TDM v. 1200GS Options

[Buzz]

I DON'T WANT ONE !!!!!!!

Otherwise I would have one

And it won't fit down my back passage - Oo'er missus

This post has been edited by Buzz: Thu 3rd Aug 2006, 10:53 AM

[wicklamulla]

I can only speak for myself on this point and in no way am I trying to provide the definitive reason that people ride a GS. South of the great divide I'm sure that the status symbol that the bike has is probably the main reason thanks to Charlie and Ewan.
I bought mine after test riding as many bikes of the same ilk that I could get my hands on. Varadero, excellent over long distances - crap in town. Tiger, nice an tall - front end like a suprised rhino and an awful finish on the engine. TDM900, toomuch like a sports bike. V-Strom, very mannerly and was seriously tempted. KTM Adventure, great bike but very skittish in the back end and two petrol caps! 1150 Adventure,too heavy for me but excellent bike.

R1200GS, perfect for me. No matter what riding you do on it, long distance, a-roads, b-roads, through town, Applecross-M6 it just does it no problem. Bought it a year ago and seeing as I don't have a car it's been through all weathers and even got me to work through a foot of snow. The balance of the bike is confidence inspiring and it suits the way I ride though I don't ride particularly fast. You can get lots of bits for it if you want to, but you don't have to, all I bought was a taller screen, engine guards, panniers and a touratech nose guard cos the front end is ugly. My daughter loves the pillion and reckons it's even better than the Varaderos. It's got it's problems, ABS takes some getting used to, indicator switching(nuff said!) but on the whole I would honestly say it is the best bike that I have ever ridden it's the definitve Jack of all trade's. It's easy to clean and after a winter on British roads the only rust I could find was on one of the nuts that holds the pannier on and before you ask, no I didn't clean it every day! Yeah the engine sticks out but as far as I'm concerned that just means I've got somewhere to rest my legs when going down the motorway! The cornering is exact though the bars can feel a bit wide if you're not an orangutang(luckily, I am). Yes it's ugly but I want to ride it not marry it! And like they say 'marry an ugly woman because they will always be grateful'
I've got to go now cos the kid wants a lift to town where I will park it by TK Max and guaranteed people will stop and look at it, and either love it or hate it, but they will stop all the same! Maybe they'll go on and on and on about it aswell
Nice one Bob! What colour you getting! The new silver grey is quite pretty. Guiness, at this rate you're gonna have to change the name of the site

sounds a good enuf reason to me Wrex. funny ting is i met Wrex las year and kinda liked his bike, this year i really liked it. sod these crap TDM's bye

[ChrisG]

If you really wanted a status symbol wouldn't you go the whole hog and get the HP2 full-on Enduro? Anyone one who could ride one of these things the way they're meant to be ridden can park his boots under my bed any day of the week . . . especially if I could steal it for the occasional dirty weekend I reckon the HP2 is one of the most totally wicked, bare bones, extreme machines out there at the moment. 25kg lighter than the R-GS and it puts out more ponies. Also $5k more than the GS, but when you're throwing around that much mulah, who cares?

Still a hell of a weight to take offroad though.

[laughin in a win...]

Still a hell of a weight to take offroad though.

it might take some effort to get it over fallen trees, but then again it'd probably smash straight through them, it'd be a bummer too if you got caught in very deep ruts and the bike starts to see saw as its cylinders get wedged on each side of the rut .

[TDMBob]

Nice one Bob! What colour you getting!

Hi Wrex been a bit busy this week so not been on Forum. She is Red across the tank and the Mudguard with black surrounds (hope I am making sence here) she has ABS heated grips paniers which I am impressed with the guy at BMW showed me how they expand but I don't get her till next week but when I do will post pic if I am allowed here.

cheers Bob

[wrex]

Hi Wrex been a bit busy this week so not been on Forum. She is Red across the tank and the Mudguard with black surrounds (hope I am making sence here) she has ABS heated grips paniers which I am impressed with the guy at BMW showed me how they expand but I don't get her till next week but when I do will post pic if I am allowed here.

cheers Bob

SNAP!

Welcome to the darkside Bob.

[sidestand]

Hmmmm, is this why next year's RTT is being held in Germany?

Der Karpe GS Forum, ja?

[alunl]

Hmmmm, is this why next year's RTT is being held in Germany?

Der Karpe GS Forum, ja?

Ja, es ist ein schone motorad...

But I still like the Carpe TDM forum... and the TDM riders... And my Mk 2 850 was a great bike (must have been for me to keep it for over 5 years and something like 37,000 miles), just that the GS is even better (in my opinion)

So how many former TDM riders now have a GS and still frequent Carpe?

1 Me
2 Wrex
3 Bob (next week)

Any more?

This post has been edited by alunl: Fri 4th Aug 2006, 02:47 PM

[dbninja]

Ja, es ist ein schone motorad...

But I still like the Carpe TDM forum... and the TDM riders... And my Mk 2 850 was a great bike (must have been for me to keep it for over 5 years and something like 37,000 miles), just that the GS is even better (in my opinion)

So how many former TDM riders now have a GS and still frequent Carpe?

1 Me
2 Wrex
3 Bob (next week)

Any more?

4, dbninja got a blue one with all the toys

[sidestand]

I've got a K1200RS, does that count ?

[masterbrewer]

Recent first hand experience!

Just returned from a 9 day Ulysses Adventure Riders Outback Rally at Arkaroola in the Gammon Ranges & beyond in South Australia where I had the only TDM 850 adventure bike anyone had ever seen.

The number of riders who came up to me and said that THIS WAS THE BIKE THEY REALLY WANTED TO HAVE but never quite got one was fascinating.

They were quite impressed with my simple mods (see gallery photos) and when it came to getting into the rough, my old TDM matched it with the best (ridden to suit the terrain of course) (report & photos to come so soon as I can work out how to load them) *************any help would be appreciated*******

One 100km road section at speed matched the BMW 1150GSA except for the floodways where the BMW just floated over the deeper ruts at the same speed while I backed off as I hadn't adjusted the ride height before I left Adelaide, but soon caught up again down the straights. The BMW can't be matched for outright top speed as we are giving away so many cc's but to the average rider's comfort zone they seem to be a match.

.....Absolute hoot over the fast long sweeping ball bearing type road surface, power sliding the rear end from corner to corner........totally abusing the rear Conti TKC 80 tyres. Wow!.............. what a blast.

Over the tight rutted tracks the TDM was much easier to handle than the BMW but not as easy as the accompanying Honda 650 Dominator, however he couldn't keep up with us on the open road for comfort or speed.

The handling on the dirt was as much fun and felt as stable as on the black stuff.

I think it impressed quite a few so called experienced "Adventure Riders"

My only regret is the small tank & relatively poor mileage, although the extra 10litres of fuel I carried from time to time didn't seem to bother the handling and in fact when they were emptied, the TDM seemed to handle liked a skittish b..tch.

Sure covers the open road be it dirt or bitumen extremely well for what it is.

Cheers

[Pict]

Recent first hand experience!
Sure covers the open road be it dirt or bitumen extremely well for what it is.

Any video record of your going bush this or past times? Would be a real treat for the rest of us more mundane souls.

[masterbrewer]

Love to but don't know how !

Help would be appreciated

[Pict]

Love to but don't know how !

Help would be appreciated

Wasn't thinking so much shot FROM the bike (maybe later..) but OF the bike and you in action. Was hoping maybe some other guy was at the meeting with a camcorder.

[Rikster]

Reading this with great interest!
My mate has just got rid of his KTM 950 Adventure-seat too uncomfortable for touring! He ended up getting a KTM Enduro, 635 SCM I think it is, for mucking about off road, but also bought a 1995 K1100GS-the original big beak fronted wagon with 47,000 miles on it for he and the wife to tour on. When he told me he had bought that with so many miles I thought he was nuts, but after having seen it in the flesh, it is in incredible condition, looks as good if not better than my clean '01 TDM with 8,000 miles on!
Can't imagine a TDM looking as good after so many miles, this thing could easily pass for 3 or 4 years old and milage to match!
Still wouldn't want one though !

[Beaker]

you going onto reserve to get that figure Wrex ??? i am impressed as i thought they drank fuel.

Wicky,

On a recent european trip, two up and with full luggage I managed 59 mpg at one stage - over 240 miles before the reserve came on (it indicated 47 miles until I ran out).

Paula and I weren't hanging around either.

Sorry you couldn't make it to the Exmoor Run yesterday.

Andy

[wicklamulla]

Wicky,

On a recent european trip, two up and with full luggage I managed 59 mpg at one stage - over 240 miles before the reserve came on (it indicated 47 miles until I ran out).

Paula and I weren't hanging around either.

Sorry you couldn't make it to the Exmoor Run yesterday.

Andy

ffs i am impressed ! so they have a 20 ltr tank then ?? you GS'ers really wanna me to tek the bait and buy one !! Ya Dougal i was itching to get out on ole "No.7" yesterday ferra spin with ye lot but i was away fer the weekend doon in Sth. Devon with wifey and de mudder in law plus Opec were threatening to limit my oil reserves that i have stock piled in the UAE

[bertieboy]

Hello all

New to the forum and not (yet) a TDM owner - I am test riding a range of bikes at the moment and have the TDM lined up for next week.

Thought I would add my twopenneth to the discussion because one of the bikes that I have tested is the 1200GS - those awfully nice BMW people gave me a whole day with it.

My overall impression was of having been cheated, not by BMW but by the press.

For what seems like years I have been reading articles extolling the virtues of the BMW R1200GS, which generally include phrases such as "ultimate all rounder" and "does everything you ask of it." Now that sounded absolutely perfect. It's good to ride around town but can cope with touring. This has to be the bike for me.

I think my opinion could best be summed up by saying that this is the emperor's new bike. How strange that in all the plaudits nobody thought to mention that the thing feels like you are driving a tractor. OK, so it is a fast tractor with good handling, but that engine... . With the level of vibration thrown up by the bike I was put in mind of one of those machines that mixes a unique paint colour for you in B&Q.

Maybe I expected too much of it but that is one of the problems with hype.. it takes a lot of living up to.

[Beaker]

Hello all

New to the forum and not (yet) a TDM owner - I am test riding a range of bikes at the moment and have the TDM lined up for next week.

Thought I would add my twopenneth to the discussion because one of the bikes that I have tested is the 1200GS - those awfully nice BMW people gave me a whole day with it.

My overall impression was of having been cheated, not by BMW but by the press.

For what seems like years I have been reading articles extolling the virtues of the BMW R1200GS, which generally include phrases such as "ultimate all rounder" and "does everything you ask of it." Now that sounded absolutely perfect. It's good to ride around town but can cope with touring. This has to be the bike for me.

I think my opinion could best be summed up by saying that this is the emperor's new bike. How strange that in all the plaudits nobody thought to mention that the thing feels like you are driving a tractor. OK, so it is a fast tractor with good handling, but that engine... . With the level of vibration thrown up by the bike I was put in mind of one of those machines that mixes a unique paint colour for you in B&Q.

Maybe I expected too much of it but that is one of the problems with hype.. it takes a lot of living up to.

Yes but anybody with any real knowledge of BMW engines would know that they get FASTER and SMOOTHER the more MILES you do. In fact just the opposite of Jap bikes.

I've done nearly 11,000 miles on my R1200GS in just under one year and it gets better every time I ride it. I've spent over 6 weeks during this period touring Europe, two up with full luggage and the fuel consumption has never been below 50 mpg, including long spellsat over 115 mph, often travelling in nthe saddle for 8 - 10 hours a day. Tank range is in the range of 240 - 285 miles. Comfort is excellent and vibration is minimal. Being a large twin cylinder engine what vibration there is, is very low frequency and does not numb the fingers as the high frequency vibes of multi cylinder engines often do.

Tractor like - in what way? Maybe you refer to the engine sound. If so, it is an aircooled boxer engine if you hadn't noticed so it isn't encased in a sound deadening water jacket. Gives the bike a lot of character IMO which is what is sadly missing in many modern machines. If you don't like listening to the engine - wear ear plugs. The Health and Safety executive amongst us seem to think we all should anyway!

I think a BMW is a for life - not just for a few months until the latest 'must have' toy comes along. Asd for the press, if you buy a bike just based on their findings then poor you - I wouldn't piss on most of them if they were on fire. Maybe you need to try it again, and again, and again.

It's a bit like a song or album you first hear and think - wow! After a few plays it doesn't sound so good and you stop laying it. Then you hear a new album from your favourite artist which is a bit of a departure from his/their normal stuff and think ' oh dear'! After a few plays it starts to sound better and better until you're playing it all the time and it doesn't get boring.

Well, a BMW's like the latter.

Back on the subject of vibration - have you ever rode a Norton Commando with the isolastics too tight? THAT'S vibration!

Dougal

This post has been edited by Dougal: Thu 17th Aug 2006, 03:41 PM

[wicklamulla]

Yes but anybody with any real knowledge of BMW engines would know that they get FASTER and SMOOTHER the more MILES you do. In fact just the opposite of Jap bikes.

I've done nearly 11,000 miles on my R1200GS in just under one year and it gets better every time I ride it. I've spent over 6 weeks during this period touring Europe, two up with full luggage and the fuel consumption has never been below 50 mpg, including long spellsat over 115 mph, often travelling in nthe saddle for 8 - 10 hours a day. Tank range is in the range of 240 - 285 miles. Comfort is excellent and vibration is minimal. Being a large twin cylinder engine what vibration there is, is very low frequency and does not numb the fingers as the high frequency vibes of multi cylinder engines often do.

Tractor like - in what way? Maybe you refer to the engine sound. If so, it is an aircooled boxer engine if you hadn't noticed so it isn't encased in a sound deadening water jacket. Gives the bike a lot of character IMO which is what is sadly missing in many modern machines. If you don't like listening to the engine - wear ear plugs. The Health and Safety executive amongst us seem to think we all should anyway!

I think a BMW is a for life - not just for a few months until the latest 'must have' toy comes along. Asd for the press, if you buy a bike just based on their findings then poor you - I wouldn't piss on most of them if they were on fire. Maybe you need to try it again, and again, and again.

It's a bit like a song or album you first hear and think - wow! After a few plays it doesn't sound so good and you stop laying it. Then you hear a new album from your favourite artist which is a bit of a departure from his/their normal stuff and think ' oh dear'! After a few plays it starts to sound better and better until you're playing it all the time and it doesn't get boring.

Well, a BMW's like the latter.

Back on the subject of vibration - have you ever rode a Norton Commando with the isolastics too tight? THAT'S vibration!

Dougal

aye Dougal i wear tight fitting y fronts and i get the same problems !! I do tink the TDM is a pretty horrible riding experience at first, it took me ages to love it too be honest and even still every now and again i think it sounds and feels like a cement mixer !!