GS800 secondhand buy

kurtz

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I fancy a change of bike and find myself looking at the 800 more and more, I know nowt about them though, I thought I may as well try to tap into the thoughts of owners past and present.
Could I ask what is the general consensus on these machines, is high mileage an issue to be taken into consideration, any issues or known faults to be aware of, any models or particular years to avoid?

Any thoughts or drivel on the above much appreciated :thumb
 
High mileage is not un common on the F series twin engines / bikes

The stators can give out but there only a £100 to fix..

Head bearings can wear but not an expensive job..

Plenty around, so spares readily available.

Loads of aftermarket suppliers, to fettle them to your needs...

F650GS, F700GS & F800GS share the same engine just minor differences to the cams & so many other common parts etc.

I'm on my fifth F series GS twin & luv um...
 
High mileage is not un common on the F series twin engines / bikes

I'm on my fifth F series GS twin & luv um...

Ha ha ...I'm still on my first after ten years of ownership and 140,000 miles :thumby:

That'll wind the feckers up :D

Great bikes kurtz buy and ride .... it's the only 'bike you'll ever need :thumb2

:beerjug:
 
Ha ha ...I'm still on my first after ten years of ownership and 140,000 miles :thumby:

That'll wind the feckers up :D

Great bikes kurtz buy and ride .... it's the only 'bike you'll ever need :thumb2

:beerjug:

I wish you'd mentioned this before, Micky... :D

My 700GS has rather more modest mileage, though a long commute will rack up miles quite quickly now. It hasn't put a foot wrong apart from a fuelling issue when it's very hot outside and the tank is getting towards empty. This isn't unknown and filling the tank solves the problem.
 
They’re made for high mileage. I’ve had two and put 90k miles on them in total. As Ash said the stator on the earlier ones is an issue. Can cost a lot more than £100 because the trigger for failure can be the voltage regulator. If that happens you have to replace both plus often the battery.

Other than that mine were faultless.
 
I wish you'd mentioned this before, Micky... :D

My 700GS has rather more modest mileage, though a long commute will rack up miles quite quickly now. It hasn't put a foot wrong apart from a fuelling issue when it's very hot outside and the tank is getting towards empty. This isn't unknown and filling the tank solves the problem.

My 800GS did this when I was in Canada/America to the point where I got the fuel pump changed in Grand Junction, Colorado. Filling the tank doesn’t actually solve the problem. The fuel pump is on the way out. As far as I know this only affects the early bikes; mine is a 2008 model; and not the later, 2012 on, bikes as BMW changed the pump unit.
 
My 800GS did this when I was in Canada/America to the point where I got the fuel pump changed in Grand Junction, Colorado. Filling the tank doesn’t actually solve the problem. The fuel pump is on the way out. As far as I know this only affects the early bikes; mine is a 2008 model; and not the later, 2012 on, bikes as BMW changed the pump unit.

That's interesting. Mine is a late 2012 model. I have only had this issue on three occasions, and all three were the same circumstances: hot day (30 degrees), long run on motorway, tank less than half empty. Filling up has resolved the issue straight away and it hasn't returned until those circumstances are repeated (fortunately not that often in the UK!) which might be the next month or the next year.

My internal explanation, which may well be waffle, is this: the heat builds up air pressure in the tank (because the breather can't cope with those conditions) and as the fuel level falls it allows pressurised air to get into the fuel pipe, causing temporary fuel starvation. Whether it is the opening of fuel cap that allows pressure out, or refilling that eliminates all the air from tank, I don't know. But it has definitely resolved the issue. I've read other people who have had the same problem and resolve it the same way. Where I think it may be an issue I ensure I fill up before I start. The first time it happened (summer of 2017) was at the M2/A2 junction near Faversham, right at the junction roundabout. Scary! I limped to the next petrol station where I had poke around, not really knowing what to do, and thought half an hour to cool down might help. I filled it with petrol while I was there, and it sorted itself out.

The next two times it happened (nce later in 2017, once in 2018) I just refilled without any cool-down time, which again got it going. If it was a failing fuel pump I would have expected the problem to be getting worse/more frequent, and not restricted to the circumstances above.

But I'll bear it in mind if it starts recurring.



if
 
That's interesting. Mine is a late 2012 model. I have only had this issue on three occasions, and all three were the same circumstances: hot day (30 degrees), long run on motorway, tank less than half empty. Filling up has resolved the issue straight away and it hasn't returned until those circumstances are repeated (fortunately not that often in the UK!) which might be the next month or the next year.

My internal explanation, which may well be waffle, is this: the heat builds up air pressure in the tank (because the breather can't cope with those conditions) and as the fuel level falls it allows pressurised air to get into the fuel pipe, causing temporary fuel starvation. Whether it is the opening of fuel cap that allows pressure out, or refilling that eliminates all the air from tank, I don't know. But it has definitely resolved the issue. I've read other people who have had the same problem and resolve it the same way. Where I think it may be an issue I ensure I fill up before I start. The first time it happened (summer of 2017) was at the M2/A2 junction near Faversham, right at the junction roundabout. Scary! I limped to the next petrol station where I had poke around, not really knowing what to do, and thought half an hour to cool down might help. I filled it with petrol while I was there, and it sorted itself out.

The next two times it happened (nce later in 2017, once in 2018) I just refilled without any cool-down time, which again got it going. If it was a failing fuel pump I would have expected the problem to be getting worse/more frequent, and not restricted to the circumstances above.

But I'll bear it in mind if it starts recurring.



if

For the OP: As Ash and Micky say they are broadly faultless.
As per Quinten problem identical one here on mine, of hot weather and low fuel (and giving it a bit of a thrash too!).
On plausible theory on ADV was that these earlier pumps rely on the fuel to keep them cool - later bikes never seemed to report the problem - just keep it above half tank.
 


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