The True and Full Costs of Running an R1150GS over two years

[Rushy]

Finally, these records are exact - I think it would be very difficult to guessitmate the costs of running a bike.

It wasn't difficult at all, it was dead easy and took me less than 5 mins.
Apart from the fuel, which is irrelevant, it's within a hundred pound pa either way and is, as you say, a guesstimate.

It was curiousity. Dull but harmless.

+1 ....Not knocking it at all, I have bought one new car in my life and I still have it + every receipt for every penny I have spent on it in the past 8yrs. I could do the same as you if I bothered to add it up, except for fuel.

I just wanted to put a counter figure in there because yours, while wholly accurate, is the the true cost of running your 1150GS not 'a' 1150GS, if you can excuse the pedantry, and therefore perhaps not what many owners could expect.

As far as fuel goes when I get a different car, bike I often find it interesting to calculate an average over a few tanks and then after that I just forget about it. I can tell you I did my first big weekend trip on the Guzzi a few weeks ago and over 4 tanks & 800 miles the worst was 46, best was 52 and the average was 49mpg.......most I saw on the odo was 214 miles but she stalled at the last 2 junctions before I rolled onto the forecourt having past 3 closed station that night .

Ignore the knockers who say "just get out on your bike and ride it". If working that kinda stuff out is interesting to you and you have the time to do it & share it on an owners forum then good for you...

 

[Vern]

Judging by the fact that you've made 4,923 posts I doubt you'd find the time!

4295 I think you'll find

 

[Rushy]

4295 I think you'll find

Maths not your strong point Vern ....you have other skills tho' right

 

[Grim Rider]

Ignore the knockers who say "just get out on your bike and ride it". If working that kinda stuff out is interesting to you and you have the time to do it & share it on an owners forum then good for you...

For those of us who do find this stuff interesting - I can put my hand up here and admit that I have kept a spreadsheet of everything I have spent on my GS, apart from fuel - on the grounds that petrol is a necessity to running the bike which I can't do much about (have never worked out mpg and ride on the basis that life is too short to ride slowly unless that yellow light has been flashing for quite some time!).

Bought my 2001 1150 GS in February 2007, with 18000 on the clock for £5399. Since than have spent £6476.59 on it and have covered 75000 miles; changed seven front tyres, eight rear tyres, had one dealer service at 24000 miles (£197.21), but otherwise serviced by myself, with throttle bodies balanced once a year by Steptoe. Most expensive expenditure was £300 for the 23 litre auxiliary tank (total cost includes a number of farkles for long distance rallying).

I originally kept the record as I thought a full service history would add to the bike's resell value - realised long ago I will never sell the GS so have kept up the list as a matter of idle interest.

Has it been worth the money? Too bloody right it has

 

[B4ndit]

As was said to me when I ran a boat. (1 mile per litre, gulp).

If you worry about it you can't afford it.

Nice set of figures. though for the OCD amongst us.

Me personally. Its only a waste of money if its to get to work. Then your better off on the dole if its costing you £xxxxxx per year for commutes.

I have a small bike for the must do work runs and as of Friday morning at £1.36 per litre of unleaded it cost me £7.54 to get to and from work for a week. Result. (Its bloody uncomfortable though, but very very nippy) Bollax to what I spend on the GS or other bikes screaming around at the weekend. Its fun and its a damn sight cheaper than going to Thorpe Park or its likes. And I ride them for the fun.
Oh and I have also learnt how to service my bikes myself which saves a real fortune.

 

[Tecumseh]

As was said to me when I ran a boat. (1 mile per litre, gulp).

If you worry about it you can't afford it.

As I pointed out earlier - I made no judgement on the costs involved in running the bike - all I did was highlight them. Indeed, as I detailed earlier £1,000 of my expenses has been because two clutches went in the bike and I also had a poor run on tyres - you know, wasting my money to get to work. (I mean, honestly!)

I find it fascinating that quite a few people seem to be offended by this post and have taken the approach "if you need to ask the price then you can't afford it". At best this is silly. I had an ST1300 that cost me a fortune to service, I sold it and bought a R1200RT which cost me less to both fuel and service. Should I have continued with the ST? Of course not. That would be idiotic but I can only assume that a number of people who have responded to this factual post would have kept the ST despite the fact that if was both expensive and thirsty.

The second criticism of this rather innocent post is that I should do something better with my time. I'm trying to avoid being rude here but these responses come from people who post a great deal - I mean a hell of a lot of posts - two or three times a day. I can categorically state that tapping around twelve numbers into an iPhone does not take a great deal of time - especially if you do it while you fill up. I wonder is there a correlation between the number of posts a person writes and the number of hours they spend on their motorcycle riding it rather then talking about riding it? The only evidence I have is myself: I've been bikeless since Thursday and the number of posts I've written has increased by about 300% in the last three days!

 

[Uncle Crumpet]

As I pointed out earlier - I made no judgement on the costs involved in running the bike - all I did was highlight them. Indeed, as I detailed earlier £1,000 of my expenses has been because two clutches went in the bike and I also had a poor run on tyres - you know, wasting my money to get to work. (I mean, honestly!)

I find it fascinating that quite a few people seem to be offended by this post and have taken the approach "if you need to ask the price then you can't afford it". At best this is silly. I had an ST1300 that cost me a fortune to service, I sold it and bought a R1200RT which cost me less to both fuel and service. Should I have continued with the ST? Of course not. That would be idiotic but I can only assume that a number of people who have responded to this factual post would have kept the ST despite the fact that if was both expensive and thirsty.

The second criticism of this rather innocent post is that I should do something better with my time. I'm trying to avoid being rude here but these responses come from people who post a great deal - I mean a hell of a lot of posts - two or three times a day. I can categorically state that tapping around twelve numbers into an iPhone does not take a great deal of time - especially if you do it while you fill up. I wonder is there a correlation between the number of posts a person writes and the number of hours they spend on their motorcycle riding it rather then talking about riding it? The only evidence I have is myself: I've been bikeless since Thursday and the number of posts I've written has increased by about 300% in the last three days!

Well said, screw em, your just as entitled to post your stuff as anyone else, forums wouldn't exist without that. Seems to get forgotten a lot of the time. If your not interested in the post feck off and look at another, how hard is that?

 

[raginmund]

I try set aside £50 a month toward running costs, seems about the ball-park figure that works for me, for about 6000 miles a year.

 

[Timpo]

Personally I don't give a flying feck what bike/bikes cost per year.... it's my hobby, and 'I' come first in my house.

Possu knows a funny story about receipts and faulty receipt machines!