Help a virgin..... (well to this forum)

[springer]

hello im a newbie....well now i've got that off me chest i have a few questions ..well not so much as questions but decisions to make .

It will be a BMW i'm sure of that.....but which one...and what spec
1150 GS
1150 GS with abs... to twin spark or not to twin spark
1150 ADV " " " " " " "
and then theres servo brakes and we havn't started on the colours yet .....i've read lots of posts but all its done is me so if any one can help me please feel free .....ps i think it will be blue and white if this helps lol

 

[mikeh501]

Spose it all depends on the cashola....

Being entirely un-biased I would say new Adventure in black.

 

[Sid]

Purely from a shorta4sed perspective - how's yer inside leg?
I think the ADV is a spectularly gruesome machine, but my mere 29" of inside leg was just not going to cope on a day-to-day basis.
But then I also like the ADV because of all its black bits - I managed to find a GS with black engine, dark heads and lots of black bits. Now that its safely equipped with a Y-piece & Remus and the ADV beak - it suits me fine.

ABS - Yes if you can get it - you know it makes sense.
Twinspark - haven't compared the 2 on a like for like, so cant comment.

 

[Steve B]

Being entirely un-biased I would say new Adventure in black.

Me too and I have the standard 1150 in Sunny Yellow!

Steve B

 

[BawdyMonk]

Hello & Welcome

While you're reading this you may like to call the bank and raise your plastic friends limit

I've had a single (RT1150) and twinspark (GS Adventure) from new, neither surged (use search and look up surge if you don't know what I mean) but the twinspark seemed smoother when pulling from low down, so if you can get a twin.

I've never had a bike with ABS before but in the past 23 months and 38000+ kms I know it stopped me going down once, thats enough for me to give it a big .

The servo and linking is something you get used to, and appreciate. You'll find some comments on things going wrong with them but I've not had one problem with my Adv, and I'm not exactly a good advert for bike care, it gets serviced by the book and ridden very hard ..but as it's silver you'd expect it to ..so thats the colour issue sorted as well!

GS or Adventure? The Adv is a big beast so if you are not up to it, or it inhibits you stick to the normal GS, having said that, if you can go for a new one the Adv is excellent value for money as it's got most of the extras* as standard.


*The reason you'll need to raise your card limits, more so if you hang around here too much

 

[Foto John]

Welcome

Welcome to our community Springer, I hope you'll feel at home here? (It gets addictive )
As Bawdy said above, if you've got the stature for it, an Adventure is an excellent choice..............especially in silver !
To help you, I've got an '02 ABS (non servo) equipped 1150 GSA, it's a single spark and does suffer a little from surging. I believe you can get around this problem (surging) by fitting different combinations of pipe (namely ditching the 'Cat' and replacing it with a 'Y' piece).
Personally I haven't found it (surging) too much of a problem, as it's only at a certain, constant low revalution (2000 RPM???), so I can usually ride aound it. The surging is also normally non-existent for the first few thousand KM's after a service.
Other than the surging issues which apparently aren't affected by the twin-spark model, though it's said they suffer from a little less midrange power as a result.
At the end of the day it comes down to what you like colour wise (you state the blue & white's your favourate), your funds available and how much you are willing to spend, as well as which fits you best (don't forget you can get a lower saddle for the Adventure if you're vertically challenged like me )!
All I'd add is that for the safety issue, even if you only ever need it the once I'd go for ABS every time!
I haven't needed it yet in a year of owning my Adventure, but with my last an 1100 it saved me a few times , filtering in London once and two women walked out right in between two stationary vehicles (I was doing 30 MPH at the time and the beak missed them by inches ). Without ABS I would have been down, most probably with two injured pedestrians too!
It shouldn't be used as a safety gap and I'd always advocate riding to the conditions and to be able to stop in the space you can see.
If you're still unsure take one for a test ride you can always turn the ABS off to feel the difference..................Just make sure it's a long test ride (2-3 hours min).

HTH

 

[FatAl]

Welcome Springer. I'm quite new to the GS scene, although not to BMW bikes.
I had originally wanted an 1150GS ADV, but on trying one out found it a bit too tall in the saddle, and too bulky, so I bought a 2 year old low mileage blue and white 1150GS with servo ABS. I'm very pleased with it, no problems with 'surging' or the brakes, it handles well and is quick enough to keep up with other mates on multi cylinder sports bikes.
Whichever GS model you buy I doubt you will be disappointed. Don't let reports of some reliability issues put you off, all brands and models have some problems at some point.

 

[springer]

Thanks for the advice chaps .......but size i'm not to worried about as i'm 6'2 and like em big one comment someone made about the adv ..it come with extras ...i bet it don't come with abs as standard ...or does it ? lol anyway i'll keep you posted i've just got to sell my 250 crm to release that all important extra grand
thanks again.....

 

[Bryn]

Welcome from me as well Springer, Get a blue and white 1150, by far the best colour!

Another Leicestershire GS'er

Bryn

 

[springer]

been up to pidcocks in long eaton today they have a few gses in there asking about 8,300 for most of them with abs on 03 plates does this sound about right from a dealer as i havn't shopped around what do you chaps think ps the one i was looking at was a blue/white and from hinckley with 14,628 miles ..did this bike belong to you if so give me some feed back please