Is (or will it be) the 1200GS your first BMW?

I'm curious ... a year ago I was aware that BMWs made bikes, a friend had a 650CS, but I never really considered owning one. I'd seen the odd GS at rallies etc and thought they looked capable but not really my thing.

Then the 1200GS was released and it totally blew me away. I had to have one, and as of tommorrow, I will

So I'm curious - did anyone else join the world of BMW in a similar way?

My first BM - fancied one for years - ridden quite a few, have a friend in the UK who has had lots of them, on his recommendation I took an 1150 out for a spin then the 1200 then an 1150 Adventure followed by the 950 KTM, was lucky enough to be in a position where I could justify a 1200 and have a Yellow Wire Wheel that i have just been informed is being built during week 40 (anyone know what date that would be - I worked it out to be Early October, but am probably wrong here ??)

To be honest I loved riding all of them all very different but to me the 1200 suited my riding and needs best, still prefer the looks of the Slver Adv though, the KTM was great but I reckon I would fe forever thrashing the bits off it (the SuperDuke video sums up the riding experience of these V Twin things, eyes like saucers and a psychotic leer on your face
)



To say Iam excited is an understatement.

Mouse said:

I'm curious ... a year ago I was aware that BMWs made bikes, a friend had a 650CS, but I never really considered owning one. I'd seen the odd GS at rallies etc and thought they looked capable but not really my thing.

Then the 1200GS was released and it totally blew me away. I had to have one, and as of tommorrow, I will

So I'm curious - did anyone else join the world of BMW in a similar way?

Click to expand...

EXACTLY the same way. I even remember taking the piss out of the "Parrots" ridden by a few guys in my advanced group.

Upgraded from a Hornet to a GSX-R600 Christmas '03. I realised fairly quickly the Gixxer wasn't for me, so gave some thought as to what I really wanted from a bike. Comfort was the main one - I decided I didn't mind sacrificing performance as long as I enjoyed the ride.

I had read a few reviews of the new GS and booked a test ride. Managed to get on the first ride on the day they were released, courtesy of Park Lane. Loved the bike.

Spent the next few months thinking I couldn't possibly justify blowing £10K on a bike, whilst not really enjoying my Gixxer. Eventually cracked after a long ride that left my back in agony. Rang round a few dealers and found Park Lane had a cancelled order I could have. It took me approx. 5 mins to decide to go for it. Haven't looked back since.

Bonj

maybe you should change this "had many before"

you either had BMW before, or did not

except if you want to add one more choice

Well...it's certainly my first BMW and what a cracker it is!!

Live about 40 miles from Dublin and got absolutely fed up of 2 hour commutes on a bad day (one way!) into work (roadworks of 15km didn't help ).

Exactly a year ago gave in to the urge to join the ranks of those biking it and bought a Suzuki 500 (which I have to say is an absolutley great learner bike) and have put about 11k miles on it in the last year. However, not really the most comfortable for 80 miles a day and decided to trade up

All the buzz about 1200 caught my attention and decided to go for it. Picked it up 10 days ago (about a 10 week wait from ordering) and have had a blast ever since. What a great bike...does it all....motorways, city and mountains..plenty of those around Wicklow . Can be windy though close to the sea here so have CE Baileys screen on order which should hopefully make it a perfect ride in and out of the city.

Definitely a good decision to go with BMW.

My first BMW have always liked the GS since an old friend had an 80GS which he still has. It is also my first large trial. Started out with a XT350 then had a 10 year break after having a bad accident. Moved to Madrid and decided to get back into biking. Bought a XL650V which i was happy with until i saw the 12GS, The Tranalp was sold and unwilling to wait for 4 months for a bike here in Madrid got in touch with a German dealer and got one in 2 weeks, picked it up and had a great ride back to Madrid. I hope i will be as happy with my GS as my mate is with his 80GS.

Lunsarboy

my very first BMW. I did not like the looks of the old 1150 and can honestly say that I would never have owned one based on looks alone.

I saw the new GS in the magazines and did not like the look of that either, it looked like a lot of scaffolding around the arse end.

I went to MOTO GP in Assen in June and there was a group of spanish guys there on Ducatis and one on a new R1200GS.

Having seen the bike in the flesh so to speak I was very very impressed. The more you look at the bike the more features you see and the engineering of that swing arm and drive train are quite magnificent.

I decided to test a new Varadero and the 1200GS, you only live once. I could not get a ride on a Varadero within 120 miles of my home and I was offered crap money for my mint Varadero as a trade in.

I tested the GS and did not bother looking any further. Good deal on my old bike and very pleasant people in the dealership. Ownership, although early days yet, has a good feeling so far.

NLS - fair point - I did mean ANY other bmws.

Interesting results so far, but maybe it's the enthusiasm of new owners and owners to be showing

I rode a BMW for the first time in 1978 when a friend bought an R100/7. I liked it, but thought it a bit odd. Figured I'd have one some day, but didn't know when that would be.

Fast forward to the year 2000. I wanted a commuter bike that would be comfortable, with luggage and weather protection, and fast enough to be entertaining, so I bought a used 1996 R1100RS. Over the next 4 years, I put over 50,000 miles on it and decided that I liked it, but that ideally, I'd want something with dual headlights, more power, better gearbox, lighter weight, more spacious riding position, and ABS that could be turned off for bad dirt (I tend to find little backroads and many turn into dirt roads that are not well maintained).

Well, given my requirements, the R1200GS was the PERFECT choice! I have given up a little bit in weather protection, but intend to add an aftermarket windscreen once a few more options are available, to get some of that back.

I love this bike! It does everything I ask of it well.

The 1200GS will be my first BMW.

At an average mileage of 12-14K pa i for one am looking forward to 6000 mile service intervals, and a smaller fuel and consumable bill.

My bike is being prepped as i type...roll on Friday

hello all,

this is strange as everyone is raving about bmws on this forum. up until early last month i've never looked at bmw motorrads! i thought they were for fifty somethings who thought they were better than everyone else! (sorry but true to a certain extent)

how wrong was i when i went for a test ride of the gs12! after a full day of test riding the ultimate riding machine i instantly ordered it when handing the bike back to the dealer. (bloody got to wait 2-3 months for mine, though! )

before considering the 12, i test rode the ducati S4R and the top end jap race replicas, but was still unsure what i really wanted.

what i knew was i needed a bike that i can use at anytime, any day and not something is going to sit in the garage like my last bike, a suzuki gsxr 1100. it had only done 1200 miles in 3 years!

so, a friend of mine suggested giving bmw a try and here is the answer; decent speed, decent torque, decent comfort and most important of all, it is user friendly.

my apologies to bmw motorrad for ignoring you all these years!

happy riding!

Hello All

As you can see I am new to this forum and the world of BMW motorcycles. I purchased my last big bike (I own a Honda SLR650 which I use for the daily commute and is simply a workhorse which requires little maintenance) a Pan European 3 years ago from somebody who had changed to the 1150GS. I did like the style of the GS and had it not been for the better half who simply did not like the look of it might have bought a GS instead.

I started riding bikes in South Africa where most of the bikes ridden were some sort of trail bike. They are more comfortable to ride and can go places where tarmac does not reach. The upright riding position is in my opinion a major benefit.

I am 6' 4" (194cm) tall and find sports bikes extremely uncomfortable. Although the Pan is quite a big bike I was still uncomfortable and had to purchase an aftermarket seat to get my knees away from the fairing. On a trip to southern Germany I really struggled with leg cramp and a sore rear end.

When the ABS lights appeared to show a fault and the Honda dealer told me about the costs involved in fixing the ABS system it became time for a new bike (by the way it must have been moisture - once reset the ABS worked fine).

The bike needed to be comfortable for my size, pillion friendly and hopefully be fun at the same time. To me the choice was between the Varadero and the GS. Objectively the Honda is cheaper, probably as well made, does have a powerful powerplant (a bit thirsty) but has a chain and no matter what I do to adjust the Scottoiler on the SLR it is either a mess or too dry.

Subjectively the test ride on the GS just said one thing: Buy me! It took me quite a while to recover from the test ride as I could not put into words or thoughts why I enjoyed the ride so much. The weather was attrocious but the confidence the bike inspired was simply awesome.

I have ordered one for January as November would in my opinion not be a good month to start riding a new bike for fun. My Pan is gone and I am very much looking forward to my first and hopefully not last BMW bike.

This is about it - give me some time and I could come up with many reasons why I have decided to buy BM. The major one is probably character - without the Ducati unreliability.

Can't wait (whose idea was January???)

My first BMW too, delivered yesterday.

It's good bike but not great yet (it is growing on me). Some of the good points have been covered here but a couple of (small) bad point that niggle are the bike seems to direct water and road crap towards feet and legs and it's a bugger of a bike to clean. Hugger and fender are now on order.

Mouse, are you buying from Southport?

Al

I am indeed. I'll be there bright and early tomorrow bashing on their door

The weather is looking better for the next couple of days too.

Be lucky and enjoy.

Al

Hi WUT, does this ring any bells.


Noticed you had sold cos it was parked in Pidcocks showroom. Hope it served you well as it did me.
New steed.



Hope to see you around.

OK, I voted it's my first when in fact I did have a K75 several years ago, it was utterly crap and put me off BMW and nearly put me off biking (it was my first bike for many years). It is was so bad, no brakes, hinged in the middle, top-heavy and under-powered that I don't think I should count it as a BMW (God knows why I bought it!).
The GS is designed to ride well and feel good, it's a bike that grows on you, weird at first but really useful once you get used to it (as you all know).
Minor gripes are self cancelling indicators that always cancel when you don't want them to, oil levels that don't give you any confidence and noise from the transmission slack and why BMW persist in their trade mark indicators is a mystery. I'm amazed they are allowed to get away with it as it's potentially dangerous, it's like having all cars with indicator stalks on the right except one that has it on the right (as the first Jap cars used to be). I know you soon get used to it but trying to cancel the indicator and give it full throttle out of a turn is tricky. I think BMW should have the confidence to adopt the de-facto standard (as they almost do on the F650).
Still it's a great bike that I'm really pleased to have and just keeps calling out to be ridden every time I see it in the garage.

tank cover

hi gazza
i wanted to ask you about the tank cover on your 12 gs as im interested in buying one for my bike
i e-mailed and have had a reply from baglux which make one in yellow with a tank bag to match at approx £150 plus £7 delivery
so any info would be appreciated
cliff

Hi Gazza

Yes, you got it right - wasn't sure what the etiquette is when noticing a familiar face/name/bike. The Pan was great - only problem I had was a dead battery and too many punctures in new rear tyres.

I am going to have to disagree with almost everyone (the press mentions this every time) on the indicator issue. After about 30 minutes the BMW layout seemed to me be far more natural/intuitive than the standard one. The self-cancelling I will have to get used to but to me the buttons are in the right place for my big thumbs in gloves that are usually too small and uncomfortable.

I also have some question re tankbags - will ask them in another place.

Walter

Re: tank cover

cliff said:

hi gazza
i wanted to ask you about the tank cover on your 12 gs as im interested in buying one for my bike
i e-mailed and have had a reply from baglux which make one in yellow with a tank bag to match at approx £150 plus £7 delivery
so any info would be appreciated
cliff

Click to expand...

That price sounds similar to the same figure they quoted me. Think the two tone is a few pounds more than the single. Didn't buy the bag got one off the GS club For Sale section.
Someone sent me a picture of the two tone yellow.