A brief BMW R1100RT story

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I was on a ferry this week on my way to Sweden. When I parked my TT on the cardeck I saw a very good looking BMW R1100RT next to my car. Upon arrival to port next morning I went to my car and this grey haired guy was preparing his BMW for the road.

I said hello and told that his BMW looked very good and that I used to have one exactly like it some 15 years ago in the same light blue color. Checked the plate and said that this is not the same. He said with a grin that it couldn't as he had bought it new.

We continued to chat and he said he was on his way to Hamburg, Germany and then back home to Finland through Baltic countries. I was standing on the right side of his bike and looked at the odometer and said that at 45600 kilometers his BMW is barely broken in. He told me to take another look. As I was on the right side I had missed the last digit - that BMW had 456000 kilometers (= appr. 283k miles) on the clock. And it looked more or less like new.

I asked at which point he had to do the engine. He said never. I asked at which point he had to do the gearbox. He said never. He said though that he had to change final drive bearings at some point but other than that it had been working very well.

Naturally I had to ask and he said Valvoline fully synthetic 20W50 and appr. 5000...6000 km OCIs with very little need to add oil in between changes.

456000 kilometers...and while looking for one for myself I have been dismissing many with just 75000 kilometers on the clock. I feel rather stupid now.
blush.gif
 
Great story!

I recently picked up an '04 R1150RT project bike with only 10,000 miles on the odo. There is a guy on another forum with over half a million miles on a 1996 R1100GS!

These boxers will go the distance if your willing to put up with their quirks and idiosyncrasies.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Very impressive.

By contrast, my '13 f700gs needed a new water pump with less than 5k miles on the clock.
Years ago my dad told me this" If you had an air cooled M/C you wouldn't have a water pump failure. The more plumbing there is the easier it is to clog the pipes.
 
Half a million kays on one of those horrible 5 speed 1100's? That bloke deserves a medal.

Worst gearbox of any boxer I've ridden, awful. I rode dozens of those things and gave two new ones up to get back on my old K11LT.

Even the latest water cooled R12RT has a less than stellar gearbox (albeit much improved on the last few generations of R12RT's) and the awful clunk and lurch from neutral to 1st is unforgivable on what is a $30,000 plus bike here in Australia.

I would expect these motors to last forever given they're very under stressed and have pitiful power outputs. R11RT's struggled to break 100 mph!.....even when new.
 
Originally Posted By: ricky66
I would expect these motors to last forever given they're very under stressed and have pitiful power outputs. R11RT's struggled to break 100 mph!.....even when new.

Come on, really? An 1100cc bike struggling to get to 100mph?
 
My wife and I did a weekend trip with some other riders this weekend. (Note: Fort Ticonderoga is pretty cool.) The guy leading the ride has 90K on a 2008 Wing...one other guy was riding an older Electraglide. (I forget the year, but it's NOT a Twin Cam, it's the last of the big Evolution engines.) Total internal repairs since purchase are one primary chain, one clutch (both done just past 100K), and two stators. He has 165,000 miles.

It has gotten nothing but 15W-40 Rotella since the second oil change (first was gratis from the dealer)...though I must note, it DOES have a very large oil cooler.
 
Originally Posted By: Atesz792
Originally Posted By: ricky66
I would expect these motors to last forever given they're very under stressed and have pitiful power outputs. R11RT's struggled to break 100 mph!.....even when new.

Come on, really? An 1100cc bike struggling to get to 100mph?


My Sister owned a Yamaha V-star 1100 Silverado. It struggled to reach 100 mph. It was definitely not what would be called a power-cruiser.

An R1100RT in good running condition, and under good riding conditions, should be able to reach approx. 125 mph
 
There's a 2000 RT near me for sale with 28,000 miles for $2800 . All the things I researched shows final drive and trans output shaft problems. Someone makes a modified clutch hub that engages the shaft better . The final drives can be fixed by a guy named Bruno but he's on a years hiatus . Also aren't the brakes electric servo activated and the control unit is 2k ?
 
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