It's a book about internet trolling so I guess you would be the best person to review it !

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Technician, BMW Chester Motorrad.
www.TouringTed.com
1994 XR650L
2001 NX650 Dominator.

Now that's more information than I care for interpol to know :/

Hey Ted ,just keep on telling it the way you see it .
A real person with an honest point of view is a refreshing change from the spineless trollers .
Enjoy your trip .

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

You can't please everyone !!

Cheers dude !! I'm looking forward it...

__________________
Technician, BMW Chester Motorrad.
www.TouringTed.com
1994 XR650L
2001 NX650 Dominator.

Now that's more information than I care for interpol to know :/

To answer the original question. Yes,they are worth it.
Get one and be convinced. I bought a new 12GS in June '09 and swapped it for another new DOHC 12GS in May '10. 14,000 miles covered on them so far,no problems.
I've had thirty-odd years of biking on Japanese,British and American stuff and I can honestly say I've never enjoyed the biking so much as I'm enjoying it on the GS.

Ted, whats wrong with you? I only asked about your book, and you won't tell. So please stop your trolling/flaming and give us the publisher, the title, where to get a copy and all that stuff. It's brilliant when an HU member writes a book. Look at Sam Manicom, Lois Price, Simon Gandolphi, and Paul Pratt. People are not "stalking " you if they read your book and your posts.

Can't you stop kidding around for a moment? Will you give us some info? I would be pleased to hear it, because publishing is not so easy, and you have done brilliantly well to get to the publishing/distribution stage; many don't even get that far.

I thoroughly congratulate you on your book. I will buy a copy.

PS I've PMd you with some serious advice.

Hi StarB

I've never owned a BMW but those trouble free miles say a lot! I have a RTW friend on a BMW at the moment and that bike has served him/them well for thousands of miles including a crash in India (surprise?!). The bike was fixed and they roll on.

That looks like fine country in your pics and I can tell you there's lots of great trout fishing all round there.

Welcome to the HUBB

Thanks Whitey ... so I guess all can now be reassured that the thousands of documented problems with the BMW models you list are nothing more than "here say" from "haters" and those jealous of "superior German Engineering?

That ALL "so called" problems are from people who don't own BMW's? Are paid by the Japanese to discredit BMW?
Are you implying none ever break down and are 100% reliable?

I'd love to see you're service histories on all those bikes and decide what
"no major problems" really means as this interpretation can vary from owner to owner.

Aha !!... but you didn't try the R1150 or the R1150GSA which was maybe really the best of them all .... you might never know

__________________
...on the road to nowhere...

Biking roads by bikers for bikers www.bestbikingroads.com
Get involved - save a life today www.bmdw.org

Im not releasing a book.. I'm taking the piss ! As you know !!!!!!!!!!

Funny how the "trolling" new member suddenly dissapeared once they were discredited and maybe "uncovered"

Jesus christ, has this forum really come to this !!! I'll happily deactivate my membership and hang my head in shame if i've let myself become part of the problem.......

__________________
Technician, BMW Chester Motorrad.
www.TouringTed.com
1994 XR650L
2001 NX650 Dominator.

Now that's more information than I care for interpol to know :/

'09 @ Bonar Bridge, N/E Scotland and July '10 overlooking Loch Eriboll, N/W Scotland.


Great fishing?????

Wow, another BMW thread. Why do they all end up like this? Allow me to relate:

I had a Honda (POS) then an MZ (best bike ever made). I wanted faster and bigger to go further but knew I had the mechanical skills of a penguin. "People" told me BMW's were reliable. (In my defence this was pre-internet). I latched on to an idea that so long as I had a new enough BMW I'd never end up walking across North Africa wondering how you get a bike back to civilisation when it's cooling system is stuffed. This becomes a sort of mantra you repeat, something you need to cling onto to make the demons in your head go away.

Now, any heretics who might want to break up this nice, safe, warm world of BMW has to be flamed mercilessly by the believers in case they are actually right. BMW shafts do not strip, burn the heretic, BMW indicator switches are not pointlessly complex, burn the heretic, BMW are value for money they never break down, burn the heretic.....

Four bikes later and I'm walking across a bit of North Africa with a plan that involves walking into a petrol station and buying enough glue, sealant, coolant and oil to bodge together a semi-functional F650 waterpump. The god of BMW's was dead to me, the idea that I'd get some practice in and become a better mechanic was looking much nicer.

I had a Yam and then a Triumph. Just like the heretics said they were just as good when working, just as bad where the manufacturers had cut corners (eg by not having bearings in the waterpump, by using Bosch relays made in China etc. etc.) but more to the point cheaper. I'm now putting together a K-outfit and hanging about with BMW people again. Their god is alive is alive and kicking in many cases.

So, IMHO, is an R1200GS worth it, no, not unless thats the bike you want.

Ask youself why you want it. Do you want a high tech, powerful bike made to modern styles and standards? If the answer is yes the BM should be on your list of things to look at. Do you want a bike that never breaks down? If that's your reasoning you need get inventing because no one makes that bike yet, certainly not the marketing department in Munich and their worshippers on the web.


Andy

As I will now be asked if I actually owned any BMW's a resume:

1994 F650 1994-1997 no problems except crap service at the dealer. They all do that Sir!
1997 R1100R 1997-1999 had three front shocks in three months plus an electrical meltdown when new. Sorted at three months.
1999 F650 1999-2004 Died in the desert.
1996 R1100R 2002-2005 Electrical **** galore
1984 K100 2010- 23000 miles on the clock of which only 450 are mine. Everything works so far.

I had an early 1200GS and had some problems (shaft drive failure), main seal leak and clutch replacement but I think the newer ones are better.

It is a very good bike despite the problems, and if you get one with warranty, the problems are much less annoying.

I did 30,000 miles on mine in a year and a half and in the end the main reason I sold it was because of how fast it was depreciating.

Still riding my 1100 around without the same worries.

Buy the bike you want and be happy, people will always write more about their grievances than their happiness so most problems you read about are exaggerated.

HTH,

David

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Motorcycle Routes On Your Android & iPhone from BestBikingRoads.com

Yes Rab, quite right IMO. All bikes have various problems and in the end we strike a balance, where the benefits outweigh the bad points. It's funny about BMWs though, because a minority of people get nasty when they slag them. I don't know where the hatred comes from.

I know the common probs on my bike, and adjust for that, as most of us do.

The marketing ("Ultimate Riding Machine" ) plus the level of belief in the marketing shown by some of the pro camp versus the feeling of banging your head against a brick wall when even a small defect is mentioned. I'll admit now that I've wasted about 10% of what I've spend on bikes to get that certain badge and not a lot more except a warm feeling that the badge meant something, but no way would I have admitted that ten years ago. Triumph and Yamaha owners faced with someone saying the paint is rubbish say "Yes it is", some BMW owners faced with disillusionment in what they bought into have to try the "well it's only a tiny percentage" route. You pay a premium price for an average product. It makes you defensive.

Ask a true believer about the premium price and you get the circular argument that if it costs more it must be better. The real answer is that BMW knows about the true believers and has high production costs due to low volumes, odd products and their need to keep manufacturing in Germany.

Belief vs logic = conflict

The non-believers need to look at the warm feeling the believers get from the badge and move on, one size does not fit all. Ditto for Ural foilheads who think a 750cc pushrod can do what a 1000cc OHC can do and the Harley riders who think Japanese bikes are inferior in anything except the branding and history.

Andy

Yes very good lochs for the wet fly. Sometimes on the right day, dapping too.

You know, the bike, the tent and some good fishing is fantastic.