I bought a 2005 BMW K1200R with 4,200KMs in 2011. Yeah fucken 4 thousand Kilometres in 6 years. It had rizoma rearsets, some blingy bits that made it look really cool (I thought so anyway) and a full remus system that was louder and angrier than the R1 I had before. It had had its final drive replaced under warranty, which is the most common thing to fail on these. The gearbox, which waa also a weak point of the early models, had been fine. I love these guys who buy expensive bikes, bling them out and then park them in the living room. And there’s plenty of them, which is why I’m unlikely to ever buy a new motorcycle.
As I said, I did about 20K Ks on it which included a couple of Oxley runs and a few 800K day rides around Sydney. I also did 2 track days on it and was very surprised at how well it went around Eastern Creek.
That engine is silky smooth with serious, linear grunt with no hiccups from 3K to redline, which kicks in at 12K RPM. It was the fastest thing off the line I'd ever ridden because of its long wheel base and huge torque celebrated down low in the rev cycle. The Sportsbikes only caught up to it after crossing 100KMPH. It’s a big motorcycle, weighing in at over 230KGs, and felt it too at a standstill and slow speeds. Once over 100Ks and going for it, it was surprisingly nimble and only showed its weight in chicanes while needing to change from left to right quickly. It took ages to get it to stand up from full lean and that was a bit annoying at the track. But it made up for that by absolutely rocketing out of corners when the fun handle was exercised.
At the track, despite the rizoma rearsets being relatively high, I scraped the shit out of pegs and foot levers. Though this says more about my riding technique than the bike's inadequacies.
At the track, despite the rizoma rearsets being relatively high, I scraped the shit out of pegs and foot levers. Though this says more about my riding technique than the bike's inadequacies.
And the best part of the bike was the suspension, that front end is something really spectacular. It is just perfect for a roadbike. It sticks like fucking GLUE to the road and just feels rock solid over rough pavement. It doesn’t give much feedback through the bars but once you get used to that and learn to trust the thing, it is just phenomenal and I was very comfortable riding on the very edge of that 190 section rear tyre. The front end hardly dives under brakes so there is little weight transfer to upset the bike. The whole thing is just very fucken stable. In the whole 1 year and 20 thousand Ks, I cannot remember a single “moment” on that bike, it did everything I asked it to do, without a fuss and with a lot of class. And in fucken comfort too. That ESA (Electronic Suspension) is great. Put it in comfort mode and the bumps on the notoriously bumpy Thunderbolts Way disappear. Put it in Sport and it hardens up enough to be able to push pretty hard on a racetrack.
Also, I didn’t have a single problem with the bike while I had it. Actually that’s not true, the rear brake sensor fucked up when I moved the rearsets around but that was an easy enough fix. The previous owner had fixed all the known issues including final drive that would’ve cost 5K out of warranty.
Also, I didn’t have a single problem with the bike while I had it. Actually that’s not true, the rear brake sensor fucked up when I moved the rearsets around but that was an easy enough fix. The previous owner had fixed all the known issues including final drive that would’ve cost 5K out of warranty.
So why did I sell it eh?
The simple answer is because I get bored easily. I’m currently convincing myself that I need to upgrade from the Dorsoduro because it’s underpowered but really, for the road, it’s not. I just get itchy feet every 12 months.
How I convinced myself to sell the K12 was – We had our first baby on the way and I thought I wouldn’t be doing many overnight trips and big day rides for a while. The big beemer is really only fun at higher speeds. The bike did everything so perfectly well with minimum feedback that ultimately, it was a little uninvolving, especially if you're not gunning it. Anything under a hundred, city riding etc and it definitely shows its weight. I convinced myself I needed a smaller, more agile bike that was more fun at lower speeds. Didn’t really work out that way as I broke in my Dorsoduro with a week-long trip to the MotoGP and gunned the fucker to within an inch of its life riding with the BikeMe boys!
But that was my thinking anyway. I don’t regret selling it coz the Dorso is a bundle of fun and has progressed my riding further but if I was to buy a bike that I intended to keep for a while and do lots of Ks on, the K13 would be very high on my list.
The simple answer is because I get bored easily. I’m currently convincing myself that I need to upgrade from the Dorsoduro because it’s underpowered but really, for the road, it’s not. I just get itchy feet every 12 months.
How I convinced myself to sell the K12 was – We had our first baby on the way and I thought I wouldn’t be doing many overnight trips and big day rides for a while. The big beemer is really only fun at higher speeds. The bike did everything so perfectly well with minimum feedback that ultimately, it was a little uninvolving, especially if you're not gunning it. Anything under a hundred, city riding etc and it definitely shows its weight. I convinced myself I needed a smaller, more agile bike that was more fun at lower speeds. Didn’t really work out that way as I broke in my Dorsoduro with a week-long trip to the MotoGP and gunned the fucker to within an inch of its life riding with the BikeMe boys!
But that was my thinking anyway. I don’t regret selling it coz the Dorso is a bundle of fun and has progressed my riding further but if I was to buy a bike that I intended to keep for a while and do lots of Ks on, the K13 would be very high on my list.
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