R1150GS buyer's guide?

I rode an old tired one over the weekend (88k). I have been without a bike for a while now so I'm wearing very thick rose colored glasses and know nothing about these bikes except for now I want one badly.

What am I looking for in a winner, what should I pay and what traps await the over-eager? I've been riding for 20 years but always on more sporty Japanese stuff with chain drive so I'm not a noob to bikes but driveshafts, fuel injection, ground clearance and luggage space are new and welcome (I think?). My last bike was a VFR I rode 33k on and I loved everything about it except it didn't go down dirt roads and it looked like a red jelly bean. I need a good cross-country, all weather, some gravel / sand traversal machine that never breaks down and only needs me to give it love once a season. I already have a race car that needs something all the time.

I can't afford a new one and I don't want a project bike... looking for the sweet spot.

Fire away.

The search function sucks and requires creative inputs, but this would be the place to go: ADV Rider GS forum

Poke around here. http://www.ibmwr.org/

I used to wrench on Beemers at an independent shop. Came to love GSes over all of them. I'm no font of info as I've been out of the game for a long while now, but I'll tell you this: you probably want one, and you'll probably love it.

As soon as I have the scratch I'll be buying the best '04 I can find. Aught-four was the last of the oilheads, and in typical BMW fashion, they killed the model as soon as they had it all figured out. The dual plug heads ('04 only) are very nice to have, though not necessary by any means. The ABS and servo-assisted brakes are good but complex. I've honestly never felt the need for them, and I'd give serious consideration to removing it all and going to straight juice brakes for the sake of simplicity.

Final drives can assplode if the bike is overloaded and overheated - which is not uncommon with a bike that attracts guys that like to buy enough luggage to fill a train car, fill it up with everything they own then ride across the country at interstate speeds without stopping in the middle of July. Not exactly a cheap fix, either. But, refrain from that sort of activity and the rear end will never cause you a problem.

Hall (crank) sensors are hung in the front of the motor in what strikes me as a fairly vulnerable location, but the engineers didn't ask my opinion. Hall sensor failure is one of the few things that will stop an oilhead dead in its tracks. Easy fix, though.

Find one with a good maintenance record that doesn't look like it was abused or regularly overloaded, download the service schedules (5k minor is a glorified oil change, 10k major adds valve adjustment and trans/rear fluid change), buy some ball-end hex drivers, follow said service schedule and the GS will stay happy for a long while.

As for hexheads from '05 and on, well I'm wary. First of all, they use a CAN/BUS electrical system that strikes me as complex and frightening because I don't understand it. There's no drain plug for the rear end and they claim it's lifetime fluid, even though it's almost all the same parts and definitely the same fluid as the last model, which they told you to change every 10k miles. They're really nice bikes to ride, and I'm guessing the kinks are pretty thoroughly worked out by now, but I don't think they're as DIY friendly as the oilheads are.

I used to have an 1150GS Adventure for a while. Good maintenance by someone who knows what they're doing is key, as is maintenance of the appearance - the finish on them isn't that great and mine had some issues that should have but weren't covered under the warranty.

In contrast to what alex said, I like the ABS and the servo brakes and I think they work well once you got used to them, but again need they proper maintenance and I think you might need access to the BMW diagnostic kit for that. The ABS saved my sorry arse more than once on wet roads in the UK, especially when there were cobblestones in play.

Having had both a dual-plug 1150 and an earlier single plug one, the dual plug engine is a nice to have but as long as you regularly balance the throttle bodies, the single plug one is fine.

Forgot to mention, the Adventure is a really nice bike but a tad top-heavy with the big tank. I don't/didn't do offroading in Europe so I ended up with an 1150RT which was much better suited to my requirements. The Adventure is also really, really tall, the regular GS not so much but it's not a bike for someone you'd call Stumpy.

BoxheadTim wrote: In contrast to what alex said, I like the ABS and the servo brakes and I think they work well once you got used to them, but again need they proper maintenance and I think you might need access to the BMW diagnostic kit for that.

I definitely agree they work well*. They're just a real pain in the ass to service, which is the perspective from which I'm most familiar with them. You don't need the BMW tool (although you need either the BMW tool or an aftermarket one to clear the ABS trouble codes), just a lot of patience. And a really good vacuum bleeder helps.

*Worth noting, however, that the servo assist doesn't work when the key is off. Many harrowing moments pushing the thing around will be had until you remember that.

BoxheadTim wrote: I used to have an 1150GS Adventure for a while. Good maintenance by someone who knows what they're doing is key, as is maintenance of the appearance - the finish on them isn't that great and mine had some issues that should have but weren't covered under the warranty. In contrast to what alex said, I like the ABS and the servo brakes and I think they work well once you got used to them, but again need they proper maintenance and I think you might need access to the BMW diagnostic kit for that. The ABS saved my sorry arse more than once on wet roads in the UK, especially when there were cobblestones in play. Having had both a dual-plug 1150 and an earlier single plug one, the dual plug engine is a nice to have but as long as you regularly balance the throttle bodies, the single plug one is fine. Forgot to mention, the Adventure is a really nice bike but a tad top-heavy with the big tank. I don't/didn't do offroading in Europe so I ended up with an 1150RT which was much better suited to my requirements. The Adventure is also really, really tall, the regular GS not so much but it's not a bike for someone you'd call Stumpy.

I rode a regular GS to try it, not the Adv and the height was OK. This one had a ~5 gallon tank. The ergo was "different" in a good way for me but part of me wants that big silly knobby tire edition.

OK, so... aside from being 3500 miles away, this is the bike I'm looking for but maybe with lower mileage if I can find it. If I was flush with vacation time I might even consider riding it home just for the fun of it but I really need one within a one day ride.

2004 R1150GS on ebay

Is that the going rate for 36k mile bike? I see them all over the spectrum from 4k to 9k with more or less miles... like Porsche prices - they seem random to me. What is the real price of that bike above with less than 20k on it?

ddavidv wrote: The search function sucks and requires creative inputs, but this would be the place to go: ADV Rider GS forum

I have only spent time drooling over people's road trips on adv... but that sub forum for those bikes is a treasure trove of knowledge. I learned just about everything I could possibly need to know from the GSpot FAQ.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: OK, so... aside from being 3500 miles away, this is the bike I'm looking for but maybe with lower mileage if I can find it. If I was flush with vacation time I might even consider riding it home just for the fun of it but I really need one within a one day ride. 2004 R1150GS on ebay Is that the going rate for 36k mile bike? I see them all over the spectrum from 4k to 9k with more or less miles... like Porsche prices - they seem random to me. What is the real price of that bike above with less than 20k on it?

That mileage is nothing for these bikes, and this one's got a ton of good stuff you'd probably want eventually anyway (except the windshield, but I just hate big windshields). I'd say the price is about right, and I'd be a little surprised if it got over $7k.

Then again, you can find slightly rougher, less kitted-up examples for around $4k all day. Just depends on what end of the spectrum you priorities lie.

I can't think of a better axiom when it comes to BMWs than "They don't make 'em like they used to". There is a reason why you see so many "classic" Beemers. They were simple and didn't break.