Buying a low milage 2008 R1200GS - Thoughts...

[BillDallas]

Hi all,

Coming back to the GS world after a few years out and going to look at a 2008 1200 GS with 19k miles and after some advice.

The bike is reasonably priced with full luggage but during the first 12 years of it's life had 8 owners, the current owner has owned it for 6 years and had a full BMW service when bought but the bike has has only done approx 400miles in these 6 years. Has had an MOT every year and intermittent oil changes.
I have a rough idea of what to check ABS, FD for smoothness + no oil, oil weeping from clutch area etc and that I will need to have all fluids replaced.

Does anyone think that the 8 owners and lack of use indicate a problem bike or am I just being paranoid?

Ta

 

[BillDallas]

Just add, the bike has MOT history during the last 6 years for 2020, 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026 with no advisories

 

[Davey B]

Depends on price and condition (and to a degree, what you make of the owner selling). I've just bought a 14 yr old 1200RT that had only done 800 miles in the last 4 years. The seller had it booked in for a full service, he cancelled that and knocked the price off the bike. I'll do a quick oil and filter change myself and then get a full service in the coming months....similar situation to you I suppose.

 

[TLSgazza]

Another way to approach that could be.
Each new owner may have checked everything over and done necessary servicing etc so in essence it could have been well looked after.
I'm just giving the other side to the story.
Was there any early service history that may list anything problematic?

 

[Santa-2512]

ibout a bike that had 4 owners , it needed work


When i sold it it needed no work

 

[BillDallas]

Another way to approach that could be.
Each new owner may have checked everything over and done necessary servicing etc so in essence it could have been well looked after.
I'm just giving the other side to the story.
Was there any early service history that may list anything problematic?

Agreed, could go both ways. Viewing later so can check the early service record - Thanks

 

[leadfarmer]

Check the oil level and tyres before you test ride it, I once bought a Varadero that was ultra low mileage

The guy had passed his test, bought a demonstrator from a shop, with luggage and all the gear, done one holiday with his wife and was scared shitless by the size of the bike

He left it in the garage for 5 years and didn’t think to blow the tyres up before I arrived for a test ride, I didn’t get far before I asked him if he had a pump

 

[TLSgazza]

Check the oil level and tyres before you test ride it, I once bought a Varadero that was ultra low mileage

The guy had passed his test, bought a demonstrator from a shop, with luggage and all the gear, done one holiday with his wife and was scared shitless by the size of the bike

He left it in the garage for 5 years and didn’t think to blow the tyres up before I arrived for a test ride, I didn’t get far before I asked him if he had a pump

That's a good point. Not much mileage in years, budget for a new set of tyres as they are probably quite old.

 

[leadfarmer]

That's a good point. Not much mileage in years, budget for a new set of tyres as they are probably quite old.

Yep, the bike in question got new tyres and a good service before I went anywhere

 

[GSite]

I feel that you buy the person selling as well as the bike, if you have any concerns or that sixth sense about either, walk away.
Years go I bought a high mileage bike from a retired engineer, a genuine one rather than someone who thinks they are.
He was as anal as they come, service history, preventative maintenance and invoices was into two box files. He really knew the bike as he owned it from new over 65k miles with no expense spared as they say. It was one of the best bikes I have ever owned and the only one I did 100k on.

 

[Pukmeister]

That’s a good point. Many Engineers are highly trained plus they have “mechanical sympathy” as owners and tend to look after their stuff.

Why would an Engineer pay a premium to a dealer for an oil change and a book stamp when they are more than capable of fully servicing, repairing and upgrading the bike themselves ?

As a former Marine Engineer I used to operate, maintain and repair/overhaul heavy machinery on warships including Rolls-Royce gas turbines, a bike in comparison is a pretty easy thing to take good care of.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Yes, a good seller is part of the package and one you should buy a bike from

 

[TLSgazza]

That’s a good point. Many Engineers are highly trained plus they have “mechanical sympathy” as owners and tend to look after their stuff.

Why would an Engineer pay a premium to a dealer for an oil change and a book stamp when they are more than capable of fully servicing, repairing and upgrading the bike themselves ?

As a former Marine Engineer I used to operate, maintain and repair/overhaul heavy machinery on warships including Rolls-Royce gas turbines, a bike in comparison is a pretty easy thing to take good care of.

I have friend/ person I know who is an "engineer" in a food processing plant.
The twat put new brake pads in his honda SP1, couldn't work out why they were scraping.
Took it up the road to a local lad in a garage and then found out he'd put the brake pads in the wrong way round.
There are engineers by trade, and then there are real engineers.

 

[OMG!!]

Experience counts in my book, if you can fix it once, change bits twice, and no issues soon after.
Then it's gonna be a good one for someone.
As far as mileage, 100k on a car might sound a lot, but with good maintenance, its not!
Perhaps a bike with 50k+ might be worth a look at.

 

[Pukmeister]

I traded my last GSA with just over 50k showing. It wanted for nothing under my ownership, including two clutch swaps due to slipping and a gearbox rebuild due to noise. It was lovely except for a little flaking powder coat on the rear brake pedal lever and ready for another 50k.

My current Tmax scooter is on 58k, my GSA LC is on 24k.

Ride and look after them, don’t be scared of mileage.

 

[Davey B]

I traded my last GSA with just over 50k showing. It wanted for nothing under my ownership, including two clutch swaps due to slipping and a gearbox rebuild due to noise. It was lovely except for a little flaking powder coat on the rear brake pedal lever and ready for another 50k.

My current Tmax scooter is on 58k, my GSA LC is on 24k.

Ride and look after them, don’t be scared of mileage.

I feel sure that many of our across the pond American biker cousins will piss themselves laughing at our 4k a year 'average', meaning many do a matter of a few hundred a year...