R1200R Long Distance Impressions

[toomanybikes]

I enjoy reading the posts in this forum, but rarely post. I purchased my R1200R because it seemed to be capable of most things. I ride a lot of twisties, and although it is not up to the standards set by my fellow riders (1098s, R1, and RSV4) it does ok, and I leave those bikes in the dust when they stop for fuel (1098 80 mile range).

I an not an avid touring rider but one of the R12s advantages is that is is capable of long distances. I did two 800 mile trips in two weeks, and I have the following comments:

I put some tourmaster saddlebags ($50 close out) on, and they work ok. I did not want to get the BMW luggage until I was comfortable that the bike would work for me on long distances.

On the first trip I had the BMW sport shield, which as I expected was less than worthless. My main complaint was in my shoulders were sore from fighting 80MPH winds. I had no complaints with the stock seat. I rode 400 miles per day with only fuel stops.

On the second trip I added a CalSci windscreen. This made all the difference in the world. I am 6' and the wind was directed around my shoulders, and just touched the top of my helmet. The wind noise was drastically reduced. My fuel mileage went from 45 to 48 mpg. In this configuration I think I could easily go an additional 150 to 200 miles.

I like the look of the bike with the sport shield and swapping is really easy.

Although I am planning to buy a track/twistie bike, but I will never be without the R1200R, it is just so well rounded.

[rockbottom]

I agree. It took me five days to get the first thousand miles on my R1200R. Since then, I've replaced the sport screen with a Vtechnik and bought an Airhawk, so I suspect that 400-500 mile days would be a piece of cake.

[Mollygrubber]

A good windscreen is mandatory for long trips IMHO (and elusive as we all know).

The seat - 'nuff said. However, I am testing my ass' fortitude on the Redmond Rally trip. I bought some nice Sugoi riding shorts, and have put the Airhawk back on, so hopefully I won't regret not getting the seat done too much. A Cramp Buster and barbacks complete my setup. The only thing I may still do is lower the foot pegs, but they scrape already so I'm holding off on that one.

As far as the machine's ability to cope with the open road, I have no doubts.

Peter

[Kieran R1200R]

The 12R is a very capable bike, and your comment about the other bikes you are riding with that you are not keeping with will be more due to your riding rather that the bikes capabilities.
BMW provide 3 choices of seats. In the Gallery I haven't seen a bike except mine with a high seat yet.
If you put the high seat on you will not have a problem. Look at the difference between the high seat and the low. there must be 4' inches less padding.

[celticus]

The only thing I may still do is lower the foot pegs, but they scrape already so I'm holding off on that one.

Peter

Molly you must be the man! I love the twisties and keep up with my buddies but I have yet to scrap the pegs. I know some other youngsters who frequent this forum have sent in trophy pictres of their scraped pegs but I have yet to. I scrap my boots often enough but not the pegs.
Do you find that you are more likely to scrape one side more than the other?

Mark

[psycle.vt]

Well, I am 950 or so miles into a 4300 mile cross country trip - so far, so good. The bike has stock seat with Airhawk for rider and a second one for my passenger for the last 600+ miles (he complained, I was OK). It is a 2009 with tall Cal Sci screen (I am 6'3 with 32" inseam), GS handguards, Zumo, stock bags plus Givi E45 on custom attached generic Givi mount. I was solo for the first couple hundred miles from Portland, OR to the rally (shipped bike from VT to Portland dealer - it survived that trip OK). Got out of Portland on the interstate for 13 miles then OR 213 to OR 22 to US 20 W to OR 126 to 242 (McKenzie Hwy to Sisters to Redmond. Of course the fuel gauge quit at the start of the ride - shows full all the time!

Rode 640 miles from Redmond to SF to take my son home (he flew up) - so, 2 up (essentially maxed out for weight) we did 55 mpg the first day (380 miles) and a bit less for today's run down 101. Bike now has 5300 miles on it, tires are still good - will have to do an oil change somewhere along the route home (US 50 from Sacramento,CA to Winchester, VA). Bike is every bit as good a tourer as my 2000 R1150GS (with Aeroflo screen) with better gas mileage and possibly a bit better rider protection.
---- update----
After 2 more days and 1000+ miles, still happy. Just had the oil changed in Grand Junction, Co. Bike is very happy at 80+ (although the gas mileage suffers a bit - still probably 50+ mpg). Forgot to mention necessary (for me) accessory - Kaoko throttle control - easy on/off. US 50 through Nevada and Utah mixes sweeping curves, a few slightly tighter ones, significant changes in elevation and LONG stretches of relatively straight road (with fascinating scenery). Colorado mountains tomorrow (hope it doesn't rain too much - missed almost all of it today).

[Caol]

Completed an 8000+km ride on the 12th of July. From Ottawa, Ontario to Creston, BC plus some "local" riding in BC, via the Black Hills, Beartooth etc. etc.

We averaged about 500km a day, with a couple of short ones (playing in the Black Hills) and a couple of long ones.

I received the tall "Comfort" seat just prior to departure (19 June), which turned out to be a very good thing, nice and comfy. The bike has the BMW tall screen, hard bags, a Bags Connection Daypack II tank bag (SW-Motech mount) and I used a tail bag for this trip.

I thought the higher speed travel on I-90 through southern Wisconsin, Minnesota and most of South Dakota would be uncomfortable, due to the incomplete coverage of the windscreen but, except for the days with high cross winds later in the trip, the buffeting and noise was far less than expected and cruising at speed limit (plus a bit! ) was quite comfortable.

I'm 6'1" with a 32" inseam

Kyle

[Peter1200r]

I just completed a 3800 km trip from Sydney to Adelaide (Australia) and back, not via the most direct route. My R1200RSE has a sport screen, a Rick Mayer seat, stock luggage and a Throttlemeister. I did it over 6 days, and had no comfort or fatigue problems. The highest speed limit on the trip was 110 km/h, and at that speed wind is not a big issue for me.

The Throttlemeister was great on the hundreds of kms of straight flat roads that traverse the GAFA (Great Australian F*** All). When bored, in calm conditions I found I could adjust it so finely that I could keep within 1 km/h of the speed limit using the changes in wind resistance resulting from sitting up straight or leaning forward.

Cheers,
Peter

[toomanybikes]

The other item that proved to be a great help was the 25 cent throttle lock. I used the O Ring that is specified for the oil filler plug and moved the right mirror and throttle grip assembly slightly inboard. I just roll the O Ring from the grip to the gap between the bar end and the grip and it holds the throttle in place. For safety, It is quite easy to move the throttle even with this in place.

The $100++ units may be more elegant, but not more functional.

[Stefan]

In March this year I did a trip from Huntsville, AL, to Key West, FL. (~2500 miles).
(I did it in 8 days because I wanted to include some sightseeing.)

Bike: R1200R, stock seat and the small BMW sport windscreen, BMW sidecase luggage.

The Bike drove just great, no problems during the trip. It consumed only a little bit of oil (not so much that a refill was necessary).

After 2h, the stock seat started to become uncomfortable. In the meantime, I have change to the BMW low comfort seat. This is a great improvement. I recently drove 3.5 hours without stopping, no problem with this seat.

What I noticed is that with the comfort seat, the angle of the arms to the handlebars is better (I can speak only for me of course); a longer trip with the comfort seat is much less stressing on the arms/wrist joints than with the stock seat.

[Mollygrubber]

The only thing I may still do is lower the foot pegs, but they scrape already so I'm holding off on that one.

Peter

Molly you must be the man! I love the twisties and keep up with my buddies but I have yet to scrap the pegs. I know some other youngsters who frequent this forum have sent in trophy pictres of their scraped pegs but I have yet to. I scrap my boots often enough but not the pegs.
Do you find that you are more likely to scrape one side more than the other?

Mark

lol - no, I'm definitely NOT the man, and still have a few mm of virgin rubber on the edges of the tire... I think maybe I scrape more because I have the low suspension, rather than my cornering prowess. However I do enjoy a "spirited" ride from time to time! As to whether the left or right scrapes more, I guess that would depend on how confident you are turning in either direction - most people have a preference...

[lynnboyd]

I just got back from 2,200 miles around Lake Michigan with my brother (Moto Guzzi California) and a friend (new 2010 R1200R). My bike has the Sargent seat, risers, and a Memphis Shades Sport Shield, which is 16" above the headlight. No problems with seat or windshield - I can go 300-400 miles without getting sore. My friend has the tall Parabellum Sport windshield and the stock seat. After two days on his and three or four hours on mine he said the stock seat has to go. The Parabellum is a little tall for me - I'm 5'10" with 32" inseam. I could see over it but just barely, and a lot of wind seemed to come around and under it.

[celticus]

Tell us more about that Memphis Shades Sport Shield. I can't see it well in the picture.
Parking your bike next to a Moto Guzzi cruiser is one quick way to make your bike look better.

Mark

[lynnboyd]

Tell us more about that Memphis Shades Sport Shield. I can't see it well in the picture.

Mark, I'll post some pictures in a new thread.

Parking your bike next to a Moto Guzzi cruiser is one quick way to make your bike look better.

I'll tell my brother you said so.

Lynn

[azimuth551]

I just got back from a 2,300 mile trip to the North West. We took off from San Francisco and ended up in Victoria, B.C. I kept the miles down to allow for frequent stops but I still managed to ride about 350miles each day. The bike performed flawlessly and my only complaint is the wind noise inside my helmet. I have both a low rumbling and the high frequency wind noise. I have the CaliSci windshield wich offers great protection. I am still waiting for a better solution and maybe some custom earplugs.
350 miles might seam short, however, there was a lot of slower county roads, I hate the freeways. so it was actually 8-10 hour days on any single leg.
I have a throttle lock and a Sergent seat which was perfectly fine for the hours in the saddle. My wife had no real complaints on the back.
Only thing I can sugest is to take frequent stops, even if its for a five minutes. Also, packing for 10 days for all kinds of weather and going out in big cities, packing was tricky. We each took a side case and I added a medium size BMW tail bag so my wife could have a nice back rest and for additional storage. To save room in the side cases we bought space reducing space bags to go which proved to be very valuable in keeping stuff tight and organized.

Brent

[bmwdave52]

Ya'll are doing things the hard way. If you want to ride long distances spare your butt and get a Russell seat. You will never regret it! http://www.day-long.com

[ka5ysy]

Solutions for me:

Ear protection:

http://www.earinc.com/p2-music-pro.php


Seat: Rick Mayer custom.

[rpoppen]

Just returned yesterday from a 6000-mile 16-day trip thru western US, including the Redmond rally. Camped in national or state parks most nights, stayed with friends 4 nights, motel 3 times.

Have a Sargent seat, barbacks, and Scout Parabellum fairing with 14" screen (I like to look over it). Much more comfortable than original setup. Longest day was 585 miles, most were about 450, stopping for break every 2-3 hrs. Great bike for sweepers and twisties, as well as wide open stretches where cruised comfortably at 80-90mph. Averaged 50mpg, ranging from 40 to 60 depending on roads and wind direction.

One scary moment: in a sweeping right-hander on a little back road near Moab UT, the bars started to twitch violently and I thought sure I was going down. Managed to get upright and stop the bike. No flat tire, steering damper OK, nothing on the road. Only thing I could figure later is the tar strips patching the road may have melted in the 102 degree heat. Rode much more cautiously after that.

---------------------------------
Roger Poppen
<http://mypage.siu.edu/drrock/>

[fastdogs2]

Just returned from a nine day, 2,700 mile trip to WV, OH, PA and NY. We followed the routes from Road Runner magazine (April 2010 edition) in OH and used Mad Maps for rides in PA and NY.

I have the BMW tall windscreen. I experienced some buffeting at 65 mph on interstates, especially when passed by semis in either lane, but I got that with the RT I had before.

I really appreciated the absence of a fairing in the 103 degree heat I encountered in northern VA. My friend who rides a Honda ST 1300 was not so fortunate. His fairing and windshield blocked the air and he was miserable.

I bought the BMW Airshell High Viz jacket before the trip and it perfomed well in venting air to my arms and chest. I even left the huge back armor in the jacket and was not too uncomfortable with it. I would rather have the protection the armor affords, than the airflow that would probably have increased, had the armor been removed.

Bill

[celticus]

Seat: Rick Mayer custom.

That's a good looking seat you have there.
My Rick Meyer seat I bought from another rider who did not have a passenger so my seat is not as comfortable for my wife. She makes do with a Air-Hawk pad but one of these days I am going to get a seat made for her also.
Mark