Update for reliability?

I've owned a 2008 R1200RT for several years, it now has about 25K miles. I've got the bike set up for our 2 up touring needs; Seargent seat, Zumo XT mount, aftermarket windscreen, mirrors, soft rear bag, etc. My wife and I both recently retired, and we're planning on longer and more frequent trips.

I've considered with every accessory purchase if I should keep the 2008 indefinitely, or start looking for a newer machine. There are no particular features that I'm missing on the 2008 model, so no compelling reason to trade up on that front. My only concern is the on-road reliability from a 14 year old motorcycle. When I was young and single I didn't give a second thought to taking long trips on a Boxer with a lot of miles. But 2 up touring is a different scenario. I would be looking at a 2017 or newer RT with low mileage, looking at one today.

We've had two failures on the road with the 2008 bike, the first was a clutch slave cylinder that made things difficult, the other was a failed ABS pump which caused no issues at all when traveling.

I'd love to hear opinions from others regarding the wisdom of letting go of a perfectly good RT with 25K miles just to achieve some peace of mind. We might gain a trunk and back rest, but lose a map holder / tank bag on the newer RT's. Water cooling adds another system to a pretty simple motorcycle.


Thanks!

KTM-Don

I'll keep my 2011 RT with 17K on the odo. Full service records came with the bike since bought new.

Preventative maintenance at prescribed intervals will keep my RT running for as long as I'm above ground. It's already been sorted out, a new bike from bmw can't be relied upon to be so well sorted.

Same with my 2016 RS, it's sorted out over the last several years.

Keep it unless bored with it, or you want a totally different bike like a GS or K1600 or a whizzo techno marvel. At 25K it is an almost new bike regardless of its model year.

I sold my R1150R at 189,000 miles and Voni still has her R1100RS at 414,000 miles.

I've got 60,000 on a 9 year old bike. I'm sure the bike has more miles left in it than I have in me.

Doug

2007 R1200RT, bought at 61k, now with ~123k

It received a new EI driveshaft at 90k as the old one had a notch and a new, used later-model final drive at the at the same time.
A used transmission was installed as the previous one developed a weird whine at 112k and, since I was in there, I did the clutch at the same time (which was still well within spec).
Plus all the normal maintenance...

The above to problems would have still allowed me to get home no problem.

I do sometimes send the oil to Blackstone for analysis, but it has (knock, knock) always come back great.

This vintage of BMW's are very well made, easy to work on, parts are available, and all the faults are well-known by now. I don't really have any plans of getting rid of the bike anytime soon, even though I have permission from the CEO (something about getting rid of two bikes in exchange for a new one)

I have almost 192,000 miles on my 2005 1200 GS, just got back from a 4000 mile trip, did a 300 mile ride about through the oregon backcountry friday. I did have to replace my driveshaft at approx 182,000 miles. I would keep it and ride.

Thanks to all that offered their opinions. I've decided to keep my 2008, I don't think the cost of an upgrade will net much, and I've got the bike set up pretty well for my preferences. I'm still working on finding a better solution to seat comfort, I may have Sargent modify their seat, but obviously they can't guarantee results. I've spent plenty of time reading the threads regarding seat options on this and other forums.

-dhs