Oh the horror!

I did the unthinkable. Two weeks ago I bought a 2008 K1200GT with 6900 miles on the clock. Ok let the ridicule begin. I love my GRiSO to death but honestly (IMHO) it's not really much of a sport tourer.  Additionally I sold my Tiger 800 two months ago. It was a reasonably good mid range tourer with the Givi Airflow screen and Givi Bags. Teutonic bikes have a reputation on this board and a few others as "having no soul." I never really understood that concept and I have been riding for over 52 years. If you equate soul to character or quirkiness then that I understand. I rode a 1960's era Norton P11 Scrambler from Ohio to Daytona Beach back in 1971. I also rode the wheels off a 1972 Triumph Daytona 500. My 1997 Ducati 900 SS, one of 130 imported in fly Yellow was the king of soul, quirkiness and character. Each of these bikes had mucho soul, quirkiness and gobs of character all were fun and each gave me the feeling that they could and generally would quit at the most opportune time, and all did. At this stage of my life I into practically, comfort and oh yes 150HP. Don't worry, I am keeping the GRiSO for my inner hooligan.

Enzo the baker wrote:

I rode a 1960's era Norton P11 Scrambler from Ohio to Daytona Beach back in 1971.

You sir, are a glutton for punishment!

Enzo the baker wrote:

My 1997 Ducati 900 SS, one of 130 imported in fly Yellow was the king of soul, quirkiness and character.

You sir, have excellent taste!


Not that my having owned a Norton Atlas and also currently own a '96 900SS influence these opinions

I have learned that (for the most part) "soul" in a motorcycle usually winds up meaning that it has push-rod actuated valves.
Laverda SF2's and Ducati's tend to be the exception to that rule.

AS for sport touring goes I am on a slow plan to add touring accoutrements to my GRiSO and make it my touring bike.
Feel free to question my "Good Judgement" all you want.

DM

having been on the receiving end of a head on at the hands of a lane crossing prick from eastern PA on an 07 version of the wunderturd of which you speak I can attest it is heavy bike....the 07 I picked up in a divorce sale later that same year thankfully had the good graces to set itself on fire on the cherohala parkway six months later(I would suggest changing out the fuel line fittings to metal ones from the beemer boneyard NOW)
just a fyi the fuel pump is a bosch unit that is the same as a vw (you will need to know that) the fuel control unit ditto is also avail from bosh you need to know that as well...take it by a dealer and have the software revision checked and updated there were like 6 or 7 versions of the software to get the bike running right so make sure it has the latest (any dealer should install this free as it should have been done long ago have them check) they may charge though as the load is about 4 disks and takes about 4 hours last one on mine.

soul means you want to ride the thing and enjoy riding the thing, the greatest joy for me with my GT was watching it burn..it did nothing wrong (except for running problems) but I could have parked it in the corner and forgotten it and never missed it.

man did the one that hit me come apart like you would not believe, my bonneville was hurt very bad but the gt was utterly destroyed

Enzo the baker wrote:

 Ok let the ridicule begin. I love my GRiSO to death but honestly (IMHO) it's not really much of a sport tourer.  

you are right ............ the GRiSO is certainly capable of doing anything but it is a a 'bad boy' front and foremost. 

It is also certain, obvious, that free thinking rational motorcycling person will agree that an Aprilia RST Futura is the most comfortable and most soulful sports tourer ever built in living motorcycling history/memory and within/beyond the known Universe........... I cite the hysterical electrics as evidence.

The other day, after a short ride, my beautiful 03 Futura tried to start itself after I turned the ignition off. Apparently it wasn't happy with such a short journey and so decided to short out the starter solenoid .............. having said that, a free thinking rational person will agree that an Aprilia RST Futura is the most comfortable and most soulful sports tourer ever built ...........

I think the Rotax engine is a turd.

Just sayin......

Pete

Thanks to all for the input. I have been researching problems associated with this bike and the fuel line fittings are a well known problem among others. Uzidzit thanks for the heads up. Ironically I looked at a Futura before I bought the BMW, the owner didn't really want to sell and would not negotiate at all. Just as well, I might have purchased an Italian wonderturd instead of a Teutonic one. I have never been described as rational, free thinker, most definitely, my very first street bike was a Wards Mojave, a 260cc Benelli cloaked in a pseudo Rickman frame and orange body work. It defined the word Turd. Apologies to Mr. Roper 

The gt in its natural environerns:
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I kind of liked this shot of my poor bonnie
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kinda cool
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if ya see this cretin pull off the road and hide till he goes away
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this place is full of useful information and usless abuse...much like most family reunions

Holy crap my GT is the same color as the one that decked you. I may trade/sell the wonderturd before my usual two year love affair.
Happy you survived and are still  riding. I've never had a run in with another bike, couple of cars and a stubborn guardrail that tried to take my right leg off above the knee but that's it...
Family reunions, spot on. I keep coming back here because when you sift through the shit you can sometimes find a pearl.  

yeah the Gt went after my left leg, the new bonnie is a stout bitch and took it well, I never did find the battery out of the Bonnie god knows where it was ejected to.

no worries on the color I would swear they were all that weird blue.

we get a ton of Inexperienced flatlanders around here, did I mention he did not have a motorcycle endorsement and only had 1300 or so miles on the gt.

I have had a few k bikes over the years i would buy one when it was uber cheap, ride it for a while let it collect dust a bit then sell it off

I did have a red k75 sport I was pretty partial to for a while I did not realize how rare a bike it was and could have gotten a lot more for it but I just thought it was a k75

for this style bike right now I am very partial to the Honda 1200vfr, and the FJR, The Honda is actually very nice but shit they put a small tank on it

those pics are funny as Hell.
I am always up for enjoying more of that abuse.

I keep trying to resist that Futura in town also... so I can take the top box off my GRiSO and keep it more hooligan..

Enzo the baker wrote:

Ironically I looked at a Futura before I bought the BMW, the owner didn't really want to sell and would not negotiate at all. Just as well, I might have purchased an Italian wonderturd instead of a Teutonic one. I have never been described as rational, free thinker, most definitely, my very first street bike was a Wards Mojave, a 260cc Benelli cloaked in a pseudo Rickman frame and orange body work. It defined the word Turd. Apologies to Mr. Roper 

I got the K1200GT first, excellent bike, but lot of problems, make sure you have a cam chain jump guard fitted, get an updated cam chain tensioner, keep an eye on the front telelever upper/lower ball joints, i had to replace mine at 10000 miles, they were over 100 pounds each + fitting, the clutches generally squeal on initial take up, everyone advises to ignore it, it works fine but is an annoying noise, the paint finish on the diffs seems to bubble & flake on most of them, now having said all that, it goes like shit off a shiny shovel all day long, returns on average 48mpg (imperial UK ie approx 4.5litres), handles really well, is comfortable 2 up, the only thing missing is the kitchen sink-BUT, i fell in love with the looks of the GRiSO & got one a few months ago, its not as fast, its not as good on mpg, its not as smooth, & i love riding it, its now the bike i want to ride, the bm has hardly been used since the GRiSO came along, my personal opinion is that the GRiSO is full of character, everyone comments on how good it looks, the K1200GT people dont notice it, it dosent have character!!

stevie1 wrote:

BUT, i fell in love with the looks of the GRiSO & got one a few months ago, its not as fast, its not as good on mpg, its not as smooth, & i love riding it,

its now the bike i want to ride, the bm has hardly been used since the GRiSO came along,

Exactly!!!!!!!!!

Yep the GRiSO definitely takes the charisma award in my garage. However this time my criteria did not include "dripping with character, soul or charisma". I wanted something fast, comfortable and able haul my ass and the occasional passenger, accoutrements, comfortably around the Western USA. While shopping I looked at a 2014 Norge, nice bike, all the right equipment, unfortunately the only color on the floor was Mahogany. Now I love mahogany furniture, I liked Diana Ross in the movie Mahogany. I even had mahogany paneling in my house back in the 70's, but on a motorcycle IMHO it looked like shit. What  do you do when it gets dirty, varnish? Pledge?
The GT1200 is a complicated piece of machinery and flaws abound and I am thankful for the constructive  input from members of this forum. My particular GT has just 7,000 miles on the clock, I am in the process of sorting out known areas of concern ABS, fuel connectors, fuel strip, and yes the whole sad cam chain saga. Point being I have at last count 21 motorcycles some were problematic yet charismatic (any 60's era British twin or triple), some were problem free and reasonably charismatic (Honda VFR's, both gear driven valve train and chain). Some were so lacking in identity, (Victory 8 Ball, Victory Kingpin) I felt no attachment to them and sold them both within a year of ownership.
But overall I enjoyed riding every one of them, well almost everyone of them, I had a Hinckley era Triumph Sprint Executive, forget the year but it was truly awful.
Lastly when I was 15 years old a friend purchased a Cushman Eagle scooter, foot clutch, ear splitting chrome exhaust, with a two speed hand shift and belt drive.  He kept it at my house because his parents forbade him  to own anything with two wheels and a motor. Providing him with a convenient location to store his scooter bought me riding rights. I remember hurrying home from school and firing up that crude, beastly 10 hp mill and racing round the Ohio countryside if only for an hour or two. I was too young to know or even care  about how much soul or charisma that thing possessed. I just remember the sense of absolute freedom and joy I felt when riding that simple machine. I don't know when the other stuff became so important.

If you have ABS problems, do a search i cant remember where it is, but there is a repair you can do, its fairly simple & saves a fortune, as long as you are reasonably mechanically adept!!!
As these are a fairly simple ABS system you bleed them as normal, unlike the K1200lt with linked & servo assisted, ignore the horror stories.
Regards
Stevie