eeyteo Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Good morning y'all, I'm Matteo, from Italy, and yesterday I bought my very first BMW oilhead. It'a beautiful R1150RT, 2004 with 65k km that I found for 2600€. The modifications made, as fas as I can tell, are only the front spring which now is a Bitubo, and the aftermarket 12V socket on the dashboard. I already own a Yamaha XTZ750 '96 (Super Tenerè) and a Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R '07. I bought the super tenerè in 2014 for going on holiday by bike and since then I've always done one "big-ish" trip through Europe, per year. Now I finally decided to step up my game, due to the limitation, especially on the highway of the Yamaha. Yesterday I drove the first 150km, bringing the bike home and it was a really enjoyable ride. So less effort needed than the Yamaha. The wind deflector is very effective. I'm a bit on the taller side, 1.84m and I think I'll consider upgrading to a bigger one but even the stock deflector works miracles, compared to what I was used to. The only thing that I find seriously and surprisingly annoying are the indicators XD But I guess it's just a matter of time before I get used to this 3 buttons layout (instead of ONE, cmon!! XD). Now it's time to change the oils and possibly the fuel filter, before next weekend when I'll take her for a proper ride. 2 Link to comment
ltljohn Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Welcome to the board! What part of Italy are you from? Link to comment
wbw6cos Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Welcome to the club. Italy! Wow. Another forum member, that I know of, lives there. @Francois_Dumas. Ciao' 1 Link to comment
TEWKS Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Nice looking RT, I like the matching side cases! We'll be looking forward to your ride pictures. Link to comment
Dennis Andress Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Nice bike! Use the search feature in our Oilhead forum and you will find lots of maintenance tips. Please post lots of pictures of your rides. Link to comment
eeyteo Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Yes, I'll post gladly pics of our trips, I usually go out with a couple of friends: Kawasaki Vulcan S and Suzuki GSR 750. 3 hours ago, ltljohn said: Welcome to the board! What part of Italy are you from? I live in northern Italy, near lake Como which is very close to Switzerland: 10 minutes drive from the border. There are many beautiful lakes here Como, Garda, Maggiore, Lugano (if you feel like crossing the border) and many smaller ones and also a handful of really nice mountain passes. So a lot of possibilities for a one day or weekend trip. 40 minutes ago, Dennis Andress said: Nice bike! Use the search feature in our Oilhead forum and you will find lots of maintenance tips. Please post lots of pictures of your rides. I will for sure browse the maintenance section. Since I don't know in detail how up to date the bike is, I'll "reset" the counter on the most important items of the list, namely oils and filters. Link to comment
taylor1 Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Greetings and welcome to a great forum. You will get use to the signals , but a Kisan Signal Minder is a great upgrade . As others mentioned , please post pics of your beautiful country Link to comment
RandyShields Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Welcome. Beautiful motorcycle! Link to comment
Cap Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 5 hours ago, taylor1 said: a Kisan Signal Minder is a great upgrade . +1 on Signal Minder. The best feature of the Signal Minder, in my opinion, is that you can cancel the signal using the same paddle-switch. That makes it more intuitive. I had that exact same bike for several years, and I loved it right up to the day that I rode a wethead R1200RT. Link to comment
Bernie Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 Welcome to the board. My brother-in-law in Bavaria has the same bike. Link to comment
eeyteo Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 Thank you everyone! 11 hours ago, taylor1 said: Greetings and welcome to a great forum. You will get use to the signals , but a Kisan Signal Minder is a great upgrade . As others mentioned , please post pics of your beautiful country Very interesting thanks; if I won't get used to it in a few weeks I'll consider it for sure. Link to comment
Bill_Walker Posted July 4, 2020 Share Posted July 4, 2020 Welcome to the board and congrats on the new bike! I could be wrong, since my '04 had an aftermarket windshield, but to me that screen looks shorter than stock. Just to check, you do know about the button on the left handlebar that adjusts the windshield position, right? If you're going to change the fuel filter, which is inside the fuel tank, then while you're there, I'd recommend changing the in-tank fuel lines. A few of our members have been stranded due to them failing. They can look fine on visual inspection but leak under pressure. The molded u-shaped one is the usual culprit. Note that they're secured vie Oetiker clamps, which must be cut off and then require a special tool to clamp the new ones one. Do NOT use generic hose clamps, which won't hold under pressure. You can get by with screw-type fuel injection clamps (I used them on the filter), but they're bulkier than Oetiker clamps and there's not a lot of space for them. +2 on the Kisan Signal Minder. Besides giving you push-on/push-off turn signals, it gives you automatic canceling and can convert your signals into running lights (which may or may not be legal). If the brake lines are the original rubber ones, it's time to replace them, preferably with stainless steel ones, which don't cost all that much more. But you'll need to know how to do a brake bleed on the Integral ABS system, which is decidedly not performed the same way as on other bikes. There are control "circuits", between the front and rear brake master cylinders and the ABS module, and wheel circuits, between the ABS module and the brake calipers, and they're bled separately. Brake fluid from the master cylinders does not reach the calipers. How-tos exist on the web, and probably here in the DIY section. Check the age of your tires, and consider replacing them if they're more than 5 years old. You live in a beautiful area! I had the pleasure of visiting Lake Maggiore in 2015, and it's stunning. I'd post a photo, but none of my photos do it justice. Link to comment
Francois_Dumas Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Ciao Matteo, come stai? I had the same bike, bought new in 2004. Sold it in 2017 when I moved to Italy. We used to ride every year in the Dolomiti region when we still had our place in France. We now live in Umbria and I bought a new GS after I sold the 1150 RT. Doing mostly local rides now and use our Tiguan for longer trips. We stay near Como a few times each year on our way to and from Zürich. I am sure you will enjoy the RT. François Link to comment
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