BMW 1200GSA Purchase Worry

[ianran]

Did a 3000 mile trip to the Italian lakes on my 04 1200gs a couple of years ago, and wouldn't have wanted to do it on anything else.

I was in the MC trade for 10 years and this IS the best bike i have ever ridden or owned. All makes and models have issues, they're man made!

My bike has never let me down, in the last three years it has had two headlight bulbs and one battery (the battery was me not riding it for ages due to work and not keeping it on an Optimate and that will happen to ANY bike). I off-road it hard and I thrash it on the road. And as BAKERMAN said don't clean it....

Buy and enjoy, you'll not regret it!

Stu
Ride Safe & Rock HARD!

Whats "clean it" mean ???

 

[Sparky GS'r]

Whats "clean it" mean ???

I dunno. Ask Bakerman, his van is always clean

 

['Nuffsaid]

7 months, 12,000 miles, has never put a foot wrong, ridden in all weathers, accross all terrains - 100% Brilliant machine in EVERY respect.

Bah Humbug to all those doubters ( and I bet they are the ones that Don't have a 12GSA!)

 

[JimboGSA]

TBH you're a victim of your own success in terms of finding this site.

Obviously the reason why you're finding all the bad aspects of the bike are because you're here reading them. It is quite clear that people have had bad experiences, and that you will always fall into the camp of love/hate 'em.

I myself own an 04 1200gs, and aside from a final drive bearing failing have had no problems whatsoever with the bike. Even when the bearing went, it was at 34k miles and I ride every day, rain or shine. BMW were none fussed when claiming warranty on it either.

I reckon that if you went to a tiger owners forum and had a look, you'd probably find equally similar horror stories. Its just nature of the beast im afraid.

All I can say, is that I crossed my fingers and have come up trumps. Have faith in the bike and in warranty..and at a last resort, the recovery service

exactly! go for the 1200 gsa you'll love every minute of it

 

[Timolgra]

I never worry about buying a 1200 and sleep easy

 

[Chris Terry]

A great bike to ride (apart from the transmission & bad fueling), I'm not sure it's as "rugged" as it's portrayed. The 2 year warranty is poor for a bike this price. Would I buy another? well that would depend on who else produces a tall, shaft drive, no dive front machine.
Come on Japs lets have some choice

 

[Green Man]

Geeves,

I was having the same thoughts myself. Decided on a Tiger but loved the GSA on test. The clincher for me was that I realised that if I had bought the Tiger I would always be thinking it was a compromise. I would always be left wondering whether I'd made the right choice.

So what if you buy it then have a few problems? If you don't get on with it then try something else - that's called experience

Subscribe to this forum then you can bitch about it all you want. You'll find lots of fellow Tossers here who will only be too glad to help you wallow in your misery

Nothing in life is certain - it'd be really boring if it was.

Go for it mate

 

[Sot1200]

I am on my third BMW and currently on a 1200 GSA. I tried the GS but did not like it. The GSA will provide effortless trips with good weather protection and loads of luggage capacity. My previus 1150 had done 70000km with no problems other than change the paralever bearings. NO FD problems, no seals going off, Nothing. My GSA is a year old with 7000km no problems at all. My mechanic said, use the bike, If its left standing for long, the seals dry and thats when you have these oil leaks

 

[Russ-AFC]

Pillion Referral

To add to all that has been said: brand new GSA 12, have done 8k in 6 months, absoloutely no problems, very comfy, easy to handle and havent seen any of the problems have read in the forum. (A morbid curiousity makes you read them.) But over all that you mentioned you wanted to use it touring with your wife as a pillion. My girlfriend says the pillion position is great, very comfortable, no recirculating wind to buffet her yet just the right seat height for a good view, (my seat in its lowest position) makes her feel secure enough to almost doze off. (I'm not that boring as a rider, honest.)

 

[LiquidLAN]

I've got a 12GSA done nearly 14k on it and its a great bike - yes its had a new short block but that was following a rider decision to go through a ford (not going to debate that further)

The 12GSA is very dependable, it has some issues that I wouldnt expect for the price, but I've never had any problems getting things resolved with a dealer

On the other hand I would suggest that you look at replacing the rear seat with a standard GS seat as the GSA pillion seat seems to have all the comfort of a plank of wood (pillions opinion not mine) and do you really want to ride 300 miles at a time without a stop if you are two up riding?

Not saying dont get one, there must be a lot of options out there for that kind of cash...