Reply With QuoteI bought my R1200R in 2016 and haven't felt tempted to change it yet, it's definitely the most capable bike I've ever owned.
I recommended the R1200r to a pal for short runs and his 2-up Spanish holidays: "That's a budget bike with a premium price-tag".Originally Posted by spareparts
He eventually bought one in Feb 2017. "Best bike I have ever owned!"
A great 'scratching' bike, but wears panniers so well and returns a good tank range for touring.
This video from the Alps shows how good these bikes are..........................
I bought my R1200R in 2016 and haven't felt tempted to change it yet, it's definitely the most capable bike I've ever owned.
Great looking set up and colour scheme there spareparts
Last edited by wileeeeeey; 18th May 2022 at 01:01.
Here's my R1250R.
They are really fantastic bikes. BMW have come on a very long way in the past decade or two in terms of bringing their bikes properly up to date, even when using their traditional boxer engine. Everything about this bike is high-tech and the engine character and performance is amazing for something supposedly so old-fashioned.
I bought my R1200R in 2016 and haven't felt tempted to change it yet, it's definitely the most capable bike I've ever owned.
Wow, I had no idea there was some R-love on TZ! Thanks guys for sharing your pics. The 105lbft torque of the 1250 makes it a real bruiser - even if it gives away some horsepower at the top end which has never bothered me. And Fazerboy, you’re right - it has all the modcons you could ever want on a bike. Yours looks great in black!Here's my R1250R.
They are really fantastic bikes. BMW have come on a very long way in the past decade or two in terms of bringing their bikes properly up to date, even when using their traditional boxer engine. Everything about this bike is high-tech and the engine character and performance is amazing for something supposedly so old-fashioned.
Absolutely love the r1200/1250.
Tried a few, and they're pretty hard to fault.
However the headlight spoils it for me (same with Speedtriples!)
But the real deal breaker was the reflected light behind the screen at night. A real oversight by BMW imho.
A fantastic bike spoilt by a few easily avoidable flaws.
In every way it's a better bike than the R9T, just a pity they didn't use the same headlight unit.
Another bike I should never had sold.
I ride my R1250R a lot at night and there’s no reflected light behind the screen. I don’t believe the 1250 suffers from that issue.
As an all-rounder I can’t find any fault with this bike.
Agreed, I’m not sure what light is being talked about here? I’ve not noticed this on the GS either (1200 or 1250).
I wonder what will be unveiled at the NEC this year. Will we see the R1800GS do you think? The constant 'race' to be bigger and better just turns me right off. About time some properly capable middleweights were brought out, especially in this Greta derived world with every rising fuel prices and the need to conserve raw materials. I am glad I have got rid of my big bikes, I enjoy the smaller ones far more.
I think the GS has reached it's size V practicality limit so I can't imagine the engine getting much bigger as a dual purpose bike. 1300 tops.
There’s quite a few 650ish adventure bikes available now which are more than enough really.
When I was first riding 550/650 was considered a middleweight before moving up to the big bikes (750-1000cc). They also had a lot less power than modern bikes!
Im sure I read in Motor Cycle news about 6 months ago BMW have extended the registering of “ M” names. I believe M1300 was one of them. All their engine size changes on the boxers have been incremental eg 800/850/1000 etc. The 1800 was undoubtedly a concept that survived aimed at the big predominately US market.
Given the fact the 1250GS sits at the top of the UK’s bike buying table , and has done for a few years then all changes will be subtle. I certainly see a M1300 with a sportier edge
Ah just found the MCN article
https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/...s/bmw-r1300gs/
It's only 'dual purpose' because that is what BMW market it as.
In reality - probably 95% (or more) of purchasers, get one for what it does for them ........... as a pure road bike. It remains one of the best all-purpose ROAD bikes and tours with ease. They don't care that it is a liability on the ParisDakar....
PCP uptake in recent years should help ensure that they 'upgrade' to schedule.
Great article Tony. Very interesting read. Looks like I made the right choices. I like my lids. Currently 2 Arai and 3 Shoei.
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..oh and a BMW system 7!
Triumph Outlet is offering 70% off all prices using code BLACK70! Just picked up another jacket for about £65, from £450 (the first one was £150 from £600).
Tony just came on here to post the link and you beat me to it :)
7 tee shirts for the missus and I on the way £37 incl pp. Bonkers prices
I bought two Tees last week at just 50% off , the quality is very good
I was restrained and bought 2 pairs of thermal under trousers for £6.
I already have more than enough Triumph T-shirts than I care to count and 2 Triumph jackets
Some decent savings can be had on Sportsbikeshop today...
Shame I just bought a new set of Held gloves last week (£25 cheaper today)...
I would have thought you have burned all those and replaced with shiny Norton tees :):):)
cheers Tony, but I was too slow with the code, sigh. If by a long shot anyone has the Beinn jacket in Med/large they didnt like, please let me know
Last edited by samswatch; 26th November 2021 at 14:24. Reason: added stuff
Hahaha, consider me upset lol. Glad you got one though, at least one of us did!
Too tight for that.
Great day for a ride out🤪🤪
Dedication to the cause
Nice pair of bikes. I admire your commitment!
Too cold for me today and we didn’t have snow.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
With the imminent arrival of salt, I decided to liberally spray and wipe down every nook and cranny with ACF50. Added the ADV handguards and swapped out the oem headlight candles for some brighter Philips GT200 bigger candles. The only regret on this bike is the lack of a full LED headlight - and there seems insufficient space behind the light unit to retrofit without drilling the cover etc.
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Last edited by spareparts; 29th November 2021 at 12:45. Reason: typo
...and the CANBUS kicks up a fuss if you manage to squeeze one in.
BTDTGTTS
That is true. Although I saw that Philips sell a unit that specifically adds the right resistance to address this issue? Being made by Philips and I was wondering if it might be more reliable?...
https://www.philips.co.uk/c-p/18952C...us-adaptor-led
Might work, but then you have the space issue.
Are the additional lights BMW fog lights or Denali type? If the latter they are rather good at supplementing full beam.
The fogs are BMW. I'm quite happy how they do provide significantly more lighting and are neatly integrated. I use them primarily in more urban environments to be seen. I have an extra set of Crees which I might wire up through the Hex eZcan just to see the difference.
I have a pathological hatred of people that use high intensity fog lamps and driving lamps all the time but I commend you on the plan of fitting the crees with eZcan as long as they set up to work with full beam and be off (or heavily dimmed) on low beam :-)
Did he see any of the scenery?
If you are on the ground unconscious because of a SMIDSY, then it makes no difference if you had them on or off. I use them for my own vision and to ensure that others can see me, and I genuinely don't GAF about what other people say about my foglights. And I say this having spent a long time in hospital getting 3 limbs rebuilt, needing internal vascular surgery, and surviving 3 years of life changing rehab after a SMIDSY.
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Scenery, check.
Maybe it only affects riders of a certain height?
The top edge of the headlight unit is too angled back?
https://www.r1200rforum.com/threads/...-screen.25561/
Hey Andy, that looks a Brass Monkey rideout there pal, rather you than me.
Stuart
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I’m 6’ tall and my R1200R suffered from reflected light in the screen, it could be a bit distracting at times. I bought a replacement OEM screen with a blacked out section below the line of the instruments which sorted the issue out.
Sorry to hear about your accident, it sounds horrific and I hope you have recovered well. I do think it’s a shame you don’t GAF what other people say about lights though because there are some good reasons why lighting yourself up like a Christmas tree might actually contribute to a SMIDSY accident rather than prevent one.
The whole idea of being seen is to stand out and be easily identifiable. If your background is lit up, say on a very bright day, or with the sun behind you, or in a line of traffic all with their lights on, or in an environment with lots of lights around like urban roads at night, adding a lot of spatially separated lights to make your bike look less like a bike actually acts like camouflage and makes you less recognisable, not more. People who don’t recognise something or can’t figure out what it is or where it’s going, often get confused by it and then might do something stupid, like pull out on you.
Lights are good, so many light that people are dazzled by you and can’t figure out what you are, probably not. I happen to think informed choices generally lead to better choices, but it is your choice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffus...ing_camouflage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage
The previous poster said they have a “pathological hatred of people…”. Well, that includes me, so happy to maintain my position given my experience.
With regards to the theory on lights, well it is exactly that - theory. In reality, BLM. Bright Lights Matter. (Fwiw, my incident was at night in a poorly lit place when indeed, BLM). Better to be seen than unseen.
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I would rather believe that a triangle of lights helps make me more visible to other road users and pedestrians, in most circumstances. However, with a bright low sun behind you almost nothing is going to make much difference to oncoming traffic.
True. Although the likelihood of that happening in and around where I am is generally quite low. Riding directly east/west with the setting sun, clear sky, and an unobstructed horizon behind me with an oncoming vehicle and no vehicular divider… in London and the SE England is… has a quite low probability. Like less than 0.005%.
My wording could definitely have been better and the tone wasn't conducive to a constructive discussion and for that I apologise.
Perhaps what I should have said is that I often find, in a situation where there is a vehicle with overly bright lights, that I find it difficult to determine what the vehicle is, how fast it is moving and in what direction and on occasion it makes it difficult to determine the same for other vehicles in the vicinity. The result is that it's less clear how vehicles are moving and more difficult to make sure I'm making the right manoeuvre.
On one occasion the lights on an oncoming vehicle (push bike) were so bright that all I could see was the ball of light and could not see the road ahead of me. I did not know if the car in front was still moving or had stopped and similarly I didn't know if I were to stop to be safe, whether the car behind would see me. No doubt any collision on my side would have been blamed on me or the car behind, whilst the cause was the vehicle that was doing what it could to make itself conspicuous.
As I mentioned after I attended the Biker Down evening, I was intrigued at research that indicated that motorists typically take a less than 1/2 second look before pulling out of a junction. Because the brain is great at pattern recognition, it is good at recognising a motorcycle & rider shape as a hazard. Anything that breaks up or disguises the profile may result in the driver not recognising the shape as an approaching bike. Sure, if they sit and stare they'll see it but might not in that momentary glance.
Don't get me wrong, I completely support your desire to be safe on the road. I do worry though that some things that we do to improve safety may not actually do so, and may potentially increase the risk to ourselves and other road users.
I was out with three other riders yesterday, and the conditions were pretty murky. I rode at the back of the group and I was quite surprised at the clear and obvious difference in visibility based on what they were wearing.
One chap with a white helmet and hi viz bits on his black jacket. Easy to see.
Next one with a blue/white helmet and dark jacket. Not too bad.
The other one with a dark helmet, dark jacket. Practically invisible from behind. The only visible sign was his tail light.
Food for thought when it comes to my next helmet/jacket choices.
Having said that I just rode back up the M6 from Birmingham on my super hi-vis FJR1300 blood bike, complete with hi-viz vest etc. It was pouring down and half the drivers were definitely oblivious of the bike and me.
Push bikes with poorly adjusted (deliberately I think), super bright lights are dangerous as you say Gyp. Personally I ride my bike with spots on but they are properly adjusted. It’s not scientific but I would think that 90+ percent of the time that makes me more visible. I certainly notice that bikes with spots are more visible filtering on motorways and on the lanes round where I live.
I ride a mountain bike in the dark. The lights these days are phenomenally bright - great for riding off road at night as fast as I could in daylight. I have one on my bars and one on my helmet. They are set up optimised for the off road sections so when I get on road, either linking up bits of trail during a ride or home from the pub after a ride, I'll always switch them down to the lowest setting and look away from on-coming cars so my helmet light doesn't blind them. I'm very aware that it's great to be seen but also that the last thing I want to do to someone driving 2 tons of metal towards me is to blind them.
Anyone heading to the bike show this Sunday ?
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