hi guys and gals... a new returning rider here

[DarkWhiteRider]

Hi everyone,

I'll post up a short introduction of myself here shortly.

In the meantime I'd really appreciate if anyone can recommend a quality bike cover for my in coming new R1200R DarkWhite.

I live in tropical Malaysia and stay in a condominium, meaning I need to park my ride near the covered carpark lot but the area is totally uncovered.

As the weather here is hot and humid with strong sun and occassional rain, I'm looking for a quality bike cover that can cover the whole bike.

To avoid those hairline scratches on the new steed I was told that there are lined covers which are gentle to the screen. The usual covers are just single skinned plastic covers and I've had bad experience with them on my previous bikes.

I've only come across Oxford and Kominie (Japan) brands.

Can anyone here share on any other brands, hopefully available here in Malaysia.

Thank you...

[cgl]

Been using Oxford. Can't remember the size but it's one size smaller than the biggest. It fits almost exactly with the panniers. The cover will have little contact with the tank.

The sports screen is in contact with the cover but no sign of scratches so far. 2 years already.

[DarkWhiteRider]

Thank you cgl for sharing your experience on the Oxford cover.
Looks like I'll be getting an Oxford too.

As promised a bit of an intro on this forum.

Hi everyone,

A short history of my biking history.
I've been riding Japanese bikes since Year 12 in school with various bikes- starting from a beginner's CB100, MX250, SuzukiGS550, KawaZephyr750, Vulcan, Yamaha FZR1000 Exup and CBR900RR. The last 2 bikes were highly performance modified and were kept the longest, the CBR900RR about 6 years.

Stopped riding for almost 10 yrs and now a returning rider.

Never owned a BMW before although I've always been curious about them.

So the last several months, I've been reading up F800GT,R1200GS, R1200R forums to get an idea as well as feedback from all the experienced owners.

Where I'm from, BMW bikes are a very small minority of the biking community though the brand is rapidly picking up sales over the last 2 years especially the GS.

As such demo bikes at dealers here are far in between.

I've only managed to test ride a K1600GT, R1200GS, F800GT.There are very few R1200R around.

I finally decided on the R1200R for various reasons although I loved all the above BMW bikes I tested. If money was no object I'd own each of them for different rides.

I couldn't handle the weight of the K1600GT when pushing it around to park or maneuver though on the move, it was a high speed magic carpet ride.
The GS was lovely to ride, downright unique feel but it was an overkill for me as my riding is almost entirely on asphalt.
The F800GT was very nimble, easy to handle and push around, had an ideal riding position for my body build. Unfortunately as I've not been riding for long, my wrists couldn't take the stiffer cable clutch (the GS/K1600/R1200R hydraulic clutches were much lighter) and being in the tropics, the heat from the lhs of the fairing when stationary was too great to bear.

So the R1200R it is, an excellent compromise for my needs.......the only thing I wished for for it to be perfect for my use was an effective touring screen and cruise control for those long stretches of highways (not all journeys are fortunate enough to be in the twisties where this bike roosts....)

Cheers everyone and hope to learn from all of you and share whatever little I know being a very new BMW owner.