K1200GT

Steve1200S · Post by **Steve1200S** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:55 pm

Simple question first, are they good?

I'm temped by a smoother engine, and mega speed. But do they handle as well as an RT?

Any known maintenance issues with 07 on models?

Is traction control necessary, or a bit of a trick?

I'm considdering two, both have most of the bells and whistles, but one has 10k on it and no traction control, other has 33k on it and traction control and tire pressure monitors. More temped by low milage...

slparry · Post by **slparry** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:48 pm

Right where do I start

I'll preface it by stating, despite issues, I love mine to bits. It's stunningly able at what it does.

But, it's been a tortured relationship. it's now on 26000 miles, when it was on 13000 miles I worked out that 10% of that had been on the 100 miles return trip to Williams Manchester to get various problems fixed.

Within 300 miles of first collecting it it refused to tickover at less that 3000 rpm. Which made traffic work interesting. Apparently this was an airbox fault which would warp with heat and keep a sensor stuck or summat.

Other items fixed have been the

rear suspension arms (twice) warranty recall

rear bevel housing for corrosion, within 4 months the replacement was as bad.

main stand snapped at the point where you press down on the stand, lots did it, I insisted on a K1300GT replacement as they're a better design.

left switchgear failed, well the cruise control bit did. Was tracked to switch corrosion BMW said corrosion wasnt covered under warranty, I threw a strop and reminded them I had a 30 year old suzuki GN400 in the back yard that sat in all weathers and its switches worked as intended, they backed down and replaced it.

ASC (traction) switch fell out of its housing, replaced under warranty (twice)

Rear heated seat switch fell out of its housing, replaced under warranty.

Steering dampener replaced as a recall.

Brake pad warning cable snapped, known issue replaced under warranty

Clutch basket replaced due to rattling, known issue replaced under warranty

Clutch plates replaced due to squealing, known issue replaced under warranty

Cam chain tensioner replaced, known issue replaced under warranty

Lower sprocket cam chain guard fitted, known issue, had to argue to get it done, but now it's a recall issue.

Rear ESA failed, replaced under warranty just as well as it's £1800 just for the shock!

Starter system wiring loom fitted to sort hot starting issue, known problem and a recall.

There's been a few FI remaps

My trip meter's recently started acting up

They're fairly heavy but the mass vanishes once moving. They like tyres tho'

The "traction" ASC is good and has stepped in twice on mud for me and possibly saved an incident. It's stepped in many more times when accelerating hard to stop a more than 6" wheelie developing, it can be turned off easily by simply holding the switch in for a few seconds.

Comfort is brilliant, Ullapool to Wrexham is almost exactly 500 miles, done it a few times and would happily turn around and go back the same day

Economy is fantastic if restraint is used, on one motorway trip I set the cruise control at 68 mph and got 65+ mpg!!!

Never seems to dip below 45 tho' but I imagine a flat out run on the autobahn may fix that.

I've had it on the sat nav at 153, speedo was fairly close.

Gearbox is clunky into first but not bad after that.

Servicing has been reasonable to be honest.

Radiator design is pants, it's an inverted triangle shape and the pointy bit at the bottom is where the fan is, which is also behind the ineffective front mudguard. The rad gets blocked and the fan goes into overdrive in the summer in slow traffic.

At some point I'll get a fender extender.

Electric screen is good, maybe not quite as good as the RT but then I prefer the mirror position on the GT as I find the RT's not right for eyeline.

The linked brakes work well, BMW brake pads are a hideous price, I put in EBC but wish I'd put BM ones in the rear as the std ones are not sintered on the rear which means when you put in sintered ones it makes the rear brake a bit "bitier" than it should. EBC's work fine on the front, however if you use not std pads you lose the brake pad warning function.

Tyre pressure monitors are great and potentially saved some grief as it warned me of pressure loss before I felt it at speed on the motorway.

Heated seats and grips get very hot which is great on a cold ride out.

Seat is height adjustable but I find the low position bends my knees too much. I'm 32" inside leg and have no probs getting my feet down in the high position.

Performance is stunning, sports bike riders get really upset as they "assume" from the fairing and panniers that it's a lardy slow tourer. They get really brassed off to find SS Titanic stuck to their number plate. The ESA is very noticible between soft and bouncy comfort to firm and controlled sport.

I think that covers it

I'll repeat despite the teething issues I love it to bits. I'm kind of loathe to change mine now I've had all the probs fixed

... although a healthy paranoia keeps me on BMW's extended warranty ... just in case

Steve1200S · Post by **Steve1200S** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 2:07 am

Thanks Steve, was aiming to get your honest opinion as I knew you have one.

Sounds worse than my RT! I'll have have a closer look as making sure the warranty stuff and recalls are done seems to be important on the 12GT...

Don't mind a clunky first gear, the 1150RT sounds like someone's used the gearbox as a piggy bank, so I'm used to clunkyness.

Interested in one as rattles and random bangs are starting to annoy me, along with even more cutting out on motorways.

A nice smooth inline 4 may be the way forward.
Plus I'm no longer using the bike for work, so don't really need the panniers and top box of the RT anymore (but I like having them and a nice big rain deflecting fairing). If I decide I can live without panniers/fairing I think maybe the good old 12S will be my everyday bike again, otherwise a 12GT may be on the cards.... But defo want to just have the one (reliable)bike.

But warranty issues and trips back to dealers is exactly what I want to avoid.... Maybe I should get a Honda instead.

slparry · Post by **slparry** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 7:58 am

Gtr1400

dave the german · Post by **dave the german** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 1:40 pm

Steve you forgot to add the 153 mph was of course done on closed roads!!
I see you were also exceeding your usual cruising speed by setting the cruise control at 68

slparry · Post by **slparry** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 1:46 pm

dave the german wrote:Steve you forgot to add the 153 mph was of course done on closed roads!!
I see you were also exceeding your usual cruising speed by setting the cruise control at 68

153 was in "furrin" parts occifer

and the 68 was on the motorway so within my normal 2mph under the limit

The Teutonic Tangerine · Fri Dec 07, 2012 3:00 pm

Very quick even two up. However we had two in the club I belong to one was perfect the second had to have a new clutch and clutch basket at 27,000 miles, £1400. 00 including labour (non Dealer) and it also needed a new Cam chain and tensioner. Unfortunatley the owner fell sick and cannot now ride so it was sold to a german dealer.

Steve1200S · Post by **Steve1200S** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 6:31 pm

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-K-1200-GT ... 460970e0ec

Pick it up next week!

slparry · Post by **slparry** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 7:11 pm

Steve1200S wrote:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-K-1200-GT ... 460970e0ec

Pick it up next week!

Excellent, same colour as mine ... except cleaner

You'll have the BMW used warranty on it, I can HIGHLY recommend continuing it with the extended when it finishes, £30 a month including euro wide recovery is a small price to pay given the potential savings

timbox2 · Post by **timbox2** » Sat Dec 08, 2012 5:43 pm

Bit late to say much now, Ive had my K13GT just over a year and have done 28K miles on it. Fantastic bike but expensive to run, well if you do the kind of mileage I do it is, £2400 in tyres and servicing for the year.

Mines been back a few times but to be fair nothing really serious, L/H switch gear, Heated seats, final drive corrosion, Coil pack and lambda sensor, all replaced without question under warranty, and thats the main thing which youve got covered as youve bought it from a dealer.

Just one thing, ask Rainbow if theyve fitted the cam chain jump guard and if its got the later tensioner, it should have.

Im sure you'll enjoy the bike, but seriously, watch your licence, its like sitting in a Rocket powered armchair, 6th Gear roll ons from 70 are fast, drop it to 4th and its worm hole stuff, " Make it so"

Steve1200S · Post by **Steve1200S** » Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:26 pm

[quote="timbox2"]Just one thing, ask Rainbow if theyve fitted the cam chain jump guard and if its got the later tensioner, it should have.[quote]

Will ask, i want it running well after the problems ive had with the RT.

Took the 12S in today, there's a rattle from the engine apparantly, they're 99% sure its just valve clearances but they're gona check it early next week.

hope its ok or the deal may be off....

Any particular area prone to corrosion? I'll be using it year round....

clean licence since passing my test 10 years ago, hope to keep it that way....

timbox2 · Post by **timbox2** » Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:28 pm

Steve1200S wrote:
timbox2 wrote:Just one thing, ask Rainbow if theyve fitted the cam chain jump guard and if its got the later tensioner, it should have.

Will ask, i want it running well after the problems ive had with the RT.

Took the 12S in today, there's a rattle from the engine apparantly, they're 99% sure its just valve clearances but they're gona check it early next week. hope its ok or the deal may be off....

Any particular area prone to corrosion? I'll be using it year round....

clean licence since passing my test 10 years ago, hope to keep it that way....

I must say that I think Ive been lucky regards speeding, though I rarely will exceed the 30's, 40's & 50's.

Corrosion places? The common ones seem to be any of the joint faces around the final drive and also clutch/gearbox housings. The central bar of the centre stand seemed to loose its paint within weeks, but hasnt actually corroded as such. Another common one which is out of sight is the rear luggage rack, the grey bit you see is just a plastic cover, beneath is the metal rack itself which I think is alloy, but when I took the cover off there was that grey powdery stuff everywhere, so that got the ACF50 treatment.

Oh, and the radiator which is hidden behind that stupid plastic guard, a few cases of the middle 60mm or so falling apart.

Ive taken the main fairing panels off mine twice so far to give everything I can see a dose of the ACF, seems to be working. I also use a stuff called corrosion block which is a thick grease that a paint onto the tops of most of the bolt heads and have coated the centre stand and rear suspension linkages with.

Ive ridden mine most weeks, but I do now try and avoid the really icy weather when it looks like the Siberian Salt mines round here, I must say I just get fed up cleaning it all the time.

Whats yours done 30K odd? Should be nice and loose by now, mine suddenly got a lot better around the 18K mark and seems to get better the more miles I put on it.

Another interesting point is that I tried a Remus can on it, and took it off 3 weeks later, didnt seem to suit the bike and really messed the mid range up, yeah I could have gone all silly with a Power commander or such, but I dont think Ive ever thought, umm could do with more power, and on mine anyway the fuelling is spot on.

Have fun, and dont look too hard at the K Bike forums, you'll s..t yourself.

Neil178 · Post by **Neil178** » Sun Dec 09, 2012 2:45 am

Hi Steve, is your 1200S part of the deal on your new bike?
I am interested in the spec if you could post a bit about it please.
Colour, miles, etc.
Good luck with the new steed.
Thanks!

Steve1200S · Post by **Steve1200S** » Sun Dec 09, 2012 11:47 am

Yea, its part of the deal (sort of) and already in the show room. They just want to check that the tapping is just valve clearances being out then the deal is done.

It's not actually counting towards the finance for the GT, but they've bought it off me for the outstanding finance value (4.6k) and cleared it. Been trying to sell it for 6months but the finance has prevented anyone wanting to buy it....

Steve1200S · Post by **Steve1200S** » Fri Dec 14, 2012 4:36 pm

Getting excited! new bike in the morning!