Paging Wik - R1200RT question.

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Salad Dodger

Not a problem, I'll take care of that.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "Oh Bollocks" said Pooh, having forgotten his lines.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

Aye, it was, actually. Jolly sprightly for such a big beastie. No aches
and pains even after several hours of m-way tedium and enough go to keep
up with the sprotsbike brigade until they decided to push it up past
140mph. Great engine, mind. Not at all like my 1150 despite the same
layout. This one's got a balancer shaft and is tuned to make the power
toward the top end where it makes a quite satisfying bark.

What really impressed me (and, I suspect, others) was the manner in
which it could be hustled around in the twisty bits. At one point,
leaving the Ardennes and chasing Bonners, Daz and Ace at 90+mph down a
swoopy, wet, Belgian A-road, the rear slid out enough as if to say "Now,
I've been very tolerant up until now. Much more of those sorts of
shenanigans and I'll throw you into a hedge, ok?" which was nice.

Quality headlights (a first on any BMW I've ridden) although,
apparantly, distractingly bright for those I followed and useful (if at
first, cryptic) info from the RID (Rider Infomation Display) i.e.
distance-to-empty, two trips, oil temp, ambient temp, etc.

Lockable cubby-hole for maps (or, I guess the CD player) in front right
of fairing plus standard BMW accessory socket (and another under the
rear seat I seem to recall...?).

Mirrors were ok but I seemed to see an awful lot of the panniers so with
a pillion, they may not work quite so well...

I thought so, but then I was solo and it's not like the GL18 but then,
few things are.

Panniers were BMW's latest version of their "System" stuff and seemed
fairly generous. I got pretty much a whole weekend's worth of Wik-sized
kit into one and then had the luxury of choosing things like additional
pairs of shoes and shirts and stuff to put in the other. Plus my MP3
player, bottles of water, etc. They didn't leak at all, either.

Incidentally, the one I had didn't have *all* the toys on it...
ABS? Check.
Heated grips? Check.
Heated seat? Check.
Cruise Control? Check.
Electrically adjustable screen? Check.
Radio/CD Changer? No.
Sat-Nav? No.
Electonically adjustable suspension? No.

I reckon this latter one is a bit of a gimmick, anyway. I rode to
Belgium with the rear pre-load set fairly soft ('cause I didn't think
about it 'til after I'd set off and I knew not where the adjuster was)
and it was fine if a little bouncy on the m-way.

When we got there, I found the adjuster after a quick search under the
seat I wound it up to something similar to my GS, i.e. medium/hard which
better suited my *ahem* enthusiastic riding style.

It was, I feel, even more spacious than the ST1300 and with more
legroom. The Honda definitely has a more canted-forward riding position
but the R1200RT isn't anything like as bolt-upright as its predecessor
the 1150. It suited me fine and I had no real twinges, aches or pains
at all after a whole weekend's riding. Unheard of for me. Did
occasionally stretch one's legs on the m-way but then, who doesn't?

Quite.

HTH, mate.

 

Ta. I shall have to get me(us) to my nearest purveyor of BMW's finest.

Loz? Any recommendations?
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SE-V/CBR1100XX-X/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..78875.../...19923.../..31251.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 PM#5 WG*
'^' RBR 2005: Abandoned - Bronze Award.

 

Wik says...

Umm, adjusting the preload doesn't actually change the spring's working
characteristics. Upping it would have made the rear sit a little higher
at a standstill, but the actual spring rate can't be changed that
easily. All it does is alter the sag to suit larger riders. You'd have
been better off upping the rebound and compression damping a few clicks.
Rebound being the more important one, according to Mr Ohlins.

HTH

--
Lozzo
Track pixie
GSX-R1000 K1
I haven't lost my mind, it's
backed up to a floppy disc
that's around here somewhere.

 

Salad Dodger says...

I don't deal with any BMW dealers, but I hear that Sawbridgeworth and
Slocombes have good reputations.......if you like that sort of thing.

--
Lozzo
Track pixie
GSX-R1000 K1
I haven't lost my mind, it's
backed up to a floppy disc
that's around here somewhere.

 

I've used Slocombes before - for Honda spares and Daytona boots.

I wonder if Park Lane have one to try out.

Ooh - they do.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SE-V/CBR1100XX-X/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..78875.../...19923.../..31251.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 PM#5 WG*
'^' RBR 2005: Abandoned - Bronze Award.

 

Salad Dodger says...

Hog's the man to speak to about them, he used to work there IIRC.

--
Lozzo
Track pixie
GSX-R1000 K1
I haven't lost my mind, it's
backed up to a floppy disc
that's around here somewhere.

 

I think you know you're going to end up buying on to replace the
current Wing.

Don't you have to be under 14 stone to do a bungee jump? Or is that
parachute jumps?

 

I did a bungy jump when I was pushing 14 stone and there were others
bigger than I there.

 

Parachuting was 14st for ram air canopies but then there's a lot of
skydiving in the US so maybe it's changed.

 

Indeed. As previously mentioned, it could only easily be lost on
acceleration, but only by clogging the gixxer down a gear or two, and
you were never dropping that far back in the reall twisty sections.
But that prolly says more about you than the bike, given that you
_were_ losing Kiran on his gixxer at times.

Heh. Found its limit, it would seem.

Not so much bright as simply poorly adjusted, possibly due to the
significant mass towards the rear of the machine. One would hope that
5 minutes with a screwdriver would sort it.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2
`\|/`
`

 

Seems so.

Isn't bungee jumping bad for bad backs, though?

 

It used to be really bad for the health until they abolished hanging.

It's only since then that they've realised that
(a) you need elastic rope
(b) the neck is not the best place to attach the bungeeeeee.

 

How primitive. I thought all modern motorcycles had a couple of twiddly
knobs per headlight: one for up-down, the other for left-right.

 

Yeah, prolly. But not my bike, see, so I wouldn't know.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2
`\|/`
`

 

You're not helping, you know.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SE-V/CBR1100XX-X/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..78895.../...19992.../..31257.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 PM#5 WG*
'^' RBR 2005: Abandoned - Bronze Award.

 

Received.
Ta matey - will reply when I have more of a clue what we're up to.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SE-V/CBR1100XX-X/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..78895.../...19992.../..31257.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 PM#5 WG*
'^' RBR 2005: Abandoned - Bronze Award.

 

Not "get", "borrow".

Also, I can't see me and her fitting on a KTM.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SE-V/CBR1100XX-X/CBX1000Z
|_\_____/_| ..78895.../...19992.../..31257.
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4 PM#5 WG*
'^' RBR 2005: Abandoned - Bronze Award.

 

That must be students, and a limitation of the available student rigs
shirley?

Ram airs come in different sizes - mine was a relatively tame 200 sq
foot jobbie. Gurlies tended to use smaller ones (for better
penetration, fnar fnar) and more experienced FS guys tended to because
they're much zippier.

Accuracy bods tend to use bigger canopies 'cos they come down slower
at a steeper angle.

I guess that a really fat bastard could use a tandem rig solo...

 

Quite possibly, it's been a while. I'd give it a go again except for
the being >14st, being >40, not enough time or money for 2 expensive
hobbies and being a bit of a wuss.

That'll be what's used in the land of the free then.