It's "huge" (BMW K1200LT)

Member Name: Emziolathetailor

Product:	BMW K1200LT
Date:	16/09/03 (7427 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Size, Comfort, Rideability

Disadvantages: Size, Electrics, Servicing costs

Looking for a two wheeled caravan? Then go and buy a Goldwing!

The K1200LT may be "BIG" in every respect but it is still a motorcycle!

Having owned two and completeted over 70,000 miles in total luxury, I consider that I "KNOW" the beast!

The K1200LT is not for novice tourers, unless you are the kind of motorcyclist who sits in the middle lane of a three lane motorway at 50mph! This bike has real character and it takes guts to get the best out of her.

Sitting aboard the K1200LT gives a feeling that you ARE Judge Dredd! She has more gadgets than most, but most of them are very useful and BMW have listened to riders and got rid of the silly little "add-ons" like the cigarette lighter of the K1100LT.

My first K1200LT was replaced by BMW when she set off in reverse - on her own! Ooops! I think that was down to poor electrics rather than a "design" fault. The second bike has behave herself - at least in reverse!

The main fault with the K1200LT, dropping from 5th to 4th, may have been rectified in later models, although BMW understandably deny that this happens. It certainly happened on BOTH bikes that I have had; it settled down on the second bike after 15,000 miles and rarely happens now. For those interested in this little quirk, see Ride magazine November 1999 where it was said, inter alia:

"If this were my K1200 I'd now be wracked by anxiety. Our bike dropped out of top gear into fourth perhaps a dozen times on the blast, once at a crank-twisting 130. And the bodywork became rattly."

Having got "that" out of the way, what are the other major faults?

Rear brake! Forget it.... practically non-existant... although this appears to have been rectified with the later "linked" braking system.

Radio! Suffers from the same electrics problem as the reverse gear and it is "SO" annoying when "PHON
E" comes up on the display when you are enjoying Meatloaf's "Bat out of hell" well into the "Endorsement Zone"!

Servicing costs! Although servicing only comes around every 6,000 miles, the cost is prohibitive! Most of the panneling has to come off to perform the service which takes at least a day. My experience of BMW's own servicing was not good - they screwed a bolt through a panel that was much too long and it caught on the fan every time it came into operation! (Not good!)

Headlamp! I know it sounds petty, but it isn't when you are doing serious mileage in all weathers and seasons! An "upgraded" bulb is a must!

OK... enough of the moaning... now for her good points...

Handling... Once you are used to the sheer weight and size, she handles superbly although she is NOT very "flickable" in bends!

Fuel consumption... Over 270 miles on a tank of fuel... and that isn't hanging around! Over 50 miles to the gallon sounds like day-dreaming on such a beast but that's what she regulary returns. She really is a "mile muncher"!

Comfort... The electric screen is almost perfect... almost because I had to fit the larger screen to mine to make it even more comfortable! I know it may sound crass but there ARE times when you can ride through heavy rain without feeling a drop! For my money heated grips should be standard on ALL tourers but the heated seats on the K1200LT make the ride almost effortless, even in the depths of winter!

That's all for now... I will update with tales of losing all the air from the front end whilst riding in the "Endorsement Zone" at a later date...

Ride safely... but RIDE!

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