RE: I think I'm leaving the fold... - 2

MM, I'm looking into buying one of these bikes. Let me know if you do decide to sell it.

Will do!

It took me a bit of time to adjust to the RS coming from telelever but the more I ride it the more I like it. A bit different then my GS. Good luck in your search.

I was within a hairsbreadth of selling my R1200RT because I found it to be too heavy/bulky after I had recovered from a serious injury (I fell out of a tree from 6 m / 18 ft height). Someone talked me into fitting that bike with Dunlop Road Smart 3 tyres. That transformed the bulky bike into a light footed easy to manoevre bike. Now I’m 19k km’s further and on the second set of RS 3 tyres. I shared a R1200RS with The Mrs. She fell with the RS almost 3 months ago after an evasive manoevre. She decided the fall would not have taken place had she been riding a lighter bike. And so the search began. After 14 hours of test riding the Tracer 700, the F700GS and the Tiger 800, she chose the F700GS, just a tad heavier than the Tracer 700 and a tad lighter than the RS. You won’t hear me complaining about her decision: I no longer have to share the RS.
Bottom line: I rode on the Tracer 700 and the F700GS. Felt the Tracer as the leightest bike. Tracer and GS a fraction easier to move around at lower speeds. Did enjoy the both of them. But wouldn’t want to trade in my RS for either one of them.

Same. I rode the BMW F800ST/GT for a number of years. A much lighter bike and easier to get around at low speeds -granted. However, the RS out performs those bikes in all other aspects.

I too had a F800, an S in my case. In almost all respects, it was a wonderful bike. It handled, braked and cornered truly superbly and was low, light and induced great confidence. It was also deceptively fast and on the back roads that I mostly inhabit was truly superb. You could really throw it around if you were in the mood. It was also very pretty and regularly returned 65mpg. Mind you, my R1200 RS does very nearly that!

However, the engine was very clattery and simply lacked the poke to be safe on motorways and A roads. Simply not enough in reserve to make the sort of fast manoeuvres that I think are needed to keep safe. There were also multiple horror stories at the time about catastrophic problems with the Rotax engine that freaked me out. Ditto electronic fears. I never had anything go wrong with mine (except all the bloody paint starting to come off the engine!) but I eventually sold it as it did not quite do it for me. Occasionally, I still miss it when I am slicing through a country road.

The R1200RS is a much better option for me but much heavier, larger and more cumbersome by comparison.

I agree that weight is the bane of modern bikes, including my beloved RS. In heavy traffic, when I have little else to do except wait - my thoughts turn to weight.
When I am pulled up beside a 125 or a 250, it is easy to see where the weight comes from on the RS. Everything is just plain BIG because it is hauling a lot more metal and the dynamic loads are that much greater. That is obvious from the tyres / wheels / suspension design / units and then the frame to hold all together.
Could BMW make a light weight mid-range shaft driven flat twin? Yes. Would it be lighter than the F series? No, not without a lot more money spent on materials.
Go park next to a Norton Commando from the '70's and you will see that not only has the Toyota Corolla grown from a sub-compact to a mid-size sedan - so have motorcycles.
It may be possible to trade to a motorcycle with a 30 kg weight advantage over the RS. Sadly, I could probable get the same weight advantage by proper diet, exercise and doing everything my wife tells me to do.....

What is worse is that some motorcycles are becoming even heavier for some reason when they are redesigned to conform to Euro 4/5. As an example, the new BMW F850GS weighs about 50 pounds more than the previous F800GS, most of which appears to come from their new pressed-steel frame - just like the type that they used during the 1930's.

Grumpy, I test rode the Z900 RS and liked it very much, but I decided I didn't want a bike without cruise control.
I test rode the new Triumph Speed Triple 1050 and liked everything about it except the ergonomics.
And last month, my local dealer received a Yamaha Tracer 900 GT and I bought it! BTW, I still have my R1200 RS, I traded in my Triumph Bonneville.

I am very impressed with the Tracer GT: fantastic engine, hard bags, cruise control, heated grips, TFT display, light and nimble. 105 BHP at the rear tire out of a 850cc engine, not as powerful as the RS but very satisfying power nonetheless, about 50 mpg and 200 mile gas tank range. It's a very competent motorcycle, not as sophisticated as our RS, but a fantastic bike if you are looking for something smaller and lighter than our RS.

Well...As far as the Z900RS, I've done an awful lot of research/searching/discussing/visiting dealers and have concluded that the Z900RS would be a good choice for me.

Being new to BMW's anyway (first one in 2015) after MANY years of riding, shaft drive is not a big deal to me. I DO like it but chain maintenance has never struck me as much of a chore - been doing it all my life and modern sealed chains don't need much in comparison to the days where I removed the chain on my Norton Commando, cleaned it in a bucket of gasoline and then soaked it in boiling grease on the kitchen stove! Heck, my Norton now has a sealed chain and it hasn't needed anything other than a spray of lube once in a while in the 6 years it's been on there. So I wouldn't pick a bike BECAUSE it had shaft drive. I also really like the cruise control on the RS but when we get to the roads we WANT to ride on, I don't use cruise control at all and you couldn't really use it.

I admit I haven't yet ridden a Z900RS but I think I'll really like it...we'll see when we get back to TX next month. Local dealers near San Antonio have both the RS and the RS cafe...

I'm surprised you find the RS too heavy but we don't know your build, height weight etc. I came from an Tiger Explorer 1200 which was about 270kg wet and it was top heavy with it, I found that heavy to move around but o.k. when riding.

I'm wanting to move away from the RS but for the opposite reason, sort of. I love the RS which has just had its 12k service having had its 6k service in April, the milage build up was down to a trip down to Italy fully loaded and 2 up. The RS performed very well with some of the days being 9 hours in the saddle, the only complaint was the wife could of done with a bit more room.

On returning to the U.K. we have been out a few times together and the wife has said she preferred the RS when it was loaded up, we all know what she means, you get a more planted feel with all that weight, so when I took the RS in for its service I had an hour long test ride on an RT. First of all I found the seat uncomfortable, the ride quite firm although upon my return to the dealer he pointed out another menu for setting the ride quality, but in the end even with the added weight of the RT I didn't think there was enough difference to justify the cost of changing. This leaves one more bike to try in the BMW range, you guessed it the K1600, variant unknown although I would prefer the GT sport, I'll let you how I get on.

My 2017 R1200RS is swell, but it isn't my 2013 K1300S. I LOVE my K1300S, and the R1200RS is a pale comparison.

The seating position, the comfort, the posture, the suspension, the balance, are all perfect on the K1300S. note, mods include zero gravity touring windscreen, and a Sargent seat. The only thing it is really missing is a license-saving cruise control. It has a throttlemeister, but it ain't cruise.

I love the electronics package on the RS (including the Nav VI), including its cruise control (just finished a cross-Canada ride on the weekend), but its seating position, comfort (on my 4th seat after tall stock, wunderlich, standard sargent, and now tall sargent), posture, suspension, are all "nice", but they're not perfection. Its balance is perfect though, I'll give it that.

Once I install my MCCruise cruise control kit on my K1300S, I may begin to forget about the RS entirely.

I'm surprised you find the RS too heavy but we don't know your build, height weight etc. "

I'm 6ft, 165 lbs. I find the RS to be a bit "heavy" handling-wise as well as just moving it around in the driveway. It weighs around 530lbs compared to around 470 for my R9T, which also "flicks" into turns somewhat easier. My Norton Commando weighs around 440 and, of course, although it has a fraction of the power, it is by far the easiest of the three to toss around. I don't do any pillion riding so having a large bike with a lot of displacement/power to handle pillion and luggage is not necessary.

Admittedly, the RS is the first bike I have ever owned that weighed over 500 lbs. The previous heaviest bike is the 9T. Until the 9T, 430-440 lbs was the heaviest bikes I owned - last bike I purchased new before the 9T was a Ducati 996. Before that, three previous Ducati SBs. I much prefer that feel though, no surprise, the riding position is no longer much fun for very long! :)

There is nothing at all "wrong" with the K1300S. It is a bullet, actually a very fast bullet. AFAIK it is as fast in the real world as a Hayabusa. It is more sophisticated than the Suzuki.
Even though I admire it (and I admire the K1600 as well), I just can't use a bike like that. It is beyond my skill by so much, it would be a shame for me to have one.
The RS is also able to be ridden easily at far beyond my personal limits. It has more power than I can ever use for more than a moment or two.
If power was sex appeal, it is easy to see why the K1300S is popular.
But.... it weighs more. It is physically larger. It is mechanically very complex. It is very difficult to undertake any form of servicing on the top end. I think it would be harder to lift up if (gasp) it decided to lay down for a rest and....
Twins give me the impression of a heart beat, a pulse - the essence of the bike being alive. Fours and above are just so refined that I can't feel the bike.