New Lurker

[Skillet]

Greetings,
I'll be hanging around for the next few months making sure my decision to purchase an LT next Spring is the correct way to go. My wife and I have realized that our 2002 Triumph America is not the best touring bike for our 50 year old carcasses. We recently test drove a new K12LT at Bogarts in Birmingham and we fell in love with the ride. The display showed we were getting 54 MPG at 70 MPH, is that correct?
Anyway, I just wanted ya'll to know I am here. I'll never sell my Triumph. But we need a better touring bike - might as well get the best.
Ride Safe,
Skillet

[DaveDragon]

Greetings,
I'll be hanging around for the next few months making sure my decision to purchase an LT next Spring is the correct way to go. My wife and I have realized that our 2002 Triumph America is not the best touring bike for our 50 year old carcasses. We recently test drove a new K12LT at Bogarts in Birmingham and we fell in love with the ride. The display showed we were getting 54 MPG at 70 MPH, is that correct?
Anyway, I just wanted ya'll to know I am here. I'll never sell my Triumph. But we need a better touring bike - might as well get the best.
Ride Safe,
Skillet

Welcome to the board!

This is the definitive on-line resource for all things LT so if you cant find an answer here you probably wont.

Take the whining with a grain of salt, our Northern Brethren are about to garage there rides for the duration so the whaling & gnashing of teeth will begin shortlyhttp://www.bmwlt.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Woolly]

Greetings,
The display showed we were getting 54 MPG at 70 MPH, is that correct?

Skillet

Welcome to the asylum, check this out ...

[ronk1200lt]

Welcome to the site. You will find the people here extremely helpful. If you have any questions, this is the place to ask. Ron

[Skillet]

Welcome to the board!

Take the whining with a grain of salt, our Northern Brethren are about to garage there rides for the duration so the whaling & gnashing of teeth will begin shortly

Thanks for the warm Welcome!

As far as the whining, I am a member of BonnevilleAmerica.com for Triumph Speedmaster/America owners, and there is lots of whining going on there too.
So I am used to it. We have a few members in Sweden that are still riding, but their time is short.

The more I read here, the more I want an LT. Rick Mayer got me seriously interested in the BMW line, and after realizing they are no more expensive than a GoldWing and cheaper than a Harley - I saw the light. Rick had his '03 RT for sale at a good price and I wanted it, but I'm not ready financially until March or April. I had an old R60 when I was in the navy and loved that bike.

My bride is extremely impressed with the LT, but she has to see one with passenger armrests before she's sold. She's seen some friends asleep on the back of their Wings, and she wants to be able to take a nap. I am sure Kuryakyn makes armrests that will fit. She also said of the center stand, "That is so cool". So I'll be an LT owner before next summer - BMW of Daytona has some good prices on 1 & 2 year old used LTs.

[Skillet]

Welcome to the asylum, check this out ...

Woolly,
That's incredible!!! My "normally aspirated" 800cc Triumph barely touches 50mpg. I look forward to expanding my range between fill ups. Of course the first modification will be a Rick Mayer Saddle, to allow my hind parts to withstand the distance.
Ride safe,
Dennis

[jwd98056]

Too many variable are not accounted for here. On my 2000 LT I have had a 60 MPG average over a 200 mile stretch calculating miles/gals at the fill-up, and yes I have the speedo mod and my speed and mileage are right on the button. That 200 miles was done in Yellowstone Park and I probably never got over 45 MPH and averaged more like 35 MPH.

I usually average around 44-45 MPG at 70 MPH. If the dealer trial machine had a lot of test rides that were not much more than riding around the block or mostly low speed riding then 50-60 MPG "average" is very possible when you were doing your 70 MPH run. On my 2000 LT the MPG reading is the average calculated since the trip computer was last reset. I would need to reset the trip computer when I am at 70 MPH to get a an instantaneous MPG reading. I believe the same thing is true for the newer models. Of course an instantaneous MPG reading is practically useless for estimating fuel mileage over any significant distance. I reset my computer before I left on my 8900 mile CCR trip and it tracked my manual calculations very closely for the whole trip. I was calculating both the tank to tank MPG and accumulative MPG. The accumulative MPG is also what the LT computer calculates.

Let's just say for a whale of a motorcycle it get's extraordinarily good fuel economy. That is probably due to it's excellent aerodynamics and a good electronic fuel injection system.

[Schweintechnik]

I would need to reset the trip computer when I am at 70 MPH to get a an instantaneous MPG reading.

FWIW...might be wrong, but if I read/remember the manual correctly, the bike won't even let you reset the BC while underway.

[meese]

You can reset the MPG and the Average Speed while riding. You can't reset Temperature or Miles to Go, much as we'd like to. :)

[UncleRock]

Welcome to the board!

This is the definitive on-line resource for all things LT so if you cant find an answer here you probably wont.

Take the whining with a grain of salt, our Northern Brethren are about to garage there rides for the duration so the whaling & gnashing of teeth will begin shortlyhttp://www.bmwlt.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif
Skillet; Not all of us put our bikes away :histerica , if I had to do that, I'd become a snowbird!
You said might as well have the best. I can ride whatever I want, have the same outlook and this is by far King of the Hill. :cool:
Rock

[rglassma]

Hello Skillet,

Welcome to the forum. I have an '03 LTC with about 20K miles on it. A couple of things about the fuel economy. First of all to find out what you are getting, you must reset right before you take off because the mileage is not your mileage. That will give you a better indication. That average may be due to a large accumulation of miles. I drove in the mountains today here in Colorado and averaged 63.4 MPG ... But, that is unusual. I have gone as low as 41 mpg pulling a loaded bushtec trailer to the new high above. Also, the speedo may be off by as much as 10% giving you a reading that is faster then you are really going. At what you said you were going, the speed may really be more in the 60s.

Before you buy a new bike, I would recommend checking out used ones available with low mileage. The '05 and '06 model years are the same except the Xeon lighting. For the difference in price, you can get alot of after market stuff. If you don't care about the '05 or '06, you can usually get a super deal on an '03 here on the forum or at several other sources around the net. Usually the preowned bikes have aftermarket accessories already installed that would cost a fortune to add on.

Good Luck.

[tobiwan]

My neighbor traded his '00 lt for an 05 just because of the easier low speed handling. I have an 05 and have been very pleased.
On the question of passenger armrests check out our own member's version

Don at http://www.eagle-i.us/ they were easy to install and reasonable in price, and put my So at ease on our trip to CCR.

[mneblett]

but she has to see one with passenger armrests before she's soldAnother armrest option is the GG armrests -- expensive, but very well designed and made -- mine are on their 4th LT. :) I prefer their appearance because they appear to "match" the bike, whether folded up, or down in the in-use position -- the shape, quality of the machined parts, etc. give the impression they may be factory bits. That may not be of any importance to you; just pitching it out in case it does.

HTH,