Still Working On It

On my BMW K1200LT (Luxury Touring) bike, I'm still finding things to Fix Or Improve. So far over 40 projects! The gear box at the rear wheel and the transmission have me most concerned. On the BMWLT website every day there are postings of these problems. But I have to remember only bad things are posted, rarely how reliable most bikes are.

As with any Luxury vehicle it has more farkels to go wrong. Just like the Cadillac.

I'm trying to make it more reliable. Linda and I have ridden it several times without any problem while we are on it. When we went to the Davis Mt's, 4 weeks ago at 80 MPH it ran great both ways. But at those speeds gas mileage dropped off 5-10 mpg and with 2 up, the extra weight. (Don't read anything into that!) After fixing the speedo that was 10% optimistic (now 1%) the gas mileage went way down. If I had known the speedometer was so fast when we brought it home from CA, I would have sped up. It took us 12 or 13 hours when we do it in 10.5-11 normally.

It had/has several oil leaks, none serious, but one concerns me that it could get on the clutch making us non-mobile. A few other problems like a bearing going out unexpectedly on a long trip could end up costing $1000 or more, shortening our trip, and trucking it home.

But then again I can fix most problems, have bought several extra spare parts locally for a third of the cost than from BMW.

I'm really getting more used to it's top heaviness, and Linda and I have used it in town versus the car as part of our Dating plan. With Linda, myself and stuff for a trip we could be over 1325#'s. Yes, a very small car!

I have put it on Craigslist for several weeks, got a few hits, but no buyers. If I can fix a few more things, make it more long term reliable and if Linda will go with me more often I may keep it. One nice feature is it has a intercom, the other day it did not work and it was boring when she could not speak to me as easily. We both like how much more comfortable it is over my 1100cc Suzuki's, 2 up. It is too heavy for her to drive except in an emergency, with her bad wrists, etc.

Right now it keeping me busy. But those German engineers never heard of KISS.