What did you do to your bike today?

[Pauly]

I agree on the analog tachometer. The R shares its dash with the RS. The RT has analog speedo and tach. I also agree about short-shifting. I don't run more the 6-7k when I am really pushing my pace. It's not necessary, and the 1250 is even better. It's faster and more refined at the same time. The power delivery surprised me on Sunday's ride. I think BMW did a great job with this engine. I didn't care for the dash on the 1200, but I never really looked at it when riding other than a quick speed check coming into a town or neighborhood. I try to be respectful to the locals as long as they're not in front of me in a car. 

The exhaust is a SC Project in titanium and it is not quiet. Louder than the Akrapovic I had on my black 1200. The engine guards are BMW. These were installed when I bought it. I have only installed the windscreen and handlebar. All else is from the previous owner. 

 I think the 1200 engine spoilers are better looking than what I have, but all the other upgrades outshine that preference. The TFT is awesome, updated front end w/ LED headlights, auto-preload/sag adjustment so Jim can shut the fuck up about it already, ABS Pro, better quick shifter compared to pre-2017 boxers, and the engine is night and day. The 1200 isn't slow by any means, but the 1250 is really impressive for a boxer. 

I thought I could live with just the RT, but I'm excited to be back on the RS. The RT is great in the corners, but lacks that something extra it needs to be exciting. Both scratch the itch, but the RS is the better time. Especially this generation RS. I now know that if I had to live with one bike, it would be the RS and Amanda would be retired from pillion. 

[Bubba]

Just a heads up.  My previous RS (2016) that was totaled by a distracted driver in 2022 had the "polymer/composite" ??? guards on the cylinder heads when i went down....prolly 35-40 MPH.  The impact with the street and subsequent slide destroyed those and the cylinder head!  I have no clue if the Wunderlich crash bars will do any better job but be aware that the molded guards won't stand up to much abuse.  Presumably OK in a tip-over situation or maybe slow-speed crash.

[Tpoppa]

On 8/8/2025 at 9:52 AM, Bubba said:

The one glaring fail--IMHO--that BMW screwed up on the RS (and presumably the R and RT as well) is the idiotic choice of going with a digital bar tach and an analog speedo.  WTF?  I'm guessing my strong hate for the digital tach is maybe an old guy thing, aka techno-grouch, but I can't figure out why the design team and engineers went that way.  The only saving grace is that the engine is so tractable from 2500 to 7000 RPM and provides and almost infinite well of torque that there's no need to explore the upper limits of the engine--simply stick it in 3rd or 4th and short-shift when you add speed.

Just passed 40k on my R1200R and it's been flawless.  It's a little lighter and a little quicker steering than the RS.  I recently added a German Market Speed Pro exhaust.   It saved about 10lbs,has a nice raspy sound, and smoothed power delivery especially at lower rpm.