BMW R1200GS

I decide to trade in the 2003 BMW R1150GS for a 2007 BMW R1200GS.

Both had about 80,000km on the clock.

The I have done about 1000km on the 1200.

My comments about the R1200GS are as follows:

The bike is lighter, and is easier to manhandle, it feels lighter to ride at lower speeds, no different at road speeds.

It has good acceleration especially once you get the revs going ie. above 4000rpm the motor revs free and has more power than the 1150. Although I do miss the low down/ low rev. torque the 1150 had.

Passing cars is no problem at all, the bike accelerates very to well past 160km/hr, and there is no need to change down from 6th gear after about 90km /hr. The R1150 6th gear was too tall to manage this.

The gear changes from 2nd to 1st and back are a bit clunky, but after that they are as smooth as any Japanese bike I have ridden.

ABS Brakes are good, but I haven't needed to use the ABS function yet.

Suspension is plush and seems to soak up bumps well. Comfort and ergonomics are excellent after 400km of riding it seems I could easily ride another 400km. The R1150 was also very good in this aspect.

Steering is very good, quick and positive, the bike changes direction very easily no matter what speed. Cornering is very confidence inspiring, you get a feeling that you can tackle any corner no matter what speed you enter, I have already caught up to several bikes in the corners.

Seat is comfortable for me but I have only done 400km in one trot to date, although I have slid forward slightly when braking, my pants are a bit shiny bottom too.

Speedo/ Rev counter very easy to read, "info" button is good digitally showing all info options that a new car would have.

There is no fast idle option switch when starting up like the 1150 had, seems to idle fine from the start well.

The bike runs at about 3500rpm at 100km/hr, near 4000rpm at 120km/hr, seems to run effortless at this speed in 6th gear. R1150GS ran at 3000rpm at 100km/hr, but sometimes needed to change to 5th to pass.

The 1200 "seems" to be slightly better, economy wise over the 1150, though I have not done an accurate check yet. Most of the time the digital says 5.1 L/100km.

So far I have not had any blow backs from the fuel tank when filling the tank, I had this problem on the 1150, and a fountain of fuel can stuff your perspex screen.

I had the screen tilted way back when I bought the bike and this created a lot of noise around my helmet, so I lifted the screen to 3 notches from the bottom limit and for my height 5'10" seems to work much better, very little buffeting, although my bike has some little Perspex wings on the side of the tank fairings, I have heard these help with buffeting that some people experience.

Not sure I like the wide use of Torx star screws that everything is held on with, even the back wheel. Not sure why BMW do this. Are they meant to be foolproof.

When I bought my bike the handling was too say the least, weird, I put the settings back to standard and the handling improved markedly.

Overall to date, I am very happy with the bike

We thought this was the ultimate world crosser, keep going forever. Wrong. Rear suspension failure on the ESA 2 just outside of warranty and after less than 25K miles. Replacement cost £1,200 or to put it another way, about 10% of the cost of an entire new bike. Despite letters to BMW Customer Service UK HQ the best we can get is 50% 'Goodwill' off so just the £600 then plus fitting and VAT. This is a non-serviceable non repairable sealed item and we cannot trust it to not go again in another 25K miles. Friend of ours had exactly the same problem. Others on the UKGSer forum have also had this problem. Finally, we have to say the servicing costs are very high and finish is poor - shame because it's a nice bike in other ways but world crosser? No way! We'll take our Y Reg Honda Africa Twin on our big trip, far more reliable and a lot cheaper to service. Goodbye BMW, you've lost a customer for life.

When it's good, it's very very good, but when it's bad it's horrid... or something like that.

Riding position, comfort and performance are great, dealer fantastic... bike unreliable.

Owned since new, ridden all year round 24000 miles since Summer 2006. Main dealer serviced at 500, 6000, 12000, 18000 and 24000 miles.

Issues:

Fuel pump relay (failed, x3).

Throttle twist grip (sticking).

Front engine cover (corroded, replaced, corroded again).

Gear shift indicator (failed).

Engine/Gearbox oil seal (failed).

Final Drive oil seal (failed).

General corrosion on fasteners/screw heads etc...

Love to ride it but would hate to own it without the (£360 per year) extended warranty.

Probably getting traded in this year...

Great all round bike especially for the twisties. Excellent build quality. Very smooth to ride with the balancer shaft since 2004.Plenty fast enough with great torque.Comfortable for all day touring and much more agile than RT version with same engine.No issues at all since purchase but I do get it serviced in official BMW dealership. Only one annoying feature. Trying to get a proper reading on the engine oil level is near impossible.Some oil gets trapped in engive and does not drain down properly so do not be tempted to fill the oil up to the top of the sighglass. About half way up is fine.

First things first, ignore all the gripes about reliability, all bikes - cars whatever have problems, generally the GS is up with the best for reliability but do get it well serviced by someone who knows the bike as they can spot potential problems before they occur (fuel pump, gearbox seal etc.), i have been all over europe (700mls in 1 day but then glad to have a break) with mine as well as to work and back, its top dog, + 50-65mpg best handling well balanced 10,000mls a pair of tyres only let down poor engine paint & fasteners, they are a bit pricey to buy even 2nd hand but i intend to keep mine for a long while as i have had a few 2nd bikes during ownership but nothing compares with the big GS.

Bought the GS with 26K kilometers on the clock, 1 owner and well looked after. Great machine to ride, fantastic handling, very comfortable, plenty of grunt and as much of my riding is commuting I found it really easy to ride in and out of traffic but found the servo assisted brakes are far too aggressive, i'm aware of them all the time i'm on the bike, changed the pads and had them checked and no change, just too aggressive. Reliability and build quality is very poor, ive been left on the side of the road a number of times. Electrical failures, injection failure, wheel bearing collapse...absolutely shocking and the quality of the fasteners is nothing short of criminal for what is considered a top quality machine. Ive just found out that the gearbox seals are leaking and need to be replaced ('475)and according to the dealer its down to poor quality seals and is a common problem! Ive spoken to a number of GS owners and they have all experienced similar problems but seem to accept it as normal. The GS is a good bike, I personally dont like the assisted brakes but it is let down by reliablity issues and what is obviously the use of very poor quality minor components. I'm going back to a Honda VFR as soon as I can sell the GS.

Traveling across Russia shortly so bought the bike a year out to ensure any bugs were ironed out. So far - reliability has been pretty good (close to 100%) but every now and then the electronics have a spassy attack, pretty much for the 50kms after refueling. I have had one EWS fault which caused the bike not to start - solution was to turn off the key for a few seconds and try again. That was more luck than good management at the time because the mobile with the dealers number was out and being dialed.

Don't like the backfiring from the engine when decelerating and I got the usual dealer rubbish that they have not heard of it before but it doesn't seem to affect the bike. I am now past 15,000kms and am hoping like hell that I don't have to call for roadside service in Siberia.

Apart from that it has been outstanding and a pleasure to ride (except in thick mud with a full load) but heck, that is only a small part of its life and nothing is perfect!

Best Bike I have ever owned. BMW R1200GS is a good all rounder.

My BMW 1200gs is coming up for 3 years old and I have done nearly 30000 miles. Cant fault the handling during traffic and touring, the tyres have lasted 12000 front and back and I'm on my second set. It has superb low speed handling and is comfortable at 80 along the motorways, can keep up with the majority of sports boys.

I've owned my R1200S over a yr and put 14,000 km's on the bike. I replaced the clip on bars with Heli Bar's they raise the bar's just enough to make long distance more comfortable. And added a touring windshield and throttle control from Twisted Throttle. Also has the factory saddle bags which are great.

All said, I'm very pleased with my purchase.. Nice powerband has load's of bottom end torque, standard suspension works fine a little soft on the front end over large bump's. Easily able to ride 500 miles a day, only limiting factor being seat padding is a little thin on inside thigh region. Great reliability, 600.00 / yr to insure what else can I say it is a great bike period.