R1200RTBlog

Seeing the light

One of the problems I have found with the RT is that I have the 49 litre top box for the bike and when it is fitted it masks the brake light and anybody sitting high up i.e. trucks or cars that are sitting on your tail can't see the light.

I asked at the BMW dealer and because of the CanBus system on thebike, which is a single cable electrical system, I am told that I can' tadd extra brake lights to help me be seen.

I noticed that CycleGadets offered Hyperlights for the CanBus equipped BMW bikes and so I have ordered a set to see how they work. I will post some photos of them in operation when the arrive.

Whilst placing an order I also ordered some PIAA driving lights (1100x) along with to increase the lighting at the fron to of the bike and make me more noticable from the front. I have read in the BMW Owners Magazine that some research has been done that found that having a 3 light triangle, headlight plus two driving lights, makes you 60% more visible for some reason.

Again I will post some photos when I get them installed.

Garmin Zumo, Centech Fuse Panel & Autocom

Wow what a day - I finally get all my bits of lit connected on the bike. When I first bought the bike I had the Garmin Zumo fitted by the dealer and was using the Bluetooth capability to my BMW System 5 helmet I brought from the UK. It was sort of alright but the volume was pretty low and as it was a bluetooth connection it was only mono.

We bought some new Nolan N42 helmets and the J&R headsets to go with them a couple of weeks ago along with an Autocom unit and I have been dying to try it out. It worked OK with an Ipod plugged straight into the Unit but I wanted to get the MP3 capability of the Garmin Zumo working so I could control the music whilst I ride.

Anyway I drove up to Cliffs Cycle Revolution in Danbury this morning and picked up the required Interface lead (1299) which I ordered a couple of weeks ago and hey presto everything is great. The volume levels are a little lower than I would like and I may end up having to open the Autocom Unite and 'tweek' the level which I understand you can do from the instructions. However now I have music and phone, which is paired via Bluetooth with the Garmin Zumo unit.

This is a picture of the Centech and Autocom units installed on my R1200RT.

I also installed a wider/higher screen from Z-Technic which will hopefully stop a bit of the buffeting I have ben experiencing with the standard screen.

All I want now is the Coffee making attachment and I will be set!