Phil
Guest
On the 18th of September I collected a 2006 R1200 GSA that I had purchased from DK Motorcycles. As part of the deal I chopped both my GL1800 Goldwing and a 1300 Pan European in. The deal was that the outstanding finance would be cleared and the balance left would go towards the R1200 GSA. The BMW was an import from California and had not been previously registered in the UK so any past history of the bike was at that time unknown to me.
As I had previously test ridden one of the BMW R1200 GSA’s elsewhere I did not bother with a test ride but I did point out to the salesman that the bike had been “down the road” as the upper left hand crash guard had been ground down – nothing major and I was assured at the time that that was the only damage and that the visible damage was the result of a minor slide. I did notice that the head of the bolt that held the Paralever torsion bar was sticking out proud of the frame, I tried to move it with my fingers and as it did not move assumed it was fine.
Three weeks later after the bike had been SVA'ed and MOTed I collected the bike and rode it from DK’s back to Shrewsbury – hadn’t gone 2 miles and the warning light came on. Stopped and filled up and it was obvious the fuel gauge was plainly faulty – read third full when it was in fact full. Started the bike again and the warning did not display again until I had gone 4 miles this time. Did some research when I finally got home and discovered that in all probability it was the dreaded diode problem. Fair enough, I rang DK’s the next morning and as I was going to Ireland for a week the next day it was agreed that I would ring them on my return and get the bike booked in for repair.
Anyway I loaded the bike up and headed for County Mayo in Ireland on the Saturday morning. First part of the journey, Shrewsbury to Holyhead was uneventful apart from the warning light coming on again. Just outside of Dublin I cranked it up and was doing about 80mph round a corner when the backend suddenly let go. I somehow managed to keep the ruddy thing upright and pulled over. Having checked everything over it soon became apparent that the bolt that should have had a nut on which went through the frame and paralever bar was hanging out of the recessed hole on the frame. Because of the length of the bolt it could never had have a nut fitted in the first place and was literally being held in place by a couple of threads and the pressure of the paralever bar. I managed to find a nut that fitted the paralever bolt from a nearby garage come all sorts shop and reassembled the nut bolt and paralever bar as it should have been albeit not using proper BMW parts.
Carried on to my friends place in Ballyhaunis at a far more sedate pace. On arriving I proceeded to go over the bike with a fine toothcomb and discover that the bike had lots of what seemed brand new parts on it and a fair number of second hand or well used parts.
I thought that on closer inspection the bike was in essence a cut and shut job. Whilst the bike had the OE light switch the lights were missing, on tracing the wiring through I found that one wire had the plastic connection in place but that fitting had been torn from the light itself while the other had had the complete connector ripped from the wiring.
The bar that goes across the handlebars had a cover on it, on removing the cover the bar was bent where it had hit something or someone. And so it carried on lots of new things as I said including a new screen but the side screens were obviously used. Brake discs, callipers and pipe work were all brand new yet the clutch and brake fluid containers and their lids were badly banged up and scratched. At this point I decided enough was enough and put everything back and carried on with my holiday. Rode the bike back to DK’s the following Saturday and politely told them that the bike had nearly killed me when the backend let go. Apologetic and we will sack the mechanic concerned and book it in for a weeks time.
Later that day I got to talking to a colleague who has a 1200 GS and compared bikes and the more you look the more it became clear something with the bike was not right. Some bolts where brand new while others were rusted, cables where snagged and paintwork chipped where it should not have been. I rang trading standards on the Monday morning who wanted to inspect the bike and pursue a charge of criminal negligence against DK. Down side to this was that the bike would be away for some considerable time. Trading Standards told me that if I could prove the bike had been in an accident I could return the bike as “not fit for purpose”.
I contacted a couple of guys I know in the US (Goldwing riders ☺ ) and gave them the previous owners details including his name and address, frame number and licence plate number. Took them a couple of days but the information that came back was that a) the previous owner was either dead or had never existed in the first place and b) the bike had been an insurance write off after being in a major front end smash. Whilst I have not been able to confirm it my sources believe the gentleman concerned was killed in the accident.
For obvious reasons I passed this information onto both Trading Standards and DK’s. Trading Standards where horrified whilst Kevin (one of the owners) at DK’s attitude was a case of so what it had passed an SVA and MOT. I then informed Kevin that I was returning the bike as it was plainly a bike that had been in accident and was I believe a dangerous bike. I asked that they take the bike back and then give me the balance that I had used as a deposit for the BMW to be paid in cash so that I could then purchase another bike elsewhere. This was by all accounts all to difficult to do and all that DK’s were prepared to do would be to cancel the deal and then give me my bikes back and reinstate the previously cancelled loan so that essentially I had never made the purchase from the outset.
Because DK’s had had both of my bikes in their showroom I originally refused this as a) I needed a bike to commute to work and for some part time training motorbike training I do and b) I seen a couple of kids playing on the bike in the showroom previously. Asked why DK’s would not just give me the balance of money Kevin promptly informed me that there was not enough money in it for him – despite marking up both bikes by £2500 each. After having numerous conversations and being in desperate need of a motorbike again, DK’s collected the R1200 GSA as I refused to ride it anymore. I did get the gentlemen who loaded the bike into the van to sign a document stating that I had fitted a non BMW part to the bike (the nut fitted in Ireland) to enable me get it home. I also stated that I believed the bike should not be ridden until the nut I had fitted as replaced by the correct part supplied by BMW.
Due to the way both DK and Black Horse (who the finance I had was arranged with) both work it took yet another 10 days before DK would release either of my bikes. By then I had purchased the bike 08 GSA I now have. I brought the new bike from Doble down in Surrey and I have to say that both Mike and Rob at Doble could not do enough for me bent over backwards to help me.
To complete this sorry saga I notice that DK have re-advertised the bike both on their web site and on Ebay the registration number for the bike is actually DX 55UWD whilst DK plated it as DX55JWD. According to the statement on EBay I took the bike to a BMW dealer and checked the details against their computer system and discovered the bike had been in an accident. This is not true as I have had no contact with BMW regarding the said bike.
The purpose of this post is to try and stop anyone from buying this particular bike – having ridden DX55 JWD(UWD) and my new bike I have to say they ride totally different and would strongly advise all readers to avoid this bike like the plague. As for DK well I will leave readers to make their own mind up but a company that sells a bike that has been an insurance write not once but twice to my mind cannot think much of its customer base.
In all of this the only concession that DK made to me was that they would transport the bikes to any dealer anywhere in the country (MOT had run out on both bikes by this time and I had no insurance cover for either of them). Thankfully Doble stepped up to the mark and not only collected my bikes from DK's but also delivered the new one.
So folks please steer clear of this bike (it is still up for sale at DK's).
Regards
Phil
As I had previously test ridden one of the BMW R1200 GSA’s elsewhere I did not bother with a test ride but I did point out to the salesman that the bike had been “down the road” as the upper left hand crash guard had been ground down – nothing major and I was assured at the time that that was the only damage and that the visible damage was the result of a minor slide. I did notice that the head of the bolt that held the Paralever torsion bar was sticking out proud of the frame, I tried to move it with my fingers and as it did not move assumed it was fine.
Three weeks later after the bike had been SVA'ed and MOTed I collected the bike and rode it from DK’s back to Shrewsbury – hadn’t gone 2 miles and the warning light came on. Stopped and filled up and it was obvious the fuel gauge was plainly faulty – read third full when it was in fact full. Started the bike again and the warning did not display again until I had gone 4 miles this time. Did some research when I finally got home and discovered that in all probability it was the dreaded diode problem. Fair enough, I rang DK’s the next morning and as I was going to Ireland for a week the next day it was agreed that I would ring them on my return and get the bike booked in for repair.
Anyway I loaded the bike up and headed for County Mayo in Ireland on the Saturday morning. First part of the journey, Shrewsbury to Holyhead was uneventful apart from the warning light coming on again. Just outside of Dublin I cranked it up and was doing about 80mph round a corner when the backend suddenly let go. I somehow managed to keep the ruddy thing upright and pulled over. Having checked everything over it soon became apparent that the bolt that should have had a nut on which went through the frame and paralever bar was hanging out of the recessed hole on the frame. Because of the length of the bolt it could never had have a nut fitted in the first place and was literally being held in place by a couple of threads and the pressure of the paralever bar. I managed to find a nut that fitted the paralever bolt from a nearby garage come all sorts shop and reassembled the nut bolt and paralever bar as it should have been albeit not using proper BMW parts.
Carried on to my friends place in Ballyhaunis at a far more sedate pace. On arriving I proceeded to go over the bike with a fine toothcomb and discover that the bike had lots of what seemed brand new parts on it and a fair number of second hand or well used parts.
I thought that on closer inspection the bike was in essence a cut and shut job. Whilst the bike had the OE light switch the lights were missing, on tracing the wiring through I found that one wire had the plastic connection in place but that fitting had been torn from the light itself while the other had had the complete connector ripped from the wiring.
The bar that goes across the handlebars had a cover on it, on removing the cover the bar was bent where it had hit something or someone. And so it carried on lots of new things as I said including a new screen but the side screens were obviously used. Brake discs, callipers and pipe work were all brand new yet the clutch and brake fluid containers and their lids were badly banged up and scratched. At this point I decided enough was enough and put everything back and carried on with my holiday. Rode the bike back to DK’s the following Saturday and politely told them that the bike had nearly killed me when the backend let go. Apologetic and we will sack the mechanic concerned and book it in for a weeks time.
Later that day I got to talking to a colleague who has a 1200 GS and compared bikes and the more you look the more it became clear something with the bike was not right. Some bolts where brand new while others were rusted, cables where snagged and paintwork chipped where it should not have been. I rang trading standards on the Monday morning who wanted to inspect the bike and pursue a charge of criminal negligence against DK. Down side to this was that the bike would be away for some considerable time. Trading Standards told me that if I could prove the bike had been in an accident I could return the bike as “not fit for purpose”.
I contacted a couple of guys I know in the US (Goldwing riders ☺ ) and gave them the previous owners details including his name and address, frame number and licence plate number. Took them a couple of days but the information that came back was that a) the previous owner was either dead or had never existed in the first place and b) the bike had been an insurance write off after being in a major front end smash. Whilst I have not been able to confirm it my sources believe the gentleman concerned was killed in the accident.
For obvious reasons I passed this information onto both Trading Standards and DK’s. Trading Standards where horrified whilst Kevin (one of the owners) at DK’s attitude was a case of so what it had passed an SVA and MOT. I then informed Kevin that I was returning the bike as it was plainly a bike that had been in accident and was I believe a dangerous bike. I asked that they take the bike back and then give me the balance that I had used as a deposit for the BMW to be paid in cash so that I could then purchase another bike elsewhere. This was by all accounts all to difficult to do and all that DK’s were prepared to do would be to cancel the deal and then give me my bikes back and reinstate the previously cancelled loan so that essentially I had never made the purchase from the outset.
Because DK’s had had both of my bikes in their showroom I originally refused this as a) I needed a bike to commute to work and for some part time training motorbike training I do and b) I seen a couple of kids playing on the bike in the showroom previously. Asked why DK’s would not just give me the balance of money Kevin promptly informed me that there was not enough money in it for him – despite marking up both bikes by £2500 each. After having numerous conversations and being in desperate need of a motorbike again, DK’s collected the R1200 GSA as I refused to ride it anymore. I did get the gentlemen who loaded the bike into the van to sign a document stating that I had fitted a non BMW part to the bike (the nut fitted in Ireland) to enable me get it home. I also stated that I believed the bike should not be ridden until the nut I had fitted as replaced by the correct part supplied by BMW.
Due to the way both DK and Black Horse (who the finance I had was arranged with) both work it took yet another 10 days before DK would release either of my bikes. By then I had purchased the bike 08 GSA I now have. I brought the new bike from Doble down in Surrey and I have to say that both Mike and Rob at Doble could not do enough for me bent over backwards to help me.
To complete this sorry saga I notice that DK have re-advertised the bike both on their web site and on Ebay the registration number for the bike is actually DX 55UWD whilst DK plated it as DX55JWD. According to the statement on EBay I took the bike to a BMW dealer and checked the details against their computer system and discovered the bike had been in an accident. This is not true as I have had no contact with BMW regarding the said bike.
The purpose of this post is to try and stop anyone from buying this particular bike – having ridden DX55 JWD(UWD) and my new bike I have to say they ride totally different and would strongly advise all readers to avoid this bike like the plague. As for DK well I will leave readers to make their own mind up but a company that sells a bike that has been an insurance write not once but twice to my mind cannot think much of its customer base.
In all of this the only concession that DK made to me was that they would transport the bikes to any dealer anywhere in the country (MOT had run out on both bikes by this time and I had no insurance cover for either of them). Thankfully Doble stepped up to the mark and not only collected my bikes from DK's but also delivered the new one.
So folks please steer clear of this bike (it is still up for sale at DK's).
Regards
Phil
