| Author | Message | ||
     Whitj |
Thoughts, ride opinion and biggest concern, reliability of an owner or rider of the BMW R1200GS. Thinking of a trade but have not had time to test ride. Majors issues I have had with my Uly in four years other than a blown rear tire... 0. not one problem in almost 25k miles. Any input would be helpful. | ||
| Whisperstealth |
DON'T DO IT!! If your Uly is paid for, keep it. Your trade value won't be much. You will miss the bike far more than the couple of grand you get in trade. The bikes are different, having them both would be great. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
They still make BMW bikes so there is no shortage of them but at least for now you are an owner of a Buell which is a collectors item. I'd recommend keeping the Buell because anybody can go buy a BMW. | ||
| Itileman |
Uly oil filter = $6.00 BMW oil filter = $17.00 It goes up from there. Boils down to "what's in your wallet?" If you can, keep the Uly and buy the GS. | ||
| Whitj |
Sound advice. I don't know what I was thinking. The Uly has given me great service for many years and has never let me down. I have a cold and think perhaps the meds I was taking affected my judgment. I am feeling much better now so I will go out to the garage and hug my Uly tonight.  | ||
| Itileman |
They really like it when you play EB's ANTHEM disk when you turn out the lights.  | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Better than Barry White I hear  | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Mark my words, some day ULY's will be as rare as hen's teeth and worth a pretty penny. As the years go by, one ULY after another will be junked, totaled, ect. Myths will be told about a low mileage ULY in a barn somewhere. 100 years from now someone will happen upon one in an abandoned building and say "I don't know what this is, but it sure looks wild". | ||
| Ulykan |
EG, years ago I had a BSA Rocket III and let it go for a proverbial song. Now they're worth a LOT more than I paid for it back then. I'm sure that in a few years the Uly will be the same way. However, there are owners out there that cannot or will not wait for Ulys to appreciate. They want a bike that can be easily repaired and serviced with guaranteed parts availability. Unfortunately we Uly owners can only hope that we can continue to obtain parts for our beloved bikes. No matter how loyal we are to EB it will be years before he has a comparable bike to the Uly, if ever. I will keep my Uly for now but will be watching developments closely and if I find something that I like I might just buy it. The Uly is a great bike but it simply won't last forever. Parts will become harder to find and people want to ride, not wait on parts. Even now some parts are on long back order. YMMV | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I learned on a 1964 or 5 Honda S90 that we paid $140 for back in 1968 or 9. When I went off in the service in 75' my folks gave it away for zippo. An S90 is now a very rare bike and goes for about 1000 bucks or more. Not a fortune but more than zippo. I saw a restored one about a year or two ago and couldn't believe how tiny it was but sure wished my folks would have left it in the backyard shed. Probably the main thing that differentiates today's bikes from yesteryears' antiques are the electronic gizmos like ECMs and the like. Not sure how that will affect long term ownership and repair but it might create problems. Anyway, I now seem to keep my bikes and refuse to sell them as they accumulate. Gets a bit expensive when all the insurance and licensing bills arrive on a regular basis. Must be a hoarder problem of mine. | ||
| Dr_greg |
Uly oil filter = $6.00 BMW oil filter = $17.00 You don't even wanna think about what an oil filter costs for the Mulstistrada 1200!  The 12GS was too big for me, but I liked riding it more than I expected. However, glad I didn't buy one. --Doc | ||
| Jwblue |
Dr. Greg, I very much enjoyed your ride report on ADVRider. Since today is Halloween, try and scare me: what does an oil filter for the Mulstistrada 1200 cost? | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Myths will be told about a low mileage ULY in a barn somewhere Not mine. 18K @ one year. Will slow down a bit  , But expect 100K out of mine. BTW: WW still has M1 15-50 here... | ||
| Dr_greg |
Dr. Greg, I very much enjoyed your ride report on ADVRider. Since today is Halloween, try and scare me: what does an oil filter for the Mulstistrada 1200 cost? Thanks; glad you enjoyed the RR. Actually, you know I can't remember the exact price. It really may have been less than the $17 BMW price, but it was way more $$$ than the Uly. Looks like the same filter I used on my '92 Duc 900SS (which I don't recall being that expensive), but Ducati has gone "boutique" since then, with accompanying price gouging. --Doc | ||
| Jlnance |
However, there are owners out there that cannot or will not wait for Ulys to appreciate. That would be me.  I didn't buy the bike as an investment, I bought it to ride it. By the time I get done riding it, it won't be worth anything. | ||
| Sharkguy |
EG, I learned on a super 90 too. Mine had been turned into a scrambler of sorts. Growing up on a farm I had many fun riding hours on it. I know I have never run a bmw oil filter on my oilhead. Just like the Uly there are plenty aftermarket parts that work on the bmw. There are lots of folks using car parts on their bikes to save $$ or time. Necessity is the mother of invention. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I didn't buy mine as investment either but as long as mine runs and gas is available, I'll probably own it. One this is for sure, at least for me, I'll not need another ICE powered bike since I have my Harley and Buell. My next bike will probably be electric or hybrid. | ||
| Charlie_zulu |
Keep the Uly,if I had to, I'd go with The Moto Guzzi Stelvio before the BMW. Everybody gets the Bimmer.. just sayin.  | ||
| Buewulf |
The GS is a great bike. If you really wanted one, I'd just foot the bill for the measly trade-in value of the Uly and keep it in the garage next to your shiny new GS. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
The main thing that was a real pain in the cajones on that Honda S90 was the gas tank. I wracked myself more times than I can remember whilst riding that bike. Sure wish I still had it. Read in the bottom ad how it had quick acceleration in any of the four gears and how it blasted up steep slopes briskly, too. It probably seemed that way to me when I was 14 years young and probably only weighed about 90 lbs or so. I think the main safety feature that they fail to actually mention is that it probably only went 50 or 60 mph tops, but I really don't recall how fast I ever had it. Mostly only trail rode it since I was too young for the street. At the time I new nothing about engines and care of, and only added oil and never changed the oil. That as you know is not a good long term strategy for engine life.   | ||
| Strokizator |
My question would be "What is the GS going to do for you that the Uly can't/doesn't?" (You do know that you could ride a Uly to Starbucks if you wanted to, right?) If you just want another bike, I say go for it. I also think keeping the Uly is a good idea no matter what else you do. | ||
| Longdog_cymru |
I traded a R1150GS for an Uly. I said I would never sell the GS, but the Uly is the best bike I ever owned. | ||
| Conchop |
Keep the Uly, put it in the shed with a cover over it, take it out once in a while or to shows. Buy the GS and run the guts out of it. The Uly IS THE NEXT VINCENT. The GS is not. Money in the bank if you can afford it. | ||
| Uly_man |
The first Uly I rode was a dealer test bike and the vibs were so bad it made my eyeballs hurt. I am not joking either. The Salesman had a Uly, sold it for a GS, and even he said the Uly was a better bike than the GS. I think the Uly is a classic now. |
