BMW650GS Reliability

[woodbkiwi]

After two trips to New Zealand on hired 650GS's where the first Funduro three years back died on me after three days and I continued on on an R850R, Gem of a bike.
In November of 2003 my mate and I hired two GS650's covered 5600Kms in 14 days and the bikes were ridden at 120 +Kph cruising in the more open sections of the South Island.They used no oil, never missed a beat. The only thing I noticed was the chains needed more adjustment than the X ring on my 95 GPZ1100. Absolutely delightful bikes. Not being a corner freak I was amazed to find my boot touching down quite often. The front end is just glued to the road. Of course the roads there are grippy with a capital C and chew tyres up quite quickly. However the Metzeler Tourance served well but left a bit to be desired in the mud of Skippers Canyon Road.
When the Z finally retires I think I will buy one of these bikes without hesitation. And the other big factor is the amazing economy. While we ran quickly with two Givi panniers each we never got off the mark quickly and riding smoothly had no trouble achieving 20 and more Kms per litre.