Thinking of trading my 06 RT for a 1200 GS

Love my RT but as I get older with my short legs I am looking at a lighter bike. Tried the F650 GS twin but not comfortable for my wife. Just tried an 08 1200 GS low frame and we both loved it. Much lighter, a great ride 2 up and I flat foot it easily.
Should I opt for a 2010 with the new engine or wait for the 13 which has more significant changes and also lower?
Any input would be appreciated.
Bill Zeller

Tough call but I think I would get on the waiting list for a new one. If I were to guess.... the new GS will be *at least* as reliable as the outgoing model and it will be better in almost every measurable way. Probably very little, if any, more money too. They will also be hard to find so expect dealers will be asking top dollar for them for a while.

On the other hand there should be some nice late model used ones coming up. Maybe you could pick up one of them for a great price? Then get one of the all new 2014 RT's in a couple years?

Decisions

I lost my 1200RT in a tornado and bought a 1200GS on the rebound. Trust me, you will love the GS. The decision is to buy now or wait. If you like to ÔÇ£farkeiizeÔÇØ your bike and you donÔÇÖ t want to wait for AeroFlow, or Wunderlich to add their after market items, then surrender to the Dark Side. I donÔÇÖt need the extra power or newer technology and I like the idea of parts being more readily available around the country during my travels.

So what color will it be? Safe travels,
pj

First year?

The new GS is a remarkable change from the current engine! You really ask whether its a good idea to buy a untrue engine? It may be from BMW and a leap of faith on a first year model has always concerned me. I did it in 1995 on a R1100GS, wrong idea then, still is. BUY a current one with many years of happiness and not too many worries. I have the GSA1200'07, 5 years now and plan on riding it another few years. They are at least a 5 year minimum and even perhaps 10 year keepers, as i see'em. Buy the 7 year warranty too, as I did and not sorry for it. My first extended warranty, with dozens of bikes in my past. These are VERY subjective to bargaining the price tags, so barter away for the warranty. Its a large profit margin to those selling them. Randy

Thanks

Appreciate the input. Perhaps I will get a used one now and get a '14 when they came out. Need more time to make up my mind, there aren't too many low frame ones out there and I really need one.

Polarbear said:

The new GS is a remarkable change from the current engine! You really ask whether its a good idea to buy a untrue engine? It may be from BMW and a leap of faith on a first year model has always concerned me. I did it in 1995 on a R1100GS, wrong idea then, still is. BUY a current one with many years of happiness and not too many worries. I have the GSA1200'07, 5 years now and plan on riding it another few years. They are at least a 5 year minimum and even perhaps 10 year keepers, as i see'em. Buy the 7 year warranty too, as I did and not sorry for it. My first extended warranty, with dozens of bikes in my past. These are VERY subjective to bargaining the price tags, so barter away for the warranty. Its a large profit margin to those selling them. Randy

Click to expand...

BMW doesn't offer an extended warranty.

The new GS is a bunch narrower and I'd bet the low version of it when available will be effectively "lower" than the current one even if same height.
But there will also be a shortage of farkles for a couple seasons while the aftermarket guys play catch up.
Nothing really wrong with either the current one or the hexhead version- most of the flaws have at least gotten band aids and some complete fixes during the model run.

BMW has had a mixed bag on the newer motors - they have issues of one sort or another.
The K wedge chain episodes have become infamous and subject of service bulletins and recall.
The sportbike motor left the factory with rod bolts done wrong
The 6 is suceptible to being totaled in a simple lowside because the fragile case is a unit and sticks out so far. No simple "replace the clutch cover"...
There have been a raft of minor issues with the F twins..

The new boxer motor is a unit motor/transmission with a totally different and less modular design than current. The wet clutch should make clutch jobs much easier but it remains to be seen whether the motor will have the traditional boxer durabilty and ease of maintenance in real world service. Hope it will because I want to add a GS to our fleet eventually. So far, I'd say boxer motors have actually gotten better with each generation.

Low seats and warranties;

The low seat option is an easy one on most older GSs, 2005 to present. BMW has one available or used to. The warranties are easy to get at most BMW dealers and ARE aftermarket programs. You're right, BMW does not offer it themselves. I'm certainly glad I did it with my latest GSA1200, my first experience with the extended plan. 900$ got me 7 years and no limited miles, ride as far as I wish, still covered. They wanted much more $$$, I chatted the price down, probably paid somewhere else too much on the bike! Its already paid for itself, double and likely moreso in the future, as I'm still covered 2+ years more, '07GSA1200. Bought the bike, Feb.2008, new, approaching 100000 miles and I figure to ride this one past 150000m and then some, still under warranty. Randy

I own a GS, but if you are going to ride two up not sure I would recommend it. The bike, because of gearing is very sensitive to weight, as far as power and mileage. In addition, the GS has a very small hard rear seat, which I think would be very uncomfortable in a touring situation.

My 77 year old friend with a short inseam traded his 2007 RT for a new 2010 GS with low suspension and low seat. With the kind of riding we do (mountain roads), he normally gets in the middle 50s MPG. He has been happy with it and he has had no issues of any kind in the 20,000+ miles he has ridden it.

Get the 2010

My opinion is that I never want to buy the first yeat of a new model. If you've already sat on the 2010 with the low frame, go for it. There is plenty out there to accessorize it with and you don't have to stand in line.
In 2 years you can always trade up...

I went the other way . . . from a GS to another GS to an RT. As I get older (66) and shorter (5'11") I find the RT easier to ride. The RT definitely has more weather protection. But of you like a GS go for it. They're great bikes.

Thanks

Hey, I appreciate all input but am still confused. I am 75 and barely 5'6" so thr RT is higher than I am comfortable with though I love it 43,350 miles worth. RickMayer seat is great. I have layed it over 5 times at a stop though and want to go lower and lighter. I will keep looking but. A low frame GS is hard to come by. My wife loves the GS too.
Thanks for all your input!
Bill

ZekeZeller said:

Hey, I appreciate all input but am still confused. I am 75 and barely 5'6" so thr RT is higher than I am comfortable with though I love it 43,350 miles worth. RickMayer seat is great. I have layed it over 5 times at a stop though and want to go lower and lighter. I will keep looking but. A low frame GS is hard to come by. My wife loves the GS too.
Thanks for all your input!
Bill

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My friend had a similar problem and he went with a Maxi-Scooter. He loves it and seldom rides his RT an more. He wouldn't wait for the BMW scooter so he bought a used Burgman last spring (and they have a lower seat). I rode his scooter last week and was very impressed. You might want to ride a Maxi-Scooter (400+cc) of some kind before you buy another bike. They are easy for us older and shorter folks to handle because of the low step-over and the weight is close to the ground. The larger scooters are not the scooters we remember. They are fast and handle very well.

gfspencer said:

I went the other way . . . from a GS to another GS to an RT. As I get older (66) and shorter (5'11") I find the RT easier to ride. The RT definitely has more weather protection. But of you like a GS go for it. They're great bikes.

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Oh good, I know it depends on my health and overall fitness but I am encouraged by you older fellows still out riding.
I see gray haired fellows on Honda Gold wings and I just can't imagine how some of these guys can handle that much weight. I have seen little old men look pretty confident.
I am 55 and in good shape so I hope to ride for many more years. The new bikes are looking pretty interesting.

cookie said:

Oh good, I know it depends on my health and overall fitness but I am encouraged by you older fellows still out riding.
I see gray haired fellows on Honda Gold wings and I just can't imagine how some of these guys can handle that much weight. I have seen little old men look pretty confident.
I am 55 and in good shape so I hope to ride for many more years. The new bikes are looking pretty interesting.

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Yeh the Wings and Hogs have much lower centers of gravity, which to me is the difference. I am 66, and love my GS, but honestly would probably still be riding my '03 LT if it had a lower center of gravity.