Guess I didn't realize there would be that much difference in the two bikes. Just picked up the '06 from a very nice gentleman who was the original owner and took exceptional care of it. 30K on the '06, 60k on the '02.

It felt torquier on the low end, rode much smoother, handled nicer and I thought the '02 was the smoothest bike I've ever been on.

Ahhh, it felt so good on the freeway I almost didn't come home.

Although he stated it's never had a service issue since new and only been in for regular service maintenance, it's still an LT.

But till the inevitable, the GF and I will be out riding the best two-up machine on the road.

Congrats on the new bike. You will love it. I have an 07 and the added goodies and changes from the earlier bikes are nice. I get the weirdest looks when I use the electro-hydraulic center stand and reverse. One hint when using the center stand as soon as the bike starts to lift put your weight on one leg until it fully rises don't let it lift you. I have seen LT riders two up sit on the bike and let it lift them both up, it is not designed to do that and they are asking for trouble. You take care of her and she will give you many miles of smiles.

Ah, good advice. Thanks.

I have rebuilt 25 of these units and there is no issue using it to lift the bike and two people. I have been doing just that for 10 years now. I know what the riders manual says but I cannot put both feet on the ground.

The only thing that takes these units out is not keeping the shaft clean. The stock wiper is weak and it eventually lets dirt get to the shaft seal and once it leaks out 20 ml of oil it will not lift the bike. I have never seen a failed piston seal which would be caused by over loading. These are way over engineered for his application.

I guess this shows how personal a bike is. I rode an 03 and an 05. I preferred the 03 and am buying an 00. I like the simple dash layout and the seating position. I don't need the power stand. My GW is same weight and I make it work.
I am glad you like your 06. I am sure I will l like my 00.

While we're on the subject, can anyone tell us if there is a noticeable difference in the power of these two bikes? I saw a dyno video of the 05+ yrs. that had the bike at 101 hp. at the rear wheel. Just curious.

I ride the 05 & up quite often & I can't tell the difference in horsepower.

Yes there is noticeable improvement. Plus I think it was 02 when the FD gearing was reduced.
I had a 02 with the Rhine West chip and that made a noticeable improvement. Contrasting the 05 again the motor is stronger.

torque is what moves you, how much did they increase the torque with the increase in horsepower?

Slightly from 115 to 120 Nm, but at higher RPM. Not a huge difference and probably offset by the greater weight.

Since I can up even when on the centerstand already, I'll just keep doing that. Unless of course someone is watching, in that case I'll show off.

I had an 05 and If I were to do over again I would get an 00-03 as I disliked the digital instrument cluster that was unreadable in the sunlight and the older bikes had better seats and a real center stand lift... just my .02
Best of luck with your 06.... YMMV

Thanks.

The cluster is somewhat harder to see in the sun, but nothing too terribly bad and it has a much classy look. I do like the older seat better, but hope to break the new one in a little more. And, the old one was getting about 2mpg better. Don't know if that's a trade off for extra hp or not. The new certainly does run better.

The lighting on the new one is a HUGE improvement. I almost couldn't ride the older one at night. Never could get the luggage to lock with the remote on the old one, maybe they didn't do that. It's a great feature on the newer one that I use daily. Of course, let's not talk about the 'tape' player' vs 'cd' in the stingray.

Yes, everything seems comes with a compromise and I certainly did use the key locking feature of the bags often enough.... I loved the sleek new look over the older model but the practicality of the analog gauges and usable reliable center stand with better seat carries more weight for me. Hope you get many happy (S)miles on your new 06... :^)

There's a deflector that mounts over the instrument panel I had one on mice 02 looks looks and works fine I bought it on eBay
Google dash light reflector bmw

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Regarding seats, I bought an 03 seat, pulled the cover off and placed my 06 "comfort" seat cover over it. Gave me the better seating from the previous models, but the cover still matches (color and design) of the passenger seat and backrest. The older seats are wider near the back so they offer more/better support IMHO. Just an FYI...

Sammy