OP-
I'm active on both MOA and K16 Forums. The RT has had drive failures, and quite a few of them at that. A vast majority of those owners however will not give those 2 bangers up. Dedicated or maybe more-so stubborn old jack-asses. Personally I would not want one, air or water head.
Do yourself a favor...
test drive the flagship (not my wording, but rather most ST bike reviewers)
of all sport tourers... the K16GT. It clearly blows everything else out of the water, price wise also, so hang on. The battery is under the front seat (where it should be!) and it does weigh a bit more than my FJR, BUT it plays lighter!. Not only my words either, every past FJR owner who has naturally progressed to this bike will say the same thing. It's a beast that plays better than the FJR. Whenever someone (over there) finds out that I own an FJR, I usually get a response "oh, I had one of those before my K16!). It's all good, no haters or jealousy and they'll tell it like it is.
So test drive one, and for several hours at that! (almost all Beemer dealers will let you, make friends n chat some w your dealer first). After (lets say) 2+ hrs on the K16, you will first notice no vibration or hum period. You won't notice per-say ahead of time, just after your test drive and hop back on your FJR... so bring your wallet
. I'd say they're probably at least 50 of us on K1600forum.com that were (or still are like me!) owners of the FJR (and a few are Connie or ST ex-saddlers). It's a natural progression for ST riders to evolve into. Yes it has a million toys and gizmo's but you can order one without! (not me, I'm a gizmo and doohickey fanatic!).
To stick up for the FJR, it is a great bike for the money. If you wanna keep your fun at or around the $15K range, then stay with the FJR all the way. IF your pockets are heavy and you need to unload it sum... WHAT A FREEQ'N BIKE! It's all that and then some. Duly noted, it is very expensive! (3 Year warranty is standard for any of you "Deliverance" fans).