Sorta RT retraction

[RBEmerson]

After busting on a '15 RT, I find myself on a late 0(something - black with reflective "checkerboard" pattern) loaner. I tried it on one of the area's more interesting roads - up to near hairpins in a 9% grade. The bike surprisingly wel and wasn't as buzzy as the '15. It still buzzes, just not to the point of objection. I basically didn't let the tach drop below 3K and didn't sweat which gear I was in to stay around 4-5K. Two big issues, somewhat related. The CG has to be relatively high, given the height of the seat. At 6' and a 34" inseam, I can flatfoot the bike, I'm not happy about not being able to get a wider stance to support the bike at a stop. The steering is amazingly twitchy. It enough to make me wonder if a steering damper is toast. The suspension, even in comfortable mode is pretty stiff. I was bounced around far more than I expected, while doing 60ish on a somewhat uneven road. I'm not in the market for an RT but, if I were just coming into BMW's, this bike would get a good hard look and consideration.

[Sport-Touring]

[RBEmerson]

OK, pedigree resolved - this RT was built in January of '09. The production foreman's name is... aren't VIN websites wonderful?

The reason why there seemed to be no difference in the settings other than sport is... wait for it... here it comes... almost here... and... The rider didn't RTFM. The suspension setting can't be changed on the fly. Stopped and changed, comfortable is... comfortable. Not cushy, just comfortable. Normal is a little firmer, and sports is "lose some fillings". Dunno why the PO didn't get ASC with ESA, but he didn't.

I've spent some time chasing the bike a bit harder through mostly near-twisties (curves, moderately tight, but not that tight) and a very few stacked 90° corners (left then right or vice versa). I guess sport feels a little more assertive, if not aggressive. Comfortable doesn't render the RT unable to round short radius turns. No doubt a pro could easily show me the errors of my ways.

I spent some time fiddling with the seat (v. nice to have a manual for the bike!) and found it's as low (in a relative sense) as it's ever going to get. Why this bike is so tall still escapes me.  

The funny thing is that the more I ride the bike, the more I like it. What saves me from a serious dustup with SWMBO over a bike change is a) no water cooling and b) I still hope Publishers Clearing House will send their Prize Patrol, with a sizable delivery, to our front door. a) Find a different bike or don't get stuck in traffic in the summer. b) Penguins hope they can fly.

[Stripes]

 

[RBEmerson]

More validation... Earlier this week, twice I saw groups of police hexheads escorting VIP's through Berlin. Woohoo.

Although we may agree, we may both be wrong.

[RBEmerson]

I gave the RT back to Hermy's and jumped on my RS. First and foremost, that wretched ZTech-whatever muffler (sic) is gone. I shot video on my way to Hermy's and the drone of that thing filled the audio track. I won't miss the incredibly tall saddle (PO's height unknown - my 34" inseam was barely able to flatfoot the bike). But overall, I really liked the bike. By comparison, my RS' saddle has a much shorter seating space than the RT. The motor is sooooo much quieter. The tranny is far less clunky, although this RT's tranny wasn't so bad. NTL, the clunks are hard to miss in the video. Of course the RS' motor has a lot more muscle - no fair comparision here. The lock-to-lock arc for the RT is larger than the RS' - I was surprised about that. Finally, the darn throttle on the RS is still too hard to twist. I have a connection a local indy shop who's going to get a call about this and when seems to be a TPS issue...

Bottom line: I much prefer this RT to the wethead, but still like my RS more.