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The squeaky rear brake on the LT has been driving me crazy. Squeaky doesn’t quite describe the noise this thing makes. Screeching is more accurate, and as Barb says, “Fingernails on a chalkboard.” I was riding over an overpass the other day with a concrete wall beside me, as I slowed down the brake started screeching and it was so loud that it hurt my ears.

Researching the loud rear brake on the internet, especially on the bmwlt.com website, I find that this is a very common problem. There were several different proposed fixes for the problem and some it appears that some people report that the fixes work, other report that they don’t.

I took the bike to the BMW dealer in Norcross, Georgia and they put some Loctite anti-squeak compound on the backs of the brake pads. This didn’t do anything at all for the noise. I tried the “cereal box” modification. This requires putting a piece of cardboard between the brake pad and the caliper, there are a number of people that swear that this fixes the squeaking rear brake. The cereal box cardboard didn’t do anything to help the squeaking.  From these two fixes I am sure the problem isn’t the brake pads rubbing against the caliper.

One other suggestion was to replace the stock rotor and pads with EBC parts. Went to the EBC website, found the pads and rotor, but when I tried to find a dealer the website said “Contact any of our 12,000 retail dealers…..” without the first clue of who any of them would be. So after some calling around, I finally found a dealer that carried the pads but not the rotors. So, after a over 100 mile round trip, I had a set of EBC pads. Replacing the pads has made a difference, but hasn’t completely cured the squeaking. The biggest difference is that it has replaced the loud squeal just as you come to a stop with a constant high pitched squeak when the bike is rolling. A slight application of the brakes will stop the squeak for a few seconds, but it comes back. It isn’t too bad, unless there is a car or a wall or something that will reflect the sound back at you. And, every once in a while, the loud squeal as the bike comes to a stop is back….just to remind you that it is still there!

After fiddling with this problem I am convinced that the problem is the rotor. The rear rotor is a floating design. When the rotor is cool the clearance between the hub and the rotor is much greater than I have experienced with other floating rotors. I had floating rotors on the front of my ’96 Electra Glide. The Kawasaki ZRX1200R has floating rotors on the front, and none of these rotors are as loose between the hub and rotor as the BMW rotor. Also, when I get the brakes hot, really hot, the squealing stops and the rotor to hub clearance is almost zero.

I have read many accounts of how good this bike is on long rides. To me, it is not as comfortable as the Electra Glide. The seat is very soft and puts a lot of pressure on my tail bone. Barbara complains that her seat is too soft also, and unlike the Harley seat that is slightly higher in the front, the BMW seat is higher in the rear which concentrates the pressure toward the tail bone.

As I stated in a previous blog the J-Pegs highway pegs are too far out to the side be comfortable. One of the things about the BMW is that the rider foot pegs are far back, putting you feet back almost under your but. That leaves your knees bent more than 90 degrees. There is no where to move them. The J-Pegs are so far out to the side you feel like you are doing a split, but still you can’t straighten your knee. On the Harley, the standard seating position has your feet out in front of you, like you are sitting in a chair. The floor boards on the Harley also allow you to move your feet forward or backward from that position about 6 to 8 inches. In addition, I have my highway pegs mounted on the crash bar so that I can put my feet up on them and almost completely straighten my knee. Where I have the highway pegs mounted I can also prop my toes up on the highway peg and my heal on the floorboard for a “halfway” position.

The wind protection is much better with the Ztechnik Stream windscreen, but even with that $170 windscreen it is not as good as the Harley. The BMW has an adjustable windshield, it rises and changes angle as it rises. Even with that, because of the slope of the windscreen I have to get it up pretty high to get any real wind protection. The problem is that the windscreen is far forward and has more ‘rake’ than the Harley.

When you turn on the ignition the computer(s) go through a self test. All of the indicators on the dash light up, the speedometer and the tachometer go to full scale and there is some clicking and other noises coming from under the tupperware. Apparently, during the self test, you can’t let the bike move, you can’t press the brakes, you can’t do anything or when you hit the starter nothing will happen. The bike has several computers, and they talk. I have had the bike not start several times. I am slowly figuring out all the “don’ts” during self test. The first time I experienced this was in the garage, on a nice flat surface. Last night, at a restaurant parking lot what was not level, I couldn’t get the BMW to start. I wound up having to roll the bike to a flat spot so that I didn’t have to hold the brakes and could get the bike out of first gear. This little “feature” is a pain in the ass!

Ok, that’s some of the problems with the bike after riding it for a few weeks. There are some things that I really like too. My favorite thing about the bike is the “security system.” This is like a keyless entry for a car. A fob on the keyring that locks and unlocks both side bags, the top case, and the “glove box” compartment in front of the rider. That is neat! One button, locks and unlocks all the storage compartments….neat!

Due to our late coming spring, it has been cool most days lately. I have come to greatly appreciate the heated seats and grips. Really nice!

On the 100 mile ride to get the EBC pads I had a good opportunity to use the cruise control. Cruise control is something that I have never had, nor actually thought was a worthwhile thing to have on a bike. I was wrong on that too! Cruise control is great, especially on the long ride. You can set the cruise and give your right hand a rest. Nice!

To be continued –

My friend Mitch sent me this video today. It is just great! They just don’t make them like the “Duke” anymore! What a man, actor, patriot!

We need more John Wayne’s in this world, and I sure do miss him.

Click on the link below to see the video clip.

Dean and Duke

I mentioned before the wind protection on the LT was not too good, not as good as the Harley.  Saturday I put a Z-Technik Stream extended windscreen on the BMW LT.   Here is their website

I got home from Blue Moon Cycle where I bought the windscreen, put it on, and took a quick, very quick, ride.  It seems to give you a much bigger “bubble” behind the windscreen.  It is taller than the stock screen.  It is wider at the top and has interesting compound curve to deflect the air up and over the rider and passenger.  My initial reaction it that it does what I expected, it improves the wind protection.   I will have to get Barb on and see how she likes it.

My evaluation was, as I said, very quick, because about the time I got the windscreen on and got out of the garage it started to rain.  I got about a quarter mile ride in and it was starting to come down pretty good so I headed for the garage.  I was hoping to get out for a hour or so on Saturday or Sunday, but it didn’t happen.  As soon as I got the screen on Saturday it was drizzling rain that continued most of the afternoon.  On Sunday, it was cold, temperature never got to 50 degrees, it was overcast, and windy.  Good day to stay in the house.

I also had the dealer look at the squeaky rear brakes.  Actually, squeaky doesn’t really describe the rear brake, it is beyond squeaky and to full on howling.  I have been reading some of the posts on the www.bmwlt.com website about the brakes on the LTs and apparently this is an on going problem.  There are several fixes, but the reports of effectiveness seem to be spotty at best.  The fixes rage from changing rotor, pads, and putting cereal box cardboard behind the pads.   I took a DA sander and tried breaking the glase on the rotor, and it worked good for about three stops, then it was back to howling.  More on this later.  I need to fix this, it is very distracting!

Today (Saturday) Barbara and I got the chance for a pretty good ride on the K1200LT. It was the first time I had an opportunity to ride the bike two up and the first time to get a good long ride on the highway, back roads, and even a little time on the interstate.

It was windy on Saturday. We had a front come through a day before so we had a pretty stiff breeze from the northwest, probably 10-15 mph in the gusts. This bike, and the ’08 I test drove seemed to be very stable, very aerodynamic, and just easy to drive. However, from the start of this ride the bike had some directional stability issues. I had put the “top case” back on the bike Friday night and rode it for a few minutes and it was fine. Now, riding two up, it seemed very different. It seemed like the bike wanted to drift from side to side in the lane, and when we got out on the highway in the wind, the wind was moving this big bike all over the road.

We rode up to Ellijay, Georgia, about an hour from home. I fought the bike all the way up there. It was not only the wind, but even getting behind a large car or a truck the turbulence whipped the bike around in the lane. It was a handful. I couldn’t believe that BMW would build a bike that had this kind of problem with handling.

We stopped for a drink and I had a thought. There is an adjustment for rear spring preload under the driver’s seat. I flipped up the seat and noticed that the preload was set all the way down to it’s lowest setting. I cranked it to almost its highest setting. On the way back it was like a different bike. It tracked straight, the wind affected the bike, but it was totally normal, and manageable as it should have been from the start. We got on one of my favorite roads coming home, East Cherokee Drive, that has a number of nice curves. This is where this big honker excels. It handles curves very well. It has high ground clearance and great cornering clearance.

You sit high on the BMW, several inches higher than the Electra Glide, or at least it feels that way. But the ride is comfortable. The seats on the Bimmer are very soft, but after an hour or so I start to get a bit of “butt burn.” Because the seats are soft, it is harder to move around on them, and makes it difficult to get a new position after several hours of riding. Also, the bike has the BMW “highway pegs” installed on it. I tried them out, they are worthless. They are installed under the “bumpers” on the side of the faring. They are so far apart, that you feel like you are doing a split when you get your feet out there. Very uncomfortable for more than just a few seconds. They look great, and folded away you can’t even tell they are there. But, functionally, they’re worthless!

To get a quick contrast between the BMW and the Harley, when we got home we got out on the Harley and did a short ride. Getting on the Harley was very familiar, like sitting down to the dinner table and your Mama’s house! It felt good, but then after riding these bikes for 12 years now, I would expect it to feel familiar! On the Harley you almost feel like you are sitting down “in” the in bike, not on the bike. The seating position is very different between the two bikes. On the Harley the rider has large floorboards that are out in front of you, like you are sitting in a chair. Also, the large floorboards allow the rider to move his feet around. On the Bimmer the rider has pegs and they are positioned back, behind the engine, and almost directly under the riders backside. Doesn’t leave much room to move your position as the hours pass.  It also leaves your knees bent past 90 degrees and slightly folded back under you.

The windshield on the Harley is much closer to you than on the Bimmer where the rider is sitting fully 2 and a half feet behind the windshield, the passenger is even farther behind the “bubble” behind the windsheild. This is particularly noticeable at highway speeds, where the wind protection was not very good. We got on Interstate 575 heading to Ellijay and I found that the wind was hitting me from behind. I asked Barb if she was getting a lot of wind and said “YES!!” I already had the windshield up to its highest position (this bike has the small windshield, there is a taller one that is available.) I found to small wind deflectors down below the faring and I pushed them out to their outer most position and that helped a lot. But, still, the wind protection on the Electra Glide is better.

To be continued…..

I picked up the BMW K1200LT this evening. It is a 2005 and has very low miles on it, just 1027 miles when I picked it up. It is still not through the break-in period. But at nearly three years old it has spent a lot of time sitting in someone’s garage. I’ll get some miles on it and get it broken in properly.

I should explain.  I’ve been riding touring bikes since ’96 when I bought a Harley Davidson Electra Glide. Barbara, my wife, loves to ride too and a larger touring style bike just makes since for us.  One that has hard, weatherproof bags, a stereo, a comfortable seat, highway pegs, and other such comforts for the road. In ’05 we traded to a new Harley, one with a 88 inch Twin Cam motor, and I thought that it would be something I could ride for 9 or 10 years like the ’96 I had before. But the issues with the Twin Cam motors has finally gotten to me so I started looking around at what else was available.  With only 13,000 miles on the bike I have replaced the cam chain tensioners already, they showed a good bit of wear and even more important, there were chunks broken off the friction faces of the tensioners.  (These small pieces of orange plastic showed up in my oil filter)

When you get right down to it, there are basically only three bikes that I would really consider as a serious touring bike. They are, the Honda Goldwing, the BMW K1200LT, and the Harley Electra Glide. I really don’t care for the Goldwing, just to big and bulky looking for me, not to mention they get poor gas mileage. I really didn’t want to get another Harley, even the ’07 and ’08 with the 96 Cu. In motor didn’t really appeal to me. I wanted something a bit more modern and technological. That left the BMW.

I test drove a new ’08 K1200LT (apparently only BMW dealers will allow you to test drive a motorcycle) a week ago and it was really nice. Lots of power, fantastic brakes, comfortable, good luggage, nice bike!

When you first get on the BWM it seems huge. Now the Electra Glide is not by any means a small or lightweight bike, but the BMW just feels BIG. The faring and dashboard of the BMW seems like something that should be on a car. It looks big, and it feels big. It is about 60 pounds heavier than the Electra Glide but it feels much heavier. It feels like the bike has a higher center of gravity than the Harley making it feel much heavier.

The BMW has plenty-o-power to spare, it sometimes feels more like a sport bike than a big tourer. At about 4K RPM the motor really wakes up and things start to pick up pretty quickly! The top end of second gear is almost 80 MPH, so it really likes to run.

There are several things that I really like about the bike. First, you have a small fob on the key with two pushbuttons, a keyless lock/unlock. It locks and unlocks all the baggage, both side bags, the “top case” (BWM speak for a tour pak) and the small “glovebox” in front of the driver.  That is one thing about the Electra Glide, you can spend several minutes locking all the locks when you want to secure the bike.

Second, I like the way the bike runs. It is heavy feeling at low speed, but get the bike moving at all, and it handles very well, it will get around a corner with ease and then accelerate like a sportbike, that’s not your typical large touring bike!

As much as I liked the test drive, I’m still not sure that the BMW really fits my needs. The weight is ponderous! The bike is wide too, and even though I can hold the bike up flat footed, when I get on un-even ground it is quite a hand full to hold up as you come to a stop. On the ride home this evening I got stopped in traffic in a corner that was banked a few degrees. As I came to a stop, I almost dropped the bike, because I was in the banking of the turn. I fumbled a bit keeping it upright, but I held it. I was solo, it may have been different if the bags were loaded and Barb was on the back.

Also, the bike has an “integrated” braking system, meaning that using either brake can activate both brakes. At low speed I have noticed that this can produce some “jerky” operation. Normally I only use my rear brake at low speed to keep from tipping the heavier bikes. I would not want the integrated brakes to dump my ass on the ground because the front brakes grabbed suddenly in a low speed stop.

So here’s the plan. I’m going to have my own “Touring Bike Shootout” just like the big motorcycle magazines, except, I’m not getting free use of bikes from the factories for a couple of days, not to mention I am doing a shootout with three year old motorcycles….but it’s my shootout and I’ll do it the way I want. Check back here to see how it goes. At the end, I will sell either the Harley or the BMW, and just keep on riding!

To be continued!