Staff bikes: BMW R1200RT - Ten days, 650 miles and all is cool…just wet

At some point over the next few months I might get to find out what the BMW R1200RT I am running as a long term test bike is like to ride in the dry.

So far, the bike has been out in the wet, the damp, the slightly less than torrential rain, torrential rain and farmers muck covered roads. I think I did one journey in the dry. But it rained on the way home.

Even so, there are few bikes better suited to these conditions than the big RT which just feels planted, stable and with ABS, traction control and the ESAII all working together it makes for a nice ride.

The only issue is with trying to keep it clean which is a two-hour job each time. Not a problem as far as my four-year-old eldest son Oliver is concerned because he gets to wield the hosepipe. Or, if he’s really lucky, the jetwasher!

Close cleaning has revealed a dinked balance pipe which has clearly taken a stone impact at high speed. Other than that there is a microscopic amount of corrosion on the front brake disc but this will certainly clean off once the salty roads are clear.

I had got a trip to Scotland planned this week but that’s before I realised it was Easter weekend. I’ve put it back a week and am really looking forward to going back to Moffat.

I’m going to be staying at the Buccleuch Arms Hotel which is about as biker friendly as it’s possible for a hotel to be. Owner Dave and son Clint both have BMW R1200RTs so it will be good to see what they think of the new one.

Further reading:
Staff bike blogs | R1200RT blog

R1200RT10 BLOG10