J
Jack D
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GL1800 to R1200RT Comparison Edited
After 4 years and almost 100 Kmiles on a 2004 GL1800A my wife and I decided to get a lighter motorcycle. I have monitored forums for BMW, FJR, Concours, Triumph, ST1300, Vstrom and tested all of these and others. My three favorites were the Triumph Tiger, The BMW R1200GS and the BMW R1200RT. The Tiger was not really suitable for long distance 2 up travel and it was very limited in alternator capacity. I found a good buy on a 2006 R1200RT and snapped it up. I have 4-5 K miles on it in the 30 days since I bought it including one SS1000. I also did the 24 Kmile service which consists of changing all fluids, air cleaner, valve adjustment and throttle body sync. The following is my comparison of key points between the GL1800 and the R1200RT.
ENGINE The 6 cylinder GL engine is much smoother and with it’s 50% larger displacement has much greater low speed torque. It will readily pull from any RPM while the RT does not like accelerating from below 3000 RPM.
FUEL INJECTION The GL is very consistent and smooth at all RPMs. The RT sometimes has a rough idle and often does not readily respond when blipping the throttle for downshifts.
TRANSMISSION The 6 speed RT has a very tall low gear easily good for 30 mph. This makes it a challenge to do an uphill start when riding double. The 5 speed GL is the opposite, it has a very short first gear which makes it easy for starting when in a heavily loaded condition. However as soon as the bike is rolling it is time to shift to second gear.
SHIFTING No comparison. The RT has a much smoother shifting gearbox. With a healthy blip of the throttle you can even downshift to low gear without a large CLUNK. This is good as there are times when second gear is just too tall for the corner that you just made. Of course downshifts to first are not needed on the GL. Upshifts on the RT are just snick, snick, snick, silent and smooth. Surprisingly to me when thinking of older BMWs is that the RT is one of the smoothest shifting bikes I have ever ridden. The RT trans oil is separate from the engine oil and is a gear lube. I wonder how the GL would shift with that type of oil. NAYSAYERS, I have a lot of time on the GL and have developed shifting techniques to improve the GL’s shifting. I stand by my statement that the RT shifts much better.
GAS MILEAGE The RT is typically 10 mpg better than the GL in similar conditions but it does require premium.
BRAKES The RT is over 300 pounds lighter than the GL so naturally it can stop much quicker. The RT’s rear brake seems much more effective than the GL. Both bikes have ABS which I have not yet had to activate on the RT.
CRUISE CONTROL A slight nod to the RT over a correctly adjusted GL, not enough difference to think about.
SUSPENSION This RT has the ESA, Electronic Suspension Adjustment, it is a very nice feature. However even without ESA I prefer the RT suspension to a Traxxion equipped GL. Out of all of the bikes I tested I would say without a doubt that the original GL suspension was the worst.
SPEEDO ACCURACY At 75 mph GPS speed the RT shows 76-77 mph, the GL shows 79. My GL odometer had about the same degree of accuracy. The RT odometer shows 1% less than the GPS after 1000 miles.
HANDLING The RT is 300 pounds lighter and several inches shorter. I have a series of test curves and have noted the speed of each bike through the same curves. At speeds 5-10 mph above the fastest comfortable speed on the GL I could easily switch lines through the corners on all of the bikes I tested.
LONG DISTANCE COMFORT I don’t believe there is a more comfortable bike available for long distance riding on mostly straight roads than the GL, especially for 2 up riding. I would like to find 3-400 miles of continuous curvy road someday. But at the end of the SS1000 on straight roads I was less tired on the RT than I would have been on the GL. Both seats are much more spacious on the GL. We never had to change the seat on the GL. Replacement seats are on order for the RT. 200 miles on the RT was more than enough for my wife, she easily did 500 on the GL. 5-600 miles on the RT was enough for me, 1000 miles was easy on the GL.
**COMFORT ADDENDUM** Seat Position With the seat in the lower of 2 positions the footpegs are closer to the seat than the wing. There is also less legroom to the plastic bodywork. Besides being more confined for taller riders the closeness of the bodywork makes it harder to get your legs past it if you want to use highway pegs. The corner of the bodywork would actually painfully dig into my legs if I were to try and mount highway pegs.
WEATHER PROTECTION Our GL came with a Tulsa WS and we later switched to an F4. We have never ridden any distance with a stock WS. The RT WS is original. The GL with those aftermarket windscreens definitely has better weather protection. We have not yet done a long ride 2 up on the RT in adverse weather to see how the wind and rain protection is for Linda.
MAINTENANCE Surprise!! I found almost all maintenance procedures to be easier and quicker on the RT. Even with the 12K vs 32K mile valve adjustment intervals I would spend less time on the valves doing 3 adjustments on the RT than one on the GL even if the GL valves did not need to be changed. The air cleaner change is much easier and faster on the RT. The RT transmission oil is separate from the engine oil so requires a separate procedure that requires removing some plastic. The OEM RT engine oil filter requires a BMW or aftermarket socket. After market filters do not. My RT does not have a drain plug on the final drive so changing the fluid is more involved than the later model RTs. This is one procedure that is easier on the GL. Rear wheel changes are slightly easier on the RT and fronts are about the same. Fasteners for RT plastic panels are all the same length on each panel, no need to worry about which screw goes where. No plastic push pins.
MAINTENANCE PARTS PRICES Air cleaner is about equal, OEM oil filter on the RT is slightly more. RT spark plugs (4 required) are $12-$15 each. GL spark plugs, 6 required, are $1.69 each from Honda Direct Line. GL battery is ~$100 from Honda Direct Line, BMW batteries range from ~$135 and up (and up and up)
ACCESSORY PRICES The accessory prices for RT farkles seem to be significantly higher than similar items for a GL.
TRAILER PULLING I have not yet tried it on the RT but will after I find/build a hitch. But the GL is an incredible bike for pulling a trailer and doubt that the RT can begin to compare.
LUGGAGE CAPACITY No comparison, GL wins hands down. We are really worried about this one.
ALTERNATOR CAPACITY The RT is more than adequate for auxiliary lights and 2 sets of heated gear. The GL will provide all of that and almost power an arc welder at the same time.
LIGHTS While the RT headlight is pretty good the GL is better. The rear lights on the GL far overshadow the one taillight of the RT and most automobiles. The GL has lighted switches on the handlebar controls, the RT does not.
DISPLAY PANEL The RT displays engine oil temp, fuel level, suspension settings, odometer, 2 tripmeters and computer check status of many functions including burnt out light bulbs (ambient temperature, average speed since last reset, average mpg since last reset, miles of fuel remaining,) settings in parentheses are displayed one at a time and selectable from a handlebar button. GL displays odometer, 2 tripmeters, engine temp, ambient temp (temporary display), fuel level, rear suspension setting (temporary display), radio settings. My RT has no radio so I do not know if the optional radio enables display settings. The RT has no intercom.
After 4 years and almost 100 Kmiles on a 2004 GL1800A my wife and I decided to get a lighter motorcycle. I have monitored forums for BMW, FJR, Concours, Triumph, ST1300, Vstrom and tested all of these and others. My three favorites were the Triumph Tiger, The BMW R1200GS and the BMW R1200RT. The Tiger was not really suitable for long distance 2 up travel and it was very limited in alternator capacity. I found a good buy on a 2006 R1200RT and snapped it up. I have 4-5 K miles on it in the 30 days since I bought it including one SS1000. I also did the 24 Kmile service which consists of changing all fluids, air cleaner, valve adjustment and throttle body sync. The following is my comparison of key points between the GL1800 and the R1200RT.
ENGINE The 6 cylinder GL engine is much smoother and with it’s 50% larger displacement has much greater low speed torque. It will readily pull from any RPM while the RT does not like accelerating from below 3000 RPM.
FUEL INJECTION The GL is very consistent and smooth at all RPMs. The RT sometimes has a rough idle and often does not readily respond when blipping the throttle for downshifts.
TRANSMISSION The 6 speed RT has a very tall low gear easily good for 30 mph. This makes it a challenge to do an uphill start when riding double. The 5 speed GL is the opposite, it has a very short first gear which makes it easy for starting when in a heavily loaded condition. However as soon as the bike is rolling it is time to shift to second gear.
SHIFTING No comparison. The RT has a much smoother shifting gearbox. With a healthy blip of the throttle you can even downshift to low gear without a large CLUNK. This is good as there are times when second gear is just too tall for the corner that you just made. Of course downshifts to first are not needed on the GL. Upshifts on the RT are just snick, snick, snick, silent and smooth. Surprisingly to me when thinking of older BMWs is that the RT is one of the smoothest shifting bikes I have ever ridden. The RT trans oil is separate from the engine oil and is a gear lube. I wonder how the GL would shift with that type of oil. NAYSAYERS, I have a lot of time on the GL and have developed shifting techniques to improve the GL’s shifting. I stand by my statement that the RT shifts much better.
GAS MILEAGE The RT is typically 10 mpg better than the GL in similar conditions but it does require premium.
BRAKES The RT is over 300 pounds lighter than the GL so naturally it can stop much quicker. The RT’s rear brake seems much more effective than the GL. Both bikes have ABS which I have not yet had to activate on the RT.
CRUISE CONTROL A slight nod to the RT over a correctly adjusted GL, not enough difference to think about.
SUSPENSION This RT has the ESA, Electronic Suspension Adjustment, it is a very nice feature. However even without ESA I prefer the RT suspension to a Traxxion equipped GL. Out of all of the bikes I tested I would say without a doubt that the original GL suspension was the worst.
SPEEDO ACCURACY At 75 mph GPS speed the RT shows 76-77 mph, the GL shows 79. My GL odometer had about the same degree of accuracy. The RT odometer shows 1% less than the GPS after 1000 miles.
HANDLING The RT is 300 pounds lighter and several inches shorter. I have a series of test curves and have noted the speed of each bike through the same curves. At speeds 5-10 mph above the fastest comfortable speed on the GL I could easily switch lines through the corners on all of the bikes I tested.
LONG DISTANCE COMFORT I don’t believe there is a more comfortable bike available for long distance riding on mostly straight roads than the GL, especially for 2 up riding. I would like to find 3-400 miles of continuous curvy road someday. But at the end of the SS1000 on straight roads I was less tired on the RT than I would have been on the GL. Both seats are much more spacious on the GL. We never had to change the seat on the GL. Replacement seats are on order for the RT. 200 miles on the RT was more than enough for my wife, she easily did 500 on the GL. 5-600 miles on the RT was enough for me, 1000 miles was easy on the GL.
**COMFORT ADDENDUM** Seat Position With the seat in the lower of 2 positions the footpegs are closer to the seat than the wing. There is also less legroom to the plastic bodywork. Besides being more confined for taller riders the closeness of the bodywork makes it harder to get your legs past it if you want to use highway pegs. The corner of the bodywork would actually painfully dig into my legs if I were to try and mount highway pegs.
WEATHER PROTECTION Our GL came with a Tulsa WS and we later switched to an F4. We have never ridden any distance with a stock WS. The RT WS is original. The GL with those aftermarket windscreens definitely has better weather protection. We have not yet done a long ride 2 up on the RT in adverse weather to see how the wind and rain protection is for Linda.
MAINTENANCE Surprise!! I found almost all maintenance procedures to be easier and quicker on the RT. Even with the 12K vs 32K mile valve adjustment intervals I would spend less time on the valves doing 3 adjustments on the RT than one on the GL even if the GL valves did not need to be changed. The air cleaner change is much easier and faster on the RT. The RT transmission oil is separate from the engine oil so requires a separate procedure that requires removing some plastic. The OEM RT engine oil filter requires a BMW or aftermarket socket. After market filters do not. My RT does not have a drain plug on the final drive so changing the fluid is more involved than the later model RTs. This is one procedure that is easier on the GL. Rear wheel changes are slightly easier on the RT and fronts are about the same. Fasteners for RT plastic panels are all the same length on each panel, no need to worry about which screw goes where. No plastic push pins.
MAINTENANCE PARTS PRICES Air cleaner is about equal, OEM oil filter on the RT is slightly more. RT spark plugs (4 required) are $12-$15 each. GL spark plugs, 6 required, are $1.69 each from Honda Direct Line. GL battery is ~$100 from Honda Direct Line, BMW batteries range from ~$135 and up (and up and up)
ACCESSORY PRICES The accessory prices for RT farkles seem to be significantly higher than similar items for a GL.
TRAILER PULLING I have not yet tried it on the RT but will after I find/build a hitch. But the GL is an incredible bike for pulling a trailer and doubt that the RT can begin to compare.
LUGGAGE CAPACITY No comparison, GL wins hands down. We are really worried about this one.
ALTERNATOR CAPACITY The RT is more than adequate for auxiliary lights and 2 sets of heated gear. The GL will provide all of that and almost power an arc welder at the same time.
LIGHTS While the RT headlight is pretty good the GL is better. The rear lights on the GL far overshadow the one taillight of the RT and most automobiles. The GL has lighted switches on the handlebar controls, the RT does not.
DISPLAY PANEL The RT displays engine oil temp, fuel level, suspension settings, odometer, 2 tripmeters and computer check status of many functions including burnt out light bulbs (ambient temperature, average speed since last reset, average mpg since last reset, miles of fuel remaining,) settings in parentheses are displayed one at a time and selectable from a handlebar button. GL displays odometer, 2 tripmeters, engine temp, ambient temp (temporary display), fuel level, rear suspension setting (temporary display), radio settings. My RT has no radio so I do not know if the optional radio enables display settings. The RT has no intercom.
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