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'12 K1600 GTL new to me.

P

pcourtney

New member
Hello, I just bought a '12 GTL with 11,000 miles on it. The warranty is good till next Aug.and the dealer is offering an additional 3 years for $1200. What do folks think? It's a lot of money for me but these things can't be cheap to fix. I would also be interested in any advice anyone might have on upkeep, modifications, accessories etc. lastly, my Fiancie and I put about 5000 mi a yr camping. We're thinking about a Bushtec trailer. Any thoughts on that? Thanks for your input. :D
 
My experience with extended warranties is that they pay for themselves if you ride the bike long enough.
 
At the Detroit IMS I asked the BMW rep about pulling a trailer and how it might affect the warranty. He said that if the dealer installed the hitch the warranty would not be affected. Don't know about where that might appear in writing - I haven't found anything.
 
Extended warranty on a bike is almost useless, depending on the fine print. Wear items aren't covered, which includes the clutch. Many of them also exclude the electrical system and if you over rev the engine it voids the warranty. So what's left. Not worth it IMHO.

Upkeep. Change the oils more often then the book calls for, especially when towing a trailer.

Trailering. I have 2 trailers, a Bunkhouse tent trailer by Bushtec and Champion cargo trailer by Champion Trikes.
I had the Champion trailer repainted to match the GTL. Photos of it when I picked it up at the body shop.

IMG_0053small.jpg

IMG_0054 small.jpg

Things to note when towing a trailer
Front load the trailer, keep the tongue weight up
Added weight effects braking and acceleration.
Do all your braking before the curve then slight power through it.

Happy Trails
 
pcourtney said:
Hello, I just bought a '12 GTL with 11,000 miles on it. The warranty is good till next Aug.and the dealer is offering an additional 3 years for $1200. What do folks think? It's a lot of money for me but these things can't be cheap to fix. I would also be interested in any advice anyone might have on upkeep, modifications, accessories etc. lastly, my Fiancie and I put about 5000 mi a yr camping. We're thinking about a Bushtec trailer. Any thoughts on that? Thanks for your input. :D
Click to expand...

For the most part, the bikes have been free from major problems that would cost thousands of dollars. The two main problems that nearly all the '12s have had or will have is a water pump and the bar end switch gear. There's new versions of the parts out so if your bike has the new parts, you'll likely not ever have to worry about it. If not, you could price out the repairs and decide if those make the warranty worth purchasing. Most of the guys I know that are planning to keep the bike for a long time bought the extended warranty. I didn't but I ride enough to have worked out the common problems during the warranty period. There's also been some talk of BMW offering extended warranties on these problem parts but I haven't seen anything official yet.
 
Thanks

Thanks so much for your feedback and suggestions. I'll take them to heart. It's all helpful. Wes, do you know which bar end switches were going out? I'll try to price that out when I figure out if I want to do the warranty or not.
Thanks again
 
pcourtney said:
Thanks so much for your feedback and suggestions. I'll take them to heart. It's all helpful. Wes, do you know which bar end switches were going out? I'll try to price that out when I figure out if I want to do the warranty or not.
Thanks again
Click to expand...

It's the switch cluster that has to be replaced when there's a problem. On my bike, it was the kill/start switch that quit but others have had the LH cluster go bad as well. It was a poor design of copper on plastic that had problems with temperature and moisture but the design has now been changed.
 
PittsDriver said:
It's the switch cluster that has to be replaced when there's a problem. On my bike, it was the kill/start switch that quit but others have had the LH cluster go bad as well. It was a poor design of copper on plastic that had problems with temperature and moisture but the design has now been changed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the specifics, Wes. I'll check it out. Happy trails.
 
story said:
Extended warranty on a bike is almost useless, depending on the fine print. Wear items aren't covered, which includes the clutch. Many of them also exclude the electrical system and if you over rev the engine it voids the warranty. So what's left. Not worth it IMHO.

Upkeep. Change the oils more often then the book calls for, especially when towing a trailer.

Trailering. I have 2 trailers, a Bunkhouse tent trailer by Bushtec and Champion cargo trailer by Champion Trikes.
I had the Champion trailer repainted to match the GTL. Photos of it when I picked it up at the body shop.

View attachment 43848

View attachment 43849

Things to note when towing a trailer
Front load the trailer, keep the tongue weight up
Added weight effects braking and acceleration.
Do all your braking before the curve then slight power through it.

Happy Trails
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. Beautiful paint job on the Champion trailer. Take care. Pat
 
Your addiction begins, add 10% on to what you paid for bike! that will cover the first year FARKLES you will be adding. List is endless, well almost.
Great bike
Enjoy!
 
I've never bought an extended on ANYTHING, but, after having the '12 GT I'm going to before the warranty runs out this June. I've had the switches and water pump replaced with the "new" ones, but I've also had to have the rear drive replaced (broken drive shaft). I'm going with Zurich, $1800 for an additional 4 years. My decision is based partly on past problems and because I plan on keeping this one!
 
just got my '12 GTL back from the dealer to have third water pump (2nd new one) and squeaky front shock replaced; pumps seeped and didn't bust loose. Covered under warranty or would have cost me $2400. Given the propensity of the pumps (yes, the new ones) to fail, front end squeak to probably return, and cluster switch (which I haven't had any to go as of yet) issues, I will definitely get an extended warranty when the time comes because the bike is too damn much fun and I plan on keeping it for a long time:dance
 
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