I’ve made no secret of not being a fan of the boxer engine on these bikes.

We put over 2,000 miles on the RT over a couple of weeks riding around the UK and want to provide my thoughts on the bike.

The bike is a 2019 BMW R1250RT and other than cosmetics is largely the same as the current model.

Engine

The big boxer has a rhythm all of its own. When it pulls down low everything shakes, you get a foot massage through the pegs and everything in the mirrors goes blurry.  It certainly doesn’t have the stomp of my 14 or the K1600GT but it doesn’t profess to be that either. I think other than the vibes that you get from the boxer it just does the business without too much fuss, I just didn’t find it very inspiring.

Gearing

Gearing isn’t generally something that I think about when riding a bike too much, but I was constantly thinking that first gear seemed a bit tall, especially when 2up and fully loaded and more so when taking off on an incline. I mentioned this to a friend who has owned a number of these bikes and he thought it was a half a gear too tall. The reason I was thinking about this is that clutch replacements on these bikes is a big, expensive job … I’m sure they built these bikes starting with the clutch sitting on a stand and then building the bike around it. The other reason, if I were to replace the ST1300 with this bike it would not only do 2up duties but also be required to pull a loaded trailer … which places more strain on the clutch.

I also thought top gear could have been slightly taller and more of an overdrive on the open freeways. However, that’s being a bit picky as the over fuel consumption of less than 5tr/100km 2up loaded was pretty good.

Handling

While I’m not a huge fan of the engine, what that boxer engine does provide is a very low centre of gravity giving it remarkable handling and an ease of manoeuvrability that is surprising for such a big bike.

When navigating the narrow roads of Scotland with a big bike I never found the size or weight an issue. It just handled everything with ease. Slow speed riding was easy.

For the most part I had the suspension on auto. This did an pretty good job, but 2up fully loaded it was a little wallowy in the faster corners. To be fair we would have been pushing the maximum gross weight limit of the bike which would have been pushing the standard suspension to the limit. I had a play in all the menus but couldn’t find how to fine tune the suspension more. It seemed like I needed a bit more preload and more dampening. But other than the bit of wallowing I found the suspension really good.

The settings for the electronic suspension were tucked away in the menus somewhere, I found how to do some of the basics but had trouble finding how to fine tune it further. If this was my bike, I’d have to spend time with the book understanding what and how to adjust it better.

Comfort

The R1250RT is very comfortable straight out of the box. The ergonomics for me was spot on with a good riding position, hands falling comfortably onto the bars, feet not too far back or forward, and neither sitting too upright or leaning forward too far … just right.

My only complaint – the seat was uncomfortable. It looks like it is a good shape but after a few hours it bites into you. I found the same thing on the K1600GT. If I owned this bike I would certainly have to look at getting the seat remade to be more comfortable.

Screen

The screen on the R1250RT provides really good protection. I like the v-shaped screen as you can run it fairly high but still not have to look through it, all while providing a bubble of air for both rider and pillion.

Luggage

Honestly, one of the reasons we chose the RT to hire was for its luggage capacity, we were going to be on the road in Scotland for two weeks and there was luggage for two. And when thinking of Scotland, you need to account for variable temperatures and the constant possibility of getting wet, so aside from normal packing for a trip (clothing, shoes, toiletries etc) you also need to carry multiple layers, gloves, and wet weather gear.

Overall, I have to say I really like the sturdiness of the BMW panniers and top box and the locking mechanism with multiple latches is really good and keeps it shut and not let them bulge if you are packing too much…

Topbox

The shape and size of the top box was pretty good, little features like a light in the top box are handy features. Like any luggage there is always a compromise between shape, style and size. And when you’re out on the road it is always nice to have that little bit more room … but you always tend to pack for the room you have so you’ll never have enough room…

Panniers

I’m a huge fan of inner bags and I have inner bags for both my bikes back home, as they make packing so much easier. When you roll into a motel you just pull out the inner bag rather than having to struggle with taking the pannier off the bike and into your room. So I got a set of BMW inner bags with the bike as well.

The BMW inner bags are really nicely made and very sturdy.

But a fail.

Other than aluminium panniers, panniers aren’t a regular shape and these liners are a simple rectangle bag that wastes space everywhere, and when room is at a premium you can’t afford to waste any space. These were bags not inner bags, they were rectangle and sturdy so you couldn’t even shove stuff into gaps. They used room very inefficiently. On day 3 we were in Inverness and called enough and posted the bags back to my daughter in London. Just ditching the inner bags meant we could also fit all our shoes in the panniers freeing up more room in the top box.

Once we ditched the pannier liners we then had to remove the panniers at every stop and the method for removing and attaching is very secure and very easy to use. They are just bulky and awkward to lug up and down stairs to your room.

But we had more room.!

Glovebox

There is also a nice little lockable glove compartment. It would have been nice if it was a bit bigger to hold your sunnies etc so you didn’t have to fish in the top box. But this is a handy little storage area when out on the road.

Central Locking

Central lock where have you been all my life. You can lock the panniers, top box, and glove compartment at the press of a button (button on the handlebar or key fob). This is a great awesome feature and when you’re out on the road touring you don’t need to fish for the right key to unlock a pannier or top box and it can all be done in one action. And as this bike was keyless you just needed to walk up to it with the keys in your pocket and unlock/lock everything from the handlebars.

Gadgets

Jog Dial

The jog dial seems like a really good way to navigate through the millions of options that BMW give you, and by enlarge it is and works great. Below I mention that it is annoying that you have to go through the menus to adjust the grip heaters … but do I want a button for everything on the bars / dash … no that would also be problematic. On reflection I think the menus work well and present the options you want to get to regularly up front.

Cruise control

After playing with various different throttle locks on my bikes and then using the cruise control on this bike … my next bike is going to have cruise control.! For the amount of open road riding I do this would be a great feature to have.

Hill assist

I love it and I hate it. It was both useful and a pest depending on the circumstance. I also found that it disengaged when I wasn’t ready. For holding the bike on a hill for a hill start etc with a full load it certainly did what was on the box, however when I tried to bounce the bike backwards using the brakes, or tried to roll the bike backwards down a hill while using brakes it would often engage the hill assist which was annoying. Honestly, I think if this were my bike I’d turn it off as it’s an answer to a problem I don’t have.

Navigator 6

The Navigator VI seems to be heavily based on the Garmin platform as it has the same mount as my Zumo 660, and the user interface was Garmin-like, however zooming in and out on the roll was a real pain to lean over to find the right area to touch. Well, that was until I found the menu/jog function I could use from the bars. I did like that.!

Unlike my 660 which would eventually give up on a missed waypoint and go to the next waypoint if you kept riding, this would keep trying to turn you around. It was very insistent and just didn’t give up. At one point I had pink lines all over the screen as it was trying to get me to all the different way points we only skirted rather than hitting. What I learnt later was that you just need to hit a button on the Navigator to bypass a waypoint.

The other advantage of spending the mega-bucks on the BMW Navigator is that it is hooked into the bike’s systems and can be also used to display a lot of other route or bike related information such as temps, tire pressures, trip meters, fuel consumption, to name a few.

One negative – you have to remove it every time you leave the bike as BMW have made it so easy for anyone to remove. With all these remote locks I don’t understand why they didn’t incorporate some sort of a locing mechanism.

Seat/grip heaters

The seat and grip heaters work great but having to navigate multiple layers of menus to adjust grip heaters while on the move was quite annoying. Although its not something you adjust a lot.

From the Pillion’s Perspective

Seat

Like the riders seat this is uncomfortable on longer days, but the seat warmer is great and the control on the seat is very easy to use. The first thing we’d do (if this was our bike) is get the seat remade.

Footpegs

The footpegs slope forward which makes it harder to get on and off, and don’t give very good security as you use your legs a lot … especially when braking. Deb also found the rubber pad on the pegs moved around which didn’t help with sure-footing when mounting as it was a unsettling feeling of the peg moving. The pegs really needed to be bigger, and at a better angle / location.

A direct quote from Piglet the Pillion – foot peg lowering kits (https://www.suburban-machinery.com/R1200RT2.html) which move the foot pegs down a couple of inches and forward so that my ankles are almost below my knees. This makes a huge difference to comfort by dropping the weight of my legs onto my feet, taking pressure off my pelvic bones, and enabling me to brace myself through my feet when we’re braking rather than have my hips shift forward.

Grab Handle

The grab rail is a good shape and in a good position to hang onto when riding. However, the position and shape could make mounting and dismounting tricky as your boots could tangle up with the grab rail. This is the main reason that Deb moved to getting on the bike first and dismounted last.

Conclusion

Right from the outset I said I wouldn’t own one of these bikes as I’m not a fan of the boxer engine and I have to say firing up the big inline four of the ZX14R when I got home through the yoshies had me tingling and thinking again how much I love that big inline four. However, after two weeks on the RT it did get under my skin and it certainly wouldn’t be a 14 replacement but as a 2up tourer it is a very good bike and would be a great upgrade to the ST1300 when I want to upgrade. My main concern would be the towing ability fully loaded 2up. Oh, and whether owning it comes with higher ownership costs with a BMW badge affixed to it…?

I loved the K1600GT we rode in Switzerland a few years ago and I’d love to own one for touring duties, but I could see that the big complex six cylinder motor combined with the BMW tax is likely to cost more to own … but the R1250RT while not as powerful but significantly lighter may be a really good option.

So would I own one … yeah possibly.