BMW R1200R reviews

This is the pinnacle of sport touring motorcycles. It is the second BMW I've owned and I like it better than the two Harleys, the Moto Guzi, and the Japanese bikes I've owned. I use it as my daily drive because its comfortable, gets through traffic, and easy to park. I can fit a decent amount of groceries, work materials, etc in the locking, waterproof saddlebags. Its so fun to ride that I don't mind the commute. My wife loves to sit behind me and go for long trips. Its comfortable around town as well as on long trips. Its the preferred motorcycle for the police because of its performance and durability. The only downside is the modifications are expensive. The factory seat is terribly uncomfortable and the windscreen isn't large enough for long trips. You have to buy cylinder head protectors for the boxer engine because if the bike falls, it falls on the engine cylinder heads. Once you have the seat, windscreen, and engine protection you like, this bike will easily last over 75K miles. BMW wants you to service it every 6K miles, but the oil changes are easy and many owners service the bike themselves. You will never regret owning a BMW R1200RT. Show less

I love this bike. It performs, reliable and refined. Never any maintenance issues. If your interested in many years and miles of enjoyment this is for you. You'll probably never out grow this machine or get bored with it. I'm old and need to hang up my helmet. Otherwise I'd be riding my beemer today. Show less

The r1200r is a great bike for commuting in California. I was commuting 50 miles each way to work in the bay area when I bought mine. The features that really make it shine are the handling and mid-range performance. Riding through rows of effectively parked cars for 30 miles each day will give you an appreciation for handling and performance. When the vehicle coming to a stop in the #2 lane abruptly changes to the #1 lane with no signal, you find yourself doing all kinds of emergency maneuvers to avoid a collision. Sometimes it is heavy breaking, sometime immediate change of direction to shoot for the open spot. The BMW R1200R has handling on par with a dirt bike at slow speeds and a sport bike at high speeds. This makes the bike a clear choice for those riding in both ranges regularly. I found with little practice after buying the R1200R I was able to turn it in a figure 8 within the 2 wide X 2 Length parking spots I could turn my dual sports in. Mid-range power is definitely another strong contender for the R1200R. When someone is merging onto the highway and they don't see you, it boils down to two options if getting out of that lane is not possible. The first is slow down, and we have already covered the great braking this bike has, The other is speed up. Often this will happen while you are happily cruising along at the speed limit in gear 6. You might be around 3K RPM and you need to speed up. In this mid-range performance area your engine needs a lot of torque to overcome all the inertia in order to accelerate. The BMW boxer is a great engine for smoothly accelerating with authority through its entire rev range. All told this is a great all around bike especially for those who commute. Other features of this bike one might enjoy is the great aftermarket. Whereas the bike is based on its GS cousin, the aftermarket is available for it. I was able to find crash guards, skid plates, and hand guards for reasonable prices. Show less