuse the transmission.

…

Out of curiosity, what is the basis for saying that. I have had four BMWs, Two were purchased new and another was two weeks old with a few hundred miles when I purchased it. Of those three, I kept one for 25 years, a second for 8 years, and I'm currently 4 years into the third one with no plans to sell it ever.

 

I don't know where "most" owners fall, but there does seem to be a bifurcation of the market. I've gotten both my BMWs used, the 1150RT with 3600 miles on it and the 1200RT with 8000 miles on it, so some people clearly unload them early. And I know a few people who change bikes like they change their underwear, but most of the riders I know on this board have had the same bike for a number of years, and most ride their bikes at least 60K miles before getting a new one (and many over 100K).

[AndyS]

Hi James, I am with the others here. I think typically most owners keep their BMW's longer and rack the miles up.

[tallman]

My last 3 Beemers were "owned" for 53 years, collectively.

 

189,000, speedo broke, rode 20 more years so how far over 200,000 miles, IDK. (Only turned in the 189k for mileage award)

86,000 miles owned 11 years

44,000 owned 7 years

there were others

 

But, from my experiences, like Bill Said, some are, some aren't.

 

Some own multiple bikes and put 2-3k yr on 4-5 bikes.

 

Different strokes...

Best wishes.