BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

From the center line of the motorcycle (seat latch key hole) to the outside of the bag ( the same as the RT uses without the paint job) is aprox 18". My dealer told me the thinner lid is not available in the U.S. But others (BMW riders) have told me that they are, so I don't know.

Ken G.

I'll go measure it - hang on...

Widest point ~38" (~95cm)

And no - there are no smaller lids for them from BMW. I heard rumors of someone making smaller lids, but they weren't terribly well done. And yes - the RT ones come painted, ours are bare plastic with a semi-matt finish. Paint scratches easier than plastic if you fall down, plastic shows boot drag marks easier.

IF you're not getting the BMW rack, and just want the side rails that mount the luggage - there is a pair on Ebay for cheap at the moment.

motoracer8 wrote:From the center line of the motorcycle (seat latch key hole) to the outside of the bag ( the same as the RT uses without the paint job) is aprox 18". My dealer told me the thinner lid is not available in the U.S. But others (BMW riders) have told me that they are, so I don't know.

Ken G.

One note - Ken - that isn't the widest point.. the wide point is near the front of the bag (where I've bumped it backing it into my garage..)

Don, Yah they are a bit wider at the front, mabe 36" is wishfull thinking, Even at 36" they are wider than the handle bars, you have to be careful when spliting lanes. My R12R shares space with two other machines so the bags allways come off when it's put away.

Ken G.

Yeah, what about these "city lids" I've heard mentioned?

xprof wrote:Yeah, what about these "city lids" I've heard mentioned?

My dealer told me they were only sold in Europe.

xprof wrote:Yeah, what about these "city lids" I've heard mentioned?

I use my lids in the city all the time

Check out this from A&S in Sacramento:

http://www.ascycles.com/detail.aspx?ID=1424

My understanding is the narrower city lids are only available for the R1150R BMW side cases. Not available for the R/RT (same) cases — yet.

LumpyCam wrote:My understanding is the narrower city lids are only available for the R1150R BMW side cases. Not available for the R/RT (same) cases — yet.

Correct. The ones Mike linked to are very specifically for oilhead bags - not hexheads.. (from the ad: "K1200GT, K1200RS, R1100/850R, R1100GS, R1100RT, R1100S, R1100S, R1150GS/Adv, R1150R, R1150RS, R1150RT, Luggage") They won't fit our bags.

I just found this page http://www.2pma.fr/boutique/categorie/bagagerie on a French website.. Obviously for French readers it might be a bit easier to read but it clearly shows that those slim lids are designed for the R1200R luggages.

To access the right product reference on the page just copy paste "COUVPLAT12R" in the "find" function of your web browser, then just click on the camera icon.

Now the price is 250,00 € for both
Which today equal to $ 321 before international shipping... (A bit on the pricey side I agree)

Only Remain to check if those French lids will exactly fit on the BMW luggages distributed in the US...

Available here too : http://www.futurmoto-bmw.com/moto-bmw/F ... steme.html

FredeR1200Ric wrote:Thanks that's great !

If I can order those European city lids inclined in Sacramento I'll be done with the width issue in the sunny & smoky jammed avenues of Los Angeles full of freaky annoying red lights stops.

Not too mention the army's of picky neat freak cars obsessed Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Porsche drivers of Beverly Hills which usually are capable to sue you faster that their shadows for just a tiny bump or scratch on their monthly 4 wheeled shinny toy...

The quasi absence of fairing of the R1200R allowed me to secure my helmet right on the seat with a small Kriptonite chain locked on one of the many diagonals frame elements striping the side of the bike.

So ! with 2 slim side luggage's and a bulky rear wide but not to high rear luggage I think I'll be all fine in meeting my lifestyle requirements with the R1200R.

That's the whole reason I went sans side luggage and selected a jumbo Givi topcase. Not pretty but it keeps the bike slender for the SoCal metro experience.

I agree AmostThere that's what I have in mind too...I also think about the possibility of buying an hepko-becker system rack with the biggest rear luggages they have and find a clean and safe way to attach them on it some of these nice and way affordable Roadgear soft luggages... So that I can even eventually reinstall the Gobi side luggages if I have to do lots of rainy road on a specific trip apart from my urban everyday use of my bike.

I called Roadgear this morning and they say that their luggages have foams inside to keep them in shapes even if not fully loaded but it is also possible to get a light aluminum sheet perpendicularly bended in order to harden the whole thing if slided inside.

Then a perimetrical alarm under the rear seat to keep away guys that think a soft luggage might be more interesting to take than a pricey and good looking BMW bulky luggage.

Roadgear soft luggage:http://www.roadgear.com/index.php?page=Product&id=24

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Breaking news ! : Somewhere in Los Angeles A cool BMW parts&accessories representative I just spoke to on the phone is trying to find a way to get the Police side cases and find out how to convert the attachments in order to make it fitting fine on the R1200R.

I just ordered a set of side case rails with the rear rack so I can add a top case for my R1200R. I can sell you the rails that are on my bike now (for BMW side cases only with mounting hardware) for $50 bucks plus freight in about three weeks when my bike comes out of storage. Let me know if you are interested.

JW

Here are some photos and the install of Givi Expedition soft bags on the R1200R by indigoid.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indigoid/s ... 642506530/

Thanks LumpyCam but they look a bit too soft for me it seems like they fall down a bit too much for me...
Beside that it is personal taste so I am still Ok to finally order a Givi rear case but meantimes I do not want to abuse too much of Givi product all over my bike. Its stupid but in Europe peoples who use Givi are often big wallet inexperienced riders which use anything fancy looking there dealer can propose them and on which he can make a juicy markup too... GIVI is the standard in that matter in Europe.

I looked up on the GIVI website and they have 1 or 2 nice side luggages that seem good but the design is SO so so GIVI !! With all the GIVI brand tag on it that it drive me almost sick.

But well I was thinking about the Roadgear soft luggages : http://www.roadgear.com/index.php?page= ... &sub_id=17 or the RKA : http://www.rka-luggage.com/A05%20Saddle ... /sb50.html because those luggages seems well made and apparently do not pathetically fall down when half full.

If one of you guys know a good alternative in between the Sportsy look of Roadgear and the Academic discreet look of the RKA I'll be interested to browse any links you might post on this conversation.

Just a minor point about the BMW luggage ... There's a lot of dead space and odd shapes inside the standard R1200R(T) bags.

I have a hard enough time getting my notebook computer (15" Macbook Pro) to fit in the )(*@# saddlebag, due to the trapezoidal shape and odd interior cutouts. If the lid weren't as deep as it is, I don't think it would work at all.

Why, oh why, could those wonderful Teutonic engineers not used a FREAKING RECTANGULAR PROFILE FOR THE INSIDE OF THE CASES??!!!

(Sorry ... this is a bit of an irritant at times, like this morning when it was pouring rain and I was getting ready to ride to the airport, and it took me more than a minute to c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y line up the laptop (removed from the soft case, with that on top), and c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y close the lid just so....)

*Ahem*

That being said, the BMW luggage rack system is well-integrated into the bike and looks, IMHO, quite good. That being said, if you want luggage and don't already have a rail set installed, I would strongly suggest you head to a dealer and check the proposed fit of things like computers, briefcases, helmets, jackets, or whatever else you might consider carrying that's not particularly stuff-able.

I never had this problem with the GIVIs on my CB1000. 'Course they didn't look as good, and the racks were an ... interesting ... addition to the bike's profile, but they worked very well from the carry-anything standpoint.

Good roads,

- Lewellen180