BMW R100RT

The observant among you might have noticed a certain motorbike appearing in some of the photos. That is deliberate. It is my BMW R100RT which I have been using for the Church Tourism Study. Over 3000 miles have been covered by this in the last few weeks. How has it been?

It has proved to be the complete master of everything. It is as happy on the motorway as it is on a winding country lane. The big fairing provides a lot of wind and weather protection  – too much really in hot weather. It has consistently returned just under 60 miles per gallon in mixed riding. I think that is very good. It is 24 years old and there have only been two minor problems. The first was a leak from the overflow of the left hand carb. Easily sorted by undoing the float bowl and giving it a good clean out. The bike has fuel filters but hadn’t been used for a couple of years before I got it so there must have been some old fuel residue left. My left shoe still smells of petrol! The second was an intermittent fault with the indicators whilst I was in Norfolk. Sometimes they would work fine, and sometimes not at all. I instantly knew what the problem was. Just before the trip I had fitted a new switch as the old one wasn’t reliable. All the turning around in country lanes at full locked had resulted in the connector working loose. So, off with the seat and tank and push the connector home again – problem solved. That is it, no other problems. It has taken me up and down motorways, down rough tracks, and through torrential rain. It has proved to be a great machine which I have loads of respect for. The tyres (Cont Go’s) grip as well in the wet as in the dry. Two large panniers take care of my belongings and my magnetic tank bag holds the church tourism project stuff.

The torquey engine means that I don’t have to change gear very often – just roll it on and off the throttle. It will potter along like a moped or howl along at a goodly speed. I would rate it as excellent!