BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Hello everyone,

I’m a new member as from today. I live in Bruges, Belgium. Since 2 months i'm the proud owner of a r1200r. My first bike. I have bought it for 11800€, 8 months old and 3800km. Now i have 7200km on the counter and it looks like my rear tire is almost finished. Is this normal? How many km can you drive on average with a rear tire? Can someone tell me what is good choice for a rear tire? Keep in mind that in Belgium it rains about 9 months a year. And does your rear tire has to have the same profile as your front tire?
About the exhaust: I’ve seen that you can order a Akrapovic exhaust for a r1200r, does it make a nice sound? It look’s small in comparison with the original. I like the look off that big original exhaust. Does anyone has another alternative?
Thanks in advance for your responses.
Greetz,

Ottoman

Welcome to the forum.

I had an akrapovic on my RT.
Without the baffles (removable) - it was BLOODY loud.

Performance gains....not really.
Maybe a little more power higher up in the rev range, but in my opinion the LOUD noise & tiny gain in HP is not worth the trade off.

For your money, you definitely get the BEST quality. Also, the Akra is much lighter that the stock system. But at the end of the day, what does an extra 2 or 3 kg make on a street bike, for street use??

Personally, i really like the way the R12R looks & i will not be changing it in the near future.

Here is a pic of the RT with the akrapovic (the R12R looks the same):

@ eisen

thx for the reply.
It's like you said, the r1200r looks very nice and doesn't need any changes. On your RT it looks nice.
My only problem is the sound. My opinion is that the original exhaust sounds a little bit to nice for a 1200cc engine. I do really like the looks off the original one!!

Ottoman wrote:Hello everyone,

I’m a new member as from today.
Now i have 7200km on the counter and it looks like my rear tire is almost finished. Is this normal?
How many km can you drive on average with a rear tire? Can someone tell me what is good choice for a rear tire? Keep in mind that in Belgium it rains about 9 months a year. And does your rear tire has to have the same profile as your front tire?

Ottoman

Welcome Ottoman!

The milage you can get out of a tire is directly related to the actions of your wrist, and possibly the road surface you ride on.
With my spirited driving, I get about 7500km out of a rear, and double that out of a front, with any tire's I've tried. That includes Metzler z6's, z4's, Michelin Pilot Road's, Road II's , Continental Conti Attack's, and my current tires and favorite Pirelli Scorpion Sync's.
With that said, other members around here have reported as much as 14,400 km's from a rear tire. Sound like you and I might have similar riding habit's...

It is my understanding that you always want to have the same brand of tire front and rear.
As for wet weather riding, all of the tires I've tried performed OK, even the Conti-Attack's which don't have the kind of tread pattern that would suggest they would. For now I'm very happy with the Scorpion Sync's, they have performed extremely well in all conditions, including wet snow.
For more tire talk and my take on the Pirelli's check out this thread:

http://r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?t=11956



Cheers!

-Joe

Hi ChiTown,

Thx for the reply and useful information. You really seem to be a "die-hard" driver!! Respect!!

I was thinking of buying a set off 'Bridgestone Battlax BT-021' tires. But now i'm in doubt. You really seem to be very convinced off the 'scorpio Sync’s’. Do you have any experience with ‘Bridgestone BT-021’?

Grtz,

Stijn

Ottoman wrote: I was thinking of buying a set off 'Bridgestone Battlax BT-021' tires. But now i'm in doubt. You really seem to be very convinced off the 'scorpio Sync’s’. Do you have any experience with ‘Bridgestone BT-021’?

Grtz,

Stijn

The BT-021's look nice, the Dual Tread Construction sounds interesting. I have not tried them out though. I do like the Pirelli's, but that doesn't mean they're the best tire's out there, just what works for me. I mostly ride on pavement, but do find myself riding on pretty rough trails, in mud, or gravel occasionally. They have the best on and off road traction of all the "street" tires I've tried.

BTW, the Bridgestone BT-21 are not Z-rated...... at least that's what the press releases I'm reading seem to lead on. The BT-02 is the Z-rated racing version of that tire, though I could be wrong since I have no first hand knowledge..

Try searching for "tires" and you'll find quite a few opinions around here, good luck!

ChiTown, another question:

The original tire is 180/55 R17, is it ok to put on 190/50 R17? Does it afflict handling?

Probably a stupid question, but what is “Z-rated”?

I've read on the internet that the BT-021 is W-rated. I think that is ok, the r1200r is not capable of reaching that speed

Ottoman wrote:ChiTown, another question:

The original tire is 180/55 R17, is it ok to put on 190/50 R17? Does it afflict handling?

Probably a stupid question, but what is “Z-rated”?

I'm really no expert, just a guy who's racked up enough miles to have tried out many different tires, and doesn't mind giving my opinion. But it is just that, an opinion. As for tire size I would ask your dealer, or other know professional sources. Personally, I won't change the tire size on my bike because I believe that BMW put this size tire on this bike for some particular reason, and they know best.... I have heard of people running smaller tires successfully, ( tourances) but they might not want to ride the bike to it's limits occasionally like I do. When I'm at these moments of pushing the bike I don't want to worry about having anything as important as the tires outside the BMW specifications.


No stupid question's only stupid answer's

Z rated is the speed rating on a tire. The 1200R doesn't go 149MPH, but it will get real close, and just like my climbing gear, when it comes to rated gear I like to have some headroom. Those ratings are under perfect circumstances I'd imagine, with new tires, etc. What about when you have 25% of the tread left and there's a nice open, lonely road, do you want to worry about the ratings? Not that I can go that fast anywhere around where I live, but in the American West there's plenty of places you can...















There's also a wealth of info @


http://www.bmwmoa.org

http://www.advrider.com

http://www.sport-touring.net

Thx for all the information. I really appreciate it.

I will make my decision one off these days soon. I never go off-road with my r12r. In Belgium there are more roads than there are forests or green. The biggest place with only nature is 44km², that says enough. I think the longest distance you can drive without seeing a house is 5km.

According to Bridgestone's website, BT021s are Z-rated.

Ottoman if you liked your Conti's I would stay with those tires or maybe opt for the Michelin Road Pilot 2. People driving the Bridgestones are giving a lot of mixed feedback and particularly wet riding conditions come up alot in a negative way. Also might considder Mez 6 by Metzeller I used to like the Metzellers a lot in the past on BMW but they are a bit stiff and heavy so maybe not the best for the R1200R. As for exhausts I have the Bos Carbon Fiber endcan and it looks very cool(all imo of course) becasue it's at a steeper angle and closer to the tire so it will still have room for sidecases. Personally I think the Bos is the best looking exhaust for the R1200R because of the steeper angle.
Some pics:

Love the steep angle of the BOS with will still alowe for systemcases to be mounted.

BOS is also a lot closer to the rear wheel with makes the bike look realy tight from behind.

We officially finished our round the world tour 500 miles short of our intended goal - in San Ignatio, Baja Sur rather than Cabo San Lucas, Mexico as planned. The reason for the early end is that I hit a very nasty pothole at about 130 km/h that bent both rims (no blow out or getoff). Interestingly, no bike wobble either. And people wonder why I like BMW!

San Diego BMW arranged for new wheels to be shipped along with a new set of Scorpion Syncs mounted on the new wheels. While I don't have a lot of miles on them yet, I really like 'em. (BTW it took DHL two weeks to get me the wheels and then I had have the owner of Rice and Beans motel drive 700 miles round trip to get them.) Big THANX to Ricardo.

Next week we ship the R1200R back to China where we plan to ride the Gobi and Inner Mongolia next summer. Should have a much better report on performance then.

Jack

Finished with the Dragin' Run I and planning for II

I am a new owner of an R1200R. Previous Road King owner. Love the BMW. I am interested in an aftermarket exhaust for the R1200R. Have read about the Bos and Remus. Any feedback on this would be appreciated. Also where are some good websites to go to for aftermarket parts for the R1200R? Thanks. Living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

Jim

Hi Jim, welcome to the club. Here's a couple places that can lighten your wallet:

http://www.bmwsantacruz.com/Merchant2/m ... ode=R1200R

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productlist/594/

http://www.suburban-machinery.com/R1200R1.htm

If you search this forum you'll probably find even more places for gear.

I nabbed some goodies from all 3 sites and have no complaints with any of the vendors. It's iced up where I live and the roads are salted badly so the R12R stays in the garage while my DR650 takes the punishment of winter. COME ON SPRING!!!

Thanks so much for the info. Can ride here in Texas most of the year. Wouldn't have it any other way. Going to the Big Bend out in West Texas again this year.

Jim

JDR1153 wrote:I am a new owner of an R1200R. Previous Road King owner. Love the BMW. I am interested in an aftermarket exhaust for the R1200R. Have read about the Bos and Remus. Any feedback on this would be appreciated. Also where are some good websites to go to for aftermarket parts for the R1200R? Thanks. Living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.

Jim

JDR,

Can you give a brief comparison between your Road King and new R12R? I would be interested in your perspective.