New Motorcycle and things I have learned...
I have recently traded up for a newer motorcycle, This one is 10 years old instead of 30. And instead of a Yamaha I went for BMW, a K1200LT to be exact. I read the forums for a year to find out the reality behind these bikes and walk into buying one with my eyes open. I almost skipped buying one based on the information in the forums because all it does is paint a gloom and doom picture of the bike. I also discovered that most rides of this bike are actually people that really do not know how to ride a large and top heavy motorcycle. The K1200LT is "known" to be top heavy, and it has a reputation of being easy to drop and most people that own one drops them regularly. This alone made me very curious and decided to do some research in the matter, Here is what I found....
Most Owners of the K1200LT are very old, in their mid 50's and older so they do not have very much upper body strength anymore. (I'm 43, I know That "very old" is right around the corner for me.)
The K1200LT is designed for people that are 5'10" or taller. anything shorter and you will have problems reaching the ground and having a good solid two foot bent knee plant on the ground to keep the bike up.
The K1200LT from 2002- current has power brakes. Yes a motorcycle has power brakes, and even without them it has triple HUGE discs with 4 piston calipers and sintered pads. This makes the bike stop on a dime. At slow speeds the bike will simply stop and let the rider continue on. Coupled with low upper body strength and they topple over. Riders coming from big old harleys or goldwings that have brakes that have a nice slow and graceful stopping speed will get bitten by the instant stopping that this bike delivers. You then have the problem of the suspension unloading and popping all that weight and energy back, if you are not ready for it, over you go.
Most of the time the rider is doing something wrong. Mounting the bike from the Right hand side, using the footpeg as a stair step, stopping at a light and only putting one foot down, etc.. All of these are major mistakes that on very low center of gravity bikes will tip you over, but not drop the bike. On a tall bike like the LT, you will tip past the point of no return and over it goes.
The bike I chose is unfortunately priced for the rich old retired guy, just like how harley Road Kings are priced. But they are designed for a 20-50 year old strong rider that has good upper body strength and fast reaction times. It requires that you have your wits about you at all times, that means paying attention when you come to a stop, even paying attention to what you are putting your feet down on.
Basically, if you are older and you cant bench 80 pounds easily or leg lift 400 you should NOT buy a tall top heavy motorcycle. This is the mixture that happens on this bike, Shorter older men that are not physically fit are buying too much bike and having problems with it. And sadly most BMW bikes are built for tall fit people because every single bike BMW makes is tall and top heavy.
So if you are a young guy, 25-55 Go and buy this bike, you will get the most out of it and have the most fun on it. It is a fantastic machine that if you have the stature and strength for it, it will take you anywhere and everywhere.. Except for in soft sand, dont even TRY that.
Most Owners of the K1200LT are very old, in their mid 50's and older so they do not have very much upper body strength anymore. (I'm 43, I know That "very old" is right around the corner for me.)
The K1200LT is designed for people that are 5'10" or taller. anything shorter and you will have problems reaching the ground and having a good solid two foot bent knee plant on the ground to keep the bike up.
The K1200LT from 2002- current has power brakes. Yes a motorcycle has power brakes, and even without them it has triple HUGE discs with 4 piston calipers and sintered pads. This makes the bike stop on a dime. At slow speeds the bike will simply stop and let the rider continue on. Coupled with low upper body strength and they topple over. Riders coming from big old harleys or goldwings that have brakes that have a nice slow and graceful stopping speed will get bitten by the instant stopping that this bike delivers. You then have the problem of the suspension unloading and popping all that weight and energy back, if you are not ready for it, over you go.
Most of the time the rider is doing something wrong. Mounting the bike from the Right hand side, using the footpeg as a stair step, stopping at a light and only putting one foot down, etc.. All of these are major mistakes that on very low center of gravity bikes will tip you over, but not drop the bike. On a tall bike like the LT, you will tip past the point of no return and over it goes.
The bike I chose is unfortunately priced for the rich old retired guy, just like how harley Road Kings are priced. But they are designed for a 20-50 year old strong rider that has good upper body strength and fast reaction times. It requires that you have your wits about you at all times, that means paying attention when you come to a stop, even paying attention to what you are putting your feet down on.
Basically, if you are older and you cant bench 80 pounds easily or leg lift 400 you should NOT buy a tall top heavy motorcycle. This is the mixture that happens on this bike, Shorter older men that are not physically fit are buying too much bike and having problems with it. And sadly most BMW bikes are built for tall fit people because every single bike BMW makes is tall and top heavy.
So if you are a young guy, 25-55 Go and buy this bike, you will get the most out of it and have the most fun on it. It is a fantastic machine that if you have the stature and strength for it, it will take you anywhere and everywhere.. Except for in soft sand, dont even TRY that.
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