Picked this thing up last month. Drove 5 hours to get it and road it home, with no tag! Its super sexy, stupid fast, and with a few key mods will make a great middle weight tourer.
You can see my signature for the mods that I have or have ready to be put on it.
My one and only complaint so far is the transmission/clutch/shifter are clunky and not nearly what I expected from a BMW that was almost 16 grand new. A few keys mods are on the table to hopefully remedy the sloppiness.
I will add that the telelever front suspension is awesome. There is 0 nose dive under braking. And she is super stable all around.
I once test rode one of those and really liked it (I think it's been around since '04 and so it's in dire need of an overhaul, though.) I hope they don't discontinue it.
That's the bike the VFR1200F was designed to compete with and the VFR1200F consistently beat it in shootouts. The VFR1200F had so much potential........if only Honda had played their cards a little differently. The fact that it went to 1,200 cc's and shaft drive never bothered me the way it did some people.
I had an '05 K1200R (naked version) with the small Cee Bailey sport screen that worked much better than any VFR screen. The bike is crazy fast and does corner decently. When it hits 8000rpm, hold on, it does a fuel dump. Mine shifted flawlessly and it had zero problems. Nice specimen. Enjoy it.
I once test rode one of those and really liked it (I think it's been around since '04 and so it's in dire need of an overhaul, though.) I hope they don't discontinue it.
That's the bike the VFR1200F was designed to compete with and the VFR1200F consistently beat it in shootouts. The VFR1200F had so much potential........if only Honda had played their cards a little differently. The fact that it went to 1,200 cc's and shaft drive never bothered me the way it did some people.
Congratulations on your new bike.
The abysmal fuel range of the VFR1200 pretty much turned me off of it. The 2012's gained a larger tank but only by .2 gallons. On top of that, they are expensive compared to the K12, mainly because they are newer still, much like the K1300S.
I might be wrong but I do not think those have a tele lever front suspension, If I remember correctly they are a duolever. completely different front end.
The gearbox on the K1200's were very cluncky and prone to clutch problems. The gearbox was greatly improved for the K1300 as was the clutch. Both of which will tranfer across. Having riden both the K12, K13 and the VFR 1200 I find the VFR a much more refined bike. The fueling on the K1200 was very bad. Was much improved on the K1300 which also has ASC. The K1300 has now been discontinued as it no longer meets the upcoming emission laws in Europe.
Congrats! I've dreamed of a K sportbike for years, but never seriously considered buying one. A local dealer has had a low miles '11 K1300S on the floor for quite awhile. I was thinking about making on offer on it this spring, but the insurance quote I got (3x what my '04 VFR cost to insure) pretty much made it impossible. Still, I can dream, right? :wink:
As a 23 year old I expected to get taken to town by insurance but surprisingly enough it's only 200$ more per year than my 98 VFR was. I think I'm around 607$ for full coverage. The VFR was 425, and my Tiger 1050 was 360.
I am a 23 year old, trapped in the body of a 53 year old. :goofy:
My 4th gen's insurance is $60 per year, 3rd party liability, fire and theft
My VF500F2 is $70 per year, 3rd party liability only
(the discount stacks as a result of the years having OWNED the vehicle as well as years w/o a claim; having a good relationship with the insurance agent helps here too...)
I got a ticket last fall in my car, plus rates went up across the board in Ohio. My VFR for the year was $241, and the quote for the same coverages on the '11 K1300S was $782. Could I swing it? Maybe, but it would be tough and I'm unwilling to pay that much. If I was serious about it I'd shop around, but I've been with one company awhile and would rather stick with them.
I've considered an older K bike, like the K1200S like you got, Ben, and I'd be fine with that. I don't need the extra 100cc anyway! I'm sure the insurance would be a bit cheaper, too. Either way I'd be taking on some kind of bike payment and I just don't want that right now.
BTW, a few years ago my VFR cost as little as $120/year. Hmm. Maybe I'll start shopping around now. :wink:
The gearbox on the K1200's were very cluncky and prone to clutch problems. The gearbox was greatly improved for the K1300 as was the clutch. Both of which will tranfer across. Having riden both the K12, K13 and the VFR 1200 I find the VFR a much more refined bike. The fueling on the K1200 was very bad. Was much improved on the K1300 which also has ASC. The K1300 has now been discontinued as it no longer meets the upcoming emission laws in Europe.
Just for the record, my K1200 had a very good, solid, strong gearbox with no clutch problems at all while ridden very hard everytime it went out. It had zero fueling problems so we don't agree. BMW responded very well to the few bikes that had fueling problems through software updates that solved the issues. I experienced no fueling issues at all. I don't think it was due to luck. I considered it an almost bullet proof motorcycle as was the previous R bike I owned. Both gave me less maintenance time and cost than any of the three VFR's I've owned.
Yeah my K bike fuels as well as my VFR did and my Tiger too. It's about to get put through its paces the next week, so we will see. So far she has been great.
Yeah my K bike fuels as well as my VFR did and my Tiger too. It's about to get put through its paces the next week, so we will see. So far she has been great.
You should consider a Remus titanium can on it. You would be amazed at how heavy the stock can / cat are. The Remus and lost weight will transform the bike's handling and takes every bit of 10 minutes to remove and install.
Well, it WAS a pretty great bike. The transmission got worse during Tmac. Bad shifts, jumping out of gear, etc...
and half way way through the week I low sided it into a guard rail. I was unhurt thankfully. I'm going to let the insurance company total the bike out and I'll pick something else up in the next week or two.
As you will be on the lookout for another bike, may I proffer a re-visit to the VFR1200?
Yes, the gas mileage could be better but it's not that bad and obviously depends on how you ride it. Range can easily vary from ~130 to over 200 miles, very similar to my old 5th Gen so in real life, it's no big deal.
It would be a shame to forgo such a fabulous bike on the basis of just tank range. Still, you know what best suits you. Good luck with the search.