I had no interest in this bike until I went into a Triumph dealership, way back in 2012. They had a black R1200S for sale, and I fell in love with it. I have done some long rides on it - a couple of 450-mile days, a trip to Spain (900+ miles in 2.5 days each way), and a couple of tours of Scotland. As age caught up with me, I decided to trade it for a Triumph 800, but couldn’t part with it, so I now have my sensible Triumph (which does everything very well), and my old R1200S for fun and excitement. Great review of this bike. Thank you. And you’re right - I’ve never seen another one in the flesh.
Approximately 630 R1200S in the US were sold, unknown how many are still on the road. The easiest way to tell the HP2 Sport from the R1200S is you are VERY unlikely to ever see an HP2 Sport (only 62 were imported). I have a silver R12S and love it; the Helibar risers make it an acceptable sport-touring machine. I'm hoping to see a few more at the BMW MOA National rally this summer.
Thanks for your video, you did a great review. I was really drawn to this machine since it first came out. I finally purchased one and have not been disappointed.
It is a great bike, I have a silver one, the torque and the way it gets delivered is just amazing. In my case with 1.90m and 96 kilos I consider that the bike is totally comfortable for very long trips I have made 10 hours trips with a lot of mountain roads riding totally fine, it is a bike that I will keep forever. It is comfortable but not for 2 people, if you ride with a pillion you as a rider are in pain. I´m looking forward to make a trip from México City to Calgary Alberta in my R1200S, perhaps with can share a ride somewhere in the US.... Greetings from México!
Wow, great history, I have an R1100S BCR and love it, it was nice hearing the background on the R1200S, I did not know it was made for just one year. Great bike and video!
It's air/oil cooled, as were the previous R1100-S, and the trellis frame is a subframe just for the rear frame section. I know what you mean by it feeling like new with a lot of miles. My first BMW R-1150-RS had 130,000 km on it when I sold it, and ran like it recently came from the showroom. I saw one with 250,000 km on it that only recently had the valves freshened up, and everything else was stone reliable. I have a 'new' 2002 R-1150-RS that only has 40,000-km on it, and I will be worn out long before it is...
A BMW that was polarizing in the same period was the R1200ST. The more "sport/touring" version with an odd vertical headlight arrangement "swoopier" body work and more upright riding posture. I had the opportunity to pick up a used one and didn't pull the trigger. Regret that. Today's BMW R1250RS in my opinion is their best model in their boxer lineup.
i owned one for almost 10 years, sold it 2019 for a R 1200RS, this bike brought me so much fun and i modified it (colour, exhaust, carbon fibre parts, etc, etc....) (see my avatar)...the only reason i sold it, it was time for a new bike after 10 years....
I had a black one. It looked good, sounded great, handled well and turned heads wherever we went. It was also surprisingly rapid and had excellent brakes. When canyon carving, you could just leave it in 3rd gear and fly from turn to turn. It was also silly easy to maintain. I would sit on the floor to check the valves. They never needed to be adjusted. I currently ride a bike that will outperform this bike in every measurable way but this is the last BMW made that I find truly interesting and I might buy another one someday.
I cannot work out why you call this bike "strange" ?? It was BeeM attempt at a sport bike in the era of sport bikes. I do think it was successful.....most proably not in cruiser USA though !!!! Problem is I am not a boxer fan but this was a good bike.
