The Jury is still out on this one........

So some of you guys who frequent Facebook would have already know that the The GSX and I have parted ways...
There was a number of reasons for this, which I wont go into detail here. I will say the GSX1250FA was a great bike, of which I was very happy with for over 7 years. Suffice to say if Suzuki had brought out a new, more featured version of the same bike I'd probably have one in the garage now. Sorry but the GSX1000S/F doesn't cut it as a tourer IMO.

So a couple of years back I started to wonder what would I replace it with. I looked around a few options but kept coming back to the same bike. This time though a more featured bike than the one I was looking at in 2016.

Before Easter I checked out my local Team Moto dealer. Team Moto sell a variety of motorcycles including Honda, Yamaha, some Suzuki, and BMWs.
They had in stock a R1200RS Exclusive. Which in BMW speak is the hamburger with the lot. Minus the GPS and Alarm. The only 2 things I can think of not included.
I traded the GSX for $4200. The GSX after a trip across to WA had over 63k on it. Part of the deal was for me to keep the topbox and panniers. (originally they wanted them). I also kept the Sargent seat - see for sale section, and the Staintune slipon. The staintune found a new home on Chooks bike in Adelaide.

Now onto the BMW. This bike is very well optioned with electronically adjustable suspension, Keyless ride , ABS Pro - Cornering ABS, Brembo Brakes front and rear, Heated Grips, Tyre Pressure Monitor, Cruise Control, DTC (Dynamic Traction Control) Daytime Riding Light, Riding Mode Pro (Rain, Road, Dynamic, User) Gear shift assist pro, (Shift up and down without using the clutch) LED Indicators, and is fitted ready for BMW panniers and Top box.

Riding it
The Boxer engine is a strange beast to get use to when you've been sitting on a relatively smooth inline 4 for 7 years. The engine feels alive but doesn't seem to wake up until it's doing around 3500. This makes riding at slow speeds an entirely new experience. Gone are the days of rolling into a slow suburban corner in 4th and powering out of it. With this your going to need to be in 1st or 2nd. The motor is rated at 92 kW (125 hp) at 7,750 rpm and max torque 125 Nm at 6,500 rpm. It seems however the torque curve doesn't really start until 2500+. The salesman in the shop seems to think that BMW have restricted the power out put until the first service, like they have with the S1000R. However I can't seem to find anything online to confirm this. So I'll see what happens after the service.
The Brembos live up to what you expect from a premier manufacturer, pulling the bike up in a very timely fashion without any feel of losing control. It certainly is nice to have brakes.
The seat seems to be comfortable, far more comfortable than the bandit stock seat. However I have ordered a Triboseat cover for the rear as the girl keeps sliding forward when those Brembos kick in . The handlebars I found too low and too far forward, BMW have given this bike a more sportier stance than Suzuki did with the bandit. So I have dug deep into my ever depleting pockets and bought some CNC machined risers, $300 plus    I guess I'll have to get use to that sort of pricing   The mirror position is far better than what was on the GSX, I find I do not need to move my shoulders out of the way to see behind me.

Now I said it came ready fitted for the BMW panniers and topbox, However these would have cost me $2250 to have added later. Keeping the Givi cases didn't affect the trade in, but it saved me a lot of money. All I had to do was get the correct mounting kit for this bike and repaint the panels on the Givi cases.

Here are some pictures

That's almost an RT. Looks the goods Bryan. Well done.

no heated seats ?

At least you don't have a stupid thumb wheel like I have (only good for complicating heated grip replacement .. which costs a zillion dollars)

I think bmw have improved their handlebar switch supplier ... but to be safe cover them up when you wash the bike.

Looks good MM ...........I guess any new bike will take a certain amount of time adjusting to it ( even from the 2004 bandit to the 1250 felt a bit different ) so stick with it . A lot of European vehicles can be a bit harder on the pocket , but then again , so does the Italians and American stuff . 
                                                                         P.s. certain aspects of your pillion sliding into you isn't always that bad a feeling 

Baz wrote:That's almost an RT. Looks the goods Bryan. Well done.

no heated seats ?

No Heated seats, I think they are only available on the RT and K series

paul wrote:certain aspects of your pillion sliding into you isn't always that bad a feeling 

I didn't say I was complaining,

barry_mcki wrote:

Nice.

See your spray-painter mate still lives next door.

Not sure if mate is the word, $450 later, ouch!

No not a mate at those prices, for three pieces, well at least it looks good, and would be unique.

I had both hand guards as well as the lower fairings painted for less, and that included making the brackets and fitting the fairing, not an easy job considering it needed two holes for the the front sidecar support bars.

Now Max it time to let the real truth, your new lady friend has a bmw, and said step up or seeya hence the new bike 

Jimcoleman wrote:Now Max it time to let the real truth, your new lady friend has a bmw, and said step up or seeya hence the new bike 

Go back to 2016 Jim and I'll show you the thread where I said I was looking at this bike. In fact I was looking at buying it before I went to WA but decided to go with old familiar and put the ks on the Suzuki instead.

I remember you jumping on a BMW in the marque during the Phillip Island trip we all did a couple of years ago, actually wasn't it the same Melbourne BMW  dealer ?

barry_mcki wrote:I remember you jumping on a BMW in the marque during the Phillip Island trip we all did a couple of years ago, actually wasn't it the same Melbourne BMW  dealer ?

That was a R1200rs  but the basic one. Dealer was the Melbourne one  mine came from my local dealer

Lets be realistic here    Comparing a Bandit to the BMW isn't fair . The price of them isn't even close , the bmw  should be better in every way .
My Bandit is now 22year old and runs fine , I wouldn't trust all those sensors on the bmw to be working in 22 years time . 
Don't get me wrong the bm looks great and i'm sure if I rode one id be impressed but that price tag isn't small and fixing it isn't going to be a 2 beer job .
Then again ,I thought the 1250 Bandit was too advanced .

To be fair Gus I wasn't hanging shit on the bandit. The bandit is a great bike. I just comparing my experience on the GSX with the new experience of the BMW

M.M Quote " Gone are the days of rolling into a slow suburban corner in 4th and powering out of it. With this your going to need to be in 1st or 2nd. The motor is rated at 92 kW (125 hp) at 7,750 rpm and max torque 125 Nm at 6,500 rpm. It seems however the torque curve doesn't really start until 2500+. The salesman in the shop seems to think that BMW have restricted the power out put until the first service, like they have with the S1000R. However I can't seem to find anything online to confirm this.  "  Quote 

Looks like it's more of a rev limit according to this article ................



http://www.visordown.com/news/general/bmw-s1000rr-to-be-limited-at-9000rpm-until-first-service


But then again there is this ??????

https://www.s1000r.co.uk/index.php?topic=575.0

paul wrote:M.M Quote "[size=45] Gone are the days of rolling into a slow suburban corner in 4th and powering out of it. With this your going to need to be in 1st or 2nd. The motor is rated at 92 kW (125 hp) at 7,750 rpm and max torque 125 Nm at 6,500 rpm. It seems however the torque curve doesn't really start until 2500+. The salesman in the shop seems to think that BMW have restricted the power out put until the first service, like they have with the S1000R. However I can't seem to find anything online to confirm this.  "  Quote [/size]

Looks like it's more of a rev limit according to this article ................



http://www.visordown.com/news/general/bmw-s1000rr-to-be-limited-at-9000rpm-until-first-service


But then again there is this ??????

https://www.s1000r.co.uk/index.php?topic=575.0

That post on the forum page is fairly old. I got the impression it was something that BMW had only just started doing after finding owners were destroying engines early. 
If it is only a rev limiter then it wouldn't be affecting lower down in the rev range

True .........maybe a quick call to the service manager would throw some light on the subject . Although the first service shouldn't take long to come along