Recommend me.....

[Gruffalo]

an alternative to the gs1200

been having a a few "issues" with my 07 gs, it dropped a valve 4 weeks ago and bmw replaced the right hand cyclinder on good will

2 days ago it also decided to drop all the engine oil out of the left hand cyclinder and all over me, the bike and the garage floor,

now i love my bike to bits, as it is often in them recently, but as its my only mode of transport as i dont have or drive a car, its a little bit depressing not knowing if the bike is going to get me to where i am going

i need a solid reliable bike that can get me to anf from work, 20 miles a day, tour, scratch, and to the weekly shop

ive looked at a gs 1150 but wold be loosing money in a px

the ktm 990 adventure looks awesom but a little too "full on" for me

the v strom 650 or 1000 is fugly

what else is there?

 

[essjay]

a lot to be said for the vstrom. I had the 1000 version and toured the USA, Canada and Alaska last year on it (13000 miles in around 40 days riding). No issues at all. Great bike.

 

[Monty]

I also had a 1000 Strom, for 3 years. Never missed a beat, was great on fuel, had a cracking engine, handled well. Yes they were bashed with the ugly stick, but they are cracking bikes.

 

[GS TRV]

one more for the Strom

 

[the beer hunter]

i need a solid reliable bike that can get me to anf from work, 20 miles a day, tour, scratch, and to the weekly shop

When I bought my 1200GS the Honda CB1000F was on my shortlist but I didn't think I could live with the drab looks & I wanted a shaftie for touring. Bloody good bike though.

No fuel pump/final drive problems, I've only experienced cam chain tensioner probs with higher mileage Honda models.

TBH

 

[cusi]

Triumph Sprint old and new

Any VFR

CB1300S

1200 Bandit silly money for a lot of bike

 

[Narcoda]

stick with the GS/A... best bike I have ever owned. Worth repairing if it goes wrong, dont be disheartened by a few failures... If you sell your BM you'll only be gutted everytime one goes past you...

 

[Gruffalo]

cheers for the input guys,

i really dont want to get rod of the gs as its an awesome bike, the best ive ver had in fact, its just that niggeling voice in the back of my mind saying that it will go wrong again, it s just a question of when! and the pther one from her indoors (which is a lot louder i might add!) saying we cant afford to keep getting that fecking bike fixed!

guess ill keep it for now and if it goes again, kits gone, might try one of the 1200gts over the next few weeks, best of both worlds, fast as feck and comfy too, but i guess ill just have to wait and see....

 

[D6]

sell the 12 private an buy a 1150?

 

[Wapping]

Droping the valves I can understand....

....but what suddenly happened for it to then lose all its oil out of the left hand pot?


Vis-a-vis the alternative? Honda Blackbird, with a touring Scottoiler and Ventura luggage.

You can pick them up cheap in very good condition and keep the considerable amount of change wen you sell your 1200 privately.

 

[karnevil]

Why not keep the 1200 and get the BMW warranty.You will be almot bullet proof then?

 

[Gruffalo]

Droping the valves I can understand....

....but what suddenly happened for it to then lose all its oil out of the left hand pot?


it appears that when they put the engine back together after stripping it to repair the right pot, they didnt put the left pit back on properly and the seal was fooked, and the recent cold snap appears to have fooked it even more,

least the garage are getting it sorted and should have it back tommorrow,

even if i get the bmw warranty, still not going to stop the engine or the bike fecking up, even if it does get sorted under warranty....

 

[Bryn]

sell the 12 private an buy a 1150?

Jonyboy, If you're losing money on the 12 by part exing for and 1150 surely you'll lose as much against any other make/model as well

Just sold my 1200 and bought a lovely 1150 ADV - I'm happy now

 

[Wapping]

it appears that when they put the engine back together after stripping it to repair the right pot, they didnt put the left pit back on properly and the seal was fooked, and the recent cold snap appears to have fooked it even more,

least the garage are getting it sorted and should have it back tommorrow,

....

So the cause was human error, rather than a deep seated mechanical problem.

Whilst poor, it can (and does) happen on HonYamDuc. I have seen glue used in a crank (that is not a mistype for crack) that needed welding.... from a main line 'Big name' Honda dealer.... the result discovered and rectified by a much smaller Honda dealer, who showed me. It wasn't my bike, thank God!

By all means change your bike and maybe make some cash on the way through... but you won't make much if the deal is all through a dealer... so sell the GS privately, at least. Or try the BuMW once more, now its fixed, perhaps?

 

[GSband]

... now i love my bike to bits, as it is often in them recently, but as its my only mode of transport as i dont have or drive a car, its a little bit depressing not knowing if the bike is going to get me to where i am going ...

I completely understand these feelings. Had a 2005 bike with all mishaps, and swore never to buy BMW again. Then dealer seduced me with great p/ex in December 2007. Now October 2009 and 50000km on, I don't regret having bought an R12GS again.
Only thing is : this one's not been troublefree either, amongst others 2 breakdowns on 2 holidays. So the feeling in the back of my head 'How long before it goes wrong again' just won't go away. Damn.

So if there's a major mishap, I solemny swear (again) it's goodbye BMW.

Nah, I don't believe it either.

On topic : I had been looking for comparable bikes, and this was my short list :
KTM 990 Adventure
Triumph 1050 Tiger
Bit different : Honda CBF1000, KTM 990 SM T, MotoMorini Granpasso.
Not to my liking : Honda Varadero, Suzuki VStrom (though highly recommended), Ducati Multistrada.

In the end, there still isn't anything comparable to a GS, and that's BMW's luck.
Shame on you competitors.

 

[John Armstrong]

Thought about an 800GS?

 

[NorthernBoy]

I'd say that it's worth looking at a newer GS, as my '08 is a world apart from my '05 in terms of quality of finish, and lack of it ******* up.

Or, as suggested above, the GS800 is a lovely bike, too.

 

[GSband]

I testdrove an F800GSfor a day/200miles/300km, and found following :
- seat waaaaaaay too uncomfortable, horrible.
- seat even higher than on R12GS
- nice clutch and gear box
- the 21 inch front wheel, and engine position make it harder to flick around corners than an R12GS
- engine strong enough, revs freely
- vibrations around 5000rpm can be felt in handlebars, annoying on long hauls
- I liked the lower weight, easy at low speeds
- chaindriven and chains are no good (info from on here)
- poorer wind protection.

Afterwards, I drove home on my R12GS, and it felt like a Rolls-Royce.
(though honestly I don't know how that rides )

For me the F800GS is no substitute for an R12GS. Completely different.

And anyway, if the OP has had bad experiences with BMW, it's not likely he'll buy another Beemer.

 

[mfish]

I've got both a 1200gs and a KTM 990 Adventure. The KTM is lighter, more lively and wieldy and pretty good for long and short trips. It's also refreshingly a bit different. But I hate the famous low revs snatchy throttle.
Cheers, Michael.
PS If you think you have reliability problems, I've also got a Ducati 1098s, 2yrs 7 months old, 11,000 miles, full service history and the engine has eaten itself (big ends, piston, valves etc)

 

[bumpy]

When I bought my 1200GS the Honda CB1000F was on my shortlist but I didn't think I could live with the drab looks & I wanted a shaftie for touring. Bloody good bike though.

No fuel pump/final drive problems, I've only experienced cam chain tensioner probs with higher mileage Honda models.

TBH

I moved from the 1200GS to the CBF1000. This is the most underated bike ever. It is fast, easy to handle, corners and stops well, yet gearbox and engine are silky smooth.