Hi All
Looking for (UK based) advice, might be a long ish one so strap yourself in!
- Currently own a Yamaha TDM 900 (2010 ABS) for a 110mile commute twice a week. My bike needs to do all year commute, back road fun with friends on a weekend, 3 day away trip etc, be ultra reliable, cheap to fix & buy & insure, no one wants to steal it due to London parking daytime etc. All rounder and cheap, adventure sit up position for £3k ish. Loved my Yam 2nd Gen FZ1 previous bike but for all year travel it wasn’t quite there (I’m 6 foot and prefer adv sitting position)
- Problem with the current TDM is the cornering, I find it terrible to corner on fast A-B roads. I mean really terrible. But great for the motorway straight line bits
- Hence thinking of a swap, but a £3k “do everything comfortably” on an Adv riding position while being a fun bike to ride & own is difficult to find. I don’t want some bland 50hp generic bike as I enjoy my fun weekend rides and some decent Torque
- AND hence why I’m here! Started looking at FleaBay and for £3k ish we seem to get a heck of a lot of 1150GS bike for the money buying privately! Even at £2.5k and I would then spend £500 on preventive servicing (rear hub etc?)
- I can get an 1150GS around 2002, 40-60k miles, lots of extras, long ish ownership (2-7 years), normally some recent work done, one even had new clutch, some have ABS some don’t as we know the Servo issue, etc. I would have to buy very carefully and know it’s history or I understand that the £3k could become £5k quickly with fix bills!!!
My question to all of you 1150GS owners is
- am I going mad? Is it too old now? Will it start giving me no end of issues considering my mileage? The TDM 900 is ultra reliable even at 12 years old but is a 20 year old replacement a bit too much? I work in Financial Services and cannot afford to be late or be riding an unreliable bike, hence the TDM has been a dream for the job. Shame it’s fast cornering is soooooo bad.
Always liked the 1150GS hence the thinking of owning it as potentially a “forever bike” alongside my old Honda XR 400 (2005 with kick start only, no ignition key or radiator). I cannot afford more bikes than my Honda Enduro plus an ultra reliable do it all commuter
Thanks for staying till the end, advice from current and very recent 1150GS owners welcome! I know people will have owned them a decade ago, but need experience of those with recent ownership… Looking to buy when I return from holiday in mid April
Thanks
Nando
Looking for (UK based) advice, might be a long ish one so strap yourself in!
- Currently own a Yamaha TDM 900 (2010 ABS) for a 110mile commute twice a week. My bike needs to do all year commute, back road fun with friends on a weekend, 3 day away trip etc, be ultra reliable, cheap to fix & buy & insure, no one wants to steal it due to London parking daytime etc. All rounder and cheap, adventure sit up position for £3k ish. Loved my Yam 2nd Gen FZ1 previous bike but for all year travel it wasn’t quite there (I’m 6 foot and prefer adv sitting position)
- Problem with the current TDM is the cornering, I find it terrible to corner on fast A-B roads. I mean really terrible. But great for the motorway straight line bits
- Hence thinking of a swap, but a £3k “do everything comfortably” on an Adv riding position while being a fun bike to ride & own is difficult to find. I don’t want some bland 50hp generic bike as I enjoy my fun weekend rides and some decent Torque
- AND hence why I’m here! Started looking at FleaBay and for £3k ish we seem to get a heck of a lot of 1150GS bike for the money buying privately! Even at £2.5k and I would then spend £500 on preventive servicing (rear hub etc?)
- I can get an 1150GS around 2002, 40-60k miles, lots of extras, long ish ownership (2-7 years), normally some recent work done, one even had new clutch, some have ABS some don’t as we know the Servo issue, etc. I would have to buy very carefully and know it’s history or I understand that the £3k could become £5k quickly with fix bills!!!
My question to all of you 1150GS owners is
- am I going mad? Is it too old now? Will it start giving me no end of issues considering my mileage? The TDM 900 is ultra reliable even at 12 years old but is a 20 year old replacement a bit too much? I work in Financial Services and cannot afford to be late or be riding an unreliable bike, hence the TDM has been a dream for the job. Shame it’s fast cornering is soooooo bad.
Always liked the 1150GS hence the thinking of owning it as potentially a “forever bike” alongside my old Honda XR 400 (2005 with kick start only, no ignition key or radiator). I cannot afford more bikes than my Honda Enduro plus an ultra reliable do it all commuter
Thanks for staying till the end, advice from current and very recent 1150GS owners welcome! I know people will have owned them a decade ago, but need experience of those with recent ownership… Looking to buy when I return from holiday in mid April
Thanks
Nando