First trip

[royal]

I just got back from a quick 1000 mile trip on my new '07 RT. I've only had the bike for a couple of weeks, so I had to hurry and get 600 miles on it so I could get my first service done before I went on my trip. A couple of observations now that I have put some time and miles on. First, I must say that I think the RT is a fantastic bike. Hands down the best bike I have ridden to date. It performed brilliantly on the trip. I did notice that I haven't gone through any oil. My dealer said that I should expect to add oil during the first few thousand miles, as is typical of boxer motors. But, I've been checking every day and the oil hasn't budged. The other thing I noticed is that I've heard some complaints about vibration, but mine is smooth as silk. Sure, I feel a little buzz when I get on the throttle hard, but at cruising speed, I get nothing. And my last bike was an LT. I don't know if there is a big variance between motors on the RTs, but I can't see how anyone would complain about vibration. I've even read someone talking about the vibration being so bad that they couldn't see out of their side view mirrors. It seems to me that something must be out of adjustment to create such vibration. Anyway, I did notice one thing that was mildly annoying. At 35 to 40 MPH, I could hear some kind of resonance come up through the bike. Not really loud, but there. As soon as I speed up, it seems to go away. My thoughts on what it could be are that it is coming from the rear brakes ? When I spin the rear wheel, I feel the brakes seem to rub a little in certain areas. My other thought was that it could be a bearing, maybe in the drive ? Although, I would think that the noise would be there at any speed or even get worse the faster I went, which is not the case. Has anyone heard this kind of resonant sound coming up through the bike at those speeds I mentioned ? I'm not terribly concerned, yet, as the bike is running and handling fantastic.

Roy

[motoguy128]

Glad you're enjoying the bike.

It sounds like vibration is a little like the final drive. About 3-4% of bikes have a super smooth motor. I added manic salamander bar ends and it's now smooth under 3500, but the vibes creep up beyond that. I can't imagine extended rdiing above 75mph. My feet would go numb. Hopefully it smooths out wiht some more break-in. I wonder if something like the cam positon on each cylinder being set a little different is possible.

[brianbeemer]

Roy,

What are the engine revs at 35-40 mph on your bike (ie what gear are you in)? My bike drove my wife crazy when it was new between 2500 and 3000 rpm, which is about that speed in certain gears. It's quietened down at 4000+ miles, but still sets off her tinnitus. Funny thing is it's only that bike - we've ridden others with no problem.

Glad you like the bike. It's fabulous. I'm thinking of trading my trusty R1100 in the UK for one, but the prices here are crazy - I can buy a new bike in the US for the price of a decent '05 here. I might just do that and ship my used one over here...

[hopz]

There must be a great variation in the R12RT's. Mine came to me with 5500 miles and an '05... about two months ago.

The vibration came on at 4000 rpm, and up to 42-4300. It was never so bad that I could not use the mirrors, but bad enough to really irritate me. I came off a K1200RS so I really liked the smoothness of the 4 cylinder.

I talked it over with a lot of people who ought to know things. Mainly the service advisor at the dealership, who I have come to enjoy talking to. We went outside and looked over the bike. He basically said I needed to run it hard. His advice was run the "Pi.. out of it".

We joked about what used to be called the "Italian Tune-Up". That was about 1000 miles ago. I have done as he advised... :) and I have to say the bike runs better and better day by day.

I suspect the previous owner did not ride it much- given the low miles, and I'll bet when he did ride it, it was at a sedate pace. I have also learned that the gear box is not just a tool to get to top gear... I have learned that there are many other gears in there too and that I can use them... such as cruising in 4th in town, etc.

When we all talk about R12RTs it looks to me like we need to remember that while they are the same make and model they are generally unique bikes- each to its own.

[motoguy128]

I'm going home now a riding the piss out of it!

Actuually I have noticed that using 5th under 60mph is much smooth than 5th. I like that you can loaf along in a tall gear at only 3000RPM and still have descent acceleration, but I might try using smaller gears more.

[royal]

I don't know if it has anything to do with why my motor seems to not use up any oil and why it seems to have less vibration than others have described, but I am one of those guys who didn't baby it during break in. While I didn't, exactly, hammer it, I did ride it pretty hard from the get go. More so when I cleared 600 miles. The resonance issue I had described, I'm now pretty sure it is coming from the rear brakes. I think it will lessen the more miles I ride as they wear in. I, like many of you, get freaked out by noises like this, thinking that it must be the final drive. But, in this case, I don't think it is. At least, I'm hoping it is not. Either way, I'm going to stop worrying about it and just ride it. It's a fabulous motorcycle.

Roy