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Six Months with a K1200 R Sport

In December 2007 I signed up for a BMW K 1200 R Sport after much debate between many other bikes (Aprilia Touno, MV Agusta Brutale, Ducati S4 Monster and Triumph to name a few). I have previously owned 27 road and dirt bikes but never a BMW.

First Impressions

Initially on the test ride I was amaz...ed by the sheer top end acceleration which was punctuated by the performance of the brakes. The R Sport is sneaky as it get beyond the speed limit before you realize just how fast you are actually going. It is a big bike but is effortless at speed.
Engine.
In the first few hours I noticed the digital effect of the fuel injection causing a repetitive cycle of surge pulsing at around 1000rpm. The fuel injection has a noticeable immediate delay on acceleration but this only lasts in sub-second delay and seems to disappear after riding the bike for a while. Of course the benefit of the fuel injection system is that the management of a choke for starting and warm up temperature is a thing of the past.
The engine has an appreciable whine at times seemingly more noticeable in the final stages of deceleration before pulling up to stop. Others have also noticed this whine and mentioned on a number of blogs about this bike. For a 1200 it seems relatively slow off the mark but this slowness vaporizes into incredible terminal velocity. At parking lot speeds the bike is a little cumbersome and care is needed ahead of time to plan out entry and exit paths to park if the space is limited and cramped. However once you become accustomed to this characteristic there is little to no difficulty in maneuvering to almost any space.
Transmission.
Once on the road it took me a few hours to figure out the transmission. Gear change to taller gears is excellent with up shifting being silky smooth. Downshifting with the clutch is a little clunky but once you experiment with the throttle using small blips to downshift, you can easily and very smoothly downshift without the throttle (although if your not exact with the timing of each blip the bike will jerk forward into submission).
Cornering.
Tracking through corners is superb with very predictable with adherence to whatever line you choose. This predictable feel builds great confidence and with an engine this powerful I am dumbfounded at how easy it (could be) to be cornering at 120 MPH plus. The K1200 R Sport has cornering clearance beyond the service limit of the tires. I have managed to scrub the tires out to the very edge (the chicken strips) without any grounding of the foot pegs of the exhaust.
In the last 400 miles I have had the BMW recommended performance pipe fitted. Caution is needed here as all of the BMW accessory catalogs show almost all of the other BMW models with the Akrapovic performance pipes when infact the standard accessory for the K 1200 R Sport pipe is a Lazer. I was under the impression that when I ordered the pipe it would be an Akrapovic but upon closer look the Lazer is the exception in the entire BMW accessorycatalog. OK, so my false impressions aside the pipe get the bike off the line a little faster than the standard exhaust and add what seems to be a few HP in the mid-range. I have yet to remove the baffle insert from the end of the pipe to see how much difference this make, however the BMW dealer says removal of the baffle adds more noise and little real additional performance.
Overall the K1200R Sport has very good road feel, has an incredible motor and while not a flickable as a Touno or as fast off the line as an R1 this motorcycle is formidable as a sports bike that is fun to ride every day.

Of course BMW provide beautiful engineering comfortable ergonomics for my 6ft 1" frame and a 3 year warranty.
I am very happy with my investment.

Russ Ward
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