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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 3/5/2007 10:44:31 AM
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| Hi, I am driving a Suzuki Boulevard 800 (Japanese Cruiser) and I want to upgrade to something a little smoother on the highway. My riding buddy bought a Honda ST 1300. I enjoyed the wonderful handling, but it is a heavy bike with a high center of gravity. I was very excited to see the 1200 RT in the showroom. I love the looks and it seems so light in comparison to the Honda. I came home tonight determined to see what people are saying about the RT. I have come across several references to vibration from the Boxter motor.
How have you found this issue? Obviously these bikes are not cheap, so I would not be prepared to comprimise on something so basic. I know the ST 1300 is a 4 cylinder, but it is smooth as silk.
The local dealer is small and does not have an RT demo so I have no first hand experience as of yet.
Any thoughts?
Rob MacMillan |
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 3/5/2007 10:44:31 AM
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| I have a new 06 RT that I picked up this spring. I now have 14,000kms on it. There is a buzz in the bars right at
4000RPM, but it's not very intrusive, except for on long, long trips. I don't like buzzy handle bars. I also have a
Kawasaki MeanStreak which is a big lumpy v-twin so I'm no stranger to bikes with character. The meanstreak has a
vibration at 3500RPM but you feel it more through the pegs, preferred to vibrating bars IMO. I did experience my
little finger going to sleep on a 3000+ km trip this summer, but only once or twice. When it happened we were droning
on boring roads so I just set the cruise control and relaxed my grip and no more problems. The bike is getting
smoother as it breaks in, which is typical for boxers. Lots of riders say they become a new bike with 15-20,000 MILES
on them, they smooth right out.
My wife is actually the one that bought the RT, she was riding a BMW F650 and wanted a little more protection. I was
riding my meanstreak and thought I'll always have a cruiser, I won't ride a big touring bike! The RT was a little too
tall for her so she's riding a new Ninja and we had the RT sitting in the garage. I rode it for a week while I was
replacing tires on the meanstreak and haven't ridden the meanstreak since.
This bike is very fast, handles awesome. You mentioned the ST is a heavy bike which is true. The RT is 500lbs dry,
that's 150lbs less than my meanstreak. It will wheelie in 1st and 2nd gear very easily, and with a competent rider
will keep up with just about any sport bike. The ergonomics are excellent for my 6' frame, I have the seat in the tall
position and have lots of leg room. BMWs are funny, they sound like John Deere lawn tractors at idle, but wind it up
to 6000RPM and sounds like an angry Porche, very cool, and very fast. It hits at 6000RPM with awesome acceleration. I
would seriously get a demo ride. I demo'd a BMW GS last year when Jodie had her F650, thinking we would get into the
adventure bike thing, and I came away with very negative impresions of the GS, it vibrated pretty bad above 5000RPM.
I don't think I gave it a fair assessment though looking back in hindsight. You're never going to see 5000RPM in
daily riding until you hit some twisties or are seriously pushing the bike. The Rt starts to buzz a bit at 5000RPM as
well but you never really ride at that RPM, you fly by 5000 and it smooths right out at 6000 and beyond. Bottom line
is yes there is some vibration, but for me it doesn't bother me and is never intrusive. You're going to get vibration
from ANY twin, they are inherently un balanced, that's how they get their character. Personally I will never ride
anything but twin's and will never have a 4 cylinder bike, but that's just me. I love the RT and would recommend it.
Check out http://www.advrider.com/Bikes/Bikes.html or http://bmwsporttouring.com/
Another thing to consider is mileage, I regulary get 62MPG on the highway and average 55MPG commuting and around town.
The bike also seems pretty easy on tires. As mentioned I have 14,000kms on the bike running Metzler Z6s and I will
easily get a few more thousand kms out of the tires. I run the exact same sport touring tires on my meanstreak and
have put 4 sets of tires on it, averaging 12-13,000kms a set. If you look at the Yamaha FJR, and you should, it is
lucky to get high 30s MPG, and it eats tires at an alarming rate. It's a great motor but you pay for that torque. I'm
not sure why the RT is so much easier on tires than the other bikes except maybe it's the weight, or lack of it.
When Jodie was looking at Sport touring bikes, she looked at the ST, FJR and RT. The RT has the best ergonomics for
both of us, very upright, relaxed position. And yes the RT is more expensive but you also get a lot more. We had
cruise control, heated seats and grips. By the time you added these to the ST you were spending pretty much what we
spent on the RT. It's below zero here now and I'm loving the electicity, turned on the grip and seat heaters, plugged
in the heated vest, raised the windshield a smidge to block the wind and I'm toasty warm enjoying the beautiful morning ride in total comfort.
Brent |
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 3/5/2007 10:44:31 AM
Posts: -1,167, Visits: 2 |
| for the money i would stay away from the honda. We tested the honda's before we got our new fleet of 1150 rt's. the only thing the honda has going gor it is power, the the new1200 rt makes up a good bit of the difference. the honda has very sluggish handling compared to the 1150 rt and the 1200 rt blows its predecessor away. yes there is some vibration from the boxer engine, but it is a small issue, even day after day with 6-8 hours in the saddle as amotor cop. the service has been great with the bmw as well. send me an e-mail if you want to discuss this further.
motorcopnc |
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