Last Updated on: July 29, 2018

The decision to change motorcycle had been made early 2017. Well in fact, the thought, or plan, established itself as the PMS (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome) settled in (much too soon) during the early dark days of winter.

This is the period of the year where we, here up north, well those of us with a passion for motorcycles, spend a ridiculous amount of time reading, researching and watching a gazillion motorcycle reviews. I’m absolutely no exception 🙂

Project New Motorcycle

Mentioned in an earlier blog post, I had made the decision to go for something different. Not because I was particularly dissatisfied, or unhappy with my previous choice. Not at all, almost quite the contrary, which I sum up briefly here. However, the feeling of being ready for the next, shall I call it level, had more than infested my mind.

During winter of this year (especially) I did a fair amount of research. Considering options, considering I wanted, and as important, considering and weighing what people, more so friends, said. Reading myself up, listening to advice and watching countless video clips and reviews.

I ended up with some good alternatives, but as winter ebbed I still did not have a plan. Looking back on the progression of vehicles it was quite obvious the next had to be something newer.

Summing up my motorcycle ownership history

Since returning to motorcycle riding in 2015 I’ve had 3 touring bikes. Starting off with the Honda NT650 Deauville, written about it here. Wanted something smaller, not too powerful, cheap and easy to handle in the beginning while knocking off rust. It did the job, I could easily recommend this bike to anyone who are beginners.

Someone told me this thing doesn’t stop running unless you shoot it dead or put dynamite under it. I am willing to believe that. Nicknamed “Dullsville” it might just be the right thing for pragmatic, sensible people (to begin with).

Honda NT650 Deauville, also nicknamed honda Dullsville might be the right thing for beginners.

From Japan to Germany, and BMW

Ever since i rode BMW boxer motorcycle first time in, ,think it was 1978 (dang… am I that old… hehe) I’ve had a passion for these things. At the time quirky looking, behaving like a ship in storm when accelerating or decelerating, they were something different from the domnating Japanese mainstream.

Clearly this type of bike is not everyone’s cup of tea but fast forward to the 21st century BMW Motorrad churns out some of the most sold, and popular bikes on the planet.

Not knowing if I’d still have the same positive feeling for Beemers I settled for a mint condition 2003 BMW R1150RT mid-August 2015. It turned out to be a great choice, at least for a while. Quickly realized this was something for me, at that stage.

Despite weight and a bulky appearance it was/is a great touring bike, with sporty enough handling capabilities for me. Storage and weather protection is excellent. There are still quite a few of these about on Norwegian roads and elsewhere I’d imagine.

It has a certain flare, personally I like the design of the 2003 11150 RT

R1150RT – yet another in-between stage

I owned it for about 10 months, and rode some 12-13000 kilometers on it. Originally I’d planned to go down through Europe the year after with with the Silver glider. But during the spring of 2016 I realized it would not cut it for me. Nothing wrong with the motorcycle itself, but I felt I needed something more modern. With more up to date ABS breaks, alarm, and miscellaneous other things.

If I were to give one piece of advice to anyone considering this motorcycle it would be this: make sure it has spotless service history, that the mileage is not too high. And almost above all, make sure the O-Ring on the spindle of the rear wheel is either replaced or in top nick. This is an Achilles heel, and not only on this model. For as it turned out, the exact same issue emerged on ..

R1200RT, the updated model

June, think it was 4th, last year, completely on a whim, it was a Saturday, woke up thinking.. today something will change. A few hours later I owned a well kept BM R1200RT 2010 model, with bells & whistles in abundance. 38,500 kilometer on the odometer, sold with 6 months of warranty.

That turned out to be a blessing, a month and a half later. You can read that story here. Despite the mentioned issue the bike was a dream to ride. It became a good companion and I enjoyed it, a lot. Both the BMW RTs, even if vastly different from a technological & riding point of view, and age, have one thing in common. They are very relaxing to ride, something I would claim may be underestimated.

Mercedes Benz once did a study that proved owners of their cars had lower heart rate that those owning other vehicles. I wonder if the same might be the case with BMW Motorrad’s Boxer engine based motorcycles. And why there rank among the most sold motorcycles of late. There is something about them that does make you feel well. Makes you feel comfy, and relaxed.

The fasit: did over 15,000 kilometers on the R1200RT. It delivered on all accounts, well almost. As mentioned earlier, knew something new would happen in 2017. It did, and will be the subject of my next post. 🙂