New owner - Hot Dog!!

[Jeff488]

I've been lurking on this forum for a while, not wanting to post much till I had an oilhead.
Well, I just bought an "04 RT in Southern Cal. and rode it back to east Texas. Left the left coast on Thursday morning and arrived East Texas Sunday afternoon. 1812 miles and a slightly sore butt.

This was my longest ride, and at my age, I must say I was rather pleased that I did it. Learned(again) that at 64 one doesn't have the stamina of 20 years ago. My longest day previous to this was about 350 miles.

The bike ran flawlessly. It was a steep learning curve the first day. I am thankful for the Cee Bailey large eurocut w/s. Really nice and quiet behind it. Throttlemeister was also much appreciated. What saved my bacon, as opposed to frying it, was the cool vest and the camelback. Especially on the run from Barstow to Needles. It was 111 degrees in Needles, but when I got to Kingman, AZ it was only 98 and felt good!

Pretty uneventful ride except for one lady who pulled out in front of me. I applied and airhead amount of braking and the bike STOPPED. I could have stopped 4 times before I got to the the ladies car. I'll have to learn to hard stop this bike a little softer.
What a stable and nimble bike! I think I'm in lust.

The only glitch was that the gear indicator lost it's mind after running through some very heavy rain. I searched the subject and found what Paul Glaves said about the little connector on the left side and dried it out. Seems to have fixed the problem.
What a great forum, with so many really sharp folks here!

Anyway, I'm happy to be an oilhead owner. Actually went out and rode a bit today,just for the fun of it.

[kgadley01]

welcome to the oilhead club Jeff. ride safe, and ride often. Kenny...

[NavyDad]

That pretty much sums up my experience when I bought my 04 RT two years ago. 20,000 miles later and I am still happy

[bdspler]

Mine too! I love this Bike. I did Los Alomos Ca. to OK City in a day!
when I bought it 200 miles was all I had! but in six months I had 1500 a day in the bag. it was a seat and the camelbac that was the diffeance!
Love the Blue and Silver R1150 RT.... thats outside the Box!

bd

[cyclepath]

Congratulations on the new RT!

My father lives in Orlando, FL and purchased an RT from a neighbor of mine in Atlanta, GA a few years ago. He asked me if I would ride the bike down to Orlando for him.

That was my first distance ride on a BMW. I owned a VFR at the time and loved the comfort of the RT. There were a couple of rain showers that I road through without feeling uncomfortable, and the protection the bike provided was a great bonus. They are a great bike and hopefully you enjoy yours as much as my father has enjoyed his ride.

Recently I purchased a GS and never stop thinking about riding. This bike provides the comfort of the RT with a little less protection, which I like. I took off yesterday for the afternoon and 320 miles later returned home. My wife wanted to know where I went. My response TN, NC, & GA.

Glad you had a great first trip!

[Jeff488]

Mine too! I love this Bike. I did Los Alomos Ca. to OK City in a day!

Holy Moley!!
You're a tougher man than I.

Since my return, I have raised the idle speed, which helps to shift more smoothly,
and ordered a Zumo 450 because the old 2610 went belly-up the last day of the trip.
I'm thinking of fabricating some light mounts to fit in between the mirrors and the fairing. Doesn't look to difficult.
I must say that my airhead was easier to shift smoothly, but I'm learning. It's like the thing has NO flywheel. I also like the city lids. Touring lids are great for stashing a bunch of stuff, but the others are lots narrower and handy around town.
I have managed to drop it in my garage! Had it on the center stand with the side stand also down. While on the bike, pushed it off the c-stand and the side stand pushed me over; ever so slowly. Quite embarrassing. Pretty heavy bike to pick up, too. No harm done, except to my dignity.
The current goal is the big rally next year in Tenn.

Here I am, about to leave SoCal.

[PGlaves]

Welcome to the Oilhead world. Glad something I wrote a while back proved helpful.

[ALIENHITCHHIKER]

Jeff, it looks like that bike suits you just right!

Nothing like a BMW RT, but of course, I'm a bit biased. And the more miles I put on my "old school" 1100 oiler, the more I appreciate it.

Bring it on down to Tennessee next summer, for sure. Throw a few Shiners into your tank bag for me.