Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1538173
P112 RIDE REVIEW I 2026 BMW R 1300 RT That new 10.25-inch dash may be the size of a solar panel, but it is easy to navigate, especially if you're used to Beemers. With your phone connect- ed, you can split the screen to display rider informa- tion on one side and navigation on the other. You can set shortcuts to operate the electronic screen or to turn on the heated grips, for example. Considering the amount of tech and information you have at your fingertips, it's far less daunting than you might suppose. The only slight downside is getting acquainted with the final details, such as adjusting the bass on the music or finding a neutral setting, which is achieved by pressing the starter button, not jumping up and down the gear selector like a frustrated baboon, as I did. I want to love the ASA automatic gearbox, and it is good. If this were a school report, it would get a B or an eight out of 10, a good effort but not perfect. At the end of the day, the RT is a luxury, expensive BMW, and it should be 100 percent perfect, but at slow speeds or when riding briskly, the system lacks the level of refinement I would expect. Each riding mode changes when the auto box changes gear. For example, it's lazy in the standard Road mode and more aggressive in Dynamic. For the ma - jority of the time, it's fine, but on occasions at slow speeds it wanted to be in either second or third, then back to second, like it couldn't make its mind up. And when riding more aggressively, it would change up too early. On a few occasions, I wanted the RT to hold a gear when decelerating to give me more engine braking into, say, a slow downhill cor - ner, but instead it would change up automatically. The phone compartment is vented, so you don't have to worry about your device overheating. Yes, you can manually change gears without the clutch and override the system, which I have done on a few occasions. On day two, on a very lazy ride, it became second nature to ride in the ASA's auto mode, but, on balance, I think I'd rather save my money and spend it on extra luggage, the music system or the excellent Dynamic Chassis Adaptation. Everything else about the new RT, I love. The extra power and torque give the RT some wel - come extra gusto, and it wants to have fun when the mood takes you. Uphill overtakes are fast, The larger motor is 8.6 pounds lighter, and the complete package with powertrain is 14.3 pounds lighter.