Greetings Al

I went through the same search that you are doing now about two years ago and I would be very wary about buying any GSPD without actually seeing it or knowing it's history.

All the PD's I looked at (with one exception) had done over 100k even when the owners had them listed as 70k (the odometer only counts up to 99,999) I suspect the bike you mention that has done 6k is in that category.

In the end I bought one that had done 120k and I was the fourth owner but I had every service/parts receipt since the bike was new so knew what had been done to it.

While nothing was particularly wrong with it I ended up stripping it down to the frame cleaning and regreasing everything which was very worthwile as I found some non obvious problems (frayed wiring, stripped bolts) including bodgey work done done by others.

I also ended up doing virtually all the things suggested by the other people in this thread as they are known(?) faults of the GSPD and has been said earlier any +10 year old bike needs significant work and this will cost you money and time

Is there a particular reason you wanted a GSPD? While I am very with happy mine now and since we are travelling two up I wanted a bike larger than a 650 single, that and a few other reasons (shaft vs chain, simple tech) was why I choose it, but a new(er) KLR650, DR650, F650, etc may be an option for you. You will still need to spend money but at least you have a known bike. Also a loaded GSPD is a weightier beast to pick up!

Finally if you are travelling two up I would recommend at upgrading the alternator. We discovered that running two electric vests (78watts extra) on top of the standard electrics on the GSPD was enough to prevent the battery from being properly charged even though we were at highway speed for virutally all our travel. Getting on the bike and finding a totally flat battery in a Canada carpark after three weeks of travelling did not make me a happy camper. Bugger.

Regards

Ian

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Always have plan B, and maybe plan C
www.travelswithkitty.com

We started in spring '87, with a brand new 1986.

Grant

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Hi Grant ,

Are you still riding on your Bemmer or did you change bike recently.?
Just curious to see if after so many years you guys can get over changing bike .

Grant and Susan are still riding the same bike ... why change when you are happy with what you have and it does the job? It takes a while to build up knowledge and confidence in the bike, make those mods that make travel more enjoyable. So there is considerable personal investment (time) in a travel bike.

But there have been some 'replacements' ... ?


My suggested things to do on the secondhand bike are what I'd expect to have problems with in the next 70kkms if they were not replaced. Doing them now means they should be ok for the trip.

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

Hi, save your money on a second hand BMW and buy a new DR650 SUZUKI. It will serve u very well and u can actually lift it yourself with out doing youself an injury. I had a 89 R100GS from new, did over 120,000ks on it and now thay i ride JAP bikes im so much more happy. All the best in what u do. Brian B

My PD has done 85,000 miles (not km). It's had a few things go wrong with it in that time. However, it's been ridden in harsh conditions, and crashed a few times. But there's very little rust, and it has actually never stopped working. The starter motor failled: no problem, I use the kick start. An exhaust valve burnt out: no problem, it ran at half power for long enough to get me to a garage. The gearbox imploded: I still managed to limp on at 30mph for 50 miles. The repairs have been relatively cheap, and in many cases I have been able to do them myself with few tools and almost no experience. MotoBins is wonderful.

And that's why the R100GS is such a great bike. It just doesn't stop! Surprisingly, 3 of the UKs top GS experts have responded to my question "what should I do in preparation for a long trip" with the answer: "just make sure the basics are done well and regularly".

So my advice to anyone buying a PD is to check to see if those basics have always been done. If so, expect to own it for a very long time.

Here's what I've learned:

Religiously stick to the service schedule.
Constantly top up with oil.
Keep the levers and cables at the back of the carbs clean.
Keep the carbs in tune.
Don't let water get into the box through the speedo cable (oops, broken gearbox).
Treat the shaft components as a consumable item (like a chain would be).
BMW batteries and Valeo starters are rubbish.

And here's the damage suffered on that learning curve:

Alternator rotor failed at 30,000.
Gear selector return spring broke at 35,000.
Battery replaced with a Hawker gel at 40,000.
Gearbox output shaft bearing broke at 50,000.
Exhaust valve burnt out at 60,000.
It's on its 3rd shock, an Ohlins - which is not as tough as people claim (ask Ted Simon).
Plug leads replaced at 80,000 (the connectors just disintegrate).
Starter motor replaced at 80,000.
Downpipes and Y-piece replaced at 80,000 (holed badly).
Headlight mount broken (currently the light is fixed in place by wrapping a series of cable ties under the peak and over the crash bar).

In addition:

Replaced the shaft at 40,000 as a precaution before a trip.
Replaced all control cables every 20,000.
Replaced the silencer with a Laser ProDuro.

Open any top box of any BMW stock luggage set for a GS and gee whiz - go figure "Built by Tourtech" is stuck on the inside. Son of a gun. Tough boxes, I know I've beat mine up pretty good and would buy another set tomorrow if I needed them. Ps. They are ugly. In a pretty sort of way. No, come to think of it they are just plain ugly. But I like em. They work, they're dry and you can use them as lawn furniture. So there.

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Ride Safe...Stu

Stu

Have you had a Touratech top-box fall off yet? I've heard of this happening. Mine came close, with one of the mounting plate bolts breaking. Once the bolt went, it was possible for the box to tilt up far enough to slide over the lock.

That could have been nasty for whoever was following.