I went to the dark side!

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:17 pm

This is my new baby. I traded in my 1980 750 for it. It hurt a little, but not too much, since the Beemer is a terrific bike. It's got heated seat and grips, electric windshield, cruse control, self cancelling directionals, it even tells you which of the six gears you're in.

Twinstar Joined: Aug 03, 2010 Posts: 256 Location: se pa

SWEET!! I love it! Model? Mileage? Wanna trade again?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:02 pm

It's the 2004 K1200GT. I purchased it from nationalpowersports.net in NH with 5300 miles on the odo. This outfit specializes in low milege bikes. Going there is like being in a candy store. They check out the bikes, tune them and clean them. They provide a nationwide 3 months or 3000 mile warranty. They also ship all over the country. Check out the web site.
Chico

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:06 pm

You better get out there quick, the kickstand is sinking in your driveway!

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:36 pm

Good advice, thanks.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:46 pm

Way nice ride safe

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:52 pm

SWEET!
can you wrench in German?

And once you go over, they say there is no coming back.
I finally left the Honda Auto's for the dark side and I aint going back

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:09 pm

bee-jay wrote:

SWEET!
can you wrench in German?

And once you go over, they say there is no coming back.
I finally left the Honda Auto's for the dark side and I aint going back

I am just learning to do it in English.
bee-jay every time I see your dog in your avatar, it makes me happy. I bet it has the same effect on you.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:11 pm

[quote="bee-jay"]SWEET!
can you wrench in German?

Yes I can, can you wrench in Japanese?

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:56 pm

I have a house full of wenches....all are American wenches. So I guess I'm good at wenching.

Nice bike...my old man has been on them since the early 80s. His current ride is a 97 R1100RS with 190,000 miles on it. Regular maintenance is all it gets.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:15 pm

That is a nice looking brick you have there.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:45 pm

You might want to give that bike a good going over. It looks like someone put the engine in sideways. Laughing

Damn previous owners. Who knows what else may be messed up. Looks like half the swingarm is missing, too.

MB-5 Joined: Jan 01, 2008 Posts: 20 Location: SE, PA.

Outback_Jon wrote:

You might want to give that bike a good going over. It looks like someone put the engine in sideways. Laughing

Damn previous owners. Who knows what else may be messed up. Looks like half the swingarm is missing, too.

What engine? You see and engine? haha.

That's not a motorcycle, it's a beautiful two-wheeled sculpture out of a museum from deutschland.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 9:23 pm

Very nice chico.I sold my old {but was a great bike} yamaha venture about six months ago. I want a second bike, for long trips.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:03 pm

There is a *huge* amount of info on the K12 version of the flying bricks (both K12RS and K12LT) at www.bmwlt.com (I was a mod/tech weenie on the site for years). The site also has links to dedicated K12RS sites.

You might also want to check out the BMW MOA site at www.bmwmoa.org. There's a bunch of stuff to be said for the MOA, but three stand out in particular: the club mag BMW ON (owners news) is one of the most professional club magazines you'll come across; the flea market is a treasure trove of stuff you'll suddenly find you can't live without Smile

; and the forums have evolved from crappy to excellent.

Enjoy the brick!

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:15 pm

I love your new bike......BUT my buddy had a BMW 850 and it spent most of it's time on a tow truck....no shit ! I wish you the best of luck.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:41 pm

That's a pretty bike.

My buddy has one and he loves it.

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 12:31 am

chico wrote:

self cancelling directionals, it even tells you which of the six gears you're in.

My 1981 Suzuki gs750 had that

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:42 am

Chico, You still have that immaculate Red & White 1100F right?

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 12:42 pm

Yes I do, that one is a keeper.

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:11 am

Thanks to all of you for the good wishes, advice and entertaining comments. I've logged about 700 miles so far and have some good and some not so good comments. Handling on windy roads is terrific. The tyranny is smooth and responsive. The extra features are welcome, (not the heated seat and grips in August). Speaking of heated, boy does this bike give off a lot of it, feels like sitting on a furnace.. My other complaint is the seating position and hand grip location. I'll have to work on that.
Thanks again and keep the shiny side up, Chico.

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 9:06 am

basmn wrote:

I love your new bike......BUT my buddy had a BMW 850 and it spent most of it's time on a tow truck....no shit ! I wish you the best of luck.

That statement can be made about every bike OEM out there -- everyone knows someone that had problems with an XXX brand bike. I've got ~200K on a number of BMWs with only one significant issue; I'd no more suggest that BMW's are "nearly perfect" based on my handful of datapoints. The 850 "oilhead" boxer twin is also night/day different from the flopped-over K-bike four to the point of near irrelevance to assessing K-bike reliability.

I'm not saying that BMW (or Honda, or HD, or ... ) is perfect -- *every* model from every OEM has its own quirks/weaknesses/strengths; I guess I'm reacting to a needless comment that does nothing but take away from a new owner's enjoyment of a bike, based on a single, statistically meanless datapoint.

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 1:04 pm

mneblett wrote:

basmn wrote:

I love your new bike......BUT my buddy had a BMW 850 and it spent most of it's time on a tow truck....no shit ! I wish you the best of luck.

That statement can be made about every bike OEM out there -- everyone knows someone that had problems with an XXX brand bike. I've got ~200K on a number of BMWs with only one significant issue; I'd no more suggest that BMW's are "nearly perfect" based on my handful of datapoints. The 850 "oilhead" boxer twin is also night/day different from the flopped-over K-bike four to the point of near irrelevance to assessing K-bike reliability.

I'm not saying that BMW (or Honda, or HD, or ... ) is perfect -- *every* model from every OEM has its own quirks/weaknesses/strengths; I guess I'm reacting to a needless comment that does nothing but take away from a new owner's enjoyment of a bike, based on a single, statistically meanless datapoint.

+1
well said

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:35 pm

chico wrote:

self cancelling directionals, it even tells you which of the six gears you're in.

My 1985 Suzuki does that!! Laughing

Sorry man, I just had to. Wink

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:56 pm

chico wrote:

Speaking of heated, boy does this bike give off a lot of it, feels like sitting on a furnace..Chico.

Years ago my dad bought one of the K bikes when they first came out...he loved everything about it but the massive amount of heat behind the fairing. He said the gas tank got so hot he could barely touch it. He went back to the boxer about 2 weeks later. Ahhhhhhhhh cool breezes....
Thought they would have addressed that by now.

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:20 pm

awesome!! i rode an 11 lt for years.

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:35 pm

Welcome to the club chico!
I picked up this one earlier this year...WOW have things changed in 30 years...

Its a 06 K1200S, with the electronic suspension adjustment (on the fly even)
Power brakes, on board computer, ABS, traction control.ect..ect..
160BHP, 10.3s 1/4 mile and a 175 mph top end...
Inline 4 too.. Very Happy

Here I thought my 1100F hauled ass Laughing

Getting used to the power brakes was hardest, and the weird signal light thing too...
But all in all it has been sweet so far..It had 60,000km on it when I bought it now it had 62,500km...

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:35 am

Hi Randy, great looking ride, looks like new. Are you pleased with the handlebars?

Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 12:45 pm

They are a touch too forward for my back..
But the PO did provide a set of clubman extension bars with it (along with 3 windscreens)
So I will probably put them on this winter...
It hasnt been cold enough to turn on the heated bars yet, but it looks like that will be here soon enough...

CB1100F Joined: Mar 03, 2004 Posts: 3278 Location: Seattle

Randy, I plead some kind of stupid infringement law for showing my tent in the background w/o my permission..... Cool

On another note the Gen-mars I installed on my bike eliminated any thoughts of a lower back issue, along with the installation of a gel-foamed Corbin, but I doubt the seat is the problem with this su-veet bike.. Wink