Yup... DIY is definately the way to go. :thumbup1:

How much does a BMW charge for labour ? About £70-80 per hour if I remember correctly.. Independent franchise dealer about £55 an hour and your honest back street bike shop (who are often far far superior) about £35-£40.

And yeah you're right. All the manufacturers have your pants down on the cost of spares. The average dealer makes 30% on them alone.

Although, if you want to do anything but an oil change on a newer BMW, you might end up needing quite a lot of specialist equipment and know how..

Look, I have a '07 GSA with 50.000km on it, I had a 800GS that I sold after a year... I have still a bunch of other bikes as well and NONE I kept as long as my GSA. I like to switch bikes every now and then (read: almost every year) I just love her (I'm a guy, so my bike is a she...), made some esthetical modifications (Touratech and Wunderlich parts) and just can't get rid of her.

The high prices of maintenance? WTF? I mean, She always go to the BMW dealer here, last time the 50k i paid 200 and something € for the 10k maintenance... But then I indeed paid almost 600€ for the 40k, but everything was checked, changed and so on... Don't forget that she has to get her maintenance only every 10.000km or once a year, my other bikes need more maintenance, but in the end you pay nearly the same for a Jap or the BMW.

I had Ducati, Honda, ... and in the end, riding a GOOD bike, does cost a bit of money, but she has NEVER EVER let me down, and I would by a 1200 GSA again in a heartbeat!

If you want, you can always mail me for more info, pictures or whatever concerning the 1200GSA!

Seb@fotografix.be

And you think that is cheap ??? If you do, I need your bank balance my friend.:rofl:

I don't think the difference is in the origin of manufacture, but the amount of lubrication they give you when they bend you over the till. BMW are INFAMOUS for their high servicing and parts prices and don't supply as much KY jelly as other dealers.

You need to buy a manual and a tool kit mate. :thumbup1:

Hi Ted,

I never said it was cheap, I just said that in my opinion it's not worse than any other brand... big difference!

The 600€ was a big slap, that's true, but then again, When I bought the beemer and the first winter came, there was a small crack in the windshield at the bolt that keeps it in place, it was only like a few mm... but I wasn't pleased with it (although I rode in -8°C and 20cm of snow) and went back to the dealer, they changed the screen without any charge whatsoever... when I have a small problem, go to the dealer and they fix it for free... I mean, I just can't say anything bad for BMW dealer here... but yes, I will also fix things myself, but on the big beemer, not so happy on doing it, on all the other bikes, I do...

Just a matter of perspective etc, BMW isn't cheap, but then when I go to my car dealer to change something, I even spend more... pffff.....!!!!

Just as a bit of balance - the parts for my Yamaha XT600E (which I erroneously assumed would be peanuts given its agricultural simplicity) are EYE-WATERINGLY expensive. I don't even want to think about what I recently paid for replacement plastics. And the money for tiny wee bushes in the rear suspension linkage...

...sorry, I'm going to have to and lie down...

:)

TUT TUT if you bought genuine parts Matt... The great thing about the XT is that there isn't much that you can't buy off a multitude of shelves.

'ALL BALLS' make bearing sets. You could of done all of your linkage for around £25 inc seals etc.

I certainly wouldn't worry about Ted's constant bleating against BMW's. He's like a broken record round here, and I really have no idea why, since he's never owned one.

I've had two, and my F800GS is the best bike I ever owned for the type of riding that I do. I also have a couple of Honda's and a Yamaha, and they all get home serviced. If you go to ANY main dealer these days they are going to charge you a fortune, it's the nature of the business these days - very little profit is made at the point of sale, but it is clawed back through parts and servicing.

Everyone has their own idea of what is acceptable, so it's really up to you to test ride, and buy if you like the bike. I found the 1200GS too big and heavy for my needs...