BMW K1200LT (1999 - 2007) Review

Version: I

Year: 2000

Annual servicing cost: £250

I bought this bike new in January of 2000. I have ridden over half of the U.S. on this bike. Best features: It has a super smooth ride, comfortable seat, plenty of power, corners excellent, stops safely and quickly when needed, easy to remove back tire for repair, lots of storage convenience. Mine has 6 CD changer and cassette players for us old school riders, Loud horn for safety. I still love the looks of the front and size of the windshield over the newer models. Worst features: not enough leg stretch room for tall riders on long rides, very hard to get on center stand if back tire is flat. GPS would be nice but i can read a map. The narrow front tire is horrible in deep gravel with the weight of the bike.

Buying experience: Bought from dealer in KC, MO. Excellent experience, great price and financing.

Year: 2003

Required expensive surgery to remove the ABS 'modulator'...a common problem apparently...Much better for it..

Buying experience: $8000 for a very low mileage machine

Version: Lux

Year: 2004

Annual servicing cost: £100

Superb comfort solo or two up and loaded for a 2 week tour. Servicing is easy although it takes time to get to what you need (valves, fuel and air filter for instance)

Buying experience: Bought privately.

Version: Lux

Year: 2007

Annual servicing cost: £450

Brilliant to ride, eats miles like nothing else. Cost of repairs and servicing can put you off your dinner!!

Buying experience: Bought from coopers Sunderland new 2008. Just been in today to trade in for new R1200Rs SE. Good dealer to buy from.

Version: LT

Year: 2002

I would recommend it if you have deep pockets

Buying experience: purchased private. The seller lied to get rid of it spent weeks repairing it. It has cost about 1200 to sort out.

Year: 2007

Annual servicing cost: £500

Good touring machine but too expensive regarding servicing and parts

Having TWO 1200Lts in my garage must say something! The first now with 192 663 on the clock starts, runs, and still on a good long run gives me 3.9L/100km (over 70mpg)(ok at 110kmh) have never seen high consumptions... ok she eats pads, wrinkles discs and causes me headaches to service her, but she is irreplaceable, that is why I bought a second one to keep "AMY" company in the garage. Have been running Bms since 1979 and must say that if the in line six is anything like the four has been since 1983.... a beemer owner will be a happy owner.... ps the bikes live here with me in France.... no road tax, no MOTs!! heaven

I'm on my 3rd K1200LT since my first in 1999... And I hope they continue to make this model forever as I'll never change! I read with interest about those who have had problems and suggest that you are very unlucky and in the minority as this is my 3rd and never an issue. The problems with second hand could be (I'm not saying they are) because the bikes haven't been fully serviced by BMW technicians each time (that's bound to start an argument, sorry!) So why do I love this bike so much...Coming from a goldwing 'caravan' that may be obvious but if you respect the size and weight of the bike then it handles like a dream, has a lovely aerodynamic style and is well equiped. OK you still have to be a big person to pick it up from its side! But the main reason I'll never change is after my accident last year! ...I'd put my previous K1200LT to the test 5 years ago when the ABS saved me from piling into the back of a motorway pile up. That was scary but there was no doubt in my mind that the ABS saved my life....And then I was unfortunate enough to have my first accident in 16 years of daily biking last year when I lost grip at 30mph around a bend straight into oncoming traffic! I walked away with only bruises thanks to the design of the bike! The scooped out shape of the fairing around the rider and the bulbous front fairing and rear panniers took the whole brunt of the fall as they are designed to do. Instead of trapping me and dragging me down the road or worse ripping off my limbs, the bike simply slid over me allowing me to roll out of the way whilst it carered down the road straight into the oncoming car. Speeds were greatly reduced by the time the bike hit the oncoming car but believe it or not the car suffered worse damage than my bike which incidentally was not a write off! The panniers and fairing crash bars bore the total force of the entire crash apart from the top box and wheels that wiped out the entire side of the car as it swerved to avoid me. So luck may have also been on my side that day but once again this bike confirmed to me that I was far safer on it than any other bike I can think of! And thats more important to me than the risk that I'll buy one with a technical fault or whatever next time around.... You don't need to go touring to enjoy this bike. If you're into comfortable safe biking and need lots of pannier space like me then this is the model for you.

I am on my second K12LT – the first one (1999) never missed a beat and the second one (2005) seems similar. Friends refer to it as the “Light Truck” due to its weight and those who have not ridden on pass it off as only good for touring – oh how wrong they are! The K12LT will appeal to riders who want to enjoy the journey as much as the destination – getting there with the minimum of fuss at a surprisingly rapid rate of knots, with good economy – while keeping the other half free from aches’ and pains. They are easy to live with and are as happy to be run down to the supermarket for the weekly shopping as they are commuting to work or going away. A “Hamburger with the Lot” is another expression that describes the never-ending list of mostly useful gadgets that comes standard. A cruise control that will keep your license, a reverse gear that will get you out of a tight space and a stereo that you can really hear to name but a few. Oh – and for those that think these are slow – the LT is more than capable of picking up its skirt and run off into the distance quite rapidly too – much to the embarrassment of many quicker bikes – and keep going and going thanks to the excellent wind protection, good economy and a seat that well is…… “Just Ok” Do they go wrong - my first one had one electrical issue which was was fixed with a new Radio. The second (touch wood) has not missed a beat but with anything - I wouldn't leave home without some road side breakdown cover! So if you are after something is covered with gadgets, can do intergalactic mileage, commute, tour, go shopping and still scrub up well enough to park it in the foyer at your local Hilton – get one.

I purchased a 2005 model K1200LT via an authorised BMW dealer having previously had an R1200RT,FJR1300,VTR1000,XJ900,R100RT,R80RT, GSX750 Etc. Not a born again Bike, just never gave it up. Having had the R1200RT for 3yrs, it was time to trade up and to be honest, it was the wifes choice because she wanted to join us on our previously(Men Only touring holidays) The bike was purchase in May 2008 having 8.5k miles, its now September 2008 and she has 16k showing on the speedo. The bike itself I have no problems with, everything you hear about it is true. Munches miles in superb comfy style, is comfy for rider and passenger alike, a good genuine tourer. The downside is its weight and bulk especially if your short in the leg, I only have a 27" inseem so its best to plan where your going to park-up or where your leaving it. However, with reverse being available, that has got me out of loads of problems. The issues I have are with the POOR QUALITY of the bike and the constant failures on a bike such as I have never heard of before! Briefly I or the bike has suffered the following:- Brake disc wobble. This will be the second pair of discs fitted in under 6k miles! It unacceptable even for a bike not fitted with the fully floating type of discs. Both seats have absorbed water through having stitching at the top of each seat(WHY?) Goodness me, the Brittish Motorcycle engines could not hold their oil with a split crankcase and here we have Top German Engineering trying to keep water out through several stitched seems put at the top of the seats!!!(Madness or what)The electrics and switches are fine as long as you dont ride in the wet, seriously! When ridden in the wet, there have been bulb failures, the Starter Motor was running when the engine was working, if the clutch leaver was pulled in the lights would go out!! Also, when this happened, reverse was out of the question unless you wanted the whole lot to ingest itself, belt driven of course. The electro-hydraulic centre stand failed twice when at the highest point, causing the bike to come down like a chimney thats been blown up by Fred Dymphna. Rear suspension that seems to enjoy bottoming-out at the smallest of bums causing the bike to change direction when warm or hot. This is enormous fun if your in a car following me, but all it does for me is work as the BEST LAXATIVE known to man. To have 400kg of bike, wife and luggage deciding where IT WANTS TO GO rather than following my intended path is no fun at all. It makes one of those gladiator type chaps ordeal of being fed to the Lions as being positivly more appealing, I would rather face a lion than trying to control that little lot!!!! Of course, you then get the remark from the wife, did you really want to go across those 3 lanes like that? Showing off again!! If only she knew I had just emptied my bowels, been sick had a heart attack, a stroke and was now suffering from appopletic shock(Showing Off!)Sorry about the spelling. This is a £15 GRAND BIKE for goodness sake and its got as much reliability built into it as an old 1970' Skoda Estelle (Remember the Skip Joke?) Or an eastern block MZ 250!! And for those of you who think that this is purely a 'one-off' situation, most of these faults are shared with a mate who also purchased a 2007 K1200LT in May 2008 His seats leak and hold water, the engine sounds like the Cam shaft or Cam Chain are divorced and want an immediate separation! The rear wheel bearing sounds that its giving notice to quit by grinding its way through bends. Sounding like a pnuematic bag of nails, his dealer told him its OK for your 3k mile trip to Italy, see how it goes. Only to find upon our return that its now much worse than before(Suprise suprise suprise!!!) It presently Lays like mine in a BMW dealers workshop somewhere in the middle of the UK. The dealers obviously either dont care, or are used to this continual streem of returns being put through the system as WARRANTY or GUARANTEE. My question must be, WHAT HAPPEWNS WHEN THE GUARANTEE EXPIRES????? Yes sir that will be £850 + VAT sir. "Sorry, I cant say we have heard of that fault before, they are normally just as reliable as anything from within our range"! Sorry, Im not convinced that todays BMW's are what they used to be. When previously buying a BMW Motorcycle it stood for Quality, Reliability, Longevity. Top notch engineering and design. You paid that little bit more, but that extra money paid you back over the long term by providing you with Reliability etc. However, that was yesturday, today you get an inferior, poorly designed thrown together item that reminds me of the Dagenham or Longbridge products of old, especially those made on a friday afternoon!! Red Robbo, where are you now? As you guessed, a thoroughly dissapointed purchase, or a two-off situation, you decide????? I will report back on the dealers response which so far have not been favourable. I was initially told, they could find nothing wrong and that meant that I was gonna have to pay for their time etc in checking over the bike and putting right the damage caused by the failure of the Centre Stand(Incidentally, anyone else had this problem?) Good luck and keep the rubber side up. Jon'S'

After wanting a different make of tourer and road testing the LT I fell in love immediately, this one can filter through traffic where the other one would not, therefore I still wasn't going to lose time getting to and from work. Her indoors and favourite pillion even approved ( So that was a real bonus!). With a rack on the top box and a 45 ltr bag strapped to it Amelda er I mean the missus could take what she liked with her. The heated seat and backrest even allowed us to travel back and forward to Scotland all Winter in extreme comfort. Every week I and a few others take a run up the Antrim coast for Brunch and the guys often wonder how the big girl goes round those bends on her side and still on the upright on the other side. The big girl is no slouch either. Even avid sports bike riders are impressed when they take her by the horns for a quick ride. Strengths: Excellent milage of 48.8 - 49.5 MPG even two up. And it's far more enjoyable to ride than to arrive. Weaknesses: The centre stand when two up keeps grounding on left hand bends and the head light is not brilliant but fitting two small lights in the vent holes under the headlight cure's this problem

I had a Harley and needed a genuine long distance tourer, the Goldwing doesn't handle the Harley uses a tank every 100 miles. Read all the bits on the internet and decided on the Beemer. Its heavier than the Harley but thats the only disadvantage once on the road the thing out handles much more lighter machines. The equipment is superb, heard the cd at 80mph, 116bhp, electric stand, massive headlamp. The abs brakes are the best I've had, the whole package is brilliant. Probably the safest machine I've ever ridden, nice one Beemer you've created the best.