1250 Touring comfort

[Mrkwmsn]

I've posted this on different forum but very curious to see what folks here have to say. Thanks in advance. 

 

Just joined the Forum. I'm currently riding a 2018 K1600B that I've had since 8/2017 and have put 14,000 miles on. I live in Colorado and the bike is great in the mountains. However, on the highway/interstate it catches a lot of bad air and wobbles way too much for my liking. I've made a  lot of changes like windshield, aerowings, and stiffening suspension etc but I can't see myself touring on the B. It's my first BMW and I love the quality of the product.


The thing I loved about my prior HD Ultra was the fairing and the quiet air while riding. I tried riding a GTL, didn't notice same wobble as the B but still felt like there was a lot of buffeting and wind in the cockpit. Seems to me the fairings on the B & GTL don't provide that much protection on your upper body or legs.


I'm considering a Goldwing but frankly the weight concerns me. I'm 64, 5'8" so weight matters. I was attracted to the RT given the lower weight and wider fairing.


What I'd like to know is how calm is it in the cockpit behind the RT fairing when on the interstate or otherwise? Any prior B/GTL owners that have an opinion? Thanks much.

[reg26]

Having come from allot of Harley Ultras and switching to the R1200RT there is No comparison. The RT has the quietest Cockpit of any bike I have ridden. By the way my wife feels the same way also . 

[TEWKS]

You should be able to get a demo ride on an RT I would think.  I had a K16GT for a couple of seasons and now an RT. Thinking the wind management is pretty close between the two.

Welcome to the site and keep us posted. 

[wbw6cos]

Welcome to the forum!   Feel free to join us in Ellijay, GA for FART  LINKY

 

I cannot compare the 1250 RT to any HD bikes, but with adjustable windscreen, you can have wind or none.  I am 5'8" and love the wind protection.  

 

As far as on the highway, the occasional big rig (or RV) may push a little, but for the most part it rides pretty stable.  I did feel the effect of some pretty strong crosswinds on the Friday of this Spring's START, but not enough to become concerned.  The bike was pretty planted with 2-up.  I have the top case on the bike.  If memory serves me, the sustained winds were 25-30mph , with gusts up to 40.  It was not a long lasting event; a front was rolling through.  

 

 

[Paul De]

The RT has a very good and adjustable still air pocket and if the OEM windscreen isn't perfection for you third party windscreen offerings will get you to your perfection.  No worries

[MikeB60]

Its gonna be tough to find a completely still air pocket like the Ultra.  My buddy who has an Ultra  loves my 1600 and we switch out all the time.  

 

I have a 1600 GT with an AeroFlow windshield and there is absolutely no buffeting.  No wobble as seems to be common with the B (I have not ridden one just what I've read on the other board).  My GT is rock steady up to 150MPH.  I have not ridden a GTL but with the correct windshield I suspect you would have the same result.

 

I've ridden the latest version of the RT, excellent wind management.  Significant weight difference from the 1600 as well.  Coming from a B and Harley, you are going to find a difference in the riding position, ok a BIG difference.  Make sure you take an extended test ride and can live with the ergonomics.  The new RTs are quick but the torque band is much different from the 1600 as well.  Nothing like the sound and shove in the pants that you get from the big 6!

[MichiganBob]

Welcome to the forum. I'm on my sixth BMW going back to 1971. With all of them, I went to an aftermarket windshield as the stock one never gave me the protection I wanted. Others find the stock windshield fine. I never changed my saddle to a custom one on any of the bikes while others toss them for a custom fit. My saddles always worked well, although I did use an Alaska Leather Sheepskin Cover on my trip to Alaska and a recent 7k trip. All comes down to personal preference. Also, I have become religious about earplugs since two of my buddies have very compromised hearing from lack of ear protection. The quietness enhances the cockpit feel.  

 

MB

[AZgman]

I did a test ride of the K1600B... hated it! An RT, on the other hand, is pure joy.

[Paul De]

2 hours ago, MikeB60 said:

Its gonna be tough to find a completely still air pocket like the Ultra. 

 

Yes for sure one advantage to create a still air pocket on the fork mounted Batwing fairing is that it is closer to the rider than frame mounted fairings like that found on the RT.  That said, BMW has been able to develop the RT fairing to a top tier performer for a still air pocket, as well as other aspects like, engine heat management and high speed stability.  While on the highway it is a nonfactor, but around town and in parking lots I prefer the frame mount fairing for keeping the handle bars light

[John]

Try the ShitCam forum?

[narcosis]

My brother-in-law and I just did a quick trip to the Cumberland Gap area...about 580 miles one way, mostly interstate.  He was on a 2012 GTL and I was on my 2014 RT.  Interstate speeds were in the 80-90 range.  Each bike had new tires.  Both of us experienced some wobble in dirty air, primarily from tractor-trailers.  He commented that on his Road Glide with a S&S 2200cc engine, everything was rock solid in similar conditions.  I would guess the R1250RT would have about the same interstate experience.

[PadG]

Think WEIGHT!  Heavier objects at speed will have very much better stability than much lighter object at the same speed!  If you, on the RT, felt the same disturbance as the rider on the GW, then it goes to show that the RT had a more streamline fairing than the GW!

[Paul De]

One aspect of high speed stability that is sometimes overlooked, is how stiff you keep your arms when being buffeted by a passing/passed semi or in variable cross winds.  As your torso gets jostled stiff arms feed that into the handlebars and the bike wiggles about.  I found this particularly to be the case on the Wethead which has very light and responsive handling. When I first has my Wethead I thought it was much less stable at speed than my Oilhead, until I realized it wasn’t the fairing causing the instability,  it was me.  Once I got back to the good practice of keeping my arms loose and a lighter grip on the bars the Wethead  became rock steady at all speeds

[gary45]

Aerodynamics is far more critical than weight, atmospheric pressure at sea level is 15 psi so if you are traveling in a crosswind and your vehicle aerodynamics creates a low pressure of 1 psi on one side then it is a matter of square inches blocking air passing through or around the vehicle. If weight was the important part tractors trailers would not get moved across lanes or "blown" over, in reality the low pressure (vacuum) pulls the trailer sometimes flipping it. 

 

Your windshield if all the way up, especially aftermarket taller shields is a huge sail, I always keep my windshield all the way down on extremely windy days. My K1200LT had a very high shield on it when purchased and it was really bad in crosswind until I put  lower stock shield back on it.

[Rinkydink]

On 9/13/2019 at 1:54 PM, John said:

Try the ShitCam forum?

You got a beef with the new 1250 valve train or something?👊

[AndyS]

Seriously, Is there any dedicated ShiftCam forums?

[Cap]

On 9/12/2019 at 4:08 PM, Mrkwmsn said:

.... I'm 64, 5'8" .... I was attracted to the RT given the lower weight and wider fairing.

What I'd like to know is how calm is it in the cockpit behind the RT fairing when on the interstate or otherwise? ...

 

With the right choice of aftermarket windscreen, the RT is a quiet bike with good wind protection.  My primary concern for you would be that the RT is a fairly tall "standard" bike, and that you might have trouble getting your toes down on both sides.  So, I would suggest you take a test ride, and experiment with parking the bike on slopes, and uneven paving.  I have a friend your size who owned a R1200GS, and I watched him struggle to mount/dismount in various conditions.  Once you are moving, the RT will be awesome for you.

[PadG]

2 hours ago, AndyS said:

Seriously, Is there any dedicated ShiftCam forums?

I suspect that he meant the shiftcam section of this forum! 

[AndyS]

17 minutes ago, PadG said:

I suspect that he meant the shiftcam section of this forum! 

Oops, didn't realise we'd sprouted one of them!

[RPondaRoad]

I've never owned a B or GTL, so I won't weigh in with my experience on my RT since I can't answer your comparison question knowledgeably.  But, I do have a suggestion for you based on my thoughts after reading your post a few times.  Before buying an RT with the hope that you'll solve your problem, you might want to rent one for a couple of days.  For a relatively small investment compared to selling the bike at a loss if you don't like it, you could do a Hertz Motorcycle rental in Las Vegas for a weekend.     

[alegerlotz]

On 9/14/2019 at 11:02 AM, narcosis said:

My brother-in-law and I just did a quick trip to the Cumberland Gap area...about 580 miles one way, mostly interstate.  He was on a 2012 GTL and I was on my 2014 RT.  Interstate speeds were in the 80-90 range.  Each bike had new tires.  Both of us experienced some wobble in dirty air, primarily from tractor-trailers.  He commented that on his Road Glide with a S&S 2200cc engine, everything was rock solid in similar conditions.  I would guess the R1250RT would have about the same interstate experience.

 

The R1250RT is the same bike as the R1200RT with the new engine.  It should be exactly the same interstate experience.

[Endobob]

On 9/12/2019 at 3:08 PM, Mrkwmsn said:

"I've posted this on different forum but very curious to see what folks here have to say. Thanks in advance.

....... What I'd like to know is how calm is it in the cockpit behind the RT fairing when on the interstate or otherwise? Any prior B/GTL owners that have an opinion? Thanks much.

 

@Mrjwnsn   Noted you have just this one post and wonder what you think of the member posts above.

[Red]

The RT's have adjustable on the fly wind screen.  That makes all the difference in dialing in just the right air flow for any particular situation.

[John]

On 10/7/2019 at 11:11 AM, Rinkydink said:

You got a beef with the new 1250 valve train or something?👊

No, Linc. I was referring to the 1250 forum. Being a relative of Gordon Ramsay, I tend to swear a lot. A mere slip of the keyboard