Noob looking into a Used RT , what do I need to know?

New member here, I live in New Hampshire and got back into motorcycles a few years back, just when Covid started. I’m presently riding a G650 x country and it’s great for riding locally and the many miles of dirt roads in my town and the surrounding area. Recently I rode it over to Portland Maine, around 95 miles to do some work on the boat I keep there. That ride got me thinking a touring bike might be a great way to get over there, I’d enjoy the ride more and use a lot less fuel that taking my truck. I’ve been looking into used RT’s in my area and thought that I should solicit some input from the folks in this group about what I ought to be looking at when I go to check out bikes for sale. Most of the ones I see that are in the price range I’m comfortable with are 2005- 2010 ish at around 50k miles or so. I could spend more but my budget for a bike is limited by my collection of other toys, boats, sleds, antique cars etc. there’s a 2016 in the next town that’s got 52k miles for $9k there’s another 2007 with 42k miles for $4k and a second 2007 with 29k miles for $6500 that I’m interested in. There’s a lot of others that are similar but those are further away. I’d be grateful for input on what bikes I ought to be looking at, whether they are ones that I’ve mentioned or not; and how best to evaluate ones I go check out. Should I look to private sales or go through a dealer, anything you think might benefit me in my search would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

Check the service history!!!!!

If the owner does not have a service history - then consider having a BMW shop do a check on on this. If your in NH check on MaxBMW. Maybe negotiate with the Seller - If the check out comes back clean you pay if not then determine the repair costs. Biggies are ABS system, all recalls current, rear main seal. This model years of RT are great - not too much tech that can go wrong and are good solid rides.

Personally I wouldn’t go earlier than 2007. If you could swing a 2011 then you would have a float instead of fuel strip. Check the VIN though just to make sure. I believe late 2010 (August) was the cut over back to floats for RT’s.

Buy a liquid cooled, 2014(?) or newer.

mikegalbicka said:

Personally I wouldn’t go earlier than 2007. If you could swing a 2011 then you would have a float instead of fuel strip. Check the VIN though just to make sure. I believe late 2010 (August) was the cut over back to floats for RT’s.

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I’ve seen a lot of mentions of the fuel strip, I understand it’s the fuel level sensor or something related. Can you enlighten me on the exact nature of this problem, how common is it and how big a PITA is it to repair?

PoorUB said:

Buy a liquid cooled, 2014(?) or newer.

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I understand the 2014 and up are the liquid cooled. Other than more engine power what do they offer? There’s 2016 for sale in the next town looks very nice in the pictures and is one of the liquid cooled models. What makes these worth the extra dough? This one has pretty high miles(52k) there are lots of 2005-2007 around with fewer miles for less money.

saltyrider said:

I’ve seen a lot of mentions of the fuel strip, I understand it’s the fuel level sensor or something related. Can you enlighten me on the exact nature of this problem, how common is it and how big a PITA is it to repair?

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I gave the link in your other thread but you must have missed it. I have an extensive write up that covers all things fuel strip related here:

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthrea...emer-nl-Float-Conversion-from-Fuel-Strip-2007

If the bike has one it WILL fail. When it does your fuel gauge will be totally unreliable and you may have a blinking warning light on the dash all the time. Take some time to read that link and all your questions concerning that issue will be answered.

There is talk that finally a new and improved fuel strip is available. It is too soon to know if this is true or not unfortunately.

PoorUB said:

Buy a liquid cooled, 2014(?) or newer.

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That would be my vote.

I just spoke with the guy selling the ‘07 with 42 k miles. He has no maintenance history before he bought the bike. He says the original owner didn’t do much beyond oil changes but he’s done some more comprehensive PM since he bought it last fall. The current owner seems to be an experienced BMW owner, he’s owned several I. The past and bought this as a back up to his 1200gsa but doesn’t like the riding position. He’s replaced the tires and rear shock, complete brake system flush, replaced all the bulbs while he had the fairings off rear end oil change and replaced cracked boot on the paralever. The bike has the side panniers, BMW top box and a tank bag one of the side panniers has a gimpy latch. It’s got cruise control, heated seats and grips for options. Asking price is 4k , any thoughts on this option??

saltyrider said:

Asking price is 4k , any thoughts on this option??

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I recently bought a 2009 equipped like the 2007 you are considering, with 15k miles and plus ESA. I paid 7k for it and feel like I got a good deal. I think the one you are looking at is very well priced and that you would get a lot of motorcycle for your money.

A couple advantages of the single cam hexheads are that they (1) weigh about 45 pounds less than later models and (2) are easier for DIY valve adjustments.

I admire more recent models but, in terms of bang for the buck, the older ones have a lot going for them.

saltyrider said:

I understand the 2014 and up are the liquid cooled. Other than more engine power what do they offer? There’s 2016 for sale in the next town looks very nice in the pictures and is one of the liquid cooled models. What makes these worth the extra dough? This one has pretty high miles(52k) there are lots of 2005-2007 around with fewer miles for less money.

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No problems with the fuel strip and a wet clutch instead of a dry clutch. The well clutch will take more abuse and probably never need replacement. The dry clutch on the air cooled RTs will most likely need replacement before 100,000 miles, and sooner if it has been abused. Plus it is a big job to replace the clutch on the air cooled RT.

There is probably more reasons why, but I know when I first started shopping for an RT those where big reasons to go with the water cooled.

PoorUB said:

No problems with the fuel strip and a wet clutch instead of a dry clutch. The well clutch will take more abuse and probably never need replacement. The dry clutch on the air cooled RTs will most likely need replacement before 100,000 miles, and sooner if it has been abused. Plus it is a big job to replace the clutch on the air cooled RT.

There is probably more reasons why, but I know when I first started shopping for an RT those where big reasons to go with the water cooled.

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Aren't the alternators on the wet heads a major project like the clutches on the camheads?

I chose the 2011 camhead motor over a wet head [ and I own one of those in a 16RS also ] when looking for a second motor to ride. 20 years of perfecting that air/oil cooled motor, everything had been sorted out by the time the camheads were available.

Didn't the early wet head engines have teething issues with alternators, etc?

I would be looking at the 2007s and any others 2007- 2009s. I've had two 2007s so I haven't been beguiled by newer technology so I don't miss it or feel I must have it. Plus I had a 1981 R100 for 120,000 miles. The first 2007 went 192,000 miles on the original clutch and the current one has 137,000 miles on the original clutch. The fuel strip is a non issue for me. I've had about 30 motorcycles and most didn't have a fuel gauge at all. When the fuel strip failed on my current '07 I installed a $50 dongle that fools the gauge into reading full all the time and extinguishes the low fuel blinking light. Without an operational fuel gauge the onboard computer still calculates avg mpg and distance the tank range is using average mpg so the computer is still useful w/o the strip working. I use one of the two trip odometers to record distance on the fuel tank. When I was looking for the second hexhead I deliberately overlooked models with ESA and the power assisted brakes of 2005-2006s. By 40 or 50,000 miles the OEM shocks need updating and the OEM stuff wasn't that great to begin with and very expensive to replace. I intended to replace the original shocks with better aftermarket ones so ESA was a negative for me. I always ride solo and live comfortably with manual adjustment for preload and rebound. I paid $3500 3 1/2 years ago for a 89,000 mile bike bike with a full service history. I can and do all my own service so a high(er) mileage bike did not alarm me and if it needed a $300 to $800 repair in short order it was still not a lot of money for a bike which was at the top of contemporary sport touring bikes 15 years ago.

brownie0486 said:

Aren't the alternators on the wet heads a major project like the clutches on the camheads?

I chose the 2011 camhead motor over a wet head [ and I own one of those in a 16RS also ] when looking for a second motor to ride. 20 years of perfecting that air/oil cooled motor, everything had been sorted out by the time the camheads were available.

Didn't the early wet head engines have teething issues with alternators, etc?

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I don't remember any wet head alternator issues. I have heard of one or two failing, but I would not anticipate it. On the other hand the air cooled clutch needing replacement is pretty much guaranteed.

PoorUB said:

I don't remember any wet head alternator issues. I have heard of one or two failing, but I would not anticipate it. On the other hand the air cooled clutch needing replacement is pretty much guaranteed.

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Respectfully, this is a bit of hyperbole. A dry clutch replacement before 100,000 miles is far from guaranteed and even if one is replaced at 100k (which has not been my experience with two hexheads), the way most people ride motorcycles logging less than 6,000 miles a year if a 50k bike is chosen a clutch is 8 or 9 years in the future. By then people have moved on to some other shiny thing.

For a reasonably experienced DIY owner a dry clutch replacement is not a difficult job to do even if required.

dduelin said:

Respectfully, this is a bit of hyperbole. A dry clutch replacement before 100,000 miles is far from guaranteed and even if one is replaced at 100k (which has not been my experience with two hexheads), the way most people ride motorcycles logging less than 6,000 miles a year if a 50k bike is chosen a clutch is 8 or 9 years in the future. By then people have moved on to some other shiny thing.

For a reasonably experienced DIY owner a dry clutch replacement is not a difficult job to do even if required.

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I’m pretty capable mechanically. I’ve not had much bike wrenching in my background but I’ve worked with tools in my hands all my life. I am pretty confident given the correct manual I can tackle pretty much anything mechanical. What other service items might be common on a bike with 40-50k miles?? The one I spoke with the owner about had just had the rear shock replaced, what’s the likelihood of the front shock replacement being in the on deck circle??? What else is common on these bikes?

saltyrider said:

I’m pretty capable mechanically. I’ve not had much bike wrenching in my background but I’ve worked with tools in my hands all my life. I am pretty confident given the correct manual I can tackle pretty much anything mechanical. What other service items might be common on a bike with 40-50k miles?? The one I spoke with the owner about had just had the rear shock replaced, what’s the likelihood of the front shock replacement being in the on deck circle??? What else is common on these bikes?

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One no-big-deal task will be replacing brake pads one of these days. I have given up predicting mileage for these things. I have seen them replaced at 12K miles and at 65K miles. It depends on the bike, but more so the rider.

PGlaves said:

One no-big-deal task will be replacing brake pads one of these days. I have given up predicting mileage for these things. I have seen them replaced at 12K miles and at 65K miles. It depends on the bike, but more so the rider.

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I’ve done the brakes on my x country; and you are correct, no big deal. I’m thinking more along the lines of money I can expect to spend on parts more than labor cost. I have read that bikes with ESA can be expensive when the shocks fail. Are there other areas that are known to be an expensive repair that are common. How much is a clutch kit? Is there machine work required ? I saw rear main seals mentioned are those prone to failure and can they be repealed with out dropping the crank?? Electronics jump to mind, fuel gauges have been mentioned, what else is a common failure point??

Would be good to check the alternator belt. Replacement does not appear to be difficult.

Speaking of clutches...don't forget the clutch fluid is mineral oil...NOT brake fluid

Riding a X-Country successfully pretty much rules out any consideration for needing a comfortable seat!

OM