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09 rt 1200. opinions ??


joeb

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Hi all. I had the pleasure today of bike hunting with an old bud. He was a dyed in the wool Goldwing driver , ( I allow for the possibility that he was not hugged as a child, potty trained too early in life, traumatised by clowns or had too many adolescent dental x-rays. Although he is a good rider ) but I suggested he try a Beemer or two. After test driving an 09 1200 rt, he seems to have come to his senses and wants it. I have an 03 . I test drove the 09 and it feels fine, looks good and the price seems right, but, I'm not that familiar with that year bike. Any opinions gotchas ,or warnings ? thanks.

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I always say, if you can't find a '10 , go with a '09.

Each year and generation got better and better and cost less to maintain.

'10 was a big jump.

 

The local office of the Highway Patrol has all '09's some with 130-140k miles of hard use with excellent maintenance .

 

Some of the riders prefer those to the new HD.

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Hi all. I had the pleasure today of bike hunting with an old bud. He was a dyed in the wool Goldwing driver , ( I allow for the possibility that he was not hugged as a child, potty trained too early in life, traumatised by clowns or had too many adolescent dental x-rays. Although he is a good rider ) but I suggested he try a Beemer or two. After test driving an 09 1200 rt, he seems to have come to his senses and wants it. I have an 03 . I test drove the 09 and it feels fine, looks good and the price seems right, but, I'm not that familiar with that year bike. Any opinions gotchas ,or warnings ? thanks.

 

Afternoon joeb

 

The 2009 1200RT is the best of the hexhead series. It has the upsized pinion bearing, better deive shaft, better ABS brake system, improved balance shaft & oil sealing, final drive fill plug, electronics updates, etc

 

Most still had the silver FPC (but better than the original low fin silver FPC though)

 

Probably the worst failure on the 2009 1200RT is the chance of an ABS motor brush sticking (not lot of failures but there were some). Also very slight possibility of a drive shaft U joint failure.

 

The most common failure is the fuel gauge fuel strip in the gas tank but BMW extended the warranty on those.

 

There was a BMW recall on the front brake lines & also on the fuel pump pass through cracking at the pressure line fitting boss.

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I have an '09 RT I purchased used a year ago with 32K miles on it (now has 41K). Bike was purchased from a non-BMW dealer.

 

IIR there were several recalls on this year model: Fuel pump flange, final drive flange, and that pesky fuel strip. I don't think you can look up online to verify recalls were done on any particular bike, that's something a dealer needs to do. This past winter I had my sorta-local dealer do a 12K service on it and take care of both recalls.

 

AFAIK my RT is still running with the same fuel strip, we'll see how that holds up. My '10 R12R fuel strip recently failed with 61K miles on it.

 

I plan to leave on Saturday for Newfoundland on this bike, we'll see how this RT holds up...

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I currently own both an 04 RT (58,000 miles) and an 09 RT (28,000 miles). I love the 04. I simply like the 09. Not sure why. Both have been reliable. The 04 issues have been a fork seal and stick coils. The 09 has been thru several fuel strips. I only bought the 09 because it is a much better two-up ride (better brakes, electronic suspension, a little more power). When flying solo I still choose the 04 but I have no regrets about owning an 09 too.

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Shiny Side Up

I remember seeing a youtube video on how to "shock" the fuel strip back to it's senses but did not bookmark it - because I have an '04.

 

That said a Google search may reveal whether this works or not...

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I just traded in my '09 for a 2016. There is no comparison. But that being said you get used to what you are riding. My problem with the 09 was flat spots in the power band. Otherwise it was reilable, and a good bike. Both bikes have viscious stopping power. The fuel strip thing didn't bother me because I always used my trip odometer to double check.

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Thanks all. Looks like that bike might be a winner. one thing that did happen on the test ride, but I didn't mention it cause it really wasn't a BMW failure per se, as I rolled on the throttle, I felt a snap and lost all engine drive. stranded on the side of an expressway. The plastic cable guide and attach point at the twist grip disintegrated leaving me with no throttle control. dumb luck, eeh ? My Goldwing bud had the good courtesy not to say " that never happened on my Wings ". think he may buy it. he'll be a good edition to the BMWRT community.

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BMW extended the warranty on the fuel strips to 12 years from the in-service date, so a 2009 is covered for several more years. I would not let the strip affect my decision.

 

The throttle cable failure is a weird one - I have never heard of a similar problem.

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BMW extended the warranty on the fuel strips to 12 years from the in-service date, so a 2009 is covered for several more years. I would not let the strip affect my decision.

 

The throttle cable failure is a weird one - I have never heard of a similar problem.

 

Morning lkraus

 

I have seen a 1200Rt's do that. Have also seen one & heard of another on the Plastic throttle body cam crack & break apart.

 

On the twist grip guide failure I'm not sure if those were caused by using improper lube in that area that attacked the plastic, or from improperly adjusted cables allowing the twist grip to put a lot of force on that area, or from the twist grip being forced to WOT with too much force, or from ??????

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We had several of the Authorities bikes have the plastic throttle body cam break.

It was always the left.

The right showed cracks on inspection.

Bing suggested it was heat cycles of the cop bikes.

 

The components to replace the cams and the butterfly linkage cross shaft are available from Bing but not as a unit. (!) you have to figure out how to peen the end of the shaft over without bending it.

 

We bought several and made several jigs and fixtures to use a portable press ( hammer) to peen them over with success.

 

The cost of the parts was less than $50 if I'm not mistaken. We did two cop bikes and to my knowledge 2 years later, still rolling.

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All good stuff. thanks. As I'm familiar with the 03rt and not the 09 I have question about the TPS. Does it have a similar reset procedure as the 03 ?. If I recall the 03, #5 fuse pull. I think that's the fuse that the fuel pump is on , or is there a totally different setup ?

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All good stuff. thanks. As I'm familiar with the 03rt and not the 09 I have question about the TPS. Does it have a similar reset procedure as the 03 ?. If I recall the 03, #5 fuse pull. I think that's the fuse that the fuel pump is on , or is there a totally different setup ?

 

Morning joeb

 

Yes, the 09 1200RT still has a TPS re-set (re-learn) procedure only no fuse to pull, you either need a GS-911 or you can disconnect the battery for a minute or so then re-connect & do the full open/close twist grip (only need a single all the way open then all the way closed on the 1200 hexhead bikes but twice doesn't hurt)

 

Problem is-- on the later 1200 bikes, disconnecting the battery can mess up the service reminder date so you could then get an early service reminder on the dash.

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All good stuff. thanks. As I'm familiar with the 03rt and not the 09 I have question about the TPS. Does it have a similar reset procedure as the 03 ?. If I recall the 03, #5 fuse pull. I think that's the fuse that the fuel pump is on , or is there a totally different setup ?

 

Morning joeb

 

Yes, the 09 1200RT still has a TPS re-set (re-learn) procedure only no fuse to pull, you either need a GS-911 or you can disconnect the battery for a minute or so then re-connect & do the full open/close twist grip (only need a single all the way open then all the way closed on the 1200 hexhead bikes but twice doesn't hurt)

 

Problem is-- on the later 1200 bikes, disconnecting the battery can mess up the service reminder date so you could then get an early service reminder on the dash.

 

Duhhhh.....:) Of course! For some reasons I read TPS as TPM!!!

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