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2020 R1250rt

jimbem

Member
I'm traveling for the winter again on my r1200rtw. Acouple weeks ago ,while visiting a dealership in Texas I was talking to an employee about all the new shiftcam bikes.I asked him to check the parts numbers for the tft display on the new gs,rs and r bikes. Just like I suspected all three have the same display.I suggested that probably the next rt will have it also. And i suggested that maybe the next rt will finally have a modern headlight(led or projector). This individual agreed and told me he's heard rumors that the next rt will also feature new safety features currently not available on any motorcycle .
All those bikes mentioned got a face lift along with the tft display but the rt looks almost identical . Do you guys out there think next year would be too soon to expect to see an RT with a facelift,tft and headlight up grade?Has anyone else heard any rumors on the RT's future? I love my current bike but swore I wouldn"t buy any new bike until after this one has 200k on it. I would be disappointed to buy a current RT and a year later they come out with the upgraded model .
 
I think the RT will either be updated or replaced with a new model based on the S1000 engine and platform. The current RT model is very dated and a declining percentage of BMW motorcycle sales. Putting the new 1250 engine in the RT was a very inexpensive way to extend the life of the RT while eliminating the "wet head" engine from the lineup.
 
I’d be seriously tempted by an RT with the 1250 engine, but wrapping the S1000 powerplant in RT-style bodywork would be a non-starter for me, based on maintenance costs if nothing else. Factor in the difference in engine personalities and it just magnifies the off-putting. Lastly, such a bike would cannibalize sales from the K1600 series.

No thanks.

OP, I get your trepidation but it’s faced every year by buyers of every model. Find what you like, buy it, and enjoy the ride. Newer models just act as “Squirrel!” calls you just need to ignore or resist. :)

Best,
DG
 
Putting the new 1250 engine in the RT was a very inexpensive way to extend the life of the RT while eliminating the "wet head" engine from the lineup.

The "ShiftCam" is a Wethead with a variable (or binary) intake cam, the associated actuator, and a couple of other minor changes like a different type of cam drive chain. There may be other differences but in any way that matters the 1250 is a Wethead so it's not accurate to say they eliminated the Wethead engine from the lineup.
 
Do you really want the first year of a model change :wave

Jay

If nobody wanted a 1st year model there would never be a second year. Or a new model at all. We have had five 1st year model bikes and none of them were particularly troublesome.
 
Quote Originally Posted by strataj View Post
Do you really want the first year of a model change

Jay

If nobody wanted a 1st year model there would never be a second year. Or a new model at all. We have had five 1st year model bikes and none of them were particularly troublesome.

Paul I was just joking. I too am an earlier adopter, I got the first arriving Wethead RT in February 2014 and my 02R1150RT was among the first. Both great bikes and happy to have them from day 1!

Jay
 
Quote Originally Posted by strataj View Post
Do you really want the first year of a model change

Jay



Paul I was just joking. I too am an earlier adopter, I got the first arriving Wethead RT in February 2014 and my 02R1150RT was among the first. Both great bikes and happy to have them from day 1!

Jay

Yes, I got a first one around '14 Wethead also, but it certainly wasn't trouble free according to BMW (rear strut)....they did buy it back. And of course the 2008 RT had a slight (ended in a recall) antenna ring malfunction that left me stranded and without it for three weeks, but who's counting? However, the majority of new models I've had have been trouble free.
 
... Do you guys out there think next year would be too soon to expect to see an RT with a facelift,tft and headlight up grade?Has anyone else heard any rumors on the RT's future? ...
I too have heard 2021 rumoured, but all of it is just wild speculation until there are spy shots or real hints dropped by BMW itself.

You could also see a 2 or 3 tiered approach.
  • 2019 attracts sales from everyone who is interested in the bike (hard not to be if you're an RT lover)
  • 2020 adds LED headlight and TFT screen and draws in more sales
  • 2021 sees 4%-8% bump in HP and draws in even more sales (afterall the original test mule made 149HP without working hard)
That would time everything quite well for 2022 to have a new body-style. I think that BMW, like others have always tended to deliberately time their upgrades and improvements to not syphon off sales from other areas and to make multi-year changes when possible.

I think the RT will either be updated or replaced with a new model based on the S1000 engine and platform. The current RT model is very dated and a declining percentage of BMW motorcycle sales. Putting the new 1250 engine in the RT was a very inexpensive way to extend the life of the RT while eliminating the "wet head" engine from the lineup.
Absolutely no idea where you would get that idea. Can you provide some links to any sources indicating BMW considering "eliminating the "wet head" engine from the lineup", or them thinking of "the S1000 engine and platform"?

Any new engine (or significantly new like the Shift Cam) is expensive to develop. That is exactly why you don't see any new Victory motorcycles. Polaris needed to develop a new engine for the Victory motorcycles to meet the (then) upcoming Euro 4 and Euro 5 regulatory standards and that meant negative cashflow for too many years, so goodbye Victory it is all now Indian.

I believe that is also a significant part of why BMW introduced their Heritage line to use the Camhead Boxer engine. That engine (4th generation of the modern Boxer) was no longer going to be able to provide the power and fuel economy needed in a new touring bike market and meet newer emission standards, so, the 5th generation Boxer (Wetheard) was developed and the 4th Gen was used as the base for the R nineT and it's offshots.
 
And because they wanted the R9T to be air cooled (OK, oil/air cooled). In other words, no big radiators.
 
The current RT model is very dated and a declining percentage of BMW motorcycle sales.

I disagree. I think the current RT is very attractive and forward looking. Moreover, IMHO it is the finest large road motorcycle available in the world. If its sales have been declining, as alleged, I would like to see evidence of that claim to dispel possible "fake news."

I am told that the 2020 model will be pretty much the same as the 2019, with some tweaks. If there is to be a major redesign it may have to be 2021 at the earliest.
 

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I disagree. I think the current RT is very attractive and forward looking. Moreover, IMHO it is the finest large road motorcycle available in the world. If its sales have been declining, as alleged, I would like to see evidence of that claim to dispel possible "fake news."

I am told that the 2020 model will be pretty much the same as the 2019, with some tweaks. If there is to be a major redesign it may have to be 2021 at the earliest.

I agree.....

Easy
 
I disagree. I think the current RT is very attractive and forward looking. Moreover, IMHO it is the finest large road motorcycle available in the world. If its sales have been declining, as alleged, I would like to see evidence of that claim to dispel possible "fake news."

I am told that the 2020 model will be pretty much the same as the 2019, with some tweaks. If there is to be a major redesign it may have to be 2021 at the earliest.
My feelings as well Jeff. I've not seen model-specific numbers for BMW for some time. BMW just set record motorcycle sales numbers for the 8th year in a row! Doing far better tan many of it's competitors. Granted, much of that increase may well be from the smaller bikes like the 310, etc., but to suggest that it might be in jeapordy of being discontinued due to it's styling, engine, and sales volume is quite a stretch, and ignores the facts. Perhaps, the poster paid too much attention to the US sales figures, or that BMW Motorrad had a rough 1st quarter/half for 2018, but they continued to grow for 8 straight years. Anyone else do that?

I'm not sure what touring bike others might find more attractive, but there aren't any that I prefer and I've ridden most of them and seen and sat on all of them. As for the motor, I would suggest the poster look into the history of BMW's failed attempt to discontinue/reduce the Boxer engine within their lineup when they brough out the K-bike. BMW have never in their 95+ year history offered as many bikes with the Boxer engine as they do today, never. As for sales volume, first, the Boxer engine accounts for over half of all BMW Motorrad sales and second, I suspect they sell more RT's than K1600 GT and GTL models combined.

To me, my RTW is the best available all-around large touring/street bike. If I had to sell all my bike save one, and could only have one bike going forward, it would be an RT. The only bike that I would sell my 2014 RTW for would be an R1250RT.
 
As AlanColes said, worldwide sales were up for the 8th year and BMW even recovered from the 1st quarter stumble in the US to post an overall 2018 increase of 2.2%. At least according to this coverage of the press release. But it is true that adventure bikes are by far the most popular at the moment with the GS listed as the largest seller in the USA and, by my quick calculation anyway, 60% of all global Boxer sales.

I don't think that spells doom for the RT by any means and BMW will always need an alternative tourer to the K1600 in the lineup if only to justify that bike's price. In fact, I think the strong growth in GS bikes bodes well for the RT. Motorcycle sales seem to flow in waves - something new entices new riders, then innovation slows and those riders age into easier to ride bikes as they hit their 40s, 50s, and 60s. Eventually something new hits the market and another wave of riders enters. They too will age into bikes like the RT, especially all those GS riders who will grow to love the Boxer engine. I started riding on a used Yamaha DT175 enduro bike in the mid 80s, bought a KLR 650, tried sportbikes with a Honda VFR, rode light cruisers for a while, and now finally brought home my ultimate dream R1250RT a few weeks ago as I slide into 50. All the people who bought cruisers during the American Choppers and Biker Build Off hype last decade will age into something that doesn't leave you sore and stiff after only 100 miles. The RT will be waiting.

I do think the Boxer engine itself is an Achilles heel though. There is only so much efficiency and power one can wring from the design (I drive a Subaru so I guess you'd call me a Boxer fan) and eventually I think the RT will need to move to something else to stay competitive and within increasingly tight emission laws. But, the shift-cam made me a believer that there is at least one more design cycle left, and I"m sure some new tech after that. So, no regrets on the purchase of a 2019.

I do hope the cockpit tech gets an upgrade in 2020 and beyond. I hope BMW finally gets its headlight act together and makes LEDs standard (and someone figures out how to make them backward compatible). And I hope some of the self-driving tech makes it into a user-selectable mode. But now that I finally put down my money on a 2019 I'll get to drool from the sidelines for a while.
 
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