About to trade up to 2017 r1200rt - are farkles neded?

[motor4]

Almost certain to go from a 2005 R1200RT with 46k miles to a 2017 R1200RT used model with 121 miles on her. New one has all the bmw option packages options plus NAV 5 gps.

Mine has a lot of farkles on it -
Handlebar risers, fork running lights, tall screen, tank bag, addition of handlebar mirrors, engine cover guards on cyclinder heads, Remus exhaust, low front seat plus day Myer seat, bmw trunks (small plus large). Bike had all options back in the day (cd player anyone).

So questions, having only ridden a 2016/2017 for short demos -
1. Since I liked the bar risers on my old ride, I am 5'10" might I likewise feel a need for them on the new bike?
2. Stock front lighting on new model enough or do I need running fork lights also?
3. Hope my 05 trunks will click into place on the new bike? Would be sad if they don't.
4. Love my handlebar angle so hope new one is the same.

As much as I want to pull the tigger, I suppose, on this new one the crap load of money I will need to spend to farkle it worries me.

 

[BMARC153920]

Ride it stock for a 1000 miles then you'll know if anything needs changing. Your top case will swap over but will not have central locking.

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[strataj]

Ride it stock for a 1000 miles then you'll know if anything needs changing. Your top case will swap over but will not have central locking.

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The above advice is excellent advice. Only you will know what you need and want, give it time ride the bike the in your usual usage, that means if you take long trip put some miles in a day see if the bars are ok, the seat, pegs and more... We are all here to help you spend you money

Enjoy the ride

Jay

 

[jamesdavidhoward]

My 1st priority was ergonomics, since the intended purpose for an RT is touring over distance. 1000mi. will tell you if you need foot peg height kits or seat height and/or shape customized. Mine came with aux. LED lights on forks - that's good for safety visibility. I found the mirror placement was easily to acclimate in a few miles of riding.

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[rwl1955]

Almost certain to go from a 2005 R1200RT with 46k miles to a 2017 R1200RT used model with 121 miles on her. New one has all the bmw option packages options plus NAV 5 gps.

Mine has a lot of farkles on it -
Handlebar risers, fork running lights, tall screen, tank bag, addition of handlebar mirrors, engine cover guards on cyclinder heads, Remus exhaust, low front seat plus day Myer seat, bmw trunks (small plus large). Bike had all options back in the day (cd player anyone).

So questions, having only ridden a 2016/2017 for short demos -
1. Since I liked the bar risers on my old ride, I am 5'10" might I likewise feel a need for them on the new bike?
2. Stock front lighting on new model enough or do I need running fork lights also?
3. Hope my 05 trunks will click into place on the new bike? Would be sad if they don't.
4. Love my handlebar angle so hope new one is the same.

As much as I want to pull the tigger, I suppose, on this new one the crap load of money I will need to spend to farkle it worries me.

*****
I'm 5'11" and the bars are fine for me. I had a Givi on my 2013 and the bracket wouldn't fit on the 2016. If you ride at night fork lights would be helpful. The stock seat is OK for 90-120 minutes, will add a Russell over the winter. I've added a Clearwater Billie jr. brake light and Illium bag guards.

 

[EvryDayRide]

Almost certain to go from a 2005 R1200RT with 46k miles to a 2017 R1200RT used model with 121 miles on her. New one has all the bmw option packages options plus NAV 5 gps.

Mine has a lot of farkles on it -
Handlebar risers, fork running lights, tall screen, tank bag, addition of handlebar mirrors, engine cover guards on cyclinder heads, Remus exhaust, low front seat plus day Myer seat, bmw trunks (small plus large). Bike had all options back in the day (cd player anyone).

So questions, having only ridden a 2016/2017 for short demos -
1. Since I liked the bar risers on my old ride, I am 5'10" might I likewise feel a need for them on the new bike?
2. Stock front lighting on new model enough or do I need running fork lights also?
3. Hope my 05 trunks will click into place on the new bike? Would be sad if they don't.
4. Love my handlebar angle so hope new one is the same.

As much as I want to pull the tigger, I suppose, on this new one the crap load of money I will need to spend to farkle it worries me.

I just purchased a new 17RT. It has all of the stock goodies. Yes, it is a crap load of money to add more stuff to it. Engine protection bars. More lights forward so that I can be seen. Heated gear wired in. A top box to hold more stuff and create a comfortable back rest for the passenger. That was just to get started with the things that were a must for me! I am holding off on all of the other ergonomics and just trying how it came stock. Like others, that pain in the rear that I feel after a 150-200 miles may not work out? I'm going to try it..........for now!
John

 

[t6pilot]

I added P3 lights and photon blasters when I first got my 15, while I had panels off added a direct wired outlet for heated gear and charger
Michener art moto cylinder head guards and side case protection from BMW, for my screw ups
After first 8 hour ride in heavy rain, switched to Werks Quite ride screen 100% improvement
Enjoy your new wheels!!!!

 

[gsinnc]

Ageee with what others have said .... ride it first go see what you need. I had an '06 and my 2016 did not need all what the '06 did. I always like added lights for daytime conspicuity and the BMW light bars with Clearwater Darlas is a nice set up and on sale for 20% off. Also have your dealer order you the front portion of the GSA switch gear brackets which will allow you to screw in ram balls where mirrors would go. I am not tank bag guy but did get the Givi with gas cap mount. Works perfect.

Enjoy new bike!

 

[ncpbmw1953]

At 6'4" tall I get the distinct feeling that no matter what BMW put on their latest RT offering a fair number of people won't be happy and will have to start dressing up their new doll. At 22.7K miles OTC on a '16 including one 9,163m trip I found no need for anything except $6 HD glass blind spot mirrors and a side stand foot enlarger from Wunderlich. Seat: perfect. Ergos: more perfect. Screen: so perfect I bought another one from someone who immediately replaced it w/ a 3rd party screen, just so I could save it and put it on when the first one is so pitted it's time! Even the 'conspicuity' argument is slightly spurious for me. If someone can't see your one H7 and two H1s AND LED rings, well then they're likely texting in which case all the light up in the world won't save you! Oh, I did add serious horns, 3 of them, and they do get used enough to warrant the relatively small cost.

Cheers, enjoy it you found the best motorcycle ever built for riding on pavement Here's one farkle I would recommend and wished I'd known about before I took my honey X-country and back last year, and that is a headlight lens protector. Here's what happened by the end of my trip:

 

[totgas]

12 Months later I'm in the same boat as Motor4.
Having now ridden my 2018 RT for 1500kms now I believe I know what I need.

• Set of Crash bars - I have ordered a front and rear from ilium in unfinished steel so I can weld some brackets on them before being chromed.

• Flat pannier lids - Currently being paint matched to bike

• Bar risers - Still attempting to find some that aren't butt ugly

So now I'm faced with where to place the other items taken from my previous FJR.

In particular a UHF radio, which involves the main unit, a head unit, mic and speaker as well as the PTT and helmet cable (not a fan of bluetooth systems) and of course the aerial.
Not only is the RT devoid for any real space under the seats to mount accessories but placing anything on or near the dash seems almost impossible.

I'm a big believer in not drilling holes in a $39,000 (yes that what I paid for it downunder) motorbike or marking the plastics.
I'm currently toying with making a custom mounting bar between the handlebars however that will prevent me fitting bar risers, we'll see.
I also need to fit an Eastern Beaver fusebox and StarCom1 Digital box and so far I'm thinking under the front side guards is the best option.



I would be interested in

A) Photos of other owners with electronic accessories fitted and what they found to be suitable/best locations.
B) Possible mounts for the aerial and
C) The best path for wiring from the front to the back of the bike for lighting etc. I intend to make up my own wiring loom so as to bypass the CamBus system by connecting the Eastern Beaver directly to the battery.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated - I have a long history of farklisation
Regards
A.

 

[gsinnc]

http://bmwdean.com/r1200rtw.htm

Jeff ... you really should consider painting the Red and Blue Noses a charcoal grey. I have seen it done that way and think it makes for a nice contrast !!

 

[patm]

To answer the OP, of course farkles are required.

Kidding aside, the single low beam is weak but the double highs are fine. Look at engine head protection.
As for comfort, tou need to ride first to figure out what you need.

 

[stinkypete]

I'm as Aussie LD rider and have just bought a 2016 RT as a replacement for my aging Honda ST1300. I've now put around 5,000km on it in five weeks, and have been riding it "stock" including a couple of 1,000km days to see how I fitted with the bike on the long hauls. There was some noisy turbulence around the edges of the screen, so I've gone to a Puig screen. The stock high beams aren't too bad, but more light is good for spotting our troublesome and stupid kangaroos at night, so I now have some Denali 2.0 D4's in the shed waiting to be fitted on Clearwater under mirror mounts. Neck pain after the long rides led me to fit some Ilium risers which have solved that issue, and the OEM seat is just OK for normal touring days but an RDL is on the horizon for the long distance rides. When that lot is done, I'll have a well appointed "Mile Muncher" and Long Distance weapon.

 

[Stebe]

For me, so far, it's been...let's see, front to rear of my 2016 R1200RT--

Headlight protector from Cee Bailey- cheap insurance at $75 to protect a headlight costing >$900

Quiet Werks windshield, much much nicer than stock

Ilium Bar-Backs

Z-Technik engine guards, which have built in mount for additional lighting, haven't done that, yet

Shift lever extender, cheap and much easier to engage with my big feet

Russell Day Long seat, try it you'll like it

Passenger floorboards from Ilium

Saddlebag liners from Cee Bailey, $75 vs. $300 elsewhere

Top Case from BMW, amazingly expensive plastic, but, what are you going to do?

Luggage rack, hmm, Ilium?...can't remember. Handy but don't overload it.

 

[bmwdean]

What I have done to my R1200RTs:

 

[stinkypete]

While it's a work in progress, my Farkle List for my 2016 RT will include the following:

Puig Touring Screen
Ilium Bar Backs
Danali 2.0 D4 Lights on Clearwater Under Mirror mounts
Russel Daylong Seat
Starcom1 Digital Coms Set
Spot Gen3

 

[rtwiz]

The above advice is excellent advice. Only you will know what you need and want, give it time ride the bike the in your usual usage, that means if you take long trip put some miles in a day see if the bars are ok, the seat, pegs and more... We are all here to help you spend you money

Enjoy the ride

Jay

Strata:

I think it's excellent advice too. I just bought a '17. I can tell you that the windscreen is not sufficient for highway use...noisy at speed. I saw a U-Tube of an Iron Butt rider who compared 3 aftermarket screens with the stock one. Liked them all better than stock but liked the Aeroflow Tall the best. I bought one of those earlier this week.

The stock seat is really stiff. I get a sore butt just riding around the city on it. My '05 has a Sargent and I like that. Just bought another.

Also, the pegs are higher on this bike than my '05. On the '05, I tried peg extenders and took them off. Bike didn't handle right for me. I think they'd be appropriate on this bike. I'm going to see how the seat works first, then, if I'm still not supremely comfy, I'll try the extenders again.

I LOVE THIS BIKE so far. It just rides so nice and the motor is spectacular.

I could live without the radio...at least the speakers. And would be happy with a good pair of Ohlins set up by Beemerwerks instead of the whiz-bang electronic suspension. One could save a lot right there. It's handy, I suppose if you carry a pillion half the time. That is not the case for me.

Cheers!