Tell me about the 2nd generation K1200GT

[QUOTE=Lee;812029]I personally know 6 people who had the cam chain break on their K1200GT and K1200S. It's costly when it happens so the upgrade is important.
I don't remember how much the upgrade cost.
I-BMW.com is a good place to get information on this. The site is mostly K bike owners.[/QUOTE]

I recall a discussion that the cam chain/sprocket are now a 30K service item.

I changed one on Helen's '05 S around 40K as it had the chain slap when we bought it and the tensioner upgrade did not take the issue completely away..forget the cost, but it took a bit of time with all the pieces to get the valve cover off. The BMW tool to lock the engine at TDC was another expensive piece...but I have used it enough to justify .
Now if I could get around to changing the chirpy/juddery clutch out in hers:whistle An issue that went away on the '07 models it seems when they redesigned the clutch pack.
My lower mileage '05 got the tensioner and guard way before the chain got sloppy...will revisit at 30K.

I've had my 1200 for about 5 years and 50k miles. It had a lot of "teething" issues when new which were fixed under warranty but hasn't given me any problems lately. I'm not too clear what the cam chain issue that other people are talking about is as it has not been a problem for me. The bike has great power and decent handling for being as big as it is. Brakes and suspension are fantastic but the seat, to me at least, is horrible. Other gripes are how hard it is to get to things like air and oil filters for routine maintenance and removing the Tupperware to get at the motor is a PITA. What Is great about the bike is the wind and weather protection, smoothness and power, decent fuel range not to mention heated seats and handgrips. Good luck.

I would say that I had some of the issues. The final drive failed on my at 29K. I had purchased it with 22K and had the oil changed when I got it and shortly thereafter. I had purchased extra warranty and was glad that I did. Got the final drive replaced by a BMW dealer which gave me two years of warranty on it and it runs fine 2.5 years later. Clutch had the noise but did not fail until 52K miles. Just started slipping then. I thought about the fuel change as it sometimes will stall in traffic when hot but I have not. Rather avoid traffic. But if I keep it longer I might think about it. I have done a lot of not so great weather and the protection is pretty darn good. A lot of times one only knows how hard it is raining based on the pavement or wipers of oncoming cars. My last ride this year started in fog at 37 degrees and headed to the 50 degree mark. It is pretty versatile.

I know the complaints about the seat but I have not bothered with it. I wear padded shorts for extra protection beyond the light padding of riding pants and that helps on long days. My longest day was Grand Rapids, MI to Springfield, MA about 740 miles. That was about 12 hours in the saddle. Also done a few other 12 hour days with shorter mileage because I was not on the boring slab. There are times when the S looks like more fun but for 12 hour days the GT is likely better. I don't do 2 up much and if I did a Goldwing or something else would probably be better. The machine is compromise like all of them, not quite as quick as a sport bike, or maybe not quite as comfortable as a GW or a H-D cruiser but I don't miss the cruiser 750 I used to have. But fondly remember some long days in Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and even boring Pennsylvania this past year and it was really a great ride.