SuperBike Magazine July 2020

motor proud is the smoothness and the low
down torque, it’s meant to be in a bike like
this. Quick shift up and down is standard
but again (call me old school) I could do it
smoother with a slight dip of the clutch. The
automatic blip on the downward change
is nice but this is not a race bike. The tank
capacity is 25 litres including the 4 litres
reserve. I did try it a little for the sake of the
article at 120km’h and got 4.2 litres /100 but
at my pace I got it to 9 to the 100. But I was
Aladdin.
The electronics package on the RT is
nearly identical to the GS, as well. The
newest feature is BMW’s “Hill Start Control,”
which allows the rider to stop on a hill and
have the bike hold itself in place until they’re
ready to accelerate. The base version is activated
by tapping the front brake twice when
stopped, while the Pro version can automatically
sense that the bike is on an angle.
This is part of the Ride Modes Pro package,
which adds a third Dynamic rider mode
to the RT’s Rain and Road modes. The selected
rider mode controls throttle response
as well as the level of engagement from
Dynamic Traction Control (DTC). Dynamic
offers the most sporting performance and
I preferred the throttle response in this
setting.
Both DTC and ABS Pro are lean-angle
sensitive. Adding Ride Modes Pro also
includes BMW’s new Dynamic Brake Control
(DBC). DBC will automatically roll off the
throttle in panic stop situations in case the
rider accidentally keeps the throttle on while
grabbing a handful of front brake.
As with the GS, the front brake calipers on
the RT are now manufactured by Hayes and
are branded as BMW units. Dual, four-piston
calipers up front clamp down on floating 320
mm rotors. The rear brake is a single Brembo
dual-piston caliper paired with a 276 mm
rotor. As with the GS, braking is phenomenal.
The RT is equipped with Next-Generation
Dynamic ESA with Auto-Ride Height
Adjustment and AutoDamper settings. This
is different from earlier versions of BMW’s
active suspension in the fact that the
preload adjustment can also be automated.
You can choose to maximize or minimize the
setting, but if you want nothing to do with
suspension tuning you can set the system
to automatic and it will determine preload
settings based on the amount of rider weight
and luggage it senses.
You can then alternate between Road
and Dynamic settings for the damping. Road
features fully automatic damping tuned for
Electrically
adjustable
from screen
makes it
easy finding
the happy
spot.
•1,254 cc
•136hp
•143Nm
•805 mm - 825 mm
seat height
•279kg full of fuel
ready to ride.
•25 Litre fuel tank
comfort and Dynamic offers a sportier
ride with stiffer damping. The front
suspension is a BMW Telelever unit
with a 37 mm central spring strut and
4.7 inches of travel and the rear BMW
Paralever single-sided swingarm
features a WAD strut with 147 mm of
travel.
Summary:
In summary on the new 1250RT, the
motor has found its perfect home. I’m
a big fan of the GS models but they
do not consume kilometres like this
RT does. It’s actually fascinating to
watch the distance get gobbled up
on a familiar road and the time move
along slowly. The roads I was on were
particularly bad and bumpy and the
automatic suspension coped surprisingly
well considering the pace.
I never had the opportunity to take a
pillion but if I was doing a long road
ride with my wife, this RT would be my
first choice and I know she would be
happy.