My bikes

This was my first big cc bike after passing my bike test,and the one on which I would do my first cross border trips, and learnt to ride off-road. It was a bargain, and had some defects, which were repaired under warranty by the dealer. Not wanting to pay for future repairs and invest more money into a motorcycle with an unknown history, I decided to part-exchange it for a KTM before the warranty expired.

My ultimate dream bike at the time, combining travel, commuting, and off-road capabilities. Other features are kick- and E-start, twin headlights, 500km range and 94 cm seat height for my long legs. The only trip I did on it was to Gossensass, South Tirol, shortly after which it was written off by a car driver, whose insurance bought me a new bike.

The main features which attracted me were the comination of a kick and electric start, 28 liter tank with approx. 340 mile range,94 cm seat height, light for its size. The bike also is a head-turner, not just amongst riders.The digital trip- and speedometer is easily changeable between miles and kilometers and the headights can be adapted by turning the lens. There were however some much needed modifications, such as neopreme fork gators for the upside down forkseals which would leak after off-road use. The tank filler cap was not lockable, but this was rectified in the 2004 model. The vibrations took getting used to, but prevented the ride from getting boring! The lack of a sidestand combined with the centre stand made life a little difficult. I had it for just over 2 years and it gave me 27,000 miles (43,000 km) before it was written off, again by a car driver.

I had become interested in shaft drive bikes, and BMW seemed to produce just the bikes I was looking for.This was to be my first BMW, and I was keen to experience the range of "bullet-proof motorcyles that go on forever". Trying to save money, I embarked on buying second hand BMWs, 2 privately, but through no fault of their own, prooved to be a serious mistake that would prove very very costly, forcing me to use my bus pass over a longer period of time and walking, not that it did me any harm.

This 1100 GS had a decent tank range of around 250 miles minimum, and not being top heavy it was easy to move about. The head light was amazingly bright, and the shaft drive meant less maintainance.
The only downside was the horn button, which had to be pressed upwards, rather than into the handle bar, as you would react in a panic situation.On some occasions a careless car driver was confronted with my alarming left indicator, rather than a horn!

At Christmas time 2005 I bought this 4 year old BMW 1150 GS with 28000 miles on the clock, alarmed, no ABS and one years warranty from the dealer, which proved invaluable. An Adventure mudguard was added immediately and the panniers followed soon after. The bike did not have ABS, meaning one less thing to break down, and placing me in full control of the brakes. It had the 6th gear, which makes long distance touring more enjoyable than on the 5 gear 1100 GS, but the tank range was reduced to around 200 miles, in comparison to the 250 on the 1100GS and the 350 miles on the KTM.

Both my previous BMWs turned out to be made for a different kind of rider than myself and were plagued with mechanical problems, in part due to the age of those motorcyles, either negligence or mainatinace errors by previous owners, and very bad luck. I bought this F650 Dakar privately with low mileage and 4 years old in the summer of 2006, rode it through Europe and indulged in touring the Austrian mountains and South Tirol. I did not take it off-road, did no wild stunts, nothing that would raise a dealers eyebrow, apart from doing 4000 miles in the first month of ownership, when once again disaster struck. The engine gaskett went, and soon afterwards the output shaft decided to be worn, which resulted in a major engine dissasembly and rebuild. Starting and shock absorber difficulties arose, which I had repaired at a local workshop, together with a last service and total check-up to prepare it for sale to a trader, as my patience ran out and I felt nervous about spending even more money on an older motorcycle.

Having bought three second hand BMWs in a row, which through NO fault of their own, but more because of either neglect or manipulation under the previous owners, or simply wear and tear, had been plagued with numerous problems, my early GS experience was unpleasant and frustrating, and one which would test my temper. Thankfully, the BMW North Oxford Garage was always there to help. Accessories companies like Touratech and Hepcko & Becker with their fine equipment would make the GS complete.

Also check with your dealer if going offroad affects your warranty, honest, this is no joke! One dealer tried this trick on me once. But I have to add, that KTM workshops are the fastest I have encountered. When problems did arise, be it in Austria, England, Wales or Spain, they would always try to fix them on the same day, or within 24 hours. The most I ever had to wait was 4 days for a faulty starter clutch. This is why I would consider getting another KTM.