Newbie

[Caesi]

hi everyone,

I have been thinking of a GSA for a while now. I am currently riding a Street III R, which is a great bike, but my knees are starting to hurt on longer rides out and I am am looking for a more All-rounder. Given it has ABS, ESA, etc. helps as the safety aspect is a big decision factor for me. I did test ride the WC GSA and love it, but how much better is it really compared to the prev models (which are trading at a discount)? Let's just say the GSA is not a bike one buys on a whim.

What are the important things to look out for when getting a GSA?
Any dealerships experiences to share around the London/SE area?

 

[Kit monster]

I was in a similar situation to you a few weeks ago. If you're thinking of travelling any distance to look at bikes from dealerships, or any other garage/seller my advice would be to ask for some high quality close up photos of the bike first. In particular ones showing the areas prone to corrosion i.e belt cover behind the front wheel, and rear wheel hub etc.

I don't know what it is with BMW Motorrad dealers but they only ever show three photos. It must be some law or something.

I recently saw a decent looking, reasonably priced 2011 GSA Triple black at North Oxford garage with average to low mileage on it. When I asked for and was sent said close up photographs it revealed a shocking amount of corrosion, so this explained the price. So there seems to be a big difference in the price, mileage, and condition of bikes out there at the moment.

I too am new to the BMW experience having come from an FJR1300. I ended up getting a 2012 GSA Triple Black last week from a private seller through Bike Trader. Miles are a bit high, but it's been dealer serviced and is in really good nick.

Keep looking and a good one will turn up.

 

[Caesi]

thanks for the advice. so far always relied on dealers for buying bikes/cars. Never so sure about going private as one always reads about the various scams.

 

[Caesi]

Apart from being LC, what speaks for getting a new GSA 2014/15 vs an older (and cheaper) model?

 

[RedRick Esq.]

Apart from being LC, what speaks for getting a new GSA 2014/15 vs an older (and cheaper) model?

Heated hand grips that work, apparently

 

[Caesi]

the reviews so far are quite favourable. Especially, the weight being most low down thus making it easy to handle even off road despite its weight.
However, there seem to be a lot of maintenance issues and frequent trips back to servicing for minor things: is that common among you GS riders with experience?
Essentially, one would expect top notch quality from the BMW brand, right?

The Triumph explorer gets great reviews, but I simply can't warm to it and favour the GSA (despite probably doing mostly on-road)

 

[donnie]

the reviews so far are quite favourable. Especially, the weight being most low down thus making it easy to handle even off road despite its weight.
However, there seem to be a lot of maintenance issues and frequent trips back to servicing for minor things: is that common among you GS riders with experience?
Essentially, one would expect top notch quality from the BMW brand, right?

The Triumph explorer gets great reviews, but I simply can't warm to it and favour the GSA (despite probably doing mostly on-road)

Caesi, I own an early 1200GS and it's taken everything I've thrown at it. It's been dropped multiple times off roading, I go touring on it every year around Europe, and chuck it around the back roads on a weekend. I used to commute 120 miles a day on it too. There's a million GSs out there, why? Because they're damn good bikes. I'm not loyal to the BMW brand but they're hard to beat. I bought the bike because it was a practical solution to my needs and I've never looked back. I have a mate who bought an Triumph Tiger 800 from new. It almost fell apart within a year and Triumph we unprepared to help, whereas I still get the occasional recall from BMW ten years into my bikes life. You can't argue with that. I service it myself and the only new part I've had to replace in four years has been a new front shock.

Donnie