Even the BMW Rondel could not make me like this bike enough to keep it.
Written: Oct 31 '03 (Updated Nov 01 '03)
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Pros: Let me think....................
Cons: Not enough room here............
The Bottom Line: There are many, many better choices in the motorcycle world for a sport tourer.
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| octagonpeg's Full Review: 2000 BMW K 1200 RS |
Firstly, let me explain I like BMW products. I am going to hammer this bike in this review so I wanted to make that point clear up front.
Secondly, I am a 51 year old male and have been riding on and off since I was 17 so you will know “about where I am coming from”.
Thirdly, I am very particular about what I drive and what I ride.
Now grab a cup of coffee and set a spell, cause I am gonna type as long as my fingers hold out.
In October of 1997, I walked into Westchester BMW in NY, and did some business. I traded in three bikes and bought three new ones.
Trades were a Kawasaki KLR 650 thumper with 500 miles on it, a 1996 K1100RS with 750 miles on it, and my wife’s Honda 250 Rebel which had 175 miles on it. (She had just passed her M/C license test and I bought it for her as a graduation present).
I bought a R 850R for her in Black and Silver (which was one of only 150 bikes in what were the Olympic colors), a R1100RT in Glacier Green and the Yellow K1200RS which was not yet available. Buying three bikes on one day got me a promise from the dealer. I got the first K1200 RS delivered in the US and the first yellow one.
The K was recalled even before it was delivered. While the bikes were on the water from the homeland, BMW discovered that the dual cooling fans were blowing fuses and the factory FED-EXed replacement fans to BMW headquarters in NJ before the bikes arrived at the port. On the Saturday I was scheduled to pick the bike I had to watch as the “A” mechanic stripped the bike down to it’s frame to replaced the fans which were buried inside the fairing.
Since I am riding the LT version of this K bike now (see my review on Epinions) I will make the same analogy: both these bikes are virtually BMW 3-Series sedans with three less wheels and no doors. Computers, sensors, radiators, fans, ABS, etc.
This was just the start. On Sunday, (day two of ownership), I put the wife on the back and took the bike to Harriman park in NY which is a great ride and a hang out for bikers on Sunday mornings. The ride to the top is steep and very slow around corners. Bango. I hit a pot hole at what had to be less than 10 mph and man did it hurt my back. Arriving at the top of the hill I parked the bike and waited for my friends to “ooh and aah”. They did and then they asked me why the front rim was bent. Damn! It was!, not only that but so was the rear. Luckily (luckily?) I could ride the bike home and had BMW pick it up to get the rims replaced. When I found out how much the rims cost, I submitted it to my insurance company rather than take the hit.
Since the bike had just been released, parts were hard to find and the wheels came from Chicago and Atlanta. In thirty rears of riding I never bent a rim. Just so you know, BMW rims are notoriously SOFT. And the three spoke wheels really give it up if you hit something “between the spokes”. I think this day cost about $ 1,800.00 ( I replaced the tires too, figuring that if I hit the rims hard enough to deform them, then I was not comfortable that the tire beads were still good.
I took the opportunity to upsize the rear wheel to the optional factory 1 inch wider rim and larger tire and sent the original wheels out to be re-manufactured as backups.
I also took the time to have Corbin make me a seat.
When I got the bike I got the extras: Side bags and liners, BMW Tank bag, luggage rack, and cover. All BMW accessories are OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive, (and I am used to BMW prices for my cars and bikes), but some things are worth it. The BMW tank bag is just the best, and that is about the only accessory that didn’t make me have third thoughts.
Expenses aside, let’s look at the bike.
The engine is smooth, pulls well and feels like it wants to run. Rated at 136 hp and running thru a 6 speed tranny, (my LT which is essentially the same frame and engine does with a 5 speed), you would expect this bike to be fast and it is, but not as fast or thrusty as it’s Japanese competition.
This 600 lb bike is top heavy and wants to fall over at slow speeds. The steering angle is shallow and maneuvering in parking lots is tricky. So add these two traits together and you can figure a few low speed “go downs” in the brotherhood of K owners. I know a dealer who had a customer on a test ride who dropped the bike in the dealership parking lot (at parking lot speed)…..total tab: about 6 grand!
The mirrors are bar mounted, but if you look at the fairing you wil see that BMW originally planned to make them part of the fairing as they did on my previous K 1100, which would have made them very narrowly set and leave you with big blind spots.
The handle bars are low and the foot pegs are high. I am 6-2, but am actually “inseam challenged” with a 30” stretch. (My fiancée who is about 5-11 has much longer legs than I do….34”), so I never understood why I was so cramped on this bike since most guys would have longer legs than me. Time proved that I was not the only one who didn’t fit this bike, as BMW later offered bar risers to allow us big older guys to fit a bike that only 20 year olds could tolerate. The only problem was that 20 year olds could not afford this bike and BMW knew they had to offer a factory fix.
Engine vibration is more pronounced in this in-line 4 than it is in the RT’s opposed twin. The handlebar buzzing is reminiscent of my Kawasaki KZ 900 from the 70’s. I found the only fix for this was to wear gloves with padding in the palms.
The foot peg assemblies were adjustable to two positions that allowed the rider to move the entire assemblies down and to the rear using factory prepared mounting holes. Still not enough for me.
The fairing is fitted with a small clear windshield that was adjustable to two positions. You could only count on using one of them as the windshield was spring loaded and would only really stay I the down position. Every time you had it “UP” and hit a bump the thing would snap down. There was no factory fix for it. No matter, it is too small and too low to provide any relief from wind or rain.
Padding and shaping of the seat made the Corbin an immediate necessity. The factory saddle was just wrong in shape and material.
Passenger comfort was dismal…the pegs were too high for even a petite lady and the seat was no better on the guest’s butt as it was in the rider’s. The issue is made worse by the fact that the passenger ends up at least 6 inches higher than the rider and out of the protection of any bodywork airstream.
On the rider’s controls, I have the same comments here as I have for my LT, Wrong, wrong, wrong!. The turn signals are wrong. On my Harleys if I want to turn left, I press the left turn signal, for right, I press the right turn signal. If I want to cancel the left turn signal, I press the left button again etc. Simple..... Press to start the signal, Press the same button to cancel, Left for left, Right for right.
On the BMW the turn signal cancel is effected by using your right thumb to LIFT a button on the right handlebar. This cancels both Left or Right turn signals. This is not at all intuitive and since I ride different bikes, it is confusing and dangerous.
The only handlebar control I actually like was the on for the heated grips. I go back to the days of Vetter fairings and Hippo Hands. Trust me, once you have had heated grips and Gore Tex gloves you’ll never look back.
Brakes on my year bike were ABS and felt very solid and linear in application. They were not “linked” as my LT is, but I suspect that the current RS now has the linked system also. Once you have ridden a bike with linked ABS brakes, you will be hooked on them forever.
Storage in the bike is non-existent unless you opt for the hard bags or the tank bag. I use a small multi-pocketed Velcro wallet to stick my registration, insurance card and some cash under the seat. The shapes of the hard bags make it clear that they are for around-town things like an extra jacket or a couple of sandwiches. The right one is barely able to hold an extra helmet, and the left one was shaped to fit around the exhaust to it is only for soft flexible things that can be “squished”
The headlight assembly takes a standard H-4 Halogen bulb which I upped to a higher wattage P.I.A.A. Ion bulb. BMW fits a Headlight height adjust to most of it’s bikes and it allows for a quick light height adjustment to compensate for a passenger’s mass at night.
Performance wise the bike is competent, not great, You could buy any one of dozens of Japanese bikes at half the price and get more for less. Considering that BMW’s depreciation is no better than the sport alternatives, you might want to consider this.
BMW’s unique anti dive and anti lift frame technology is second to none. The driveshaft makes for the only easy maintenance on the bike.
Ownership costs of a K bike are obscene and these bikes are not for the shallow of pocket. Every part costs a fortune, every task is difficult, and every labor hour is premium. If you ever saw the specialized tools that you might need to do anything on one of these things you would buy a Harley. My BMW dealer has a blue wall with specific places for zillions of specialized tools. The wall is about the size of an IMAX theater screen!
I have three BMW oil filters in my garage for one of the BMW’s I have owned. I never had the guts to attempt to change my own oil and don’t even know which bike they were for, and I am not a wuss, I can program a VCR!
I traded this bike in for the K 1200 “LT”. Why?....Because the engine/frame is better suited for touring than sport…..at least the way BMW did the sport version. The RS is not a good sport-tourer, it is a good canyon bike.
The only problem is that canyon riders are young, trim and fit and unfortunatley usually not able to afford one of these bikes. Guys my age , who can affort them are a little soft in middle with stiff necks, and failing wrists, who don't want to be bent over the tank of a sport bike for more than 100 miles.
There are just too many weaknesses in the bike to consider it in the market where BMW pegged it. I traded this bike in for the LT when it had just about 500 miles on it. I enjoy the K bike in the LT version much better than the RS version.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 20,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 1998
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Epinions.com ID:
octagonpeg
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Location: New Jersey
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Interested in technology, industrial design, construction, computers and organic hobbies.
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