Have had the bike for four weeks now, and riding it gets better every time, I can now see why they are so popular and win the best touring bike award so often. Took the forums advice and had the venture shield fitted, not cheap, but then neither is having the paintwork touched up. The insurance issue is very similar to other posts I've read, Carol Nash wanted silly money to add it to my other bike where as Bennetts were very reasonable and were aware of the extras and paint etc. I have put a fender extender on, the no drill Avant one from Nippy Normans, the standard guard is no where near long enough. My local dealer said they couldn't supply the splash guard infill's, so I bought these from Normans as well. I didn't want the wife to have wet ankles, which I'm told can be a problem. I also need the I-pod connection for the audio system, which again they seem unable to supply, despite being listed in the sales brochure. They did fit my splash guards whilst in for it's first service, which was free as part of the deal, but charged me £71, maybe I'm being greedy, but I thought that's a bit steep.
Also bought the genuine BMW luggage liner bags from e-bay. As new and only used once or twice for a £100 , good quality, but are a little to bulky, and are not the perfect fit, especially the top box bag. If space is a premium then you would be able to pack a lot more the old fashioned way in black bin liners. The downside to this being that the top box is not a straight forward removal like the old GS.Whilst talking of luggage, you can easily load more on a GS than the RT. I don't like the idea of drilling holes in the top box to fit a rack, and I can find only one bag on N,N's that could fit on top of the box with the Velcro pads.
At 5'6'' with a 29'' inside leg the bike is a good fit, although the bars could do with pulling back a touch, and a low seat would solve all the off camber issues. The front screen is good but a bit noisy, so I will fit a wider tinted one before French trip. My only real dislike is the massive blind spot in the mirrors, however I now find myself doing the life 'saver look' before moving. Gear box can sometimes be clunky, even with the pro-shift, but maybe that will improve with a few more miles. I didn't think that I was going to enjoy it as much as I have, I viewed it as a sort of bland old mans sort of bike, how wrong can one be, although the new colours are are not that exciting, they should have kept the blue one and got rid of the beige one. They have now started offering the RT in a candy green in the style of the iconic. It's about £18250 without the audio or dynamic package, sat nav or pipe, which now makes the iconic look a more reasonable price. A new fully loaded GS Rallye is pushing close to 20k.
Also bought the genuine BMW luggage liner bags from e-bay. As new and only used once or twice for a £100 , good quality, but are a little to bulky, and are not the perfect fit, especially the top box bag. If space is a premium then you would be able to pack a lot more the old fashioned way in black bin liners. The downside to this being that the top box is not a straight forward removal like the old GS.Whilst talking of luggage, you can easily load more on a GS than the RT. I don't like the idea of drilling holes in the top box to fit a rack, and I can find only one bag on N,N's that could fit on top of the box with the Velcro pads.
At 5'6'' with a 29'' inside leg the bike is a good fit, although the bars could do with pulling back a touch, and a low seat would solve all the off camber issues. The front screen is good but a bit noisy, so I will fit a wider tinted one before French trip. My only real dislike is the massive blind spot in the mirrors, however I now find myself doing the life 'saver look' before moving. Gear box can sometimes be clunky, even with the pro-shift, but maybe that will improve with a few more miles. I didn't think that I was going to enjoy it as much as I have, I viewed it as a sort of bland old mans sort of bike, how wrong can one be, although the new colours are are not that exciting, they should have kept the blue one and got rid of the beige one. They have now started offering the RT in a candy green in the style of the iconic. It's about £18250 without the audio or dynamic package, sat nav or pipe, which now makes the iconic look a more reasonable price. A new fully loaded GS Rallye is pushing close to 20k.
