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Wow, great bike, epic picture!!!Texas sunset
Thank you sir.Wow, great bike, epic picture!!!
Another of the best of the bunch!On the way to the MOA rally in Gillette, WY in 2008. Hard to believe that it has been 16 years...
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Awesome. Another ‘02 RT owner in the group. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do. This is a fantastic forum and never will you find a more helpful group of guys and gals than the Oilheads. I love these guys. Truly, they are the best and were so helpful to me in giving advice, tips and guidance when I bought my ‘02 RT and they continue to be the group that I seek wisdom anytime I tackle something I’m not familiar with on my RT. If I can help you in any way, feel free to reach out to me through IM.Thanks tangoalpha! I had intended caution whilst cockpit cleaning. Marine grade makes sense.., as it IS a BMW... Had planned on masking, at the very least.
Wife fixin' to retire.., so started the hunt for a cruiser. Had always thought that the 2 up bike would be an '89 K100RS. Been looking for years.., but it's a unicorn. Saw the r1150rt and the reviews were unanimously positive. Watched a few online, made a few offers.., always just a little too late. Finally found this '02, with 22k, an hour away. First 2 owners were friends, and I know (knew) the guys at the shop where it was purchased. I haven't found any damage yet (except deteriorated wire wrap to the tail piece) Installed HyperLites so fixed that.
Short ride on Eclipse Day (couple hundred) to escape the clouds and reach centerline. The RT could easily be interpreted as "Rolls Turns." Just got 'er papered up. Can't wait to launch.
Thanks for the info and the reply. See my other bikes through my profile link / albums. Need to get to my San Marcos River photo spot.., to snap a few...
That's a poster! Servo assist equipped. Read a bunch of reviews (bunch of Utube vids) they ALL echoed your input/advise. Previous owner advised the same during walk-through. ALL About.., good brakes. Love 'em! For me, the "dual action" front brake takes some getting used too. My K1300S has incredible brakes.., never having to touch the rear.., used to that so the '02 RT transition.., peachy!Awesome. Another ‘02 RT owner in the group. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do. This is a fantastic forum and never will you find a more helpful group of guys and gals than the Oilheads. I love these guys. Truly, they are the best and were so helpful to me in giving advice, tips and guidance when I bought my ‘02 RT and they continue to be the group that I seek wisdom anytime I tackle something I’m not familiar with on my RT. If I can help you in any way, feel free to reach out to me through IM.
Now, let’s talk brakes. Specifically, YOUR brakes. ‘02 models came equipped with servo-assisted braking. Is your bike so equipped? If you’re not sure, the way to know for certain is to turn the key on to the ignition position and grab the brake lever. If you hear a distinct whining sound when applying front or rear brake, then your bike has iABS and the whining sound you hear are the servos pumping fluid through the ABS system to the calipers. The guys here on the forum refer to them as “whizzy brakes” and for the most part, they dislike them. When the units fail, often you’ll find Oilhead owners have removed the system entirely rather than repairing/replacing them. I’m probably one of the few members who actually like the whizzy brakes and my system works perfectly as designed. They also STOP your bike instantly. They are very touchy so one has to be very cautious, especially when doing slow parking lot maneuvers or when performing a tight U-turn. However, once you ride with them, you adapt and learn how to appreciate them. I’ve told the story before about riding my bike in Northern California, Bay Area while fully loaded holding a steep hill while my whizzy brakes did all the work. There have been other instances where I’ve had to stop suddenly when approaching an intersection to avoid getting t-boned when I saw a car approaching who clearly wasn’t going to stop for the red light. So yes, I am a believer and the system does work. Speaking of work….they are work to maintain, but fortunately it’s something you only need to do once per year.
Lots of tremendous resources here. I bought my RT in 2016, so I still consider myself fairly new to the Oilhead arena. There are guys and gals on this very forum who have well eclipsed over 100k miles on their Oilheads. 200k, even 300k you will meet them at some point, but to give you some perspective one member named Voni has personally logged over 400k (documented) miles on her Oilhead. There isn’t anything that these folks haven’t dealt with when it come to their bikes. I say all this to emphasize that the MOA is great, but as an Oilhead owner, you are definitely in the right place. The technical knowledge these folks have is incredible and they’re very kind and generous in passing along the knowledge. Something else I’ve learned…the forum search function is your friend. With bikes as old as ours, the question you’re thinking about has probably been asked and answered more than once.
So once again, welcome! Glad you’re here and I look forward to hearing more about you and your bike as you become familiar with it.
Here’s a glamour shot of Der Beemer (my bike) posing along the coast of San Simeon, CA on the way up to Big Sur.
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Definitely "Owner Manual" cover qualityAwesome. Another ‘02 RT owner in the group. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do. This is a fantastic forum and never will you find a more helpful group of guys and gals than the Oilheads. I love these guys. Truly, they are the best and were so helpful to me in giving advice, tips and guidance when I bought my ‘02 RT and they continue to be the group that I seek wisdom anytime I tackle something I’m not familiar with on my RT. If I can help you in any way, feel free to reach out to me through IM.
Now, let’s talk brakes. Specifically, YOUR brakes. ‘02 models came equipped with servo-assisted braking. Is your bike so equipped? If you’re not sure, the way to know for certain is to turn the key on to the ignition position and grab the brake lever. If you hear a distinct whining sound when applying front or rear brake, then your bike has iABS and the whining sound you hear are the servos pumping fluid through the ABS system to the calipers. The guys here on the forum refer to them as “whizzy brakes” and for the most part, they dislike them. When the units fail, often you’ll find Oilhead owners have removed the system entirely rather than repairing/replacing them. I’m probably one of the few members who actually like the whizzy brakes and my system works perfectly as designed. They also STOP your bike instantly. They are very touchy so one has to be very cautious, especially when doing slow parking lot maneuvers or when performing a tight U-turn. However, once you ride with them, you adapt and learn how to appreciate them. I’ve told the story before about riding my bike in Northern California, Bay Area while fully loaded holding a steep hill while my whizzy brakes did all the work. There have been other instances where I’ve had to stop suddenly when approaching an intersection to avoid getting t-boned when I saw a car approaching who clearly wasn’t going to stop for the red light. So yes, I am a believer and the system does work. Speaking of work….they are work to maintain, but fortunately it’s something you only need to do once per year.
Lots of tremendous resources here. I bought my RT in 2016, so I still consider myself fairly new to the Oilhead arena. There are guys and gals on this very forum who have well eclipsed over 100k miles on their Oilheads. 200k, even 300k you will meet them at some point, but to give you some perspective one member named Voni has personally logged over 400k (documented) miles on her Oilhead. There isn’t anything that these folks haven’t dealt with when it come to their bikes. I say all this to emphasize that the MOA is great, but as an Oilhead owner, you are definitely in the right place. The technical knowledge these folks have is incredible and they’re very kind and generous in passing along the knowledge. Something else I’ve learned…the forum search function is your friend. With bikes as old as ours, the question you’re thinking about has probably been asked and answered more than once.
So once again, welcome! Glad you’re here and I look forward to hearing more about you and your bike as you become familiar with it.
Here’s a glamour shot of Der Beemer (my bike) posing along the coast of San Simeon, CA on the way up to Big Sur.
View attachment 97691
Never thought I'd own anything but black.., but too good of a deal to pass up.., just because of color. Glad that I didn't let this one.., get away!She’s an absolute beauty! Biarritz Blue, if I’m not mistaken. The color contrast between the blue & the black panniers is one of my favorites. Some years ago, I owned a Harley with a similar color scheme.