Seriously considering a 2015 R3 Roadster

Hello R3 Owners.

I've got 40 years and 3/4 million miles on these o'l butt cheeks of mine. I was originally intrigued by the R3 back when I owned a Honda Valkyrie in the late 90's. I currently pilot an 06 K1200R BMW that I've put every one of its 58,000 miles on.

I'm familiar with the strengths and allure of the R3; but what of its weaknesses and noids? What bits of R3 'savvy' can you share?
Rear tire choices are more limited than front tire choices for a GS1200 BMW, and their prices are decidedly discouraging. What kind of mileage could a guy who used to get 12000 to 15000 miles out of a Valkyrie rear tire expect?

Firstly Welcome from one if the Aussies.
The R3 was introduced in 2004.
If your thinking of buying a 2015 model all the major bugs have been ironed out (from 2010 onwards) first thing I would do is the Eastern Beaver head light relay upgrade or one of our members here @DEcosse makes a great unit that will do a perfect job. This will avoid an ignition switch failure.
And as for tyre wear- it will range from 5000 to 12000 miles. Depends on your right hand

Oh and by the way: less thinking - more buying

FR56 said:

What kind of mileage could a guy who used to get 12000 to 15000 miles out of a Valkyrie rear tire expect?

Click to expand...

R3's CHEW TYRES.
Even running in I achieved less than 5000miles on the first SET. Second front lasted less. I'd not say I ride HARD by any stretch of the imagination.

If you're used to throwing your bikes into bends at speed - it'll be like filing rubber off. Most BMW-K riders I know do - it's why I mentioned it.

Tyre Choice may also depend on the temp's where you live.

Welcome from Florida

hello and welcome from the sunny UK..

If you ride hard the R3 will eat tyres.

Hello FR56 and welcome from VA. I am on my third set of tires with my 2014. It has 30K miles so far. The OEM Mets are not know for longevity at all but the Bridgestone Exedra Max is. My first set netted me around 13K before I need to swap them out.
If you go with a newer R3, you won't have many issue to deal with as Mittzy said above. I get around 32-34 MPG down here but up in Colorado was getting over 40 on the freeways en route to Sturgis last year. To be honest, most of us do not buy the Rocket for mileage numbers.
Are you keeping the Beemer or trading it off? I only have the Rocket at the moment and it does everything I need it too do. Still, I find that I love so many bikes and have had so many in the past, I still want more and miss some of my past bikes from time to time.

Welcome from another of the Aussies. I've not had my Rocket long so can't answer your questions but I love it so I made the right decision.

G'day and welcome. +1 on the Eastern Beaver. I usually change my rear tyres out early at about 20,000 miles, and they still have meat left on them.

Welcome from Virginia!

My last bike was a '94 K1100LT that I enjoyed while it wasn't busy being a lemon (rear seal leaked 3 times in 2 years, killing the dry clutch plate; Two of those times were due to dealer repair suckage).

I can't give you any stats on the tires yet, only have 750 miles on mine so far (bought it 10 days ago), but I'm sure other folks with lots of miles will chime in.

Even though the R3T is heavier, I know to me, it sure feels lighter than my K1100LT; The K1100LT always felt top-heavy.

In terms of annoyances? Some folks complain about the heat these things generate and some folks riding on the back aren't keen on the foot placement for them. For me, if it's a very hot day, well, yea, the heat it's throwing out does make it worse but it was my choice to go out on a super hot day already so that's on me hehe.


I think some design choices on the R3T are a little puzzling.....The seat is bolted on but the side panels are simply pushed on to a grommet.....I've had one of those fly off at highway speed (my first ride in fact). On the tour, the seat should be removable with a lock set-up and the side-panels should be bolted on (which is how the R3R is set up).

They should have included a windshield lock, from the factory, and the gas-cap on the R3T should have been lockable just like the R3R from the factory as well.

As full disclosure, if you look up "eastern beaver tail" (headlight bypass) and "negative battery cable", you'll find some posts here about needing to replace/upgrade those at some point for some folks.