jtw000
Registered user
After deciding I wanted one and looking around for one i finally found and bought a 1200GS. I live in london and had to travel to Newcastle to pick it up. Not an easy journey, about 300 miles but worth it. I don't believe in test rides, you can't get to know a machine in a few hours, you have to own a bike to know it so i left that out and went in not knowing what to expect. As a recovering sports bike rider I liked the way the 1200 looks on paper with lighter frame and slightly more powerful output so I went for that. Now I'm not well off and had to shop around hard and squeeze every penny to get a deal i can afford and ended up locating a high milage offering that had seen a 50 mile each way commute to london for most of its life which had racked up over 50000 miles since 04. I had a Fireblade that had seen more and ran like new so, considering the reputation BMW have and the full history I gave it a try. Still a risk and i knew there was a good chance that something was going to be wrong with it.
I was planning to ride it home from Newcastle to London and stop off for the night in Doncaster, just over 100 miles from the seller as I had to work all morning and actually didn't get to the bike till 6. You know what it's like when you get a new bike, especially one you just lay out twice the cash you've bunged on a bike before. You ride more carefully than a car driver with a 12" knife tied to his steering wheel. Well I wobbled gingerly to the petrol station to juice her up and to be fair the seller bunged back a tenner to stick some gas in. I topped her up and hit the A1 on my journey back. This bike is wierd, it has servo brakes, it has buttons that don't make sense and the engine is in the middle with two extra engines bulging out of the sides wider than a bus with its doors open and it takes a bit of getting used to. It took me 100 yards. The first roundabout left me thinking how easy it all was. On the motorway it was effortlessly cruising at 80 so i wound it up another 10mph and then another and it still cruised effortlessly. Overtaking is easier than hitting the ground as you step off a roof and there really is nothing this machine can't do. By the time I got to Doncaster i was checking my watch and figured, no. I cancelled the hotel and just ran it home. It was just so easy to ride. I even took her for a spin the next day with my brother and got half an inch off the edge of the tyres while he caned the crap out of his new XT. This is a great bike, it just does it all and does it well. It did spring an oil leak though but it turned to be a knackered rubber seal on a pressure sensor (than god).
My point....?
Just do it. This is a great bike. You won't regret it. My brother took her round the bock, he is now saving for one too.
Oh... the standard screen sucks.
I was planning to ride it home from Newcastle to London and stop off for the night in Doncaster, just over 100 miles from the seller as I had to work all morning and actually didn't get to the bike till 6. You know what it's like when you get a new bike, especially one you just lay out twice the cash you've bunged on a bike before. You ride more carefully than a car driver with a 12" knife tied to his steering wheel. Well I wobbled gingerly to the petrol station to juice her up and to be fair the seller bunged back a tenner to stick some gas in. I topped her up and hit the A1 on my journey back. This bike is wierd, it has servo brakes, it has buttons that don't make sense and the engine is in the middle with two extra engines bulging out of the sides wider than a bus with its doors open and it takes a bit of getting used to. It took me 100 yards. The first roundabout left me thinking how easy it all was. On the motorway it was effortlessly cruising at 80 so i wound it up another 10mph and then another and it still cruised effortlessly. Overtaking is easier than hitting the ground as you step off a roof and there really is nothing this machine can't do. By the time I got to Doncaster i was checking my watch and figured, no. I cancelled the hotel and just ran it home. It was just so easy to ride. I even took her for a spin the next day with my brother and got half an inch off the edge of the tyres while he caned the crap out of his new XT. This is a great bike, it just does it all and does it well. It did spring an oil leak though but it turned to be a knackered rubber seal on a pressure sensor (than god).
My point....?
Just do it. This is a great bike. You won't regret it. My brother took her round the bock, he is now saving for one too.
Oh... the standard screen sucks.
