Whaddya think?
Discussion
Happy to post this up here as I wouldn't be devastated if someone else snags it. Saw this last night:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302024003170?_trksid=p20...
Seems like something of a bargain? And looks really clean? I know these crop up in conversation here from time to time. Starting to think this might be a decent commuter replacement which could handle other duties too?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302024003170?_trksid=p20...
Seems like something of a bargain? And looks really clean? I know these crop up in conversation here from time to time. Starting to think this might be a decent commuter replacement which could handle other duties too?
Looks good but if you decide to go for it, do so with your eyes open. As the 1200 R/S/GT get older, they have the ability to cover continents easily and quickly or empty your wallet in equal measure. When it works, which it will do for the vast majority of the time, it will be superb at doing what it was designed to do. However, when it does go wrong, bills in excess of £1000 are not difficult to achieve.
It may be a surprise to some, but if it were my money, I'd be looking at a Yamaha FJR1300, a Kawasaki GTR1400 or even a 1300 Pan.
It may be a surprise to some, but if it were my money, I'd be looking at a Yamaha FJR1300, a Kawasaki GTR1400 or even a 1300 Pan.
I wouldn't worry too much about it, if in the right condition to make it appear very good value, just enjoy it for what it is, and deal with repairs as they come up. We throw stuff away these days rather than enjoy them for longer, in fear of a repair? Nothing lasts forever, so fix the small things as you go, change the oil a lot and maintain it very well, then it may never be junk.
trickywoo said:
Unless you are handy with spanners thats a lot of money for a bike close to the end of its economic life.
That's interesting, I thought that was still reasonable money! I remember a while back your Pa was selling his? Any idea what age it was and what he got for it?Maybe I'll keep looking, I'm in no big hurry, that one just jumped out at me as interesting for the money but I definitely don't want a lemon; as much as I have several large bags of spanners (and mostly know how to use them!) I have better things to do with my time than keep fighting a troublesome bike.
CarsOrBikes said:
I wouldn't worry too much about it, if in the right condition to make it appear very good value, just enjoy it for what it is, and deal with repairs as they come up. We throw stuff away these days rather than enjoy them for longer, in fear of a repair? Nothing lasts forever, so fix the small things as you go, change the oil a lot and maintain it very well, then it may never be junk.
The issues with the K1200 bikes tend to involve failure of VERY expensive parts. The most common is the combined ABS/powered brakes controller. These have a reputation for failing for no real reason and with no warning. When they do, it’s over £800 to buy a replacement. As you can imagine, there are no working second hand ones to be had and a failure is an MoT failure. Also, riding without the brake power unit gives about as much braking power as sticking your boot onto your tyre and pressing hard.The next issue is the coils. Again, these fail with little warning and are expensive to replace due primarily to the cost of the coils although fitting new coils is no 10 minute job.
The third concern is the radiator. This was really only just up to the task when new but sat behind the front wheel it quickly and easily fills with crap. While careful cleaning can prolong the life of the radiator the crap eventually causes corrosion as well which ultimately require a replacement radiator at over £600.
The final weak link is the switch gear. If, and it is a big IF, you are very lucky, and know your BMW dealer really well, then you might just get a replacement set of switch gear for free. At that age of bike, and with an owner who didn’t buy the bike from the dealer and you’ll be looking at a substantial bill to buy replacement switch gear.
These are not issues that a competent home mechanic can swing his spanners at and resolve in a couple of weekends. These are expensive proprietary components that have not been designed to be robust and long living.
I’m not saying people should avoid the K1200GT as it is a superb bike that will do everything better than a FJR/GTR/Pan of the same age/money, but if/when buying one, make sure you get the extended BMW warranty, read the terms and conditions carefully, and have at least a grand sat in an easy access account ready in case you need to get to it.
I love the GT but I wouldn't use one as a commuter. I think the only reason the RT works so well as a commuter is the engine config keeps all the weight so low, making it really easy to chuck around. The GT doesn't feel like that at all. Stellar power delivery but for central London I'd take mine any day. For France, the GT.
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