Any BMW riders?

[timgray]

Anyone here come from a 1st gen and then bought a BMW K1200LT Touring bike? I am playing with the idea as you can get them cheap with low miles compared to the Goldwings, plus they are physically smaller.

 

I am eyeballing a 2001 with 20K miles on it for $6500. Do they ride like the 1st gen? I am just looking at about $3500-$4000 to make my 83 100% reliable and fixing 2nd gear as well as forks, etc... and only a little bit more will get me a bike that shops will actually touch, you can actually get parts for, and I will feel comfortable taking on a 1500 mile ride without worrying where the Uhaul rental centers are to get back home.

 

Second Gen is out as I dont like the harley style bikes. They are pretty, just not my style and I dont like forward controls. And I dont have $12,000 for a 10 year old goldwing.

[KIC]

I went from a 02 BMW K1200LT to the 1st Gen Venture. The BMW was a nice bike but maintenance was hard and the dealer was very expen$ive. The highway ride was nice but the around town, especially the slow speed turns sucked. The layover rate on slow speed turns are high. It is very top heavy. On the K1200LT forum there were two types of riders, those who have had their bikes take naps and the the riders who soon would have their bike take naps. We used to keep tally on the number of naps (layovers).

 

Just changing the oil was a pain on the arse. I did love all the toys that came with it.

 

They have a forum that is just as friendly and informative as we have here:

 

http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/cmps_index.php

 

.

[timgray]

More top heavy than a 1st gen? I though the 1st gen was the most top heavy bike out there. I dont think I like that. It's the one thing about my venture I dislike, get it more than 5 degrees off center while stopped and you have to fight to get it back up before it falls tot he ground.

[Keemez]

The highway ride was nice but the around town, especially the slow speed turns sucked. The layover rate on slow speed turns are high. It is very top heavy.

 

+1

 

I've put a few thousand miles on a '00 K12LT myself. It is a very good machine... the powertrain is comparable in smoothness to the 6cyl GWs, and the ride/suspension is superior to the Venture. However, I find myself more comfortable and in a better riding position on my MK2. And as KIC said, it is an absolute behemoth at low speeds. Far worse than the Venture. Try one out if you can. In particular the transmission shifts with butter-like precision; you could practically shift it with your tongue.

[Keemez]

More top heavy than a 1st gen? I though the 1st gen was the most top heavy bike out there. I dont think I like that. It's the one thing about my venture I dislike, get it more than 5 degrees off center while stopped and you have to fight to get it back up before it falls tot he ground.

 

Drastically worse. Go ride one- you'll see.

[icebrrg3rd]

...you could practically shift it with your tongue.

 

Oh great! Now I got a disturbing mental picture. Gotta go flush my mind. Where's that Pond Monster pic?

 

-Andrew

[Keemez]

Oh great! Now I got a disturbing mental picture. Gotta go flush my mind. Where's that Pond Monster pic?

 

-Andrew

 

I knew that was gonna throw somebody for a loop, but I didn't think it would be you...