Looking for some advice - R11xxGS or Tiger?

Hey all,

The time has come to put some wheels underneath my corpus, and I like
the big trailies, mainly for handling and comfort stakes. What I'm
looking for I think can be adequately addressed by either BMW or
Triumph.

What I'm looking for is the sort of impressions that you get after you
ride around on them for a while. I'm looking to do most of my riding
touring around, both here and the continent. I've owned a couple of
250s and a BMW F650GS, and I really liked the upright riding position
on the GS.

So far, I've a list of pros and cons. I've read heaps of online
material and magazine reviews. But I'd like the opinions of owners,
too.

BMW, pros:
After sales service
Comfortable
Shaft drive
Accessories

BMW, cons:
Price
Width (when filtering, not as relevant for touring)

Triumph, pros:
Narrow profile
Price

Triumph, cons:
Chain
Really wide luggage

Anyone care to opine about the rides?

 

Nath says...

No, but I don't see why having a chain should put you off buying what
could well be the best bike you ever own. Shaft drives are for cars and
trucks. A well maintained chain is very efficient, more so than a well
maintained shaft drive assembly. Fit a Scottoiler and you won't have to
adjust the chain between tyres, even on something like my Gixer.

 

Mainly because I'm a pretty sedate sort of rider. I figure that I
don't need the extra performance[0], and so the lower maintenance of
the shaft makes more sense.

[0] I'm about to get the shit ripped through me by the go-faster squad

 

A mate bought a 1200GS a few months ago. It's been in the shop 6 or 7
times so far.

New battery (off the showroom floor)
Uses oil 1qt/1000miles
Had to have new front brakes fitted
Front ABS sensor wire cut by rotor
Difficulty starting

I'd have the Tiger and some new kit for the money.

 

Nath says...

It's not a go-faster thing at all. I don't think the advantages a shaft
drive gives are justified by the extra weight and initial financial
costs. Chains are cheaper in the long run, over something like 40K
miles, and don't screw up the handling. You can also alter the gearing
to suit your particular style of riding, try doing that with a shaftie.

Topping up a Scottoiler touring resevoir will take 2 minutes every 3000
miles ans adjusting the chain when you have a new tyre fitted takes no
time at all as it's all part of the job. What maintenance were you on
about?

Btw, forget the BMWs, they're not as good as BMW like to make out they
are. There are plenty of far better and more reliable bikes out there
for a lot les money than the over priced lumps of teutonic pig-iron.

 

Nath wrote

Bollox, you stick to your ill-informed preconceptions, however misguided
they may be.

Shafties *rock*. Especially in the ease of cleaning the back wheel
department.

This is broked by the way.

 

Nath emerged from their own little world to say

<long>

I went through this 4 years ago. I considered the BMW, Tiger & Caponord.
The Suzuki was not available then. I'd previously ridden the Varadero
and did not like it.

Aprilia had a nice riding position and fabulous engine. At the time they
wanted over £7k for the bike and my comcerns over residual value proved
correct. Just like the Falco before it, they couldn't sell them and
discounted heavily a year later.

The 955i Tiger has the best engine of the lot. I liked the ride too.
However, the bike has a very high centre or gravity and I just did not
feel confident as I'm only 5'8" and could not get enough purchase on the
ground at a standstill.

After riding the above, I had an extensive test ride on a year old
1150GS from Bath Rd M/c in Bristol. The seat is adjustable and with the
suspension set accordingly I could get both feet firmly on the ground.
The low c of g inherent with the engine design instills low speed
confidence. My main criticism was the buffetting from the poorly
designed screen. I liked the bike enough to do a deal when I got back to
Bath Road. At the time used examples were rare and I'm sure if I had
"thought about it" then someone else would have snapped up the bike.

Four years later I still have the bike. It's five years old and has done
30000 miles. Apart from routine services I've had to: replace the rear
brake caliper [1], renew some seals in the final drive and buy a new
battery last winter. I've just completed a 3000 mile trip across Europe
and still love the bike. Apart from the screen mentioned above all I
would like is a bit more power so that I could go faster on motorways. I
use soft panniers to try to keep the width to a minimum. If the bars &
cylinders get through so does the luggage.

Lozzo makes comments about the shaft drive. Frankly, it was not
something that came into the purchasing decision. Now that I have one I
like it. They are not maintenance free. You have to change the oil every
12k and, like mine, the seals wear out eventually. However, I do like
being able to remove the rear wheel without getting covered in lube.
Scottoilers are great but they make a mess of your rear wheel. I don't
get any of that horrible goo of lube & brake dust building up.

BMW after service can be good. So can Triumph's. It all depends on the
dealer. I'm lucky in that I have three very good BMW dealers within a 40
mile radius. These are BVM in Stroud, Bath Rd (now BMWMotorrard) in
Bristol and Rydale in Cardiff. If you are going touring overseas then
you will find a BMW dealer in most countries: some people get their
bikes serviced in Prague, Ljubliana whilst touring.

There have been some troubles with the new R1200GS. You can read about
the current status on the www.ukgser.com/forums website. It seems that
BMW are rushing their new models to the market before ironing out all of
the faults. If you want a new bike you still have the option of the 1150
Adventure. My recommendation would be to buy a used bike anyway. Let
someone else take the initial depreciation hit. That's what I did.

So, firstly, you need to ride all 3 bikes R1200, R1150GSA and the Tiger.
Like me, this could make the decision for you. If you like both then
hopefully some of the info above will help make the decision. In some
parts of the country Triumph & BMW dealers are sparse for example.

 

Varaderos are tops. Comfy fast reliable and have a friendly Forum.
http://www.honda-varadero-uk.org/forum/index.php

 

Not wide really. Certainly no worse than some beemers.

 

Yeah, that's the next step. What I was really looking for was horror
stories, or gotchas they don't print in the paid-for press.

 

Yeah, I've heard good things about them, and having sat on one or two,
I'd maybe consider one.

Just means more test riding, I guess. Damn. How ever will I cope?

 

A font of sage advice. I'm indebted, probably to the tune of a free
pint or six

I'm going to go the secondhand route, I think.

 

Getting a dealer to notice that you exist when you ask for a test
drive..

I fitted a Ventura rack to mine - it holds more than the Triumph
luggage and sits behind me. Job sorted.

Phil.

 

I asked for a catalogue or information relating to the GS a few months
ago and they phoned me up the next day and asked me if I wanted a test
drive.

 

Yeeess... 'Cept the OP was considering the R11xxGS, not the 1200. The
1200 was rushed into production and has suffered a whole load of niggly
problems. Besides, the oil usage thing is common to all of them; after
all, they're oil-cooled. It settles down after ~20k miles.
--
| Wik -UKRMHRC#10- 2003 R1150GSA -DC#1 -'FOT#0 'FOF #39 - BOD#12 BOB#12
|# You don't believe me | "Experience is the worst teacher.
|That the scenery | It always gives the test first
|Could be a cold-blooded killer. | and the instruction afterward."
***** human response from wik at blueyonder dot co dot uk *****

 

Yep. I like the look of the new ones, but I'm too cynical to ever buy
version 1.0 of anything these days

D'you think the oil consumption problem is related to the wear-in
pattern of the new engine? I vaguely recall reading an article or
three on how engine wear-in periods operate, and that going either too
rough or too soft on them during this period leads to excessive oil
consumption.

It's got to do with the microscopic irregularities in the piston heads,
and that having them either too rough (oil filling more holes) or too
smooth (oil sliding straight past and not being held), IIRC.