1200 > 1250 To upgrade or not? (cost to change, warranties etc)

mrklunk

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Hi guys,

Would appreciate your input on a decision I'll have to make next year.

I have a 2018 1200 Rallye TE (with TFT). Bought with 6K miles last November and I've put 15K miles on it. Still have another year of warranty so plenty of time to decide. I love the bike and don't need the extra power of 1250 but I just wonder when is the best time to change?

If I trade next year at the end of warranty for a 2020 1250 (with full 2 year BMW warranty) I'll probably have to pay £5-6K. Or, If I keep the bike, I could set aside the £5K for possible warranty work instead. I'm paranoid about having a GS without the full warranty, and I've heard that the extended warranty really isn't great. Unlike most of you I'm not at all mechanical and don't fancy arguing the toss on a warranty claim with the dealer. In the year I've had it I've had a pitted rear wheel, faulty exhaust flap and it's currently in having a broken paralever replaced. Don't even want to think about the cost of all that without a warranty.

I realise that my current bike would probably last forever and I love it, but as motorcycling is my main hobby, and I can afford to trade-in (I gave up booze saving £400PM which is my bike fund) maybe makes more sense just to trade in each time the warranty runs out.

As an aside, I've not ridden 1250GS but did have the R1250R as a loan bike and loved the engine (and the bike actually).

Anyway, I know I've got plenty time, but I'd appreciate your thoughts :)
 
I’m similar in that I have a 2016 1200GS, to swap for a new 1250 fully loaded would probably cost me around 10,000 euros

I just can’t see anywhere near enough difference to justify the cost

However, I do have a second bike which is completely different to the GS, with your budget you could do the same, get a sports bike, a naked, a cruiser, an enduro, whatever floats your boat :nenau
 
I’m similar in that I have a 2016 1200GS, to swap for a new 1250 fully loaded would probably cost me around 10,000 euros

I just can’t see anywhere near enough difference to justify the cost

However, I do have a second bike which is completely different to the GS, with your budget you could do the same, get a sports bike, a naked, a cruiser, an enduro, whatever floats your boat :nenau

Yeh, I’ve got a 2015 V7 special as a 2nd bike. Could use the £5/6K to turn that into an R9T. But my thinking is I should keep the £5k to one side in case the GS ends up needing an expensive repair. The exhaust flap I got sorted under warranty would’ve been £1800

Cheers


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Why do people worry so much about things that haven't happened? Life's too short, got the money? Want a new bike? If yes to both go for!

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As to when it's the best time, generally winter time is better than spring/summer as they're selling less bikes but still have sales targets to meet. End of the quarter/end of the financial year is also good for the same reasons. I've always signed up during the winter months twice on a factory order so I had tonwait and once on a bike from national stock which arrived in a week.

If you don't go abroad IMO the extended warranty is expensive and when mine's 3 years old because I don't do that many miles (starbucks is less than 2 miles away) I'll probably just put that money aside together with the trade in wedge.

If you do high mileages and are worried about expensive repairs out of warranty on the GS then maybe consider something Japanese. When I traded in my 1st GS I had a test ride on a Kawasaki Z1000sx and the cost of the extended warranty compered to BMW was very cheap.
 
Out of interest, what is the approximate cost for an extended warranty? My bike will be 3 years old in June 2022 and will have covered about 30k miles. I'm weighing up my options and of course, one choice is to keep it and buy a warranty...
 
As to when it's the best time, generally winter time is better than spring/summer as they're selling less bikes but still have sales targets to meet. End of the quarter/end of the financial year is also good for the same reasons. I've always signed up during the winter months twice on a factory order so I had tonwait and once on a bike from national stock which arrived in a week.

If you don't go abroad IMO the extended warranty is expensive and when mine's 3 years old because I don't do that many miles (starbucks is less than 2 miles away) I'll probably just put that money aside together with the trade in wedge.

If you do high mileages and are worried about expensive repairs out of warranty on the GS then maybe consider something Japanese. When I traded in my 1st GS I had a test ride on a Kawasaki Z1000sx and the cost of the extended warranty compared to BMW was very cheap.

If I could extend the manufacturer's warranty I'd happily pay for that, but it's a 3rd party product (insurance effectively) and I've read some very negative things online about what happens when you try to claim. Nothing against Japanese bikes and I really like the Z1000sx, the new Suzuki competitor to it, and the Honda NT1100. Rather stay with GS though :)
 
Out of interest, what is the approximate cost for an extended warranty? My bike will be 3 years old in June 2022 and will have covered about 30k miles. I'm weighing up my options and of course, one choice is to keep it and buy a warranty...

Unless things have changed BMW will write to you before your factory warranty expires with a quote. My 2 year old 1200 that had done 9k was over £300 for 12 months cover. You can exclude things to bring the cost down (slightly) but IMO it's still expensive. Depends if you want peace of mind and how much you're prepared to pay for it I guess.
 
Unless things have changed BMW will write to you before your factory warranty expires with a quote. My 2 year old 1200 that had done 9k was over £300 for 12 months cover. You can exclude things to bring the cost down (slightly) but IMO it's still expensive. Depends if you want peace of mind and how much you're prepared to pay for it I guess.

Thanks.
 
t's currently in having a broken paralever replaced. Don't even want to think about the cost of all that without a warranty.

What was wrong with the Paralever that required it being replaced?
 
I'm in the process of going from a '15 1200GS to a brand new 1250GS. The main reason was to get the new engine, I'd been very impressed with the low down grunt of the 1250 on loan bikes I've had during services. The TFT is also a nice upgrade from the old dash, but I wouldn't have done it just for that. Nothing really wrong with the old bike, just I could afford to upgrade so I did, and others have kindly debugged the 1250 over the last couple of years !

BTW I ran my 1200 without warranty for 4 years, and had exactly 0 problems with it.
 
BTW I ran my 1200 without warranty for 4 years and had exactly 0 problems with it.[/QUOTE]

Good to know. I've had about £3K of warranty work done in 1 year of ownership so hopefully, it's all fixed now! :) Having said that, I will probably upgrade to a 12-18-month-old RallyeHP when my warranty runs out. Big birthday next year so I feel ok about treating myself. I've only ridden the 1250 in 'R' guise and I wanted to buy a R straight after. Don't know if it was the new engine or the fact the R is dinky and nimble compared to the GS. No weather protection though, not ideal for north Scotland. Cheers
 
i traded my 2017 1200gsa this year for the simple fact that it was corroding alarmingly, despite always garaged, first bmw ive had with that problem and been buying the brand for 15years. There wasnt a massive difference between a nearly new used and the new bike which impressively now comes with 3 years warranty and breakdown.
 
I would not even think about not upgrading to a 1250GS because the motor is so much better than the 1200 engine...Smoother,much more TORQUE so you get much bettter roll-on/acceleration and quieter valvetrain.2022 is also the last year of the current 2013-2022 1200/1250LC generation and next years bike will be all new so it is probably a good idea to wait a little and let others be the first adopters...;)
Merry Christmas !
 
I would not even think about not upgrading to a 1250GS because the motor is so much better than the 1200 engine...Smoother,much more TORQUE so you get much bettter roll-on/acceleration and quieter valvetrain.2022 is also the last year of the current 2013-2022 1200/1250LC generation and next years bike will be all new so it is probably a good idea to wait a little and let others be the first adopters...;)
Merry Christmas !

Yeh, I probably will. 60 next year, so good excuse to treat myself :) Cheers
 
I would not even think about not upgrading to a 1250GS because the motor is so much better than the 1200 engine...Smoother,much more TORQUE so you get much bettter roll-on/acceleration and quieter valvetrain.2022 is also the last year of the current 2013-2022 1200/1250LC generation and next years bike will be all new so it is probably a good idea to wait a little and let others be the first adopters...;)
Merry Christmas !

It is an improvement but it not so much better than the 1200 engine. I compared the 1200 and 1250 back to back and yes the 1250 was stronger but the 1200 was not lacking.
Certainly not enough for me to upgrade. The next generation hopefully will be 150bhp and will be very interested once the faults have been established as we all know their will be some. I also suspect BMW will offer a 4 year warranty to match ducati and to attract the 1250s that are out of warranty.
 
Dont kidd yourself...I would not waste my time on a 1200...The 1250 might not be a big upgrade on paper but in real life the difference is like weak coffee compared to a rich mocca latte...:D the additional 84 cc and 2 intake cam-lobes make a huge difference ! ESpecially when you make a side by side roll-on against the weak 2017-18 EU-4 R1200GS !
 
Dont kidd yourself...I would not waste my time on a 1200...The 1250 might not be a big upgrade on paper but in real life the difference is like weak coffee compared to a rich mocca latte...:D the additional 84 cc and 2 intake cam-lobes make a huge difference ! ESpecially when you make a side by side roll-on against the weak 2017-18 EU-4 R1200GS !

Yes but mine is not EU4 - remapped with sublime fueling. The difference between the two at maximum acceleration was only slightly noticeable. The 1250 was quicker - not disputed and certainly not night and day. I do not need to kidd myself. 11 bhp between the 2 bikes. Night and day? It is you who is kidding themselves.

I am waiting for the 150bhp version.
 
rode a 2022 3k mile GS1250 today - here's a frank summary of my first impressions

missing dynamic pro - which seems odd as it got heated seat and grips, and USB sockets so quite high spec

quite nimble,
front suspension doesn't match the rear - too soft, too little damping
brakes good but bike gets upset by the suspension issue and becomes a handful under some circumstances
"you can't feel the transition to the high lift cam" ahh - yes you can - its quite marked
New dash doesn't work - why can't they leave two normal analogue dials, its millions of times faster and easier to use
got as sore foot the gear lever is all wrong
after 30 miles hit "road" rider mode and its a disaster - changes the entire bike's handling for the worse - front goes all wrong
seats a disaster - which is a very normal BMW idea
keyless disaster - and they don't go to sleep, so its theft-tastic
400 pages of software license info on the cluster menus !!!
second hand for not much - I think you'd be quite happy

Needs new forks (back to the bigger diameter of my air cooled one's), a new front shock set up for grown ups, by grown ups, and a rounded end like the air cooled adventures get on the gear lever, and an easier gear change
 


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