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1200 GS

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pktrusty

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I have been looking at BMW's and I was curious what is consider high mileage/Price. I know what KBB tells be but I know that is sometimes off a little. I think it could be worth the few grand a person will save to get a bike with less miles. Seems like they dont go down in value much... Or a least it take a while to get affordable since it starts out at nearly 20 grand now. Two bikes I am looking at.

http://www.cycletrader.com/listing/2005-Bmw-R-1200-GS-99601496

http://www.cycletrader.com/listing/2006-BMW-R1200GS-99621521

yellow is not my first choice. I am just looking for your thoughts on used 1200 GS. 55,000 seems like high mileage to me.
 
High mileage is Hank's R1100 GS at 470 thousand miles. My 05 R1200 GS at 60k plus,,, not hardly. Just keep it serviced and ride it. HB
 
My 2005 was purchased by me in 2007 with ~3000 on the clock, I paid $11,000 then added the vario bags plus TTL and was out the door for ~$13,000. I am glad to see these bikes holding their value. I recently had a urge to sell mine due to the loss of a co-worker, I was asking $10,000 the mileage was ~18K at the time. Like Hardy said just do the maintenance and drive it, these bikes last a long time.:sun:
 
There was an 07 (I think) non-ABS on ADVRider in Birmingham yesterday for $7,000 but the thread is gone now.
 
I have owned 2 1150 GSs and an 08 GSA. The 1150s had 78K and 50 K with no issues. My 08 has 43K and going strong with minimal maintenance:sun: I plan in keeping my 08 to about 250K:rider:
 
ghostrider1964 said:
I have owned 2 1150 GSs and an 08 GSA. The 1150s had 78K and 50 K with no issues. My 08 has 43K and going strong with minimal maintenance:sun: I plan in keeping my 08 to about 250K:rider:
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Not to be argumentative, but I owned an 1100 and presently own a 1150.

I went through 3 transmissions on the 1100 and one rear drive in the 60,000 thousand mile that I owned it. Back in those days I was a lot faster rider, but I have never been hard on transmissions.

So far on the 1150 with only about 49,000 miles on the clock I have had to replace the rear main and the transmission seals do to leakage. As you well know neither is a small or inexpensive job.

I love my GS, it is the most fun bike I have ever ridden, but in the same breath I will state maintenance wise, it is the most expensive bike I have ever owned.
 
Fort Bend Rider said:
Not to be argumentative, but I owned an 1100 and presently own a 1150.

I went through 3 transmissions on the 1100 and one rear drive in the 60,000 thousand mile that I owned it. Back in those days I was a lot faster rider, but I have never been hard on transmissions.

So far on the 1150 with only about 49,000 miles on the clock I have had to replace the rear main and the transmission seals do to leakage. As you well know neither is a small or inexpensive job.

I love my GS, it is the most fun bike I have ever ridden, but in the same breath I will state maintenance wise, it is the most expensive bike I have ever owned.
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:tab My 1150 final drive blew at 28K miles. It just disintegrated... Fortunately, it was still under warranty! Other than that, the only other issue I had was dirt getting in the Bowden Box (where the throttle cable splits and goes to each throttle body). It had so much dirt/grime in it that I could cruise down the road without my hand on the throttle and not slow down! Not an expensive repair but it was definitely challenging getting to the thing to replace it!! General maintenance on the GS was a piece of cake. However, I never had to get into the tranny or clutch.

:tab My 05 GS is doing pretty good. It is right around 48K and due for its next service (if the temps ever cool off!!). The only issues I have had with it is a rough idle when cold and the hand grips are wearing through. Oh... and my left switch housing is having issues. Sometimes the horn and left signal work, other times not...
 
Final question. I know some guys have seat height issues. I have a 30 inch inseam. I have a XR650R that I can ride but tippy toe it. The XR says that has a 36.8 inch seat height but I dont know if that is when a rider is on it or not. The weight of the GS is such that I dont know I could tippy toe it. Think that would be any issues? At least I dont have to tippy toe kick start it!!!
 
The tippy-toe thing is only critical when you have to put your feet down. :mrgreen: My 1150 GS I could flatfoot with roughly 32" inseam and I've sat on 650XL's and didn't even come close to being able to do that, so you should be good. I'd suggest go sitting on a few, in your riding pants and boots to get a good idea. Remember, they also have a pre-load adjust that allows you to set ride height.

Short of the ABS on my 1150, I ran it 86K with very little maintenance.
 
:tab The weight is low. My wife is 5'5" and she loved riding the 1150 GS which felt higher to me than does my current 1200GS. The 1200 has two seat heights but I am not sure of the height on the lower setting. I would just visit Lone Star and sit on a few. They can be lowered a bit if needed.
 
Yeah, I am currently deployed (Should be home in 60 days). I have been looking at what I want to get when I get back. I found a screaming deal on a 1200 GS. I would love to sit on one. Just not a option right now. Buying it now will save me 3-4 thou possibly. Maybe I should just wait.
 
I don't want to rain on your deal, but if there's a good clean used GS out there 3-4K below what market is demanding, there's more to the bike/story than known. These are BMW's most popular selling motorcycle. Owners (and those wanting them) almost stand in line looking for good deals. If this one was a good deal (at any price) it would be snagged up within a few days. They move that fast. So while I think it's cool you have a lead, just be a bit cautious about the whole thing with those kind of numbers below market.
 
Yeah I know. It is a 2007 with 6600 miles for 10k. Maybe 3-4 thou cheaper is a bit high. One I found have 40-50 thousand miles for the same price.
 
pktrusty said:
Final question. I know some guys have seat height issues. I have a 30 inch inseam. I have a XR650R that I can ride but tippy toe it. The XR says that has a 36.8 inch seat height but I dont know if that is when a rider is on it or not. The weight of the GS is such that I dont know I could tippy toe it. Think that would be any issues? At least I dont have to tippy toe kick start it!!!
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I have a 30" inseam and use the stock seat with the low position set on the rear bar and high position on the front bar. Also have 1.5" riser on the handle bars. I tiptoe with both feet and use one flat foot and a slight lean otherwise.:sun:
 
pktrusty said:
Am I the only one who thinks that sounds like a smoking deal? Comes with hard cases.
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It does sound like a good deal. Maybe we can find someone in the area where the bike is located to go check it out for you.
 
pktrusty said:
Final question. I know some guys have seat height issues. I have a 30 inch inseam. I have a XR650R that I can ride but tippy toe it. The XR says that has a 36.8 inch seat height but I dont know if that is when a rider is on it or not. The weight of the GS is such that I dont know I could tippy toe it. Think that would be any issues? At least I dont have to tippy toe kick start it!!!
Click to expand...

I rode a 2006 1200GS for years with my 28-29" inseam. I had it lowered during a Wilbers Shock group (On ADVRIDER) by by an inch to make me more confident at stops. Easy install but cost $$$ of course.

Noah
 
I've read a number of posts where people get many many miles from the GS. The final drive is a known issue/joke, but I would imagine that if you look the number that have failed compared with those that have not, it's a pretty good ratio in favor of the no fail category. Most of the other parts seem to last a long time. They do seem to hold value pretty good. Better than anything on wheels I've owned.

Were it me, I'd try to find one with low enough miles that is was still under warranty. That would be under 36K and less than 3 three years old. Could be 4 years old depending on when it was purchased. This way you could buy it and really look for probs that you can then get fixed before the meter runs out.
 
Xdriver said:
I've read a number of posts where people get many many miles from the GS. The final drive is a known issue/joke, but I would imagine that if you look the number that have failed compared with those that have not, it's a pretty good ratio in favor of the no fail category. Most of the other parts seem to last a long time. They do seem to hold value pretty good. Better than anything on wheels I've owned.

Were it me, I'd try to find one with low enough miles that is was still under warranty. That would be under 36K and less than 3 three years old. Could be 4 years old depending on when it was purchased. This way you could buy it and really look for probs that you can then get fixed before the meter runs out.
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Agreed. The 1200gs is the most popular bike bmw has ever sold. If anything, I would expect more failures. My 05 just turned 107k miles and has been the most reliable bike i've ever owned. Its on its second battery, and never failed to start until a wire got rubbed through and caused an EWS error right before it turned 100k.

I did strip the transmission input shaft splines at 52k miles, which would have been an $1100 repair had i not had extended warranty. That would have been unacceptable, but I readily confess to thrashing the bike heavily before that with frequent wheelies and full power shifting.

Listen closely to the bike after its warmed up with the clutch disenagaged, you shouldn't hear any rattling from the clutch, which can happen when cold from the throwout bearing. If it does rattle, the input shaft splines may be worn. I've heard they can be visually inspected with the right camera (boroscope?)

I've never changed or checked the FD oil in any of my beemers, I do check for play occasionally. The only thing i've had to do is replace 2 outer seals that run about $20 and take 5 minutes to change.

Only other things are the grips are worn out, i've put on o rings from excelcycle works for that, and my windshield is worn out, its got a bunch of little cracks in it. Lastly, the rear seat needs recovering due to sun damage.

It burns half a quart of synth every 2000 miles and still gets easily 45mpg around town which yields at least 200 miles per tank.
 
I had 3 BMW's starting with a '95 R11GS in '95 ; promptly put 50K+ miles running all over the US. Never a problem. Even survived a deer hit in North Louisiana with it. A '97 R11R in '99 which I bought with 2,400 miles on it and put another 24,000 miles on it with no problems except ground clearance on rocky back roads. ;-) Then the last was an '02 R1150GS that I put 50K Plus on running all over the lower 48 states till I sold it in '07. Never a problem and the most comfortable bikes I've ever done days and days and days on. Reason for leaving the BMWs was more dealer gone to heck than anything. Even though they were 110 miles from my door. Plus, nothing I had acquired for the R11**GS models would swap over to the R12GS and a tag of near 18,000 bucks with wanted travel stuff. Bought a Suzuki DL1000 for 7400 bucks, put soft luggage on it and traveled with the rest of the money. B U T, never was that bike as comfortable as the GS's were. Nor, is my present '07 Suzuki Bandit 1250S.
 
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