So yesterday, I purchase and take delivery of a beautiful, 2007 R1200RT. The bike only has 13,800 miles on the dial. I bought it from a Mexican man that speaks very, very little English. His wife translates for me, but he purchased the bike back in May of 2021. During his four years of ownership, he tried to pass the motorcycle license test, fails twice and gives up.... storing the bike in his garage.
The story of mileage is important here.
He bought it with 13,500 on the dial. He rode it a little over four years.... only 300 miles in four years, as it had 13,800 when I bought it.
So I am flipping through the Rider's Manual and I get to the point where maintenance is recorded and find this.....
From April of 2018 til May of 2025, the bike was only ridden about 323 miles. Heck, since May of 2014 til May of 2025, which is 11 years, the bike was ridden about 2,200 miles.
When I dumped the motor oil, it was dark black, with only 330 miles on it. Back in went Mobil 1 15w50. The oil out of the Final Drive was also dark, but the transmission oil was golden and new looking. Both of those got full synthetic 75w140. On the first ride, the bike is running silk smooth and shifting silk smooth.
Honestly, I am stunned that the fuel system wasn't choked up with Ethanol wax, but the bike started right up and the throttle is very responsive.
Ok, fast-forward to this morning. With a new-to-me bike sitting in the garage, I enticed the wife into a ride, as we would swing by her favorite BBQ joint. We ended up riding 260 miles today and this RT is simply ROCK SOLID. Wow, did it perform wonderfully, from 6,000 feet elevation to an 11,000 ft pass.
