2003 BMW R 1150 GS and 5'7 rider???

[Schattenjager]

Well, thankfully gas prices are skyrocketing (exaggeration intended) and I am going to be forced into buying a motorcycle - for gas savings, keep miles off the Tacoma, cheap insurance, etc.

The bike is going to be a BMW. No substitute kinda attitude here! Either an 1150GS or a F650GS.

I found a great buy on a 2003 BMW R 1150 GS for $7500 It's got 23K miles, is bright yellow (!) and has a full dealership service history. It was owned by a "mature" rider that wanted less sport and more cruise.

For $2K more I can get one of the last F650GS in a 2007 model. These bikes fit me like a glove height wise, but I worry about it getting tiring on long trips.

I am fairly fit and have picked up some heavy bikes in the muck before - not fun, but certainly doable. I really like the idea of having a killer bike for < $10K The big concern is will an 1150 be too tall even with the "short and squatty person" seat? A BMW sales man is actually a little shorter than I am and has an 1150 GS - I just don't know how smart that is - or isn't. If it's close - I can always glue hockey pucks to the bottom of my boots.

Any veteran riders with sage advice?

[goodtimes]

I've never ridden an 1150....but I am not sure I would want one on questionable terrain. They have a hundred or so pounds on the 650...25% more weight, right out of the box. I don't think I would like to pick one up all that often. Even my 650gs, loaded, is pushing 550 pounds, and is not fun to pick up. Plus, you just can't touch the gas milage of the 650gs (70mpg when I am nice to it, 60 when I am not).

But, I'll be honest, the 650 needs a bit of work, IMO. The suspension is very easy to overwealm when you load it down. The bar to peg distance is on the short side (puts your arms in a less than optimal position when standing up), the seat is downright painful, and there are a few choice pices of equipment missing....things like a chain guide.

But, those are all easily addressed (I said easy, not cheap). Read the summer issue of the Overland Journal for a more in-depth version of my opinions on the F650GS. Read the Winter issue for even more info....and watch for the wrap up next spring. They really are good bikes. They have a definate lean towards street performance, but they have a lot of things going for them when compared to the other adventure touring bikes....not the least of which is the fact that they are a BMW.

Oh, you might also look for the 2008 F650GS.....rumored to be showing up with a parallel twin instead of the single used through 07.

[HMR]

I'm 5'9", 30" inseam and 150lbs. I don't have any problem with the 1150 or 1200GS's. Stock seat works fine but you might like the low saddle better. Parking lots are a bigger danger for most folks than the trail. Unless you're Jimmy Lewis, the big GS can be a handful offroad for us sub-6 footers. I ride mine on the trails all the time but I'm slow. When I had a KTM950 I went fast but I learned it's better to fall over slow than fast.

FWIW- I was feeling a little stressed out about 2 hours ago. I got on the bike and took a ride along the coast. Now I'm back home with that warm, fuzzy feeling. What's the old saying... "You never see a motorcyle parked in front of a psychiatrist's office"?

[Sleeping Dog]

Ah the big pig. The BMW low seat is very uncomfortable and some of the alternative such as Corbin and Sargent are effectively a similar height as the standard BMW seat since they are wider.

Try it and if you find it too tall change the shocks out for a set of Wilbers or the BMW shock from the RT. With 23K miles on the bike the shocks will be pretty worn anyway. The sidestand will be fine up you'll want to cut down the center stand.

I've known several inseam challenged riders with GS's and they got by just fine but others never got comfortable and made a change.

A few years ago there was a woman who worked on the BMW demo team who was all of 5'5" and regularly rode a GS. She mounted and dismounted like you would on a bicycle throwing her right leg over the back of the bike when it was moving or alternately when stopping, slipping her right leg over the tank till she was side saddle and then would jump off and walk the bike to a halt.

Jim

[mountainpete]

It comes down to 4 things:

- Your confidence
- Your ability
- The terrain you choose to ride
- Your inseam

How much riding experience do you have? If you don't have much experience (or none), I would suggest looking elsewhere. If you have lots of experience, then it goes back to the top 4. Can you straddle it? Can you touch with both feet or are confident enough to work with just one?

There are lots of options to lower the bike, but if that's what you are going to do it would be cheaper to hold out for one that is already modded. The come up now and again on sites like advrider.com.

Pete

[Hltoppr]

A regular 1150GS can be modded to fit a 5' 7" rider....lower seat & suspension.

As a commuter, either bike will be nice. If it's just around town, I'd lean towards the F650. Lighter, great on gas, and with plenty of power for short commutes.

Now....If you were planning on doing any trips of extended length....say, over 300 miles from home....

1150GS....It won't get blown around on the highway, still gets decent mileage, and you won't have the throttle pinned at 70mph....it won't pin until about 120+ (not that I know that.... )

I'm a fan of the big bikes, and (1) Don't have a problem with the weight, although after you've picked it up for the seventh time in one afternoon you'll definitely appreciate some friends... (2) Travel at least 100+ miles to get to many "off road" destinations (3) Don't expect it to perform like a KTM 450 off road

For the price, a low mileage, dealer maintained 1150 will last many years to come, and will hold it's value a bit better than the F650.

My opinion...get the 1150...then if you want a dirtbike, find a $3K XRR or XRL or the like....

-H-

[Schattenjager]

Well, I got to the stealership at 9:00 sharp -the 1150 GS bike was sold...

Salesman set his buddy up over the weekend...

While it was still there I sat on it for a while and came to the conclusion that it would have to be modified a lot for me to ride comfortably. I had a bike once, back in the day, and fell like that the 1150 GS is too tall for me to ride safely right now. Also, if I were to put a lower suspension and seat on it, those mods would go a long way toward defeating the purpose of a GS.

Think I will stay on track for a 650 GS - much better fit and will let me decide how much bike I need / want.

Thanks for the input - this thread gave me a list of things to think about while sitting on that bike. I do appreciate it!

[jkam]

Why the fixation with BMW?

The f650 is a good bike, but for much less money you can get a Suzuki V Strom 650 and have a lot of money left over to either add goodies or whatever.

I have one (85,000 miles so far), it's been a very nice ride, plenty of power (it's a twin) for long rides on the highway, yet light enough and not too tall to allow some dirt riding.
The only issue I have with mine is a lack of ground clearance, it has a bash plate and it's been bashed many times when riding in the dirt.

$6000 out the door and much less in long term maintainance compared to the f650.

Something to consider, no?

[Kermit]

I have come to the conclusion. If you ride the street buy a street bike, ride the dirt get a dirt bike. If you are lucky enough to have two bikes that do their element well, will make you a happy man.

I thought I would save some money on gas too, buying a street bike. It wasn't the case. I couldn't get off the thing. I was always taking trips and shooting up the mountain to go play in the twisties on my days off.

So plopping down $7500 on a bike isn't going to save you any money. $7500 will however buy a hell of alot of fuel for the Tacoma. Of course, if you do get a GS, I think your Tacoma will get lonely.

FWIW- I was feeling a little stressed out about 2 hours ago. I got on the bike and took a ride along the coast. Now I'm back home with that warm, fuzzy feeling. What's the old saying... "You never see a motorcyle parked in front of a psychiatrist's office"?

I took Alice out yesterday on the dirtbikes, she was feeling run down and all, after riding she was re-energized. Motorcycles move the soul.

[Speaker]

If you ride the street buy a street bike, ride the dirt get a dirt bike.

And, if you want something that doesn't do either one of those things well.. get a DR650

However, for this rider I would say an "Adventure" type bike would be fine. There are thousands of people who pavement pound the GS and ride dirt roads without incident. The original poster didn't really allude to wanting to "ride trails" so I think he'll be fine.

Also, another +1 to the Strom. There's a guy up here in Flag that bought one a number of months ago and can't stop raving about it. The first time he showed up to camp on that bike he was "testing" it's load capacity. He had cases of beer in each of the panniers, a tent, bag, and clothes in the top top box, and a cooler strapped on top of that. He said he did 120 on the highway and had no trouble on the kind-of-rough dirt road to camp.