2012 RT Upgrade recommendation's wanted

[guinness58]

Well I finally have my 2012 R1200RT. I would like to take advantage of the collective wisdom of the forum as to what upgrades I should consider. First on the list is lowering the foot pegs, what kits are worth installing. Other items but not limited to are:

- CANbus Controller (worth the cost?)
- Crash bars
- Better bulbs/ lights
- Seats
- etc.

I am open to any and all recommendations. Thank you in advance.

 

[ahd43]

Suspension renew near or about 50,000 miles.

That was about it for me other than regular maintenance. I traded at 80,000 miles.

 

[etiennelau]

Crash bars, suspension upgrades from Ted Porter

 

[drneo66]

I think the important question is "What's your budget?"

Crashbars for sure - HEED, Wunderlich, and/or ZTeknik
Cyclops LED's for all 3 headlights - plug and play, CANBUS friendly
Pair of fork-mounted aux lights and a rear flashing light - You can take care of that with a HEXcan or Denali cansmart - I'd probably just get the whole kit from Denali so it's all plug and play
Russell Day Long seat - the only seat that can have you riding all day, what the RT was really made for
Suspension upgrade depending on your riding style - as etiennelau said, contact Ted Porter

 

[oldcamper]

What is the bike going to be used for?
Remember it IS 12 years old, with unknown mileage or condition, to us anyway. Throwing $$ at it indiscriminately is not likely to increase the value to anyone other than the current owner. Maybe all it really needs is a new battery, a brake flush and new set of tires.

Does the OP already have a good helmet and riding gear?
Does the OP ride much at night? Long distance? Two up?
Are there any budget constraints? Some “upgrades” are of marginal actual value to many riders.

 

[guinness58]

What is the bike going to be used for?
Remember it IS 12 years old, with unknown mileage or condition, to us anyway. Throwing $$ at it indiscriminately is not likely to increase the value to anyone other than the current owner. Maybe all it really needs is a new battery, a brake flush and new set of tires.

Does the OP already have a good helmet and riding gear?
Does the OP ride much at night? Long distance? Two up?
Are there any budget constraints? Some “upgrades” are of marginal actual value to many riders.

Bike will be used for multi day trips, several hundred miles per day, one up. I have a good collection of helmets and gear. Limited night riding. Bike has 25K miles, was inspected by a BMW dealer before purchased and passed with no issues, appears to be in excellent shape. No budget constraints, am retired. I am a “buy and hold” guy coming off a 1995 R1100R which I bought new and still ride.

 

[oldcamper]

Bike will be used for multi day trips, several hundred miles per day, one up. I have a good collection of helmets and gear. Limited night riding. Bike has 25K miles, was inspected by a BMW dealer before purchased and passed with no issues, appears to be in excellent shape. No budget constraints, am retired. I am a “buy and hold” guy coming off a 1995 R1100R which I bought new and still ride.

Thanks,

Since you have been riding the same R1100 for 29 (!) years, you are probably already familiar with the common personalization options available for BMW bikes. As mentioned in earlier posts, seats, lighting, and shocks seem to be popular modifications for these bikes in general. I’ll add risers and a Motoscan or GS911 to that list.

For your new bike specifically, you may want to consider verifying the engine cam timing, as a number of the twin cam bikes apparently left the factory out of spec. The engine runs much better with the cams in time.

 

[915e]

Ican second the Cyclops LED bulbs, had them on my recently sold 2009 R1200GS. They were bright, didn't blind oncoming traffic (after proper adjustment) and caused no warning lights.

I personally prefer the Sargent seats, had them on every BMW and found them to be comfortable. Oddly, the high seat OEM option on my current 2018 R1200R feels "butt friendly", so, I'll keep that one.

For your own safety, you might want to consider the Weiser turn signals kits, they might keep you from getting run over.

 

[peteb]

For lights on my 2009 RT I have Cyclops headlights, Ledperf turn signals and sidelights, and Skene supplemental tail/brake lights. Do not buy Ledperf tail lights as they are Euro spec. The Skene lights are great. When stopped, I can see fast approaching cars react when I pump them a couple times.

I bought a AF-XiED O2 sensor signal manipulator from Beemer Boneyard to correct low speed fueling and found it to be very effective. The throttle is now very smooth at all speeds and the engine is content cruising at 2500 rom where it was previously unhappy.

Last but not least, don't forget your Grip Puppies.

 

[largestache]

For lighting, I put a set of cheaper LEDs with yellow covers on the front of the heads, just to help me stick out in traffic. For actually helping to see in the dark, a set of Clearwater Erica's under the mirrors ( ouch! expensive, but SO Bright) Skene add on brake lights. .Tractive shocks front and rear to replace the stockers, very nice. Sargent seat to replace the stock torture device. Custom RAM mount to hold the phone.

 

[guinness58]

Thanks for the replies. I would like to add auxiliary mirrors, any leads on where to find them? Also any thoughts on getting the ECU tuned to improve performance?

 

[largestache]

Thanks for the replies. I would like to add auxiliary mirrors, any leads on where to find them? Also any thoughts on getting the ECU tuned to improve performance?

I can't speak for tuning the ECU, but I believe you can use the stock mirrors for a GS, there are holes in the switch gear to accommodate them. Mine had the additional mirrors on it when I bought it, I removed them because I didn't like the way they looked.

 

[guinness58]

I can't speak for tuning the ECU, but I believe you can use the stock mirrors for a GS, there are holes in the switch gear to accommodate them. Mine had the additional mirrors on it when I bought it, I removed them because I didn't like the way they looked.

Thank you, two questions:

1. What year is your RT?
2. Do you still have the mirrors and want to sell them?

 

[20774]

2. Do you still have the mirrors and want to sell them?

Please conduct any buying/selling using the Private Conversation feature. Thanks!!

 

[largestache]

Thank you, two questions:

1. What year is your RT?
2. Do you still have the mirrors and want to sell them?

My bike is 2009, mirrors were sold along time ago.