BMW R1200RT 2005 - next potential motorcycle?

[JkR1200RT]

Hello there!

 

I just joined the community, mainly for the reason of having a huge issue deciding if I should buy a motorcycle or not, and obviously learn a thing or two about my future motorcycle.

 

So, the story is, that I was mainly looking for an adventure bike V-Strom 1000 to be exact, but after many, many days and considerations about the pros and cons, I stumbled across an article about R1200RT, I never thought about buying a touring bike, but ... here I am considering buying one. I drove not far away from me today to see a red 2005 BMW R1200RT, the guy was friendly enough to let me drive it, AMAZING bike, handling was spot on for me, I was fighting to get it straight - sort of, since it wants to corner so hard. A couple of things make me think about the "BUY NOW" decision, mainly ... It wasn't run for about a year or so, the current owner installed a new battery yesterday just to have it ready for mine today's visit, he also stated in his advert that the bike has ~ 65,000 km on the clock, while it has 85,000km + on it, the liquids have to be replaced, I'm worried about the valve adjustment - can you hear it is not properly adjusted? Is it expensive on BMW's to adjust? ... And a nail to the coffin, the owner has only 1 original key with alarm remote on it, I don't know what to think about that. I will try to attach a video with me walking around it and starting it up, sorry for my talking in the video though, for NOT so steady hand, and just before I started the bike up, my father decided to call;) so be aware of the ringing. The original price on it was 4,599 euro, should I try dropping the price for the reasons I mentioned before? It has heated grips, heated seat, cruise control, radio with CD player, ESA suspension, three original BMW coffers, and obviously that lovely electric screen.

 

 

VIDEO

 

 

Let me know what you might think about it, can you maybe change my mind? Should I buy it, or should I stay away from it?

 

Thanks a lot! 

[West_Coaster]

I know that feeling of seeing a bike and wanting to know your making a good choice. I just picked up an RT over last weekend.

 

Seems if you got it for $4k, your still looking at service costs, and whatever stuff it also needs. For another $1-2k you can get a newer bike with half or less miles that maybe is caught up on service. You'll be close on cost with a newer bike with a higher resale later.

[JkR1200RT]

4 minutes ago, West_Coaster said:

To me the bike your looking at has too many negatives. Too many miles, one key ( though thats not that big a deal), and needing a service which can be expensive if this a major one.  You didn't mention tires, they can be expensive too. 

 

The tires look like semi-new, I checked the production year from the rear, it was made in 12/2015 so already about 5 years old, I couldn't find production date from from the front tire, but both of them were Pilot Roads 3/4 so I can only assume that they both might be from late 2015/early 2016. I slept with the decision, I'm planning to call my local motorcycle mechanic to ask for potential cost of the new owners service (oils, inspection etc). I was also thibking about getting a motorcycle from the BMW reseller, and not from private ones, get at least half the price in installments, so maybe it might be with a warranty and in much better condition as this one. 

 

[Hati]

This is really a massive personal preference thing. If the bike feels right, go for it. It is probably the most important thing to feel good on it/with it so that is pretty much there. The valves take 5 minutes to do, but even without experience no more than an hour while reading the "how to" and having a beer or two. Assuming you can tell a feeler gauge from a 10 mm spanner. You can learn all the work on the bike without issues, just depends how handy you are with tools.

 

I have an 06' that is the same as yours with all the options you listed. As long as everything works (ESA in particular), it should be fine. The fluid changes, in particular brake fluid is a big job, but again, there are instructions on the net about this too (thanks to the age of the bike) both written and video, so it is not beyond the capabilities of a mechanically apt owner. I've done it many times, get more efficient at it every occasion. Later model hexheads ('08 on IIRC) have the non-servo ABS units that are easier to do and cheaper to replace, but there are alternatives for these bikes too if you don't want to replace the unit.

 

There are two "Achilles' heel" items with this vintage. One is the servo ABS as mentioned and the other is the final drive. You can check for that by having the bike on the centre stand and the left pannier off. Try to rock the wheel holding it at 3 and 9 o'clock in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the bike. Repeat at 6 and 12 o'clock positions. If there is no play, you are fine. BMW says a play of up to 1 mm of the wheel is acceptable. Also, rotate the wheel out of gear slowly and feel for any notchiness  that can be the sign of a failing bearing. If all these check out, the bike is safe to buy, well as safe as anything can be at that age.

 

If you are handy with tools, you can save a LOT of money by doing most of the work yourself. I only needed specialist attention when I had leaking final drive seals (drive shaft side) replaced because of special socket requirements. Luckily I have a very good factory trained BMW mechanic running his own business in town so I use him for anything I can't do myself.

I replaced all the leaking gearbox seals, balancer shaft seal (bike split in half kind of job) and pretty much everything else as well. It's a very easy bike to work on, because even taking the plastics off only take 5 minutes once you know how they can be removed. I have mine for just over a year and no regrets at all, put on nearly 20 k kilometres already.

 

The mileage is not a concern, the fact that he was out by 20 thousand is. What else did he forget? You can argue that doing a full fluids service is a grand at the dealer so he drops the price for you. I would also bring up the age of the tyres as a bargaining tool, although they may still be ok. 5 years is on the limit, depends where the tyre spent it's life. Make sure the ESA preload on the rear is working. Have the bike running on the stand and switch from one helmet to two helmets and while the helmets are flashing, indicating that the preload motor is running, look for the seat rising slowly. If you ride two up, you will need the preload cranked up. If nothing happens (no flashing helmets/rising seat, the motor may just be stuck. Not a deal breaker but could be a bargaining tool as well.

 

Good luck with it.

[dirtrider]

12 hours ago, JkR1200RT said:

Hello there!

 

I just joined the community, mainly for the reason of having a huge issue deciding if I should buy a motorcycle or not, and obviously learn a thing or two about my future motorcycle.

 

So, the story is, that I was mainly looking for an adventure bike V-Strom 1000 to be exact, but after many, many days and considerations about the pros and cons, I stumbled across an article about R1200RT, I never thought about buying a touring bike, but ... here I am considering buying one. I drove not far away from me today to see a red 2005 BMW R1200RT, the guy was friendly enough to let me drive it, AMAZING bike, handling was spot on for me, I was fighting to get it straight - sort of, since it wants to corner so hard. A couple of things make me think about the "BUY NOW" decision, mainly ... It wasn't run for about a year or so, the current owner installed a new battery yesterday just to have it ready for mine today's visit, he also stated in his advert that the bike has ~ 65,000 km on the clock, while it has 85,000km + on it, the liquids have to be replaced, I'm worried about the valve adjustment - can you hear it is not properly adjusted? Is it expensive on BMW's to adjust? ... And a nail to the coffin, the owner has only 1 original key with alarm remote on it, I don't know what to think about that. I will try to attach a video with me walking around it and starting it up, sorry for my talking in the video though, for NOT so steady hand, and just before I started the bike up, my father decided to call;) so be aware of the ringing. The original price on it was 4,599 euro, should I try dropping the price for the reasons I mentioned before? It has heated grips, heated seat, cruise control, radio with CD player, ESA suspension, three original BMW coffers, and obviously that lovely electric screen.

 

 

VIDEO

 

 

Let me know what you might think about it, can you maybe change my mind? Should I buy it, or should I stay away from it?

 

Thanks a lot! 

Morning JkR1200RT

 

That 2005  1200RT doesn't look like it was well cared for, lots of corrosion on the fasteners & on the exhaust, missing bolts, fallen over on the valve cover at one time, etc.  

 

It also appears to have, or had, an engine oil leak from rear of engine (usually the rear balance shaft seal on the 2005 1200 bikes)

 

The 1200RT is a very complex motorcycle with many EXPENSIVE to repair parts & expensive systems so you really want to get one that has been well cared for & in very good shape (this one doesn't appear to be that motorcycle).

 

Plus, the 2005 1200RT was an early 1200 model so there were a LOT of improvements on the later 1200 models. 

 

Everything from a BIG brake system improvements, to oil leak improvements, to final drive improvements, to  electronic shock improvements, to  drive shaft improvements (all of these things cost BIG BIG money to repair on a BMW 1200 motorcycle).

 

Unless you REALLY know your 1200 BMW motorcycles it is real easy to buy a expensive-to-keep-running full time project motorcycle that can easily cost WAY/WAY more than buying a newer better condition well cared for 1200 motorcycle. 

 

If you are seriously thinking of that 2005 motorcycle then I highly suggest that you  find a knowing BMW rider (or GOOD mechanic) that REALLY knows the BMW 1200 model & fully knows what to look for in a used 1200 motorcycle. 

 

 

[JkR1200RT]

Thanks for all the replies! I didn't quite expect such a response from anyone, I'm shocked...

 

I woke up today with a feeling that this is not the bike I will buy, it just seem to have too many unknowns. As I said in my second post, I'm planning to go to a dealer with some of those motorcycles that I can test drive, and check how does the "good condition" motorcycle feels like.

 

I also started considering K1300GT as an potential option, but the selection in those isn't that good, as with R1200RT. Do you maybe know something about the reliability of K1300GT?

 

As you might see that's my main point if it comes to motorcycles, if I spend that much money on a motorcycle, I want it to last long and travel far with no issues (expensive issues). 

 

If it comes to maintenance done by me, I can fix things, I used to work on my previous motorcycles, but living in a apartment without a garage... It might be difficult. Maybe some day I will be lucky enough to live in a house with garage, then I will be able to fix up my motorcycle, car etc. But for now I'm stuck with trusting the mechanics, and spending extra on something I might be able to fix myself. 

 

So if I understand correctly, spending extra for a newer bike is a good option if it comes to RT's? Which year should I aim at? If I remember correctly the '07 production year was 'refreahed', what actually got changed to better or worse in that refreshed RT? 

 

And again big, BIG thanks! 

[dirtrider]

2 hours ago, JkR1200RT said:

Thanks for all the replies! I didn't quite expect such a response from anyone, I'm shocked...

 

I woke up today with a feeling that this is not the bike I will buy, it just seem to have too many unknowns. As I said in my second post, I'm planning to go to a dealer with some of those motorcycles that I can test drive, and check how does the "good condition" motorcycle feels like.

 

I also started considering K1300GT as an potential option, but the selection in those isn't that good, as with R1200RT. Do you maybe know something about the reliability of K1300GT?

 

As you might see that's my main point if it comes to motorcycles, if I spend that much money on a motorcycle, I want it to last long and travel far with no issues (expensive issues). 

 

If it comes to maintenance done by me, I can fix things, I used to work on my previous motorcycles, but living in a apartment without a garage... It might be difficult. Maybe some day I will be lucky enough to live in a house with garage, then I will be able to fix up my motorcycle, car etc. But for now I'm stuck with trusting the mechanics, and spending extra on something I might be able to fix myself. 

 

So if I understand correctly, spending extra for a newer bike is a good option if it comes to RT's? Which year should I aim at? If I remember correctly the '07 production year was 'refreahed', what actually got changed to better or worse in that refreshed RT? 

 

And again big, BIG thanks! 

Afternoon JkR1200RT

 

When it comes to the hexhead BMW 1200RT  usually the later the better with mid 2008-2009 being the best as far as having the most updated parts. 

 

With the above said, just keep in mind that a well cared for pristine 2006 is usually a better choice than a beat up un-cared for neglected 2009. 

 

Over here in the US there are usually a good number of 2008-2009 BMW 1200RT's to choose from so for just a little more money the 2008-2009 is usually a better choice.  

 

Better brakes-- (non servo) ABS brake system 2007 up.

 

Updated more robust drive shaft mid 2008 up. 

 

Better sealed engine internal balance shaft & front cover 2008 (start of production up).

 

Better 6 speed transmission 2008 (start of production up). 

 

If you have the time you might read some of this "hexhead" forum as we have covered most 1200RT issues over the years. 

 

 

 

 

[9Mary7]

Then the 2010 Camhead!!!!!

Edited August 28, 2020 by 9Mary7