To buy or not to buy. Ex Off Road Skills 1200GS

[Toys]

Just has my brand new F650GS nicked (600 miles on the clock) and trashed.

I've had a 1150GS, R80GS, and the F650 and I'm thinking about a 12 as it is a lot less nickable than the 650 which proved irresistable to the local chavs who swiped it from outside the hospital where I was having physio and basically screwed the nuts off it until it fell apart.

A dealer near me has an ex BMW Off Road Skills 1200, 2000 miles on the clock, heated grips, ABS, they have replaced any damaged parts and fitted 2 new Tourance's. Price £7495 Question is will I be buying a heap of trouble?

Does anyone out there have any experience of an ex ORS 1200? They also have a very nice 02 1150GS for £6495 and I am in a complete quandary. I am not the tallest biker and when I last had an 1150 I thought it was the best bike I had ever had apart from my constant fear of dropping the bloody thing 'cos I was on tiptoe. The 12 seems a better bet for the vertically challenged.

Any advice would be gratefully received

 

[Mr K]

Whatever you get, get one with an alarm and buy a big, feck-off chain and padlock.....

 

[Pukmeister]

The 1200GS is a much easier bike to live with due to its lightness in comparison with earlier GS models. My inside leg is 30" and with the seat on its lowest setting I have no worries, though I am on tiptoes with both feet down, so I tend to sit with one cheek on the seat and one leg fully extended.

As for buying an ex-school bike, make sure you have a full waranty on it and inspect it very carefully for any signs of corrosion or damage, especially around the wheel rims and rear subframe and paralever/shock areas.

Obviously you must insist on a full test ride of any bike for a few hours and not just once around the block. Like any GS, the more you ride it the better it feels.

There isn't much to be overly concerned with mechanically as they are strong bikes , but the clutch may be suffering from greater than normal wear due to being slipped more during slow manouvres.

Why not haggle for an alarm/chain thrown in for free as a deal clincher ??

 

[John Armstrong]

I was passing through Bristol at the end of the week and called in. They had a 650 that was ex off-road skills and looked a little battered and not just on the plstics either. Had a very quick look at the 1200 and I don't remember seeing ABS on it. Looked a lot better condition and the salesman said that the 12's were the instructors bikes? Even if they aren't they're more expensive to hire for the course and only "experienced" riders are going to be on them.

A lot will depend on the use you have in mind, as a Chelsea tractor substitute you'll be able to regale your neighbours with your LWR trip and the scratches and bashes will add credence to your tale. If you want a pristine bike and are paranoid about breaking down then it might not be the bike for you. I'll guess that all the bikes have very differing lives and that if you bought a brand new Friday afternoon bike you might have more grief with it.

HTH

 

[DavidHale]

I was passing through Bristol at the end of the week and called in. They had a 650 that was ex off-road skills and looked a little battered and not just on the plstics either. Had a very quick look at the 1200 and I don't remember seeing ABS on it. Looked a lot better condition and the salesman said that the 12's were the instructors bikes? Even if they aren't they're more expensive to hire for the course and only "experienced" riders are going to be on them.

I did the off-road course in October on a 1200. I had virtualy zero off-road experience before the course, and made that clear to the staff, but they said that was no problem at all. The instructors were on HP2's ( ). The course was about £40 dearer on a 12 as opposed to a 650, so not enough to really matter. All of the bikes were 'well used and abused', as you would expect from off-road numpties like me! I would buy one if it had a full warranty, but I wouldn't pay more than six grand. The discount should be substantial and seven and a half grand sounds way too much to me!

HTH

 

[cookie]

it would have to be VERY cheap before i bought a bike like that.

 

[cookiemonster]

Hi

We bought an ex BMW school F650 for my wife a good few years back from a BMW dealer which sounds very similar to what you're talking about here. I've bought quite a few ex-demo cars and never had a problem with any of them, so i wasnt particularly concerned about its history.

However, this one turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. We had a bunch of problems with what was less than a year old bike, mainly with brakes and suspension. The real issue though was that the BMW dealer we bought from wasnt at all interested. The first problem arose when she drove the thing from the shop home - maybe 7 miles. When we took it back (it had now covered a whole 14 miles since we picked it up) and asked them to have a look, they said it was fine when it left the shop so it must have been the way she'd been riding it She's riding bikes for a good few years and the problem wasnt something that would ever occur without some serious abuse.

I was left with the feeling that they'd known there may be problems and were wanting to shift the bike and then never see it again. I find it all quite funny now, but a) I'd never go back to that dealer, and b) i wouldnt touch an ex-school bike with an asbestos barge pole.

But, as I said, I've bought a few ex-demo cars before (Honda Integra type-r and Lotus Elise among them - so stuff that was probably driven quite hard), so perhaps i was unlucky. If you know and trust the dealer and its coming with an iron clad warranty, then it may be a good buy.

jon

 

[cookie]

IMO there's driven hard and there's driven off road.

then there's driven hard off road