Is it worth?

[petkostas]

Happy owner of a 1150GS, been riding it 1,5 year and my CBR 1000RR has been totally forgotten in the garage...
Recently I had the chance to ride the 1200GS special edition of 2010 (white one) which I really enjoyed (suspension and throttle wise) and I started having funky ideas...
The deal...money is not plenty in the pocket, but I am really drooling over the 1200GSA, prices in Greece (for used one) vary from 10000 euros to 14000 euros, which are way of my league...
Until today when I found a perfect looking 2008 GSA, which had an accident and needs a complete front end (forks, wheel, sliders, crashbars and front pipes) which sells for around 4800 euros (I believe I can lower the price), is it worth getting it and slowly restoring it? or is it going to cost me more than buying something around 10000 euros?
Idea is buy this, slowly restore it and then sell together 1150 GS and CBR 1000RR (which I can't afford anymore).

 

[theop]

No Kosta, forget it. Looking for trouble... It will end up costing 8k and will never be straight...

 

[petkostas]

No Kosta, forget it. Looking for trouble... It will end up costing 8k and will never be straight...

Well it look it's going to die anyhow...called the guy and told me there are no papers for the bike...which means lots of running around...
Thanks for the reply...just going to stay with the old mama for the moment!

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Prices vary

You will probably find that a good secondhand bike in the UK will cost VETRY much less than the equivalent in Greece; It is the same here in France where the prices new are much higher as well; It is relatively easy to export a bike now - at least in theory. I did it a long time ago and I believe that most of the problems I encountered have now been overcome; if you do this bear in mind that you have a RIGHT to buy a product for your own use i any EU country and no furthrer taxes should be paid;

 

[theop]

It is relatively easy to export a bike now - at least in theory.

theory and practice in Greek bureaucratic processes are two very distant terms.

It is very difficult to import a UK bike in greece. So difficult that I have one of mine on its UK plates (a 99 1150GS) forgotten in one of the islands when I use it in the summer only.

Local 3rd party insurance and thats it. The odd oil change every 2-3 years too...

 

[theop]

Well it look it's going to die anyhow...called the guy and told me there are no papers for the bike...which means lots of running around...
Thanks for the reply...just going to stay with the old mama for the moment!

Keep the 1150 Kosta. I ve had one of each. I can see the appeal of the 1200, but the 1150s are so much less trouble.

 

[Demongroover]

Keep the 1150 Kosta. I ve had one of each. I can see the appeal of the 1200, but the 1150s are so much less trouble.

Ditto that!
I would go back to a 1150 if I could afford it.

 

[Wapping]

Petkostas,

As to whether it is a good idea? Well you asked lots of questions, so here goes:

It all comes down to common sense, mixed with desire.

(1) I have owned both a vanilla 1200GS (2005 model) - 18,000 miles in one year from new and another 6,000 in the second year, all without any significant problems.

(2) I have owned a 1200GSA (2006 model) - 56,000 miles in five years from new, all without a significant problem.

(3) Have they been perfect? No

(4) Have they been better than I expected? Yes. That answer applies If I had expected them to break down every 10 minutes; I didn't, nor did they.

(5) Is a GSA better than a vanilla GS? Yes, maybe. If you value a bigger tank and maybe bigger luggage, it is.

(6) Is either a better bike than my Blackbird / FireBlade / CBR 600 or whatever? Yes, maybe. What is the point of comparisons, exactly? They are not the same bikes.

Have I been anywhere or done anything on my GS's, that I could not have done on any other motorcycle? No. So, that answer may make the GS no better (or no worse) than any other motorcycle I have owned.

(7) Would it be a good idea to buy a crashed bike? Maybe, providing you understand the damage and can mend it propely and safely, without spending too much money. If you can't (or the bills start to climb) then the answer is, no.

(8) Is it easy to import a bike into Greece? I have no idea. My mother imported a car into France without too much difficulty. People seem seem to import them into Poland and elsewhere in the EU.... maybe Greece is the same? I have no idea.

(9) Should you sell your other bikes? That is entirely up to you. If you need the money, or do not value the bikes (or think you will value a BuMW more) then I guess, yes. If not, then the answer is maybe, no.

In short, and to answer everything: It's your money and your life. Make a choice.

 

[petkostas]

Thanks for all the replies, for the moment I am sticking to the 1150
@Wapping
Well the question was actually if its worth repairing the damaged 1200GS in terms of cost, no problems doing it on my own, but didn't know the cost, after I was informed that no papers are available for the specified bike I abandoned the project.
Importing a bike in Greece has some paperwork, not something dramatic, but has some running around, in terms of money, it all depends to whom you will fall (you know...usual stuff, pay someone here, pay someone else over there) and in the long term it can cost you around the same money that a used one from the Greek market would.
BMW in Greece has a healthy community in terms you can find easily nearly every single model.
For the rest, the 1150 has proven its reputation to me, after 12 years on Japanese bikes (mostly SS) I bow to it's legacy, the 1200 temptation came actually firstly from the looks of the GSA (I just can't help myself drooling over the looks of the beast) and secondly from it's riding experience, throttle wise and comfort wise (I am 1,85, felt the 1200 GSA more comfy than my 1150), apart from that, I have to admit that I felt the front end of the 1200 really light, something good and bad, it required sometime from me to build confidence in turns in comparison with the 1150 which feels like a train...
Thanks again for the responses, that's why I love this community