Month: June 2021

Can I Get a Test Ride?

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OK, so having narrowed the field down a bit in terms of a replacement for my deceased Triumph Sprint GT1050 (now that the amputations are all over and I’m just about fit enough to ride, albeit with some pain, following my little ‘off’), the BMW R1250RT LE is looking really positive, albeit with a couple of small caveats:

  1. For some reason BMW seem to be having problems with the audio system? Their website states that “unfortunately it is currently only possible to offer the audio system preparation for the motorcycle.”  Whatever that means.
  2. Despite Bluetooth connectivity and a connected app from BMW, Apple CarPlay isn’t an option so you can’t use Waze, Maps or Google Maps for navigation with real-time updates.
  3. Why no top case as standard on a tourer? The Sprint came with full luggage as standard.

Clearly, the next step is to try one for a test ride with Mrs RHM.  She had issues – understandably so – with the luggage on the Tiger 1200 which has put us off somewhat, although the long overdue model update might remedy this?  Jack Lilley (as they then were) were kind enough to lend us a demo for a couple of days and we did a few hundred miles on it.

So I contacted Park Lane BMW, or at least they contacted me after I’d had issues getting information from BMW’s website, but unfortunately they could only offer a couple of hours’ ride due to their insurance issues.  They suggested a rental company but they don’t appear to have the R1250RT, just the GS.

I have now contacted Bahnstormer at Alton to see if they can help out; they’re the people who sold my mate Yox his R1200GSA a short while ago.

And just in case, I’ve replied to BMW UK to see if I can grab one of their press fleet for the planned three day trip to the Cotswolds in August: a nice mixture of motorways, A-roads and B-roads.

Updates

It’s been a while since I updated this blog.

I had mainly been using my Triumph Sprint GT1050 for my foreign jaunts – aka “Eurothrashes’ – but that all came to a crashing stop back in July 2019 when I got broken up a tad by a SMIDSY.

Since then, I’ve not been back on two wheels whilst various bits of me mended or were taken off because they got in the way: I’m think of the second amputation here just before Christmas 2020.

While Blue Rex was off the road, I decided that I should do something with the personalised registrations I have: 8000 RM which was on the Sprint and which is now on retention; 2000 RM which was on my Abarth 124 Spider; and 3RHM which was on the ZRX1200R which wasn’t seeing much daylight.  So I swapped the Abarth’s registration with the ZRX and bought a load of new plates to suit.

Now my latest amputation is healing well and the physiotherapy reduced, I decided to service, tax and MoT Blue Rex and it sailed through yesterday.

The mileage? 19,422 miles which means since September 2018 it’s only done 36 miles!