What would be the advantage?

[ljjohns]

I'm currently riding a '96 K1100LT with about 50K; I'm about to go look at a 2003 K1200LT-C; if I sell my present bike and buy the K12, I'll spend about $3500. What will I get for the money (the 2003 has 44K miles)?

I'm planning a long ride from Seattle to El Paso during the first week of June and then touring out of El Paso during the summers...

[SilverBuffalo]

I think I might be qualified to answer this question,

I sold my 96 K1100LT (Aspen silver) with 87 thousand miles on it (bought it new)

What sold the K1200LT was when I took it for a test drive, my wife said buy it, (she loved the seat) she's a little top heavy (the bike) at parking lot speed but when it gets rolling the LT handles like a sport bike,
it's also got a lot more power than the K11 does but the main thing you'll gain is comfort.

You're probably thinking that your K11 is pretty comfortable,
at least I thought mine was until I rode the LT for a couple of weeks.

When I got back on the K11 I noticed all kinds of things that I liked better on the K12.
After a couple of months I just sold the K11 because I knew I wouldn't be riding it anymore.

Incidently, this is unrelated but I've since also sold my Harley,
the LT is my six't BMW and the only bike I want/need.

[ljjohns]

Thanks a lot. I think I'm gonna do it. I'll give up the flexibility of bags on/off, but I plan on touring and this seems like it will work even better than the K11. I've just got to figure out all the bells and whistles that aren't on the K11.

But lest I get buyer's remorse, I'd appreciate other folks' advice.

I am on the K11 users group and when I asked the same question one guy implied that I was selling out to the Gold Wing crowd...

[mwnahas]

I had a K100Rt and went to a K1200LT, good move.
My wife sat on the LT in the show room and told me to get one. Who am I to argue? Detachable side case bags were not an issue. Just get Kathy's bags liners. :D

[SilverBuffalo]

one guy implied that I was selling out to the Gold Wing crowd...

An understandable opinion and one that I shared,
when they first came out I sneered at them also, "thats a Goldwing"
I didn't even want to test ride it.

Went for a rally "demo" ride on a new Oilhead RT and halfway my buddy asked to trade bikes,
I did reluctantly, once I got the LT rolling it was "wow" I'm impressed.

come to think of it back in 85 when I first saw the K-bikes my initial reaction
was "that's ugly" no thank you I'll keep my "airhead"
Of course I changed my mind the first time I twisted the throttle on one :)

Whatever doubts you may have will be forgotten when you ride the LT.

[chizel]

hi everyone..got new to this forum...very interesting and has all the information i needed for my future reference..:)

[girlracer07]

my bro got K1200LT, and it is really great.
I'd suggest you just get K1200LT. ;)

[markmack]

So ......Did you get a K12? If so how do you like it. I just got one a few months ago and also have a K11. I plan to keep the K11 for solo tours. That is if I go on any more as my wife just loves the K12. Seems to be a trend as soon as they sit on one at the dealer or demo the order to acquire the machine is issued. What else are we to do "yes dear" (am I trained or what). I figure if I can get her to ride with me more the more I get to ride.

Hope it worked our for you,
Mark

[ahpd1992]

I owned a 96 k11lt, last year made I believe, put 10k miles on in the first ten months. I sold it only after a low mileage r1100gs wooed me away from her. I now own a k12lt and let me tell you the two bikes are like night and day. The K11lt is more sport-touring than pure touring bike. The K12lt is a mileagae muncher supreme. I think the K12lt has a more seemless look to it and less of a bolted on look that the k11lt represents. Also the K12lt is more modern technology in comparison to the k11lt. As for being a "wannabe goldwing" David Edward the editor of Cycle World magazine writes in his "ten rest" column that the K12lt is one of the best for riding the twisties reeling in sport bike squids all while listening to your favorite music. Not to dispresect goldwings, great bikes just not for me, they are fast in the twisties, but not fast enough to catch a k12lt. BTW if it matters to you or not, public opinion on the looks of the two bikes seem to heavily favor the k12lt over the k11lt. I think it was that bolted together thing I was refering to. Just my opinon


Tom

[ljjohns]

Well, I did get the K12 but as one gets older, one gets stupider.

I picked it up from the seller on a Thursday and drove through rush-hour traffic with my SO trailing in the car. She had ridden the K11 confidently last summer on a 1500 mile trip, and I thought all was well. Apparently, however, she was frightened by the traffic she saw around the bike, but I assured her all was well.

Now this is where the stupid comes in. I assumed that the K12 would require no transitioning, that we could just hop on it and ride. So on Friday we mounted up for a trip to Wenatchee--a pretty ride, except for being stuck in an hour-long parking lot at Snoqualmie Pass; the K12 is a harder bike to walk than the 11. Arrived at our friends' house and had a good time planning the ride (which they were taking with us) from Seattle to El Paso.

On Sunday, before leaving back to Seattle, our friends wanted us to see three wineries in the Lake Chilan area, and so we mounted up (just to see them, not to sample). At the first winery, I buried the rear wheel in a transition from gravel to grass. At the second, a low/no speed 180 degree turn produced a drop (with SO on board). At the third, another low speed/no speed 90 degree turn produced a second drop on a gravelled parking lot. Departing for Seattle, we rode down the Columbia Valley into a 70 mph headwind coming up the gorge and swirling off the walls, moving the bike and inducing panic on the part of the SO. Then, back in Seattle, a mile from the hotel, I was pulling (right turn) onto the main drag when a driver headed the other way u-turned at the intersection and I dropped it a third time (again, a no speed drop). At that point, she took of her helmet, told me she would walk to the hotel--and hasn't been on board since.

All of this was due to my foolish assumption that the bikes were the same (I'd just taken the K11 through the Advanced course again a month earlier); I hadn't recognized the consequences of my front brake techniques on this heavier bike.

Well, I nonetheless had a great ride with my friends off the interstates from Seattle to El Paso--we had seven days, a lot of different weather environments and great vistas. The SO rode in the trail vehicle: she says she'll ride again when I've mastered the bike.

And, just to make life interesting, I had a retirement dinner the evening before our departure from Seattle that was to start at 5:30 pm. At 4, I got a call from my Executive Assistant informing me that one of my subordinates had hit and dropped the bike in the parking lot. He said it looked bad. Fortunately, it turned out to be significant tupperware damage but again the "engine guards" took the brunt and, after bending it down we were still able to depart as scheduled.

Now the only problem is that the bike has been up in Albuquerque for the last several weeks (and will be there a couple more) for repairs, so I may have forgotten all that I learned on the trip.

The bikes are really, really different: I don't regret buying the K12, but I do regret not taking the time to become more competent with it.