Deauville - day 2, the poor mans NC700x

[ebbo]

Certainly true that the newer GS's have become more sterile - IMHO.

The other thing is I find new bikes (any make) impossibly difficult to justify financially - but that's probably just me. Fully loaded my bike has cost me less than £3k. Every time I look at a new one I start to imagine how many months travelling that additional money would fund. A new 1200 GS with Vario panniers and a tank bag etc. is about £12,500. Make that metal panniers and it'll be north of £13k. A year and 15,000 miles later I'd be lucky to get £8k for it - and apparently the GS has good residuals. Somebody I know bought a new Yamaha FJR and chopped it after a year. Cost him £3 a mile in depreciation... nice bike but...

Just the ravings of a demented old pensioner. Ignore me.

The only way to make it work is buy new (if you want) and keep it for a looooong time. I have acquaintances who chop and change every verse end, mostly cars, cost them a fortune. Extreme example, wife's uncle, bought a new car every year, wouldn't drive it anywhere, wouldn't take anyone in it but his wife, totally nuts

 

[turnipbmw]

The long ownership theory dont really work for me.

Lets say your £13500 GS is worth £3500 in 10 years, then its cost you £1000 a year - pretty good (as long as its not stolen/written off etc)

My K cost me £700 last year, and is still worth that.

Bad news on the Deauville service front - air filter is £20 from Busters

decided to fit pads all round (£36 - pretty good) with the oil and plugs etc the bill is £90

No wonder a service at a shop is so much these days !

 

[ExpatinIstanbul]

The long ownership theory dont really work for me.

I paid £12,500 for my new GS in 2005, kept it for 7 years and sold it for £7,500. Costs for servicing and other bits were a shade over £1,500 in total, so that's approx £930 a year, or £18 a week. That seems a fair deal for something I've thoroughly enjoyed and would have kept for another 7 years had circumstances not intervened, giving me an even better year/cost ratio. My next bike will be new, and will be a ten year keeper.

I'm the kind of person that buys good shoes looks after and keeps them for 15 years, the same applies for bikes. Find the one you like and don't be distracted by fashion or gizmos and you'll get great value for your money.

 

[Felters]

BMW vs Honda

Historically I've had an RT for winter but I sold that this summer. No idea why... so purely in the interest of research and to prove my point about Honda - or not - last week I bought a ST1100 as a winter hack. It's got the wind deflection stuff on it and cost me £2k for a 40k mile '96 model with a fully documented service history, full Baglux kit, heated grips. Previous owner had it for 12 years.

The ST swing arms are prone to rusting and this one will be getting a few patches next week (despite the recent MoT) plus I've put a taller screen on it. Otherwise it is an immaculate example.

So what is it like? Well it's fine actually. It is in very good order and the frame/forks look much better than my RT did at the same mileage. But my RT was six years newer... I'm not sure that it has an engine as such. There's this whirring noise that happens when you open the throttle. What happens next is that you realise that you are going 20mph faster than you thought and the back of the truck in front is coming towards you very quickly. Then you discover that the whirring thing doesn't provide any engine braking. Let's see how we get on.