• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Just bought a 2003 K1200GT!

paul_waterloo

New member
Old time bike rider, but haven't rode in at least 10 years. Last bike was bought and sold back to my brother, a 77 R100RS. He still has it (I think he wants to sell it if anybody is interested), he just bought an 03 R1150RS and I've always wanted a K Bike.

Been searching for a bit, looked at three of them, they were not in very good shape, albeit, they are almost 20 years old. Then there is one that comes up on ebay for no reserve (ends today, we'll see where she sells at), but it's in FL and I'm in the Chicago area. I was going to bid on it, but there is one in Peoria about 2.5 hours from me that I figured I should go look at first as I could just pick it up easily vs. spend $500 for shipping. Went down there yesterday after the salesman had texted me some pictures of the bike, it sure looked clean.

I got there and WOW, the bike looks almost new. 24K miles, great rear case on it already, fuel line upgraded, Odyssey battery, has bar extenders and the little extra piece on the windshield at the top. The bike is SUPER CLEAN. I will detail it, but man, it looks awesome already. One small scratch on the front fairing and no other paint issues whatsoever. The previous owner lived in Peoria and you can tell this bike has been garaged its whole life.

I bought it! Have to go back and pick it up.

I will be doing a motorcycle skills course again (have done them twice in my life when I was in the Navy and bought a 1985 Honda Interceptor 500 new), they are excellent and I want to get comfortable again. Rode dirt bikes when I was in high school.

Will go down and pick it up next weekend I think. It's in Peoria, about 5 hour round trip from Chicago. Looking forward to riding with my brother!

Also looking forward to working on it, I'm an avid mechanic.

k1200%20(7).jpg


k1200%20(8).jpg


k1200%20(5).jpg


k1200%20(25).jpg


k1200%20(20).jpg


k1200%20(15).jpg
 
Paul,

What a beautiful bike!

Welcome to the forum. I hope we can be of some help in your new journey.

And welcome to the wonderful world of Flying Bricks. You're going to love it.





:dance:dance:dance
 
Thanks! Since I don't have the bike yet.....I can't really look, but when I took the seat off their was no tool bag, I have no idea where it would normally be stowed or if there is a place for the owner's manual either as I didn't easily find one.

Does this bike have a 12 VDC socket on it? I didn't see one, but didn't really look.

Thanks.
 
Thanks! Since I don't have the bike yet.....I can't really look, but when I took the seat off their was no tool bag, I have no idea where it would normally be stowed or if there is a place for the owner's manual either as I didn't easily find one.

Does this bike have a 12 VDC socket on it? I didn't see one, but didn't really look.

Thanks.

Welcome to the forum.
The bike had a tool box and kit that sat on top of the battery. It had a decent kit so it would be nice if you can get it from the previous owner, or at least get the box.
The accessory outlet is on the left side below the seat.
Here's a drawing of the tool ox and kit.
B0002247.png

Location of accessory outlet.
P9170029 - Copy.JPG
 
Thanks.....I see that now. There is a kit on eBay right now, but just the tool kit, will have to look for the tray. I am trying to contact the previous owner also. I snuck a peak at the title before they whisked it away from me.
 
Welcome to the world of the mighty K1200RS/GT! I have a black 2003 RS I bought new and it's a lifetime keeper for me. These bikes have some mass, so coming from lighter bikes I needed to learn to use the weight for stability and use the throttle to manage the weight, but once I did I just fell in love with it. I hope you will too.
 
A friend has that exact same bike.
I rode it for 100 miles last summer.
I see a Radar Detector in your future.
The Uniden R 1 for 200 bucks is a good one!
Have fun.
 
me too!

I just bought an '03 GT similar to yours but mine is dark blue. It only has 26,000 on it, and is also very clean. I do feel I paid a premium price for it, though, at $4,700 from my dealer. But, it had the clutch replaced, all hydraulics bled and new fluids, etc., so there's been a lot of expensive service done to it. I'm a little nervous about the servo-assisted brakes on these models because when they fail, I hear it's like $3,000 to repair! I was just talking with a friend this past Saturday who has an '02 RT sitting in his garage with no brakes because of this problem. It's hard to sink 3 grand into a 20-year old bike when this happens... Still, others have driven them for hundreds of thousands of miles with no failure, so it's a crap shoot, I guess.
 
Welcome to the world of the mighty K1200RS/GT! I have a black 2003 RS I bought new and it's a lifetime keeper for me. These bikes have some mass, so coming from lighter bikes I needed to learn to use the weight for stability and use the throttle to manage the weight, but once I did I just fell in love with it. I hope you will too.

Greg.. did you ever have to have the brake servo replaced? How many miles do you have on yours? Do you have the brakes bled/serviced at the 2 year intervals recommended?

Thanks

DAVE
 
I just bought an '03 GT similar to yours but mine is dark blue. It only has 26,000 on it, and is also very clean. I do feel I paid a premium price for it, though, at $4,700 from my dealer. But, it had the clutch replaced, all hydraulics bled and new fluids, etc., so there's been a lot of expensive service done to it. I'm a little nervous about the servo-assisted brakes on these models because when they fail, I hear it's like $3,000 to repair! I was just talking with a friend this past Saturday who has an '02 RT sitting in his garage with no brakes because of this problem. It's hard to sink 3 grand into a 20-year old bike when this happens... Still, others have driven them for hundreds of thousands of miles with no failure, so it's a crap shoot, I guess.

I have heard of only a few whizzy brake system problems, and those were all with the circuit board which runs the system, although I'm sure the pump itself (or other things) can fail. Unfortunately, that board is not repairable to the best of my knowledge so you have to get a replacement pump. New is very expensive but they can be found used for about $500 the last time I checked. This system was used on all the big BMW bikes in it's day, so it's my assumption if failures were common there would be more talk about it, especially now that they are approaching 20 years old. YMMV.
 
Greg.. did you ever have to have the brake servo replaced? How many miles do you have on yours? Do you have the brakes bled/serviced at the 2 year intervals recommended?

Thanks

DAVE

Unfortunately, the last several years I've not had a chance to ride my normal amounts, and I have several bikes to spread my miles over, so my 2003 k1200RS only has about 62,000 miles on it. The only issues I've had with it was a timing cover gasket leak (not uncommon) when it was new, and then a leaky rear main seal/O-ring about 2,000 miles ago. No problems with the whizzy brakes. I change the fluid about every three or four years. It is dry enough where I live that I've never had moisture contamination in any of my bike brake systems, and by my math there should be just some factor for mileage as well as time in this brake fluid change timing.

Something important to know unrelated to brakes is to never try to start your bike if you suspect the battery is very weak. Converse, always keep a good battery and keep it charged. All K-bikes (from the original K100) have a starter relay which can arc and fuse "on" if you try to start the bike with a battery somewhere around "very weak" but not yet totally dead. This results in the starter continuing to run until the battery is totally dead (the key won't turn it off), and you will need a new starter relay. It's a real PITA to change on the K1200RS/GT as it's under the fuel cell ("gas tank" under the tupperware bodywork). I have several K-bikes and always carry a spare relay with me. Don't buy the OEM BMW part (expensive - surprise) as the same part can be had at reasonable price from Amazon.
 
Greg.. did you ever have to have the brake servo replaced? How many miles do you have on yours? Do you have the brakes bled/serviced at the 2 year intervals recommended?

I’m not Greg :wave but I’ll chime in here. The rear master cylinder and the brake fluid reservoir were both replaced under warranty on my 2004 GT. That was done to clear a recurring brake fault, indicated by the alternating flashing lights that usually indicate a “fluid low” condition. To this day, the bike is very sensitive to fluid level in the reservoir, partly because the sidecar brake is tied into the rear brake and ABS system, but I’m OK with that and appreciate the occasional alert to check/top up the fluid. I flush brakes completely every two years, using a GS-911 to perform the brake bleed test, but the entire job is a PITA and worth paying a dealer tech to do it IF they are experienced with the boosted brakes.

I have 100k on my GT, 52k of that has been pulling a sidecar that gives both engine and brakes a workout, and the brick-k just keeps going. Maintenance issues have been a rear main seal and o-ring replacement at 70k, a new clutch while I had it apart, and one broken driveshaft. The driveshaft was totally my fault for not servicing it every 12k by pulling out the rear half and lubing the center splines in the shaft and not just the splines at the rear of the shaft. That’s a job that requires paint-marking the shaft before splitting so it can be reassembled in proper phase.

These are great bikes—smooth, powerful, and robust. Enjoy the heck out of yours!

Best,
DeVern
 
I’m not Greg :wave but I’ll chime in here. The rear master cylinder and the brake fluid reservoir were both replaced under warranty on my 2004 GT. That was done to clear a recurring brake fault, indicated by the alternating flashing lights that usually indicate a “fluid low” condition. To this day, the bike is very sensitive to fluid level in the reservoir, partly because the sidecar brake is tied into the rear brake and ABS system, but I’m OK with that and appreciate the occasional alert to check/top up the fluid. I flush brakes completely every two years, using a GS-911 to perform the brake bleed test, but the entire job is a PITA and worth paying a dealer tech to do it IF they are experienced with the boosted brakes.

I have 100k on my GT, 52k of that has been pulling a sidecar that gives both engine and brakes a workout, and the brick-k just keeps going. Maintenance issues have been a rear main seal and o-ring replacement at 70k, a new clutch while I had it apart, and one broken driveshaft. The driveshaft was totally my fault for not servicing it every 12k by pulling out the rear half and lubing the center splines in the shaft and not just the splines at the rear of the shaft. That’s a job that requires paint-marking the shaft before splitting so it can be reassembled in proper phase.

These are great bikes—smooth, powerful, and robust. Enjoy the heck out of yours!

Best,
DeVern


DeVern makes a good point about the rear brake fluid level. My experience is that the linked brakes (using the front brake lever) seem to apply the rear brake more aggressively than I do on my bikes without linked brakes. That is good in that it provides more stopping power, but my rear pads wear out much faster than I was used to and also faster then my front pads. The first time this happened I got the brake light faulting he mentioned and it was caused by the rear pads wearing enough to drop the rear master cylinder fluid level enough to trigger that warning. So, keep an eye on your rear pads and the fluid level. There are actually two fluid levels - one for the rear brake circuit and one for the whizzy brakes, so check both.
 
I just bought an '03 GT similar to yours but mine is dark blue. It only has 26,000 on it, and is also very clean. I do feel I paid a premium price for it, though, at $4,700 from my dealer. But, it had the clutch replaced, all hydraulics bled and new fluids, etc., so there's been a lot of expensive service done to it. I'm a little nervous about the servo-assisted brakes on these models because when they fail, I hear it's like $3,000 to repair! I was just talking with a friend this past Saturday who has an '02 RT sitting in his garage with no brakes because of this problem. It's hard to sink 3 grand into a 20-year old bike when this happens... Still, others have driven them for hundreds of thousands of miles with no failure, so it's a crap shoot, I guess.

After seeing the bike I bought, it was so clean, I figured I would buy it. They were asking $4K (and it was for sale for about 8 months I think), but they had terrible pictures on cycletrader.com and were in Peoria, IL, so not a lot of BMW riders there. I got it for $3,725, and it didn't cost me a thing to ship it from FL (the eBay bike).....and then the no-reserve auction ended on the eBay bike yesterday. I was going to put in a snipe for $2,700 (actually I did, but I removed it after buying this bike), and it sold for $2,165! Based on the bids, I probably would of won it, but it would of been whatever the highest bidder had as he was not outbid. I'm going to say it would of not been more than $2,400, but then I would of had to ship it for $500, it has a few scratches on the bottom, but appeared to be in very good shape, the guy bought it less than 2 years ago, had trouble with his knee and only rode it 500 miles. He has a K1300GT also. If I wanted a rear case, it would be another $300-$400. So it really wouldn't of been much less than my bike.

Here is the auction, I'm glad I got the one I did:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-BMW-K-Series/174186721361

Going back and picking it up Saturday!
 
I'll mimic what the others have said: Great looking bike. Welcome to the fold.

As for the e-brakes, I've never had problems with mine (self bled every 2-3 years) but have seen it in buddy's bikes. I actually did an ABS-bypass on a buddy's R1150RT which has the same system. There have been several discussions about a company in the US doing rebuilds of the module. They've been saying they're on the verge of accepting this model for several years. Not sure what the current status actually is. Given how cheap some of this generation K bikes have gotten, I suspect the needed parts could be found online from guys parting out their bikes.

Regarding the sore knees of the previous owner, I had the same issue. That was before I realized the seat was set at its lower position, putting more bend in my knees. Raising it to the upper setting has eliminated the problem. Locking the seat into the proper position can be a PITA, and is definitely a learned talent.

Looks like the PO (who appears to have been an MOA member!) has already replaced the weak quick-connects in the fuel lines. Good move. You might want to think about fuel and air filter replacement if you have no record of it having been done.

Otherwise, ride and enjoy!
 
Both my wife and I had around 85,000 to 90,000 miles on our K1200RSs when traded and did not have any servo ABS problems.
I would change the wheel circuit brake fluid every year myself and every 2 years I removed the body work and had the dealer do the control circuit.
They charged a hour labor for the job.
The last time the Tech showed me how it was done it it looked like something I could have done.
 
If you change the fuel and air filter here's where they are located.

Fuel Filter.jpg


The air filter is under the gas tank.
IMG_0096.jpg
 
So I brought the bike home yesterday......it was 2.5 hours away, but a super nice day in Illinois, it was 50 F, but still got a trailer for it. On the way back (I was with my brother), I told him let's go pick up the bike he was going to buy, the guy didn't have the title when we looked at a few weeks before, but now had it. We didn't have time to drive home, drop my bike off, and then pick this one up.....so we went to the guy's house (which was five minutes out of way on our return trip), unloaded my bike, loaded up his, and then I rode the 35 miles home on mine as it was registered and insured.

What a hoot! Man, the bike is uber-stable! I feel it's like my 1985 Honda Interceptor all grown up. Great power, super comfy (love the heated seat and grips), can't believe how stable it is, especially going over bumps, feels like only one rebound on the shocks.

I do have the ! warning light on solid, so the cruise control doesn't work, the owner's manual says it's a brake light circuit issue. I do have a second brake light under the rear case. I will have to look into that.

k1200(27).jpg


k1200(28).jpg


Glad we picked this one up for my brother, got to ride home because of it!

k1200(29).jpg


k1200(30).jpg
 
Back
Top