@Sunny: only one day is too short for a real comparison. My first impressions are very positive, it feels lighter in the bends as the F800S does (and less light when walking with the bike) and the thrust low down in the revs is an absolute blast.
@Lou891: I have owned a F800S for 3.5 years but it was a lemon and BMW bought it back. Switched to a R1200R because I use my bike daily and I hope this bike will do 100.000 km without real problems.
There seem to be a lot of people with a sweet spot for this bike, lots of positive feedback whilst riding [ride]
It's not the low seat but the extra high comfort seat on offer here as an option, and also part of the 'Touring Edition' currently on offer here.
It feels a bit like a firm bean-bag in the way it surrounds your backside, quite comfortable have been riding for 3 hours without a stop today and my bottom feels fine.
Nice, I rode a R12R as a service loaner for a weekend, nice bike.
As for the turn in, thats an R bike trait. They R, my Dads R12GS, and my R12S all have much less resistance to leaning in than my 800S does.
And yes the engine does have a very fat low end, but its not as smooth as the 800s twin. Then again, I'm used the the 12S, which doesnt have isolated bars, some of the vibes are because of that.
I've loved my F800 to the very end. As you might have read I've had all possible problems (back-wheel lockup, piston-slap and so on) but last fall my clutch seized for the third time (as in: locked up and had to be rebuild, again) which was the last drop which overflew the bucket (as we say in Dutch).
I'm very glad I've been complaining to my dealer formally from day one because now I had a solid case according to Dutch law even though my bike was 3,5 years old and @ 48.500 km. BMW NL and my dealer accepted it and made me a generous offer so all is good now and I'm glad I still have a very pleasant relationship with my dealer.
Congrats on the new ride. If my bike ever starts giving me problems, I'm coming to the Netherlands to complain! The dealerships sound a lot more 'customer oriented'
I wanted to chip in that I followed Karim's footprints. My 2008 F800ST was my first motorcycle. Put 34,000 miles on it in two years but had heaps of trouble--six warranty repairs and three calls to roadside assistance. So in June 2011, I also made the leap to a R1200R. I now have a bit under 14,000 miles and expect to have 20K in the first year. It's my favorite material possession ever. The only trouble so far was a faulty fuel strip.
I modified it with a Ztechnik shield, the "touring package," and a BMW "comfort seat." I love it dearly.
nice ride! congrats. is it a new model? DOHC? saving up here for a r12gs. will be using the f800st to commute to work (lane sharing much less worrysome on this bike)
The 2010 was the last SOHC. And, notacop, the biggest difference is that is actually on the road. The last two months I had the F800ST, it was in the shop 4 weeks out of 8. After months of haranguing BMW over the problems I had with it, they gave me $1800 toward the R.
In addition to the reliability issues and the increased power, my other reasons for trading was that my F800ST didn't have ABS and I had a bad habit of locking the rear during hard stops, and the more relaxed riding position and better suspension of the R.
I re-took the BRC a couple of months after getting it. Because it was raining, only one other student showed up--a guy in a full dresser Harley. It was almost comical how much easier it was for me. I thought he was going to start a fire from all the sparks as his footboards dragged during the maneuvers.
Good to hear you don't regret the switch either RockBottom!
I agree the R1200R's best property is it's reliability, I have only seen the dealer for the scheduled maintenance [8D] . And no it does not get the same mileage as the S did (R1200R 1:17, F800S 1:22) but I can live with that as long as it stays as dependable as it is until now.
By the way: the saddle shown in the pics above was the low comfort seat (as Rob suggested) but it took me some time to notice. It was an error made by my dealer which he corrected so now I have the high comfort seat and that is perfectly suited for me and my favorite seat in the whole world [] .
I debated using one of the many seat rebuilders like the Mayers or Russell, but opted for the BMW comfort seat because it doesn't look like a tractor seat. I had to go with the low because I'm inseam challenged. It works for me up to about five hours, then I throw an Airhawk on it.
I'm excited that the BMW MOA annual rally is about an hour from my house this year, so I'll get a chance to hob nob with some of "my own kind."
I have about 60,000 miles/96,560 kilometers on my R1200R in a little less than four years of ownership, but test rode one a R1200RT today and may trade if I can make the money work. I still adore my R12R but I'm 58 years old and need to dial my riding back a little bit. Plus a normal riding day in the summer is 350 miles/563 kilometers or more.
On my comment above. Bought the 2014 RT. Absolutely loved it. Fifth day I had it I was grounded with BMW's "do not ride" bulletin. Two weeks later I'm still waiting to see how that works out. Word is it may take 3-4 months to fix them.
Steve I'm feeling for you. Did you get a nice loaner bike?
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