Dangerous Question

[Leasouth]

I'm in the making up my mind and sorting out a few household chores stage before buying my GS.
I've been a biker for many a long year and I've had a GS test ride and I'm hooked on getting a 1200gsa as my last big adventuring bike.
I wan't to have a bike to grow old/er with and try and do the far off bits of Europe I missed in my youth and may be hit Mongolia or other of the longer harder to access destinations to the east.
I'm not a forgiving sort and I don't stand by the ideas of problematic bikes and cars with the odd teething prob.
Going back 30 + years I had a three Suzuki's ending up with a legend of a 750 "kettle". The two stroke kettle did 130000+ miles trouble free apart from the Lucas Rita system having 1 overnight run in with a bead of condensation.
My touring in those days was fast most of the time and the kettle flew around europes highways and byeways at 100 and 100mph plus for mile after mile trouble free riding.
My riding style is a little more relaxed these days and a GS suits my XL sized frame. The last thing I want is to be heading for Moscow or Listvyanka on a gravel track miles from anywhere and find that 5000 miles from home I have a cracked frame part or the gearbox has clunked once to often
reading various posts on this forum and doing a bit of research, I've come across pics and stories of cracked gs frame tubes, iffy electrics, suspension and lower bolt failures.
It's not as though the GS has just hit the roads or off roads, I'm expecting a £10k plus bike to be at least as reliable if not more reliable than my Suzuki's built in the 70's. The old Suzuki's may not have been trail bikes, but they covered Europe and Cyprus at speed and on many challenging tough roads and I never ever had a bad let down.
I want the edventure before age forces retirement from biking, but I don't want to be gambling on a bike being hassle free when I'm half a world from home.
Am I expecting to much from a GS ?

I don't want a war, just some good advice on reliability and durability.

 

[Wrinkly]

I would be beside myself if the GS's or bmw's for that matter, that i have owned,were as reliable as my 750 kettle.
I bought one new in 1977 and it was the only bike i've owned which i could not wait to get rid of.
Drank fuel like it was going out of fashion,would not run once it had been ridden in the rain for longer than 10mins,and the handling was idiosyncratic to say the least,but you had one that gave you 130000 trouble free miles and you obviously liked it.
I think the point i am trying to make is, that even two bikes of the same model can turn out or be percieved to be very different.
Horror stories about the gs do exist and they have not been without their problems but these are in a very small minority, the bike is generally very solid and reliable.
I have only used it with cars,but have always found BMW assistance to give exellent service and would have no reason to believe it would be any different for bikes.
In what ever form the GS is a fantastic and highly capable bike,most probably the best alrounder ever built IMHO.
So stop worrying, go and get one sorted,get off to those far off places you've always wanted to see and enjoy.

Steve

 

[red1]

I had a brief 5 month/8,000 mile flirtation with an 07 GSA before moving on to an R1200RT.

PROS:
It will do most things ridiculously well for an overweight very tall motorcycle with long suspension travel.
Great luggage capacity.
Great fuel capacity.
BMW recovery is very good.

CONS:
It is far too heavy for real off road excursions but will handle non tarmac "roads". Those with the macho ego ignore this and go anyway.
It will go off road, but only if you have the bank balance to repair the cosmetics on a regular basis.
Not a two-up tourer comfort wise.
BMW recovery doesn't exist outside EU. Especially Mongolia, so don't go alone!

PS: I feel like an unofficial test rider for BMW.

Just had a recall notice for the fuel pump thingy which after 5 years of problems with the model is absurd and similar to the ignition ring thingy problem which took 4 years to solve.
There are some problems with GS/GSA driveshaft failures, how many no-one really knows. There have been RH cylinder valve droppings. Again how many no-one knows.
The RT1200 is also known to drop valves on occasion.
Police RT1200's blow up on occasion.

So how reliable is a BMW 1200 boxer engine?

My tip is never park on the side stand and let the oil flow out of the RH cylinder.

If I were going on the trips that you envisage I'd probably go on a Honda Trans-Alp.

 

[Jonnie Boy]

Mines a 1200GS (not the A) Same bike bigger fuel tank! Heres the story so far :-

Things that needed fixing/Miles/reason
Rear Disc 20000 Wore out
Battery 40000 Fail
Main Ign. Coil 40000 RH Fail
Heated Grips 50000 RH Fail/Wore out
Front Discs 55000 Wore out
Lambda Sensor 57000 LH Fail/ (NGK recomend replace at 30000miles)
Main Ign. Coil 60000 RH Fail
Aux. Ign. Coil 62000 LH Fail

Used all year round in all weathers! It has never failed to get me home!

Keep up the maintainance, make sure the Fuel Pump Controller is a good un (and keep it covered in ACF50), dont thrash it overly It'll keep goin

 

[A2in]

Or even better, a 2000-2001 Varadero...
Never had a GS, but having read about all these childish problems, I think I'll just buy another Varadero and skip the GS "adventure" of what is gonna go wrong next...

 

[MIKA]

As much as I have loved my 1150 and 1200GS, there is always something in the back of my mind with the 1200 that it is going to strand me at the roadside someday. An inconvenience in the UK but too much of a gamble where you are considering going. In 25 years of motorcycling the 1200 is the only bike I have ever returned to a dealer with warranty claims.

Personally I love the style and handling of the GS, but I doubt if I would buy another one due to the problems I have had and the amount of common probems reported on here are an illustration that the quality on BMW's is not what it should be, or has been in the past.

If you are in a position to wait a couple of years then the new 1200 Honda will be out and should be a hell of a lot more reliable than the current BMs. I know every manufacturer has its problems but it is the same one's time after time that BMW fail to develop in to a reliable component that bothers me.

On the other hand you may be one of the lucky ones who never experience any problems and will love every mile of your bike. Just remember there are plenty of people out there that have never had any problems with their GS!

 

[Leasouth]

Right, I have a starting point. Thank's In my earlier biking days I had three Suzuki's. They just never let me down over two hundred thousand plus miles apart from one minor silly condensation bead in a Lucas Rita ignition system on the kettle. I ran the 750 in for just over a 1000 miles and then had the engine balanced,ported and polished. Upgraded swing arm bushes and shocks and and a couple of other tweaks including fairing. and high screen.
Nearer to 60 now than 50 I'm not about to take up motoXing style of riding. and a big gs suits my size and my comfort requirements.
Transalp etc are not really attractive to me. I can hussle any bike along and can still impress a lot of younger biker friends , but I've never been over hard on any bike.
I work in Motorsport, and it seems to me that when I get a GS, Suspension bolts need looking at for something stronger and may be shocks if its going to do the long haul trips on eastern roads.
Having seen some frame crack issues, I wonder is some carbon fibre strengthing shrouds wouldn't come amiss. Riding solo, on past long distance touring I got panniers further forward and adapted top box's to sit over the pillion position.
I want the GS, but really expect reliability from BMW. If there are issues, I'd appreciated advice on what part mods need looking at, and what sort of essential spares need to be carried. And don't tell me another complete bike
"Jonnie Boy"'s post is good, I could live with that, pretty fair wear and tear as far as I can see
So come, on any more good advice.

 

[Leasouth]

Or even better, a 2000-2001 Varadero...
Never had a GS, but having read about all these childish problems, I think I'll just buy another Varadero and skip the GS "adventure" of what is gonna go wrong next...

Varadero!
A2in , sorry pal, I don't do Honda. And surely it has a chain drive, how quaint Gave up messing around with links and oilers and sprockets eons ago. I want a bike, not a pretty toy

 

[MarkShelley]

Sounds to me like you have made up your mind already

 

[MarkShelley]

Varadero!
A2in , sorry pal, I don't do Honda. And surely it has a chain drive, how quaint Gave up messing around with links and oilers and sprockets eons ago. I want a bike, not a pretty toy

Blimey, that is the first time I have seen the Varadero referred to as pretty!

 

[Bryn]

Or even better, a 2000-2001 Varadero...
Never had a GS, but having read about all these childish problems, I think I'll just buy another Varadero and skip the GS "adventure" of what is gonna go wrong next...

I'd never bother with a bike that has chain drive again

By the way- nice first post, welcome to the site

 

[Leasouth]

Sounds to me like you have made up your mind already

Don't get me wrong Mark, I did a GSA test ride and I was well impressed. But since then my biking plans have changed and I started researching a bit, a bit to much may be. The big GS suits me, but I'm a little long in the tooth for breaking down on a gravel road 500 miles from nowhere. If there are GS/GSA issues that need addressing I want to sort out my plans now. I can cope with mud and dirt roads and wet, as long as I can get to the destination without having the bike in bits every other day

 

[red1]

Varadero!
A2in , sorry pal, I don't do Honda. And surely it has a chain drive, how quaint Gave up messing around with links and oilers and sprockets eons ago. I want a bike, not a pretty toy

If you don't do chains etc. then you're limited to two bikes, a GS or Guzzi Stelvio.

You've obviously made up your mind to get a GS so why bother asking opinions?

You seem to understand the problems but ignore them because come hell or high water you will buy a GS.

You talk about strengthening the frame and suspension which is fair enough, but what are you going to do about other known problems such as shaft bearing failure and valve dropping. OK, they are not happening in great numbers but they do happen with greater frequency than they should.
A chain is a lot easier to repair/adjust/replace in Mongolia than a fecked shaft bearing.

If you don't do Honda seriously consider upgrading a Suzuki V-Strom. The amount of mods you could do within the same budget as a GS could create a world beater!

But you'll still buy a GS!

 

[Leasouth]

"red1"
Asking for advice compared to asking for opinions is two different issues.
It's not exactly brain surgery.
I've got a opinions on loads of things, opinions differ from experience of facts
You've brought up "dropped valve issue" that one I was not aware of.
I don't want to take a V Strom street bike and try and change it into a long distance trail bike.
If drive shaft bearings are an issue, is there a bearing alternative of a better quality. Rather than buy a new GSA, do I go for a low mileage GSA and spend some money to upgrade it to cover issues brought up here
I'm quite happy to review and alter my choices.
On the other hand I wouldn't be out test riding BMW's and joining a GS forum if I was interested in a Tenere or a Transalp
red1 is right, I'm out to buy a GS with a big fuel tank and I'm a big bloke and I'm not looking to try wrapping myself around some bike designed mainly for "shortarses" But it seems to me that I need to cover some reliability and durability issues. and I'm looking for serious pointers to what needs to be lookd in to and covered

 

[Mr K]

Know the issues and take precautions.

 

[pathfinder]

Or even better, a 2000-2001 Varadero...
Never had a GS, but having read about all these childish problems, I think I'll just buy another Varadero and skip the GS "adventure" of what is gonna go wrong next...

Goodbye

 

[Glyno]

Ive had quite a few bikes over the years from different stables and at the age Im at now am happy with my latest choice of the 1200 gs.
Never had any serious probs with any of the bikes on many continental trips clocking up 10,s of thousands of miles.
Always kept them in trim and pretty much standard spec with services as per schedule. Cleaned em regularly and didnt over abuse.
Dunno, maybe Ive been lucky, but at the mo my 1200 gs does what it says on the tin and thats been good enough for me. Im happy with mine

 

[pathfinder]

Ive had quite a few bikes over the years from different stables and at the age Im at now am happy with my latest choice of the 1200 gs.
Never had any serious probs with any of the bikes on many continental trips clocking up 10,s of thousands of miles.
Always kept them in trim and pretty much standard spec with services as per schedule. Cleaned em regularly and didnt over abuse.
Dunno, maybe Ive been lucky, but at the mo my 1200 gs does what it says on the tin and thats been good enough for me. Im happy with mine

 

[ExpatinIstanbul]

Get yerself a 1200GSA, trawl through this place....particularly the ride reports and threads discussing what spares people would take on trips, and decide what you think is necessary, if anything. Then get on and bugger off. To wherever, not from here.

If something major blows/goes/falls off, you'll always find helpful locals who'll drag/carry/recover your bike to somewhere where someone will know how to fix/bodge/gaffa tape it back together. If you need parts there's always UPS/DHL/FedEx who can get stuff anywhere pretty quickly, but why worry....it's an adventure (the trip AND the bike), take it like one.

If it's just European trips, within the heart-warming environs of BMW Assistance, then what's to think about? I leapt upon my faithful steed ('04 GS) and rode 5,000 miles this summer, without even so much as a hiccup for the whole trip.......and like the majority of owners am very happy with the bike.





Now, when's the new Yam coming out...................

 

[A2in]

I'd never bother with a bike that has chain drive again

By the way- nice first post, welcome to the site

Thanks Bryn

Pathfinder, think I'll stick around for a while, if that is alright with you ofcourse....

It appears that, being in the "Go on , you know....mpla mpla" part of the forum, there are mixed replies. People criticizing the looks of the Vara, or bikes that have chain drives are generally not helping the lad looking for advice on the GS.
I for one, certainly did not feel welcome after mentioning that I had a Vara, and that I have read (from you yes) that the GS is crap for a list price of 10 grand considering it's childish problems...
Now, if you are the kind of person that confuses hardship with adventure, then yes, by all means buy the GS or even better an R50 / R60 from the '70s just to make sure it will break down and thus, provide you with fond memories....
Sorry if I sound negative, but the only reason I joined this forum was to read your opinions, and so far some of them have been