BMW K 1200 GT 2nd Edition (US) 2006 Owner's manual

Rider's Manual (US Model)

K 1200 GT

BMW Motorrad

The Ultimate Riding

Machine

Motorcycle/Retailer Data

Motorcycle data

Model

Vehicle Identification Number

Color number

First registration

Registration number

Retailer Data

Contact in Service

Ms./Mr.

Phone number

Retailer's address/phone number
(company stamp)

Welcome to BMW

We congratulate you on your
choice of a motorcycle from
BMW and welcome you to the
community of BMW riders.
Familiarize yourself with your
new motorcycle so that you
can ride it safely and confi­dently in all traffic situations.
Please read this Rider's Man­ual carefully before starting
to use your new BMW motor­cycle. It contains important
information on how to oper­ate the controls and how to
make the best possible use
of all your BMW's technical
features.
In addition, it contains infor­mation on maintenance and
care to help you maintain your
motorcycle's reliability and
safety, as well as its value.
If you have questions con­cerning your motorcycle, your

authorized BMW Motorrad re­tailer will gladly provide advice
and assistance.

We wish you many miles of
safe and enjoyable riding

BMW Motorrad.

Table of Contents

You can also use the index at
the end of this Rider's Manual
to find a specific topic.

1 General instructions . . . 5

Overview . . ............... 6

Abbreviations and

symbols . . . ............... 6

Equipment ............... 7

Technical data ........... 7

Currentness of this

manual . . .. ............... 7

2 Overviews . . ........... 9

General view, left side . . . 11
General view, right

side..................... 13

Underneath seat . . . . . . . . . 15

Left handlebar fitting . . . . . 16

Handlebar fitting, right . . . 17

Instrument cluster . . . . . . . 18

Headlight . .............. 19

3 Status indicators . . . . . 21

Multifunction display . . . . . 22

Warning and indicator

lights . . . . . .............. 23

ABS warning light . . . . . . . 23

Indicator light,
cruise-control

OE

system

............... 23

Function indicators . . . . . . 23

General warning

indicators . .............. 24

Warning indicators of Tire
Pressure Control

OE

TPC

.................. 32

ABS warning

indicators . .............. 36

ASC warning
indicators

OE

............. 38

4 Operation . . . .......... 41

Ignition switch and

steering lock . . .......... 43

Electronic immobilizer. . . . 44

Hazard warning

flashers . . . .............. 45

Odometer and

tripmeters . .............. 46

Multifunction display . . . . . 47

Clock . . . . . .............. 47

Tire Pressure Control

OE

TPC

.................. 48

Residual range .......... 49

Onboard computer
Cruise control

OE

OE

.... 49

......... 52

Emergency ON/OFF

switch . . . . .............. 55

Heated hand grips
Seat heating

OE

OE

..... 56

.......... 56

Clutch . . . . .............. 58

Brakes . . . . .............. 58

Handlebars.............. 59

Lights . . . . . .............. 59

Headlight . .............. 60

Turn indicators .......... 61

Storage compartment . . . . 63

Automatic Stability Control

OE

ASC

.................. 63

Front and rear seats . . . . . 64

Helmet holder . .......... 67

Mirrors . ................. 68

Windshield . . . . .......... 68

Spring preload .......... 68

Shock absorbers . . . . . . . . 69

Electronic suspension
adjustment ESA

OE

....... 71

Tires . . . ................. 72

5 Riding . . . . . . .......... 75

Safety instructions . . . . . . . 76

Checklist . . . . . . .......... 78

Starting ................. 78

Running in . . . . .......... 81

Parking your

motorcycle . . . . .......... 82

Refueling . . . . . . .......... 83

Tire Pressure Control

OE

TPC

.................. 84

General brake system . . . . 85

Brake system with BMW
Motorrad Integral ABS . . . 86
Engine management with
BMW Motorrad ASC

OE

... 89

6 Accessories .......... 91

General instructions . . . . . 92

Onboard socket . . . ...... 92

Luggage . . . . . . .......... 93

Case. . . ................. 93

Topcase

OA

.............. 96

7 Maintenance . . . ...... 99

General instructions . . . . 100

Toolkit . ................ 100

Engine oil . . . . . ......... 101

General brake

system . ................ 103

Brake pads. . . . ......... 103

Brake fluid . . . . ......... 105

Clutch . ................ 107

Tires . . . ................ 107

Rims . . . ................ 108

Wheels. ................ 108

Front wheel stand . ..... 115

Lights . . ................ 117

Jump-starting . ......... 124

Battery . ................ 125

8 Care . ................ 131

Care products . ......... 132

Washing your

motorcycle . . . . ......... 132

Cleaning sensitive

motorcycle parts . . ..... 133

Paint care . . . . . ......... 134

Protective wax

coating ................ 134

Storing motorcycle ..... 134

Returning motorcycle to

use .................... 134

9 Technical data . . ..... 137

Troubleshooting

chart . . . ................ 138

Threaded fasteners ..... 139

Engine . ................ 140

Riding specifications . . . . 143

Clutch . ................ 143

Transmission . . ......... 143

Rear-wheel drive . . ..... 145

Running gear . . ......... 145

Brakes . ................ 146

Wheels and tires . . . ..... 146

Electrical system . . . . . . . 147

Frame. . . . . ............. 149

Dimensions . . . ......... 149

Weights . . . ............. 150

10 Service ............. 151

BMW Motorrad

Service . . . ............. 152

BMW Motorrad Service

Quality . . . . ............. 152

BMW Motorcycle Service
Card - breakdown

service on the road . . . . . 153

BMW Motorrad Service

Network. . . ............. 153

Maintenance work . .. . . . 153

Maintenance

schedules . ............. 154

Confirmation of

maintenance work . . . . .. 155

Confirmation of

service . . . . ............. 160

General instructions

Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Abbreviations and symbols . . . . . . 6

Equipment . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Technical data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Currentness of this manual . . . . . . . 7

1

5

z

General instructions

Overview

1

Chapter 2 of this Rider's Man­ual will provide you with an

6

initial overview of your motor­cycle. All maintenance and
repair work carried out on
your motorcycle will be docu­mented in Chapter 10. Proof
of the maintenance work per­formed is a prerequisite for
generous treatment of claims.
Should you want to sell your
BMW one day, please also re­member to turn over the Rid­er's Manual to the new owner;
it is an important part of your
motorcycle.

z

General instructions

Abbreviations and symbols

Indicates warnings you

should always observe
to ensure your own safety,
the safety of others and to

protect your motorcycle from
damage.

Special information on

operating and inspecting
your motorcycle as well as
maintenance and adjustment
procedures.

Indicates the end of a
note.

Instruction to take ac­tion.

Results of an action.

Reference to a page
with additional infor­mation.

Indicates the end
of accessory or
equipment-dependent
information.

Tightening torque.

Technical data.

OE Optional equipment

BMW equipment avail­able only as a factory
installed option.

OA Optional accessories

BMW optional acces­sories can be pur­chased and installed
at your authorized
BMW Motorrad retail­er.

Electronic immobilizer.

EWS

ESA Electronic Suspension

Adjustment
Electronic suspension
adjustment.

DWA Anti-theft alarm.

ABS Anti-Lock Brake Sys-

tem.

TPC Tire Pressure Control.

ASC Automatic Stability

Control.

Equipment

When you ordered your BMW
motorcycle, you chose vari­ous items of custom equip­ment. This Rider's Manual
describes optional equipment
(OE) offered by BMW and se­lected optional accessories
(OA). This explains why the
manual may also contain de­scriptions of equipment which
you have not ordered. Please
note, too, that your motorcy­cle might not be exactly as
illustrated in this manual on
account of country-specific
differences.

If your BMW is equipped with
options or accessories not
described in this Rider's Man­ual, then this equipment is
described in a separate oper­ating manual.

Technical data

All dimensions, weights and
performance specifications
in the Rider's Manual refer to
the standards of the Deutsche
Institut für Normung e.V. (DIN)
and comply with its tolerance
specifications. Versions for
individual countries may differ.

Currentness of this manual

The high safety and quality
standards of BMW motorcy­cles are maintained by con­stant development work on
designs, equipment and ac­cessories. Because of this,

your motorcycle may differ
from the information supplied
in the Rider's Manual. Nor
can errors and omissions be
entirely ruled out. We hope
you will appreciate that no
claims can be entertained on
the basis of the data, illustra­tions or descriptions in this
manual.

1

7

z

General instructions

1

8

z

General instructions

Overviews

General view, left side . . . . . . . . . 11

General view, right side . . . . . . . . 13

Underneath seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Left handlebar fitting . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Handlebar fitting, right . . . . . . . . . 17

Instrument cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Headlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2

9

z

Overviews

2

10

z

Overviews

General view, left side

1 Electrically adjustable

windshield ( 68)

2 Battery compartment

( 128)

3 Seat lock ( 64)
4 Adjuster, spring preload,

rear ( 69)

5 Adjusting rear damping

( 70)

6 Onboard socket ( 92)

2

11

z

Overviews

2

12

z

Overviews

General view, right side

1 Fill location for fuel

( 83)

2 Adjustable handlebars

( 59)

3 Brake-fluid reservoir,

front ( 105)

4 Headlight adjustment

(vertical), beneath instru­ment panel ( 61)

5 Storage compartment

( 63)

6 Vehicle Identification

Number

2

13

z

Overviews

2

14

z

Overviews

Underneath seat

1 Seat heater adjustment

( 65)

2 Engine-oil fill location

and oil dipstick ( 101)
( 103)

3 Brake-fluid reservoir, rear

( 106)

4 Helmet holder ( 67)
5 Rider's Manual (US Mod-

el)

6 Toolkit ( 100)

2

15

z

Overviews

Left handlebar fitting

2

1 Switch for cruise-control

16

2 ESA button
3 ASC button
4 Windshield button

5 Pushbutton, horn
6 Left turn indicator button

7 Switch, high-beam head-

z

Overviews

OE

system

( 68)

( 61), Hazard warning
flashers button ( 45)

light and headlight flash­er ( 60)

( 52)

OE

OE

( 71)

( 63)

Handlebar fitting, right

1 Onboard computer but-

OE

ton

( 49)

2 Emergency ON/OFF

switch ( 55)

3 Pushbutton, starter

( 78)

4 Heated hand grips

5 Right turn indicator

6 Turn indicators off button

7 Switch for driver's seat

OE

switch

button ( 62), Hazard
warning flashers button
( 45)

( 62), Hazard warn­ing flashers off button
( 46)

heating

OE

( 56)

( 56)

2

17

z

Overviews

Instrument cluster

2

1 Speedometer
2 Warning and indicator

18

z

lights ( 23)

3 Multifunction display
4 Tachometer
5 Anti-theft alarm indicator

light (OE)

6 Adjustment of clock

( 47), Display dimming
( 47)

7 Control, odometer

Overviews

( 46)

8 Sensor for lighting of in-

strument panel

The instrument-cluster
lighting has automatic

day and night switchover.

Headlight

1 Side lights
2 Low-beam headlight
3 High-beam headlight

2

19

z

Overviews

2

20

z

Overviews

Status indicators

Multifunction display. . . . . . . . . . . 22

Warning and indicator lights . . . 23

ABS warning light . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Indicator light, cruise-control
system

Function indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

General warning indicators. . . . . 24

Warning indicators of Tire
Pressure Control TPC

ABS warning indicators . . . . . . . . 36

ASC warning indicators

OE

..................... 23

OE

....... 32

OE

..... 38

3

21

z

Status indicators

Multifunction display

3

1 Fuel gauge ( 23)
2 Onboard computer dis-

22

3 Area for warning symbols

4 Gear indicator ( 23)
5 Coolant temperature dis-

6 Trip meter ( 46), TPC

7 Clock ( 47), Display

z

Status indicators

8 Odometer and tripmeters

OE

play
play

( 24)

play ( 23)

display (motorcycles
without onboard
computer)

area for seat heater
( 56), Display area for
display dimming ( 47),
Display area for ESA
( 71)

( 46)

( 49), TPC dis-

OE

( 48)

OE

( 48)

OE

OE

Warning and indicator lights

1 Indicator light, left turn

indicator

2 Indicator light, high-beam

headlight

3 Indicator light, neutral
4 ABS warning light
5 Indicator light, right turn

indicator

6 ASC warning and indica-

tor light (OE)

7 Warning light, general
8 Brake-pad wear indicator

ABS warning light

In some countries a different
display of the ABS warning
light is possible.

Possible country­dependent versions.

Indicator light, cruise­control system

1 Indicator light, cruise-

control system

OE

Function indicators

Fuel capacity

The vertical bar under

the gas pump symbol
indicates the remaining fuel
quantity.

Gear

Engaged gear is indicat-

ed.
If no gear is engaged, the
gear indicator displays N and
the 'neutral' indicator light
lights up.

Coolant temperature

The vertical bar under

the temperature symbol
shows the coolant tempera­ture level.

ASC intervention (OE)

ASC warning light flash-

es rapidly.
The ASC has detected insta-

3

23

z

Status indicators

bility at the rear wheel and
has reduced the torque. The

3

warning light flashes one sec-

24

ond longer than the ASC in­tervention lasts. As a result,
the driver is provided with op­tical feedback on the regula­tion carried out even after the
critical driving situation.

General warning indicators

Display

General warnings are dis­played by means of warning

z

Status indicators

lights or texts and symbols
in the multifunction display.
In some cases, an addition­al general warning light lights
up in red or yellow. If several
warnings are active, all corre­sponding warning lights and
symbols are displayed.

Overview of warning indicators
Display Meaning

Lights up in yel­low

Lights up in yel­low

Lights up in red Temperature dis-

Lights up in yel­low

Flashes in red Appears Engine oil pressure insufficient

EWS! warning

appears

Flashes

play flashes

Appears

Displayed with

Electronic immobilizer is active
( 27)

Fuel down to reserve ( 27)

Coolant temperature too high
( 27)

Engine electronics ( 28)

( 28)

Engine oil level too low ( 29)

Oil warning

Lights up in red Appears Battery charge current insufficient

Lights up Brake-pad wear limit reached

Lights up in yel­low

Appears

Appears

( 29)

( 30)

Rear bulb defective ( 30)

Front bulb defective ( 30)

3

25

z

Status indicators

Display Meaning

3

26

z

Status indicators

Lights up in yel­low

Lights up in yel­low

Appears

Flashes with tem­perature display

Is displayed with
note

DWA

Is displayed with
note

DWA

Bulbs defective ( 30)

Ice warning ( 31)

Anti-theft alarm battery (OE) weak
( 31)

Anti-theft alarm battery (OE) dead
( 31)

Electronic immobilizer is
active

General warning light
lights up in yellow.

EWS! warning appears.

The key being used is not au­thorized for starting, or com­munication between the key
and engine electronics is dis­rupted.

Remove other ignition keys
located on the ignition key.
Use the reserve key.
Have the defective key re­placed, preferably by an
authorized BMW Motorrad
retailer.

Fuel down to reserve

General warning light
lights up in yellow.

Fuel reserve symbol
flashes.

A fuel shortage can lead

to misfiring and to the
engine dying unexpectedly.
Misfiring can damage the cat­alytic converter, and the en­gine dying unexpected can
lead to accidents.
Do not drive until the fuel tank
is completely empty.

The probable operating

range is indicated.

At the most, the fuel tank
still contains the reserve fuel
quantity.

Reserve fuel quantity

1.1 gal (4 l)

Refueling ( 83)

Coolant temperature too
high

General warning light
lights up in red.

Temperature display
flashes.

Continued driving with

an overheated engine
can result in engine damage.
Be sure to observe the mea­sures listed below.

The coolant temperature is
too high.

If possible, continue driv­ing in the part-load range to
cool down the engine.
In traffic jams, switch off the
engine, but keep the igni­tion switched on so that the
radiator fan continues to op­erate.
Should the coolant tem­perature frequently be too
high, have the fault recti-

3

27

z

Status indicators

fied as quickly as possible
by a specialized workshop,

3

preferably an authorized

28

BMW Motorrad retailer.

Engine electronics

General warning light
lights up in yellow.

Engine electronics sym­bol is displayed.

The engine is in the

emergency operating
mode. Only reduced
engine performance may be
available, which can lead to

z

Status indicators

danger driving situations,
especially during passing
maneuvers.
Adapt your driving style to
the possibly reduced engine
performance.

The engine-electronics con­trol unit has diagnosed a fault.
In exceptional cases, the en­gine stops and can no longer

be started. Otherwise, the en­gine runs in the emergency
operating mode.

Continued driving is pos­sible, however the accus­tomed engine performance
may not be available.
Have the malfunction cor­rected as soon as possible
by a specialized workshop,
preferably an authorized
BMW Motorrad retailer.

Engine oil pressure
insufficient

General warning light
flashes in red.

Engine oil pressure sym­bol is displayed.

The oil pressure in the lubri­cating oil circuit is too low.
If the warning light lights up,
stop immediately and switch
off the engine.

The warning on insuf-

ficient engine oil pres­sure is no substitute for the
function of an oil-level indica­tor.The correct engine oil level
can only be checked on the
oil level indicator.

The cause of the warning on
insufficient engine oil pressure
can be an insufficient engine
oil level.

Checking engine oil level
( 101)

If oil level is too low:

Topping up engine oil
( 103)

If the warning on insufficient
engine oil pressure appears
despite a correct engine oil
level:

In addition to an insuf-

ficient engine oil level,
other problems in the engine
can lead to the warning on in­sufficient engine oil pressure.