Sold my FJR

[craz1]

You may miss the FJR when you start working on the BMW. I will be leaving for Phoenix on my FJR on the 5th of November. Funny I also just put this in the garage next to the FJR a 2005 K1200S (167HP)with 2700 miles.Feels very much like the FJR with just a little more get up. It was a friends who is trading it for my labor to restore his 3rd Z1900. The K1600GT is a v very nice looking bike.

[alke46]

Congratulations Norm. It is a beautiful bike. Welcome to the Bring More Wallet club.

[steve murdoch]

Congrats on the new ride, Norm.
I actually like the gear whine noise from the engine.
A guy near me that i see once or twice a year had one with a Remus exhaust. He recently went back to original saying he preferred the stock tone.

[bwringer]

I guess ya got me, ya got me good... I thought, "Well, we're not getting any younger, so maybe Norm really is ready to calm things down a little. Better not make fun of him..."

I do like that sportier paint scheme; most of these things are in assorted completely boring colors.

[bwringer]

Congratulations Norm. It is a beautiful bike. Welcome to the Bring More Wallet club.

Ooh, yeah. You BMW guys are going to form your own little Starbucks coffee club and just be insufferable from now on, aren't you? It's mandatory, from what I've heard.

[alke46]

We don't have to form any Starbucks club. It's free for us at the dealership .........

I'll never wrench on anything again..

[Redman]

K...1600...GT

oh, yah, some horsepower out of the 6 cylinder, lot, lot more than the boxer engine on RT.

And lots of features on the GT . . . . assuming you can find them on that 10inch screen and the twiddle wheel

Hey, you had a beemer before, and RS I think I recall.

[Redman]

Now Norm, when do you have to be certified on proper BMWer etiquette . .?


What I have norticed is:
Cost of jacket plus helmet needs to exceed value of my GS..
Coat of pants plus boots plus "technical fabric shirt" needs to exceed value of my GS.
Make no mention of $800 for routine maintenance.
At group gathereings discuss the Swiss alps verse the Itiialn alps relative to the riding and sutiable condos to purchase.

( I failed at all that)

[craz1]

Don't forget the slippers and cigars.

[Cipher]

Now Norm, when do you have to be certified on proper BMWer etiquette . .?


What I have norticed is:
Cost of jacket plus helmet needs to exceed value of my GS..
Coat of pants plus boots plus "technical fabric shirt" needs to exceed value of my GS.
Make no mention of $800 for routine maintenance.
At group gathereings discuss the Swiss alps verse the Itiialn alps relative to the riding and sutiable condos to purchase.

( I failed at all that)

800???? Man are you in for a surprise.....
Oddest thing is aside from the pricy special tools bikes is bikes and if you can keep a GS running you can do the same with a BMW.

a couple of years ago I was shopping for a cel phone and a guy inside saw me dismount and enter.
he said his son had an identical bike but sold it due to service cost. Sad really but I have saved about 6 grand in 5 yrs doing my own work. That's including cost of driving to dealer.

[Cipher]

You may miss the FJR when you start working on the BMW. I will be leaving for Phoenix on my FJR on the 5th of November. Funny I also just put this in the garage next to the FJR a 2005 K1200S (167HP)with 2700 miles.Feels very much like the FJR with just a little more get up. It was a friends who is trading it for my labor to restore his 3rd Z1900. The K1600GT is a v very nice looking bike.

Beautiful in Grey. Dignified though high risk in fog. Beats some of the dazzle camp chic of some of the K1200/1300s
how's it working out for you. I accidentally turned off my traction control and got myself a wake up. 2700 miles is brand new! Its Cleary nevedbeen in the sun as BMW red switches fade super fast.

also lube your caliper pins without delay. Lost a rotor due to partial seizure.

[craz1]

Sad really but I have saved about 6 grand in 5 yrs doing my own work. That's including cost of driving to dealer.

Yes if you can do your own maintenance you can save a bundle of money no matter what brand but especially BMW. I am going over the K1200S and have lubed a lot of items so far. Good idea on the caliper pins. I have already removed the failed servo brake system due to failure at 2700 miles. Much of that was due to my friend not changing brake fluid for umpteen years.

The 1600 is a nice bike but from what I here can be costly to maintain just got to dig in and do it.

[dpep]

My only BMW maintenance experience was with an RT and it persuaded me to never again own the brand. Nothing was accessible; it seemed like the first step for any kind of replacement or even routine maintenance was: 1. Disassemble motorcycle.

That was not the only example I found of what I would call impractical engineering. Different is okay if it works better but not if it is just to be different.....or to create more revenue opportunity for their dealerships. I understand that BMW is not in it for charity and that there is nothing morally wrong with their business model. It just does align with my personal cost/benefit analyses for the motorcycling experience. I am sure they will be able to survive the absence of mu business.

All that said they do make some beautiful bikes. It was in fact Storm's earlier Beemer that inspired me to get my RT. He rode it to one of the West Virginia rallies and I was so taken by its appearance I hit Craigslist the evening I returned home. A couple of days later it was in my driveway,

[Cipher]

It's easy to get angry at engineers. There are examples in all things produced of designs seemingly born of stupidity, perversity and maybe malice.
While I was installing a new parking brake equalizer last week I got in some good swearing as my otherwise metric car uses a a 16mm adjuster nut.
find a 16mm wrench!. Damn I have none so use 5/8 omg perfect fit.

The experience was in a confined space that affords 1/4 to 1/3 rotations on a 5-6 inch threaded rod. Rod was m8x1.25 used a die to clean the threads.
misery tears anger blood

in any similar situation you have to ask yourself how you would have engineered this thing. Omg I can't think of a better way so why am I being a smug bastard?


Same reactionary response is seen in folks that take a crap on BMW for requiring removal of the radiator and special tools to set valves.
they complain but have themselves designed no samples of 170 plus HP motorcycles than can be nursed to get over 50 mpg and spurred to 170 plus mph.

The way BMW did an slow evolutionary fix of clutch issues is straight out of the Microsoft use your clients as Guinea pigs handbook.
that's why you never buy a k1200 if a1300 is available. Took 4 years for BMW to fix the under-engineered clutch.

[craz1]

Yes the clutch has been an issue along with the fuel gage.