SuperBike Magazine July 2020
The July issue is packed with awesome content to keep you busy over the remaining days of July. We are hard at work putting our August issue to bed!
The July issue is packed with awesome content to keep you busy over the remaining days of July. We are hard at work putting our August issue to bed!
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motor proud is the smoothness and the low<br />
down torque, it’s meant to be in a bike like<br />
this. Quick shift up and down is standard<br />
but again (call me old school) I could do it<br />
smoother with a slight dip of the clutch. The<br />
automatic blip on the downward change<br />
is nice but this is not a race bike. The tank<br />
capacity is 25 litres including the 4 litres<br />
reserve. I did try it a little for the sake of the<br />
article at 120km’h and got 4.2 litres /100 but<br />
at my pace I got it to 9 to the 100. But I was<br />
Aladdin.<br />
The electronics package on the RT is<br />
nearly identical to the GS, as well. The<br />
newest feature is BMW’s “Hill Start Control,”<br />
which allows the rider to stop on a hill and<br />
have the bike hold itself in place until they’re<br />
ready to accelerate. The base version is activated<br />
by tapping the front brake twice when<br />
stopped, while the Pro version can automatically<br />
sense that the bike is on an angle.<br />
This is part of the Ride Modes Pro package,<br />
which adds a third Dynamic rider mode<br />
to the RT’s Rain and Road modes. The selected<br />
rider mode controls throttle response<br />
as well as the level of engagement from<br />
Dynamic Traction Control (DTC). Dynamic<br />
offers the most sporting performance and<br />
I preferred the throttle response in this<br />
setting.<br />
Both DTC and ABS Pro are lean-angle<br />
sensitive. Adding Ride Modes Pro also<br />
includes BMW’s new Dynamic Brake Control<br />
(DBC). DBC will automatically roll off the<br />
throttle in panic stop situations in case the<br />
rider accidentally keeps the throttle on while<br />
grabbing a handful of front brake.<br />
As with the GS, the front brake calipers on<br />
the RT are now manufactured by Hayes and<br />
are branded as BMW units. Dual, four-piston<br />
calipers up front clamp down on floating 320<br />
mm rotors. The rear brake is a single Brembo<br />
dual-piston caliper paired with a 276 mm<br />
rotor. As with the GS, braking is phenomenal.<br />
The RT is equipped with Next-Generation<br />
Dynamic ESA with Auto-Ride Height<br />
Adjustment and AutoDamper settings. This<br />
is different from earlier versions of BMW’s<br />
active suspension in the fact that the<br />
preload adjustment can also be automated.<br />
You can choose to maximize or minimize the<br />
setting, but if you want nothing to do with<br />
suspension tuning you can set the system<br />
to automatic and it will determine preload<br />
settings based on the amount of rider weight<br />
and luggage it senses.<br />
You can then alternate between Road<br />
and Dynamic settings for the damping. Road<br />
features fully automatic damping tuned for<br />
Electrically<br />
adjustable<br />
from screen<br />
makes it<br />
easy finding<br />
the happy<br />
spot.<br />
•1,254 cc<br />
•136hp<br />
•143Nm<br />
•805 mm - 825 mm<br />
seat height<br />
•279kg full of fuel<br />
ready to ride.<br />
•25 Litre fuel tank<br />
comfort and Dynamic offers a sportier<br />
ride with stiffer damping. The front<br />
suspension is a BMW Telelever unit<br />
with a 37 mm central spring strut and<br />
4.7 inches of travel and the rear BMW<br />
Paralever single-sided swingarm<br />
features a WAD strut with 147 mm of<br />
travel.<br />
Summary:<br />
In summary on the new 1250RT, the<br />
motor has found its perfect home. I’m<br />
a big fan of the GS models but they<br />
do not consume kilometres like this<br />
RT does. It’s actually fascinating to<br />
watch the distance get gobbled up<br />
on a familiar road and the time move<br />
along slowly. The roads I was on were<br />
particularly bad and bumpy and the<br />
automatic suspension coped surprisingly<br />
well considering the pace.<br />
I never had the opportunity to take a<br />
pillion but if I was doing a long road<br />
ride with my wife, this RT would be my<br />
first choice and I know she would be<br />
happy.