BMW Motorcycles

[venkyle]

Its summer time and once again I'm leaning towards buying a new bike. I would like a dual purpose motorcycle and was leaning initially to the KLR650 or DRZ400.

I have a boss who swears by BMW bikes but I've met few others. I know the cars are great but the bikes I'm unfamiliar with.

Any input would be great.

 

[ouch]

They've been making high end bikes forever.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Best bikes there are. Have two colleagues who switched from Japanese and American bikes to BMW, and both said they never looked back.

 

[StillShaving]

BMW boxers and K series have very good track records. Not the fastest off the starting line but ones from 60's, 70's, 80's, etc are reliable and can rack up many miles.

 

[Hirsute]

If you're thinking of the KLR650, you should consider the BMW GS Adventurer 650 or 850. GREAT bikes, and for a dual sport, really top notch.

 

[Eeyore]

Current BMW's don't have the solid reputation of the pre-90's airheads. With regards to reliability, I think nobody tops Honda.

If you want a real classy European touring bike, I would vote for a Guzzi

Their reliability massively improved in the recent years, btw.

 

[David in Boston]

BMW boxers and K series have very good track records. Not the fastest off the starting line but ones from 60's, 70's, 80's, etc are reliable and can rack up many miles.

Years ago I ran into an older gentleman, (and a true eccentric) by the name of Fred Tausch. He road a BMW R60/65, (don't really know the model number) and it had over 600,000 miles on it. BMW offered him a new bike in exchange for his so they could study it. He refused because he was trying for one million miles. Unfortunately he passed away.

 

[venkyle]

Ive heard similar stories about BMW bikes. I guess that might justify why their bikes are 40% more expensive than the same models from Kawasaki or Suzuki.

Years ago I ran into an older gentleman, (and a true eccentric) by the name of Fred Tausch. He road a BMW R60/65, (don't really know the model number) and it had over 600,000 miles on it. BMW offered him a new bike in exchange for his so they could study it. He refused because he was trying for one million miles. Unfortunately he passed away.

 

[rider4life]

BMW bikes are fantastic machines. Quality control far exceeds most other brands. You do pay a bit of a premium for the name but not as much of a premium as for say a Guzzi or Aprilla - mostly because there's a greater proliferation of dealers this side of the pond.

Cheers,

M.

 

[Eeyore]

BMW bikes are fantastic machines. Quality control far exceeds most other brands.

Given the problems they had in Europe with the F800 series, I am not really sure about that anymore. I heard multiple complaints about the 1200cc boxer series as well.

I do love the older BMW's. My all-time favorites are the R65LS and the original R80G/S.

 

[Joey]

BMWs are alright. I would never buy anything other than a harley though... MAYBE a triumph.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Current BMW's don't have the solid reputation of the pre-90's airheads. With regards to reliability, I think nobody tops Honda.

If you want a real classy European touring bike, I would vote for a Guzzi

Their reliability massively improved in the recent years, btw.

Guzzis are Italian- that means labor intensive.

BMWs are alright. I would never buy anything other than a harley though... MAYBE a triumph.

I ride an 83 FXE (last year of the Shovelhead engine). HDs are great, but they don't do off road well. The boss has a BMW Dual Sport that he rode to the North Pole last summer- he had zero problems.

 

[Joey]

Guzzis are Italian- that means labor intensive.


I ride an 83 FXE (last year of the Shovelhead engine). HDs are great, but they don't do off road well. The boss has a BMW Dual Sport that he rode to the North Pole last summer- he had zero problems.

Damn all the way to the North Pole? Did he see santa? HAHA kidding, that must of been a beutiful trip though. I don't even ride motorcycles though, my area is way to dangerous. Way too many idiot drivers that think they own the road. I'm a pickup truck kinda guy myself.

 

[Head Rigger]

I've been drooling over a BMW GS for many years. The price tag makes it a little tough to justify as a second bike for me though. I've never heard a bad word about the GS and have read and heard many stories of high mileage machines still running strong. For another option, Yamaha came out with an Adventure/Touring bike called the Tenere. I test road one and it's pretty impressive.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Damn all the way to the North Pole? Did he see santa? HAHA kidding, that must of been a beutiful trip though. I don't even ride motorcycles though, my area is way to dangerous. Way too many idiot drivers that think they own the road. I'm a pickup truck kinda guy myself.

Yep, he and a few of the program managers rode from Dallas to the North Pole. It was about a three week trip. The shipped the bikes back, but only due to the fact that they didn't have any more vacation time. They had some great pics.

 

[Eeyore]

The boss has a BMW Dual Sport that he rode to the North Pole last summer- he had zero problems.

Don't you mean the "North Cape"? That is a very popular motorcycling destination (the most northern spot on the European continent that you can reach by "road").

 

[thebikingengineer]

I was in the same situation a few months ago. I ended up with the Husqvarna TR650 Terra and I'm very happy with my decision. It's based off of the BMW G650GS, a bike that you can take mostly anywhere, with the benefit of being cheaper, more powerful, better suspended, and free of CANBUS (also it's red). It's a lot of fun and takes me up and down the jeep roads around here with aplomb. You might look into one, they're currently discounted as well so they should cost about as much as a KLR if not slightly less.

 

[JoshuaNY]

Didn't BMW start with bikes then move on to cars? I seem to remember learning that somewhere.

 

[Eeyore]

Didn't BMW start with bikes then move on to cars? I seem to remember learning that somewhere.

No, airplane engines. You can still see that in the emblem.

 

[Toucan]

Motorcycles are dangerous and should not be used