Twenty-One Days ago (Mid-February), I received a PM on Reddit in response to my post about looking at DualSport/Adventure Motorcycles as being a perfect fit for my intentions as a rider:
I am selling my 2009 R1200GSA. It has very low miles (7K – garage queen) and honestly I don’t have the time to ride much any more. It has the BMW system cases that have locks that match the ignition key. I also have a tank bag and a Garmin Nuvi GPS for it. I bought it while I lived in Europe (rode all over) and brought it back with me. It is US spec and has a clean title in Maryland. I know you are shopping – just thought I would put that out there.
The anonymous stranger sent me a few photos – http://imgur.com/a/cJgAv
We spoke over email and I setup some terms. While we discussed, I continued researching. It was in October of last year that I told friends that for my 30th birthday, I wanted to go on a motorcycle road trip. Having never ridden before, everyone laughed. I looked up renting a motorcycle in Seattle and driving it back but the two main issues were cost (nearly 4 grand for a one-way 2-week rental) and experience as in getting licensed and then being prepared to ride a big bike across country and be expected to actually survive the trip without any experience in turning, balancing, braking, etc.
I stepped back and started researching buying my own bike and training up for a similar journey but obviously, it couldn’t be a one-way.
Here were my parameters when shopping:
- I had to complete the motorcycle safety course before riding and would not get a license without first doing that
- I did not want a fast-bike
- I also didn’t want a moped or dirt bike
- The bike had to be capable of 300 mile stretches of highway in a single sitting without struggling to be at highway speeds or the rider being uncomfortable
- I needed storage for beer tastings and camping and the long road-trip
- I did not want an American made bike but this was not a hard rule
- A bike that could take me off-road for camping and to Vermont breweries and around some of our snowmobile trails would be a great bonus but highway would be the ultimate requirement
- I needed a bike I could grow with and not grow out of (which is a common beginner’s mistake I know)
- Finally, it had to be a beloved bike, one that people desire or rave about and one that has a common design through multiple generations where you could roll up to any shop and get help
I kept arriving at the KTM 1190 Adventure and BMW R1200 / F800 Adventure models. These are popular in Europe for sure. Austrian and German made motorcycles that can be loaded up with gear, have spoked wheels for more resilience to bumps and off-roading, high ground clearance, very large fuel tanks and a very popular aftermarket of modifications and repair options.
Yamaha and Kawasaki both had motorcycles that met my criteria but each one I found used was in pretty bad shape with really high miles. Being a new rider, buying new wasn’t an option but I didn’t want a bike that would set me up for failure and deep down, I really wanted a BMW. It would look so great next to my Golf R, another beautiful german-engineered motor to compliment my car. I kept my options opened and constantly browsed Craigslist and CycleTrader for Dual-Sport Adventure bikes with less than 15K miles, newer than 2007 and at my 10K USD Budget. You’d think there would be a lot of choices. There really wasn’t. Most were 11-13K and the ones that weren’t had 50K miles on the ODO.
I kept returning back to the guy on Reddit. We chatted and eventually I asked for his VIN and went to my bank to apply for a loan to make up the difference in the cash I already had on-hand. I had some requirements of the seller and he graciously worked with me:
- A BMW Dealer of my choosing would have to work on the bike and give it a full look-over and perform all recalls and recommended maintenance
- A local of my choosing would have to go by and inspect the bike and give it a run-down including a test-ride
- I’d pay shipping but the seller would be placing it on a truck with the title and would have to wait a week for my bank to cut him a check
Quite an ordeal. The seller spent $400 without adding to his asking price by going to BMW in Baltimore and getting all of the recall notices resolved and doing all maintenance. The tires were indicated as nearing the end of their tread life so I picked up new tires to replace the ones that came on the bike in 2009. The seller then opted to drive the bike up to me for us to finalize the sale. He rented a bike-trailer and drove up so that eliminated the local test-ride and I spoke directly with BMW about the bike servicing along with receiving a PDF of their inspection and they said the bike was in perfect shape.
It turns out that after buying the bike in Italy, the seller road a bit in USA but didn’t put a lot of miles on it. Everyone in the BMW Motorrad world that heard my story informed me that a 2009 oil-cooled GS with 7K miles was rare. To find one owned by the original buyer that was also a GS Adventure (a trail-ready GS) was even more rare and for them to ask 10K for it was unheard of. The bike should have sold for 13-15K considering its original MSRP w/ extras of 22K USD…slightly less in Europe but then there’s their high sales tax so the Euro to USD conversion was negligible.
When I spoke to the buyer at my bank on Friday, he said I got that good deal for a few reasons:
- He wants dot sell the bike quick and not deal with hagglers
- He really liked my intensions and my overall decision to get a BMW GS and he really liked my back-story of why I wanted to ride
- I was a redditor
- He wanted it to go a good home of someone who appreciates nicer things and takes care of their gear.
With all of that out of the way, I bought a 2-season ridden 2009 R1200 GS Adventure with every single option you can get (even the fuel tank bag) from a family-man who went out of his way to sell it to me. We drove the bike to a family member of Heather’s and stored it in their garage on Friday. I watched the seller take one more 20 foot ride on the bike to get it down to the garage and we said our goodbyes before he drove back to DC.
I spent an hour with the bike after he left. I had never seen a BMW GS in person before. After watching reviews for over 50 hours and reading the entire manual on how to work on it and how-to guides and looking at accessories, I finally sat on it. At 6’2”, my feet both firmly planted to the ground. I sat the bike down and picked it up with was and moved it around and got a feel for it. My fear that it was too tall for me and too heavy went away. I felt completely at-ease on the bike.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be adding accessories and finishing up my purchase of riding gear. On April 2nd, I complete my motorcycle basic training ($300) and get my license.
For the first few weeks, I’ll just be doing trail / back-road riding and practicing all of the exercises I’ve been reading about in Mastering your Heavyweight bike and Twist of the Wrist. The 2nd week of May, I take the advanced Riders Safety Course also offered by the state of New Hampshire for an additional $100 to further hone my skills and then I’ll start riding to work on the bike and taking more extended trips.
I hope, if all goes well, that I’ll be ready and confident enough to drive half way across American in the Fall. Further, I’d like to drive down to Florida in November and store the bike with my Dad during our long Winter in New Hampshire. We’ll see if I’m up for the task.
For now, this was just the back-story of how I came to own my bike and I’ll be posting more about it as I add accessories and learn more about riding.
Thanks for reading!