Observations On My 2012 R1200R…

[BLAIR1200R]

Finally made it to the first service interval, but too busy to take it in… maybe next weekend.

-Burned through more than half of the oil at the 600 mile mark… in hindsight, it might have been better to install the Remus a bit further into break in.

-Still getting used to the things I “feel” on a boxer and didn’t on inlines

-When I blip the throttle the bike really shutters…. twins… weird

-I don’t really use the brake that much (granted, I’m not riding it like the CBR) … down shifting really seems to slow the bike down A LOT… again, weird

-When I do brake hard, I really feel the rear brake lever pulsing… bouncing might even be an appropriate term. Now, I know that activating the front will also activate the rear (ABS feature), but I’ve always applied both front and rear when I brake hard, so now it just feels weird to have the rear lever jittering under my foot

-The bike without any windscreen is quieter than the bikes I’ve had with windscreens… I guess my helmet was always been in the flow and now it just has “clean” air… love it

-Grip heaters work fantastic… had them on every day last week… nice and toasty

-Daylight Saving – can’t see the road coming home… or deer or skunks or coons, etc. (…sorry, I won’t start the headlight whine again because I really think it’s an adjustment) … having it checked at the service check

-…and last but not least… WHY DO I KEEP BUYING THINGS FROM WUNDERLICH? … I won’t even go into the list …

Love the bike... can't think of anything that covers so much of the bike spectrum on a single frame

[objectuser]

Finally made it to the first service interval, but too busy to take it in… maybe next weekend.

I've had mine for a month and have been working on getting it setup and periodically f*ing things up on it that the dealer has to fix. Hope they appreciate all the business I'm giving them.

-Still getting used to the things I “feel” on a boxer and didn’t on inlines

I've never had an I4 or anything, but the boxer definitely feels different to me as well. So far I'm really enjoying most aspects of it, but trying to get used to some as well, including some of the things you mention.

-When I blip the throttle the bike really shutters…. twins… weird

I've not noticed shutter. It just seems to take off like a beast. So much more power than my previous bike. A bit startling, really.

-I don’t really use the brake that much (granted, I’m not riding it like the CBR) … down shifting really seems to slow the bike down A LOT… again, weird

-When I do brake hard, I really feel the rear brake lever pulsing… bouncing might even be an appropriate term. Now, I know that activating the front will also activate the rear (ABS feature), but I’ve always applied both front and rear when I brake hard, so now it just feels weird to have the rear lever jittering under my foot

Agreed on both the engine compression and the linked brakes.

I was used to some of that engine compression with the parallel twin on the Versys, but it's much more pronounced on the R1200R. I've been trying to refine my use of the throttle so I'm not thrown forward so much, which strains my wrists.

The linked brakes are a bit disturbing. I'm used to being light on the rear brake, but the bike is more agressive than I am. So again something I'm getting used to.

-The bike without any windscreen is quieter than the bikes I’ve had with windscreens… I guess my helmet was always been in the flow and now it just has “clean” air… love it

Amazing that the ride is quieter for you with no screen. What bikes have you had in the past? Ah, I see you had a CBR. I would think it would be about the same as a no-screen R1200R, but what do I know, never ridden one.

I took a test ride on an R1200R with no screen and it was loud and windy, too much for me for very long. I'm coming from a Versys with a CalSci screen. I rode the Versys on a few several hundred mile trips with its tiny stock screen and it wasn't quite the experience I wanted. With the CalSci, it was pretty darn good.

I ended up buying a 2009 R1200R with a cut down Vstream on it. Loud and buffeting as well, but the previous owner was maybe 5'8" and I'm 6'1".

I just put a Cee Bailey on it and it's quite a bit better. Still some turbulence at the top though. I need to research that whole "block" solution I've read about on here. The Cee Bailey does stand up pretty strait, so leaning it back might help a bit. But if not, I think it'll be fine, if not optimal, for longer rides.

[BigEasy]

-When I blip the throttle the bike really shutters…. twins… weird

That's kind of funny you say that. My R is my first boxer as well and I noticed the sitting still oscillation also. The really funny part is when I first got the bike as I would be slowing down (for stoping mostly not slowing for corners) it felt like the bike was sliding around on matbles. When I took it in for 600 mi service I asked the tech about it his response was 'does it feel like a baby tank slapper" me- yes kind of, tech "this is your first boxer right?"

After a few hundred more miles I stopped noticing it while riding, still gives me a warm fuzzy sitting still though.

And your right, it is the Swiss Army knife of bikes.

[deilenberger]

After 49,650 miles on mine:

- Don't use the rear brake at ALL except in the garage and parking lots, or very rarely (without using the front) to settle the suspension on a sharp curve. It isn't needed. The pulsing you're feeling is the ABS kicking in due to over-braking the rear. The linked system works REALLY WELL if you let it do it's job.

- I assume you mean "stutter or shudder" not "shutter" (which is part of a film camera..) It shouldn't do that. Give it more RPMs or release the clutch quicker. It has enough torque so if you're really smooth you can take off at idle on a level surface. I sometimes forget to downshift, and take off in 2nd gear, using the clutch/throttle correctly makes it no big deal at all.

- Good helmets are designed in a wind tunnel to be used in "clean air" - meaning laminar airflow directly at the helmet. ANY windshield upsets the airflow in some manner, so the quiet helmet now becomes noisy. The helmet engineers have no way of knowing what sort of shield you're going to be behind, so they simply ignore that in the design. My Schuberth Concept-2 is amazingly quiet and stable in clean air.. (sport screen or no screen) but I get cold, so I use a bigger shield and try to optimize the experience. Earplugs are your ear's friends - riding without them WILL make you deaf (no if's and's or but's about it..) Also having a helmet with a gasketed bottom that seals the area around your neck will help eliminate a lot of the noise from riding behind a shield.

- The DonC block improves ANY shield being used on the factory touring mount. Don't question it - just believe it.. enough of us have experienced the difference (night and day..) and wouldn't ride without one (actually, I do ride without one, but that's because I'm running a modified touring mount that tips it back the same way..)

- The headlight adjustment is a DIY. You can grab the headlight and pretty much pivot it up and down. If it resists, very slightly loosen the two screws holding it to the bike. To set it correctly:
o - flat driveway with a garage door
o - pull bike up to the door, sitting on it tippie-toe, and observe where the horizontal cutoff line is (low beam only) - find some blue tape and mark that spot.
o - back the bike up about 20'. Observe where the cutoff line now is. It should be about 2" below where it was before. If above or below that, adjust as needed, then tighten the screws so it can't move on it's own. This will automatically set the high-beam to the correct level also.

- Wunderlich. Just give in. I love their grip covers (their version of Hippo-Hands) as soon as the temps start falling below 50F, they're on the bike. With them on, I don't need winter gloves (can use my deerskin Lee Parks), and usually don't even need the grip heaters (high will burn my hands..) There are lots of other goodies from them, but this purchase made a big difference in my cold-weather riding pleasure, so highly recommended!

And as we discussed at lunch today during a ride (good friend got bitten by the test ride, there are now 6 R12R's in the local club, we outnumber GS's! Yea!) - If I had to go buy another bike tomorrow, after 4 years and 50,000 miles, I'd buy another R12R. Nothing else in the BMW lineup really appeals to me the way this bike does, or does so much so well. It's a classic BMW "Roadster" - and they are very hard to beat for functional utility.

[BLAIR1200R]

Amazing that the ride is quieter for you with no screen.

I think deilenberger hits it on the head ... my helmet seems to be working well in open air and my other bikes (that have had screens... Triumph Sprint ST & CBR 1000RR) must have upset the airflow as he says...

...and on that quiet note, I always wear earplugs, which is why the "silence" was even more noticeable... I can hear my self think now... "hummm, does that lady talking on the cell phone and pretending to drive that Tahoe see me or not... guess not... "

BigEasy... funny, that's a great description... "sitting still oscillation".. exactly

deilenberger... will do on the headlight adjustment, thanks!

[Roder]

@ Don Eilenberger, you sir are absolutely right on all the points you addressed above.
I agree 100% on the helmet noise issue, that's been my personal experience as well, and I have the Schubert S1.
A few months ago I test rode the new K1600 GTL and no matter where I would adjust the electrical wind shield the buffeting wouldn't go away, I found a relatively quite spot, but it was just a compromise.
After the test ride of the K I did a test ride on the 2011 Roadster without a windshield and no noise was present whatsoever, just a clean fresh air, comfort level and fun factors were also back to my riding experience. In my opinion a windshield on a bike is not needed unless you do some long distance riding and find that "magic" screen that would work for you.

[deilenberger]

I wouldn't say they're not necessary.. but it depends on the type of riding you do.

I like riding ALL year long. Last year was the longest I was off the bike in about 10 years. 4 weeks around Christmas due to the blizzards that piled up on NJ, and then 6 weeks this summer when I (ugh..) drove to California for my son's wedding. Most years - I miss at most a week or so due to weather and other obligations.

So I see some extremes of weather. My shields change with the weather (no one shield is perfect for all weather IMHO) - but I've found I'm happiest with the smallest shield I can get away with given the weather conditions. I have 3 Cee-Bailey shields.. the 16" (spring/summer/early-fall) the 18" (late-winter/early-spring/early winter) and a 20" (deep winter only..) Since it's easy to swap them out - I do. I have a modified stock touring shield mount - the modification does the same thing as the Don-C block does - tilts the shields back toward the rider. Before that - I was very much bothered by turbulent air. Since I put the modified mount on - turbulence is no longer a problem. There is a bit of noise, but nothing that can't be controlled with earplugs.

Riding behind a screen of some sorts makes rain riding much more comfy, and in the winter - an Aerostich Roadcrafter is surprisingly porous - you can really feel the wind/cold coming through it. The winter screen lets me ride down to around 32F or so (with a Gerbing heated jacket liner) and remain comfortable.

But I'm always temped in the middle of the summer to put on the little sport screen that the bike had when I first bought it.. and feel clean non-turbulent air. I might do that next summer just for the heck of it..

[pistonbroke]

hi blair
the twins do use oil , this is quite normal , its only cheap stuff anyway , once the bike hits 20000 miles it will be run in proper well and no oil use , my first gs 1200 adv used to drink it , 1 litre to a 1000 mile ,slowed down to 500 ml after 7000 miles,if i used to red line it the oil would go at a alarming rate , that was often .i used to worry all the time . i was only used to the jap stuff .
little trick with the twins engine braking , leave a little throttle on , corners mostly .
the bikes handling is very nimble for such a large bike .
i use them all the time , love the other type bikes ,faverotes being ktm 1000,s and ducatis .
i ride both . for work and distance there is only one ..BMW boxer engine. i ride every day for the last 10 years ,50mile trip rain or shine .
good on fuel ,35000 miles later when you trade in ,the mileage is not a problem . my only bug bear is the stupid battery.
the engines do twist when you blip the throttle .
my first gs i bought ,i never rode it and then when i picked it up after riding a suzuki gsxr1000 for many years .
oh my word ,what have i bought . i was gutted . 2 years on i sold it ,then went back to a 4 cylinder , that lasted 6 weeks and bought another
gs 1200. ha .
they will grow on you over time ..
piston .

[docdarrell]

R1200R 2011 About 8000k on the bike, two up in Corsica this summer and it was all twisties. Very enjoyable. One thing I've noticed and haven't heard anyone mention is vibration. When I'm up around 4000 rpm the mirrors are jumping around like water drops on a frying pan.
Has anyone else noticed that?

[Anyname]

Windshields are one of those "can't live with them, can't live without them" deals. Around town and on 50-60 mph state highways, no windshield or the BMW sport shield are great, no turbulence, no noise. Once I hit a limited access highway and start bucking a 20MPH headwind at highway speeds, a real windshield starts to seem like a very good idea. I wish there was an easy way to add/delete the windshield while on the road.

[objectuser]

R1200R 2011 About 8000k on the bike, two up in Corsica this summer and it was all twisties. Very enjoyable. One thing I've noticed and haven't heard anyone mention is vibration. When I'm up around 4000 rpm the mirrors are jumping around like water drops on a frying pan.
Has anyone else noticed that?

I notice that I get more vibration a few MPH above 70, but I don't know what RPM that is. I assume it would happen in any gear ...

[tinytrains]

R1200R 2011 About 8000k on the bike, two up in Corsica this summer and it was all twisties. Very enjoyable. One thing I've noticed and haven't heard anyone mention is vibration. When I'm up around 4000 rpm the mirrors are jumping around like water drops on a frying pan.
Has anyone else noticed that?

I notice that I get more vibration a few MPH above 70, but I don't know what RPM that is. I assume it would happen in any gear ...

That will likely go away with miles. I have 11,300 on mine and the oil consumption has suddenly slowed way down and it has smoothed out quite a bit. The buzz seems to come from the engine working harder, not mechanical balance. As the engine breaks in, it works less and thus runs smoother. My 70 MPH buzz has moved up to around 80, unless I am fighting a headwind.

[The Meromorph]

It's resonance in the handlebars Get some of the heavier bar-end-weights from Manic Salamander, and it will go away completely

[xprof]

+1 on heavier bar ends. And a set of F800GS mirrors wouldn't hurt either.