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New LT Ownder

2K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  wb4eje 
#1 ·
Hello All!

I'm a new owner of '05 LT, I've had the bike for about two weeks now. Love this site, lots of information the BMW motorcycles.

I've been riding Electra Glides (Geezer Glide) for the past 12 years. I'm looking at the LT as a replacement for my '05 Electra Glide. I took a test drive at the local dealer and couldn't really decide if I liked it. It is hard to make a decision like that in a 15 to 20 minute test drive. One thing I will say, no Harley dealer I have ever seen would allow a test drive on a brand new bike. The BMW dealer put me on a "BRAND NEW" '08 LT.

The LT certainly has its charms. I like the power and the smoothness, lots of toys to play with, and the style of the bike. The handling at road speed is terrific for a big bike. The brakes are a mixed bag, like the power assist when the engine is running, not too crazy about the loud rear brake (I've got to fix that) and the brakes can be a bit jerky at low speeds.

I don't like having to take tupperware off to do repairs, upgrades, maintenance. The seat is way too soft, after about an hour in the saddle I'm getting some butt burn. Wind protection is not all that good, not nearly as good as the Harley. I added a Ztechnik windscreen, that helped the wind protection a lot.

After riding the dealers new '08, I bought a consignment '05 he had on the floor. He really wanted to sell me the '08 but I didn't want to commit that many resources. I am a bit worried about the fact that this '05 only had just over 1000 miles on it (it was a garage model) but then the bike still has a month of warranty left, so I'll ride the crap out of this thing for a month and see what happens.

Here's a question. Stepping through the selections on the "CD" button on the radio, a "AUX" mode comes up. Does anyone know if the radio has a aux audio input? Are there some schematics floating around? I would like to hook up a MP3 player to the radio and get rid of that huge 6 disk changer in the right hand side bag. That thing really takes up some room! A four gig MP3 will hold pretty much my whole music collection I would prefer to use the MP3 over the bulky CD changer. Afterall, there is a single disk player built into the radio.

I guess it is a BMW thing, but we've got two BMW cars. The cars have some "querks" and it appears that the bikes do too, especially in the electrical bits. Too many computers in cars and motorcycles.

So, I'm going to ride this LT for a couple of weeks (maybe a month) and decided whether to sell it or the Electra Glide. I'm doing my own touring bike shootout!
 
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#2 ·
Welcome to the asylum... I hope your shoot-out goes well... I think after time the LT will show her stuff.

I too was dismayed a bit at all the tupperware, Seemed a damned nuisance is you ask me. However, even with J-pegs, I can have her undressed in a little less than thirty mins. I now love the way she's dressed.

The loud brake thing? Is that squeek or squeal?

The Voice II on my '06 has an AUX input. I built a short 4 inch cord for it and I place my three MP3 players in the oddy box. If I don't want to hear jazz, I plug in the player that has blues. If I don't want to hear blues, I plug in the old time rock-n-roll.

Brakes can be a bit unnerving. Your slow speed handling skills will get a real workout as she does like to lay herself down if you jump on the front binders with your wheel to the left or right. Don't ask me how I know this...

As to the seat... well... If I were to do an LT all over again, the first stop would be to Rick Mayer for a new seat. My $.02 and no flames please.

She's a real runner... Remember: she loves RPM's. Gotta keep those up. And she runs very well in all kinds of road conditions and weather. Give her a chance... and drive the hell out of her.

:D
 
#3 ·
If you have the Bridgestone tires be sure you read the thread(s) on tire pressures. I pretty well cupped my front tire in a few thousand miles because I read in the owner's manual 38 psi. Most people seem to run around 43 front 48 in the back but look for the threads and you will learn alot that will save you time and money. You can easilly learn to work on your own beemer bike if you research it here. Best of luck. Personally the only way I would go back to HD is if I could afford two bikes at the same time.
 
#4 ·
Welcome! The stock radio has an input port... in the back. You will need to buy the cable, about $35.00 or so, take the radio out and connect your new aux cable. Sorry, I cannot seem to find the part number or vendor info. I am sure someine else will chime in.
 
#5 ·
There are many things about my LT that make it preferable to any Harley I've ridden, but one thing nice feature of the tupperware is a lot less engine heat in the summer. In fact, I rarely feel any. Add to that the superior handling and braking and styling...well for me there is no comparison.
 
#6 ·
Engine heat in the summer is a real problem on the Harley's. In fact, I've been stuck in traffic on a cool day and have had to shut the engine down because the exhaust from the rear cylinder was cooking my butt!

I've ridden the LT on a couple of cool days, and it also seems to be a pretty warm bike. Your legs are behind the fairings and even your feet seem to be out of the wind. Warm weather is hopefully to come, maybe soon, and then I can check out how good it is in warm weather.

DE WB4EJE
 
#7 ·
If you have one month left of your warranty, I highly recommend that you purchase an extended warranty that is all inclusive for the bike. After the man. warranty is out you will not have that option.

With 1000 miles on it after 3 years, I would fear seal leakage. Definately get the warranty. If you have to do serious maintenance like that, it will pay for itself 3 or 4 times over.

Don't delay !!!!
 
#8 ·
The LT is a true force to be reckoned with in the touring world

I have a 2000 LT (7th BMW), and I'll be trading it in for either an 08 LT or GT next week; not sure which one yet. But after having an LT for over 8 years, and 3 HD's behind me, I can tell you that there's not much of a comparison (IMHO). Other than the "me too' factor with the Harley and a decent exhaust note (which I sorta miss), the LT has the HD's beat by leaps and bounds!

The German Uber Motorad guys have over-engineered the Beemer's to death! Which translates into safety, quality and an enormous fun ride for all.

I sort of laugh when I see the other guys trying to catch up in the technology. I've also watched how even Victory is giving the Harley folks something to sit up and take note at.

So my only thought is.........the GT or the LT?? Hmm, gotta take a spin on both to give me the answer.

Kevin
 
#9 ·
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm going to inquire about the extended warranty, considering the complexity of this bike and the expense of the parts, it may be a bargain.

These rear brakes are driving me nuts! They squeal so bad and so loud at low speed that it is becoming a distraction! Today I was riding along an overpass with a concrete wall beside me. As I came to a stop the squeal of the rear brake bouncing off the wall was so loud it hurt my ears. The wife really doesn't like that either. She says it sounds like "fingernails on a chalkboard." I have to agree.

I took it to the dealer and he put the red - glue/grease on the backs of the pads. Didn't make any difference. I tried the "cereal box" cardboard behind the pads, no effect what-so-ever. I think it is either the mounting of the caliper to the drive housing or the floating rotor. Actually, I'm thinking it is the rotor because it is so loud. The vibration has to have a very large amplitude movement to make that much noise. I noticed in taking the pads out of the caliper that the spring clip that holds the pads from rattling is very stiff, I really don't think the problem is in the caliper.

This bike is quirky! Sometimes the starter won't engage, just sometimes. Nothing out of order, side stand up, in neutral, not in reverse, but no starter. I have found that I can flip the kill switch off then back on and it will start. The next time I start the bike it is OK....just does that every once in a while.

Another quirky item. When I got the bike the lock on the top case didn't work with the key less locking system. The dealer looked at it and did a very throughout job of troubleshooting it and discovered that the problem was in the security module. There was no 12 volt lock signal coming out of the security module on the lines going to the top case lock. They ordered a new security module and will replace it under warranty. When I left the dealer it wasn't locking with the key less, I tried it. That was last weekend. Today, I noticed that the top case is now locking with the key less. I tried it several times and it locks and unlocks just like it should.

I don't know guys, sometimes I think this bike is haunted!

DE WB4EJE
 
#10 ·
wb4eje said:
Thanks for all the feedback. I'm going to inquire about the extended warranty, considering the complexity of this bike and the expense of the parts, it may be a bargain.

This bike is quirky! Sometimes the starter won't engage, just sometimes. Nothing out of order, side stand up, in neutral, not in reverse, but no starter. I have found that I can flip the kill switch off then back on and it will start. The next time I start the bike it is OK....just does that every once in a while.

Another quirky item. When I got the bike the lock on the top case didn't work with the key less locking system. The dealer looked at it and did a very throughout job of troubleshooting it and discovered that the problem was in the security module. There was no 12 volt lock signal coming out of the security module on the lines going to the top case lock. They ordered a new security module and will replace it under warranty. When I left the dealer it wasn't locking with the key less, I tried it. That was last weekend. Today, I noticed that the top case is now locking with the key less. I tried it several times and it locks and unlocks just like it should.
DE WB4EJE
Thumbs up on the extended warranty. Do a search here and you'll find a lot of discussion on which is best. I have Pinnacle, and of course have never needed it. I think it'd be a good idea to have the "quirks" documented with your dealer on his stationary and keep a copy yourself. In my experience, if problems are documented they'll get fixed under warranty even after it expires. Intermittent problems like in the starter switch are hard to troubleshoot.
 
#11 ·
Try replacing your brake pad with Carbone Lorraine sintered metal brake pads. I just purchased a full set from

http://www.beemerboneyard.com/index.html

and found the squealing has decreased a lot.
 
#12 ·
I took the bike on vacation to Florida for two weeks. I guess I would have to say that I was totally disappointed. We have two BMW automobiles that are terrific, can't say that for the LT. It's not comfortable for more than an hour or so, it's querky, and now I don't trust it.

I got the rear brake to a "tolerable" state with a set of EBC pads. It doesn't squeak too loud now while stopping, but it has been replaced with a constant squeak while the bike is rolling. Nice.

After a two hour ride one morning, at the end of which my butt hurt so bad I HAD to get off the bike, we stopped for lunch. We were in the restaurant for about an hour and when I came out the bike wouldn't start. Tried for about 10 minutes to get it started, the battery was good, connections were good, just had that no start thing again, this time cycling the kill switch didn't fix it. Tried the side stand down, side stand up, in neutral, not in neutral with the clutch pulled, all combinations that I could think up. Finally, I pulled in the front brake lever and hit the starter and it fired up. Well, that was the straw, so to speak.

When I got home I traded the LT on a new Electra Glide Ultra Classic. Much better! Sorry guys, but the BMW K1200LT is just not for me!

You can check out the details on my blog site, www.wb4eje.com . Comments are solicited, so feel free to give me some crap about going back to the Harley-Davidson!

Later
 
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