stooie
Member
Greetings all:
When I walked into the local BMW dealer six weeks ago to test ride a new RT I presumed I was out for a day's entertainment. I was gobsmacked by the light steering and easy turn in compared to my 2015 FJR. Fine; I'd walk away thinking the RT was a nice bike and continue in my belief that the FJR would be my last bike. (I turn 69 next month.)
Turning over the test ride in my mind I realized that my knees and hips were happier than they were on my FJR. Another test ride a few weeks later confirmed that. Long story -> short; I picked up my carbon black RT last Saturday. I don't think of it as moving up or down from the FJR. They are both wonderful machines. It's like Cherry Garcia vs. Hagen Daz Rum Raisin; one's not better, they're both wonderful.
First impressons:
The not so good: Does BMW coat the RT with deer pheromone? In four days / 250 miles I'm had two near encounters with deer. That's one more than I usually have in a year.
The good: Am I the only one who, when noodling around in the 3,000 - 4,000 rpm range, thinks the exhaust note sounds like a sleepy grizzly bear grumbling to himself as he goes to answer the cave doorbell after being awakened in mid-January from his hibernation? Alternately, it reminds me of the voice of Phil Harris as the bear Baloo in "The Jungle Book" advising us to "Look for the Bare Necessities".
Being retired, living in the Willamette Valley in Oregon adjacent to the vineyards and farm lands, and having a great bike to ride through them makes me think that life doesn't stink.
When I walked into the local BMW dealer six weeks ago to test ride a new RT I presumed I was out for a day's entertainment. I was gobsmacked by the light steering and easy turn in compared to my 2015 FJR. Fine; I'd walk away thinking the RT was a nice bike and continue in my belief that the FJR would be my last bike. (I turn 69 next month.)
Turning over the test ride in my mind I realized that my knees and hips were happier than they were on my FJR. Another test ride a few weeks later confirmed that. Long story -> short; I picked up my carbon black RT last Saturday. I don't think of it as moving up or down from the FJR. They are both wonderful machines. It's like Cherry Garcia vs. Hagen Daz Rum Raisin; one's not better, they're both wonderful.
First impressons:
The not so good: Does BMW coat the RT with deer pheromone? In four days / 250 miles I'm had two near encounters with deer. That's one more than I usually have in a year.
The good: Am I the only one who, when noodling around in the 3,000 - 4,000 rpm range, thinks the exhaust note sounds like a sleepy grizzly bear grumbling to himself as he goes to answer the cave doorbell after being awakened in mid-January from his hibernation? Alternately, it reminds me of the voice of Phil Harris as the bear Baloo in "The Jungle Book" advising us to "Look for the Bare Necessities".
Being retired, living in the Willamette Valley in Oregon adjacent to the vineyards and farm lands, and having a great bike to ride through them makes me think that life doesn't stink.
