revtothelimit - motorbike forum

After our ride out last Sunday, I was chasing a bloke on one, and to be honest I really had to push to keep up.
Ok, he knew the road and I had never ridden it before, but he was still tramping on.
Got me thinking however. I like boxer power delivery, happy with a telelever front end. Knocking on a bit now and the seating position seems sensible enough for my shagged back.
Don't know if my tena supply is up to date though!

I had a Varadero. The Mk2 had a 6 speed box and EFI, I'd have another.

I'd also look at a Super Ten before spunking the cash on a GS.

I tried to follow a trained plod on an R1100S once, man he made that look a lot better bike than they actually are.

KungFooBob wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 10:28 pm I had a Varadero. The Mk2 had a 6 speed box and EFI, I'd have another.

I'd also look at a Super Ten before spunking the cash on a GS.

I tried to follow a trained plod on an R1100S once, man he made that look a lot better bike than they actually are.

I've had a R1100S, they're a very good bike!
GS rider was ex plod traffic as well

Try all the alternatives.
Work out the costs, insurance, fuel, maintenance.
Even think about colour options.

Then buy the one you want.

If it's not right for you, flog it.

But if you don't, it will forever nag as a 'what if'.

I think you should get a 1200GS.

I struggle with not buying one myself.

Give it a go, you might like it. I fancied an 1150GS so bought one, bag of shit. Good luck.

I should clarify... the throttle response was terrible. Shunted like it had massive rubber donuts in the drive train. I bought some much vaunted thing to fool it in to do something with the fuelling that worked for a week or so. Remapping was supposed to make it better. Balancing the throttle bodies helped to a certain extend. The engine is agricultural and sounds like a bag of nails. The ABS was a pain in the arse to bleed. It felt dog slow but was quite good on terrible roads if you didn't want to go quickly. The horn came on when I was commuting in the rain in to maidenhead and I could only turn it off by pulling the connectors. Absolutely atrocious bike, ktm do it so much better.

I had the 1150 GS i bought to slow me down from riding like a twat everywhere locally on a ZX636. I now had maximum 110 ish mph instead of 160 and less strain on my then knee which needed an operation to fix. I had also spent a year or so watching the likes of Adam and Animal on their GS1150's making roads look simple (most down to their higher talent but the bikes also helped a little bit)

I found that on all but the fastest roads the GS was superb as it soaked up bumps, could carry trail braking into corners due to the telelever front end and the torque allowed it to drive out without constantly dancing on the gearbox. The suspension had its limitations and didnt like fast direction changes or trying to push through the footpegs but everything else was good..... and it had full luggage for trips away

I rode a local route which was quite tight and bumpy with a mate on a Fireblade RR5 who could normally get away on fast open roads and we both knew the road but he couldnt handle the roads as the Blade was shaking his eyeballs out and was too much to use effectively and i had to keep stopping and waiting

Avoid the early GS1200 model as they had shit load of electronics issues. I almost bought an 18 plate brand new 1200 LC engined one but got offered a better deal on the Ducati at the time. Very capable bikes for all round use and surprisingly fast in the right hands

I am looking at the 1150 for the end of next year. Seen a few with full hard luggage and around 40k coming in at £2k. only about 13BHP less than the 12 and to me top speed is sod all as it will be for longer trips. 1150 is 120mph ish so how many times would you need that? think the 1150 has a spit of a larger tank also so aye. Get my swamp rat on the road for early 2022, pass it on at the end of the year and search for a GS

Buy one!

I had one for a whole 6 weeks and it’s one of the best bikes I’ve ever had. So much so that I’ve order a new 1250.

They do handle pretty well and they carry their weight really low which makes them surprisingly flickable. The missus loved the pillion seat.

They can be a bit spendy if things go wrong (and there’s a lot to go wrong) which is why I bought mine from a BMW dealer. A bit more expensive but with a proper 2 year warranty. If you want to go private I recommend the for sale section of the Ukgser site

Answer is... because it's not a KTM 1190/1290Adv.... get one of them instead

I’m on my fifth. I’ve had other bikes but always come back.

As yin says they hugely capable, and will stay with anything (and leave most stuff behind) on all but the fastest roads at prison speeds, they soak up the shitty roads while being very flickable and stable.

The front telelever takes a bit of getting used to and you don’t always get the feedback you would get from a normal front end, that said you don’t get the fork dive either.

The boxer engine is an absolute gem, fires you out of corners on a lovely wave of torque.

They are also a ball ache to handball around, but once they’re moving they just seem to lose their bulk.

There is a reason they sell so many and it’s not all down to Ewan and Charlie.

If I’m been honest though, I wouldn’t be too keen on having one out of warranty, although I’ve only had one major failure in around 140k on them,

I swapped from my mt09 to a 1200 or 1250, not sure which for about 30 miles a few weeks back. First thing that hit me was the weight, heavy as hell at a stop, any dodgy camber and I'd of been in trouble. My back didn't help though, pulled it. Went well enough, kind of lifts on gear change but no problem. Instruments you get used to. He bought it for 2up touring, I can't think of any other reason why someone would buy one.

Dodgy knees wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 7:34 am I swapped from my mt09 to a 1200 or 1250, not sure which for about 30 miles a few weeks back. First thing that hit me was the weight, heavy as hell at a stop, any dodgy camber and I'd of been in trouble. My back didn't help though, pulled it. Went well enough, kind of lifts on gear change but no problem. Instruments you get used to. He bought it for 2up touring, I can't think of any other reason why someone would buy one.

You do need to ride one for a good while for it to click. If you get on and do 30 mikes, you would get off thinking WTF. They aren’t a bike that you gel with instantly,

Scotsrich wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 7:05 amA bit more expensive but with a proper 2 year warranty. If you want to go private I recommend the for sale section of the Ukgser site

Mine may well be in there in a month or so. It’s that time again.

If you really wanted one you'd have bought one, find a bike you really want.

Demannu wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 10:21 pm After our ride out last Sunday, I was chasing a bloke on one, and to be honest I really had to push to keep up.
Ok, he knew the road and I had never ridden it before, but he was still tramping on.
Got me thinking however. I like boxer power delivery, happy with a telelever front end. Knocking on a bit now and the seating position seems sensible enough for my shagged back.
Don't know if my tena supply is up to date though!

The only reason not to buy one is it's not an 1150GS

(The 1200 is lighter and has more power but I actually prefer the old engine - having had both engines - and thought they'd skimped on a few things on the 1200GS to get the weight down, Flash, of Flash Tours would probably say that the older 1100 was even better The 1200 is though provided you avoid the first ones which had a few issues which they ironed out inc the new, lighter, rear drive unit).

You'll probably have decent BMW support where you are too, although I imagine you'll be doing all the service/maintenance yourself.

Asian Boss wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 11:12 pm I think you should get a 1200GS.

I struggle with not buying one myself.

Seconded.

I bought a 2006gsa earlier this yr for two up touring which it is great at, it only had 3k miles on the clock when I bought it but the abs and fuel pump had already had to have work done on them and the shaft feels very agricultural (and that's coming from riding a Guzzi centauro!) oh and the stupid indicator switches piss me off but otherwise its a cracking bike once you get the suspension settings right - my tip is to drop the preload on the front to a minimum which makes the front less harsh over fast bumps & allows me to get my feet on the floor

Dodgy knees wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 7:34 am kind of lifts on gear change

Do you mean the 'shaft jacking' ie the back end lifting under power?

The paralever reduces this immensely- try an old airhead R for comparison.

Chap I know is an ex dealer BMW spanner and he has 2 in his shed blown up.

Reckons they're a belter bike until they let go.

He gave his a gentle blat to overtake a car one day and his exhaust valves decided to break their heads off in one pot.

He's repairing it but bought an 1150.