128K Miles - Too Much?

Oooo - GS n00b here - be gentle with this virgin, por favor!

But... NOT a newbie to bikes and riding. Lots of dirt bikes when I was a youngster and when my kids were young. Then there were some road bikes until about 1991. An injury at work caused me to have to stop riding for 20 years. Last year I bought another road bike. Now, that's not where I want to go and a GS fits the needs of what and where I want to ride.

So... at a local dealer - who shall remain nameless for the purpose of this report - has a 2001 1150 GS with ~128,000 miles. The out-the-door price is nicely under my max budget of $8k.

This bike is a trade-in on a newer GS. But it appears that this one has never taken a dirt nap. There are zero scars on the crash bars. Zero scars on the heads or head protectors. No - none - zero - scars on the paint - anywhere that I could see. No marks or scars on any of the usual places that one would expect on a bike that had EVER been offroad.

Plenty of farkle - LED lights, pegs, covers and other 'stuff'. But not really done up for offroad. It's obvious that this one has been a commuter or tourer on the pavement.

Apparently there's a thick sheaf of maintenance records that I'll peruse before completing the sale. I don't really expect any issues therein.

Finally, I'm currently riding a new road bike - It is not a garage queen and I do ride in the rain when 'stuff happens' and the heavens open when I'm far from home. In other words my current bike has dust and road dirt in the crooks and crannies that every bike has.

This 2001 1150 GS has none. The salesman took the seat off and there is nothing hiding - no dirt, no dust, no road grime. It's as if the bike had been taken to detail shop.

The original tool kit is there - with the original foam to keep the tools from rattling! No dust. No dirt. No grime.

The pictures speak for themselves.

So the question is this - are 128K miles too many? What's your opinion if you please.

Thanks!

To be honest I would feel a bit scared with that kind of mileage but ask Hank Arriazola for his opinión. Www.motohank.com. He has an adventure bike shop close to San Antonio and owns a 1100 GS I believe 1996 with almost 500000 miles. He will tell you yours is brand new.

It all depends on what you want and what you want to pay. I just picked up a R1200GS with 116K miles on it but it has been used. Plenty of niggly bits to fix up on it but it seems to run great. Time will tell I guess. I paid about 1/2 of the low retail on NADA so I think it was worth it. If it works out then it was a good deal, if things start to go south then I have some wiggle room for fixing it. But I am assuming that resale value will be nil down the road.

The reason I spouted all of this out is that I feel it would apply to the bike you are looking at. For the right price it could be an absolute gem, or a nightmare.

So using my criteria if you can pick it up for $1500 to $2000 I would say why not, give it a go.

Oh and BTW: The one I got has service records from brand new at a local dealer but they will not give them to me, even though the PO said it was OK. Some new policy about litigation again. Stupid people that sue. So I hope you ca get them as that would be a big plus.

Marc

You have an $8000 budget so you can do much better than that. I have an 01 with less than half the mileage (60K) with many upgrades (Russell seat, Tourtech pieces, Remus, Ztecnik screen, pegs, new tires, etc) that I know I can't sell for more than $5500. There are plenty of guys here that have older bikes that they want a ton of cash for. It just isn't there unless they find the guy that doesn't do their research or has too much money anyway.

I honestly don't know the answer to your question, but such a well-maintained well-looked after bike like that... If it was a trade in I might ask to talk to the previous owner after looking at all the records, but the condition speaks for itself. I would talk to a good GS mechanic and if I heard what I would expect to hear I would be buying it!

That thing looks like it was in a mileage test where it just sat on rollers and spun the wheels! I would pull the rubber plug on the throttle side of the engine cases and check the inside of the clutch area. If it is a clean on the inside as it is on the outside.... A little rust is not unusual. Then I'd put it on the center stand and check the final drive for any play in any direction. Be sure to check for any play in the front suspension, ie: worn bushings. Pull, poke and prod all of the usual places. Be sure to check the log book for when the last spline lube was done and what condition the clutch is in. I'd be surprised if it has the original clutch slave cylinder. If it does, I'd replace it now. See how it rides. It won't be the fastest thing you've probably ever rode, and it will feel like a tractor in some ways, but that's normal. Then the negotiations would begin. I'd buy that bike in a heartbeat for 3-4K. My 02 has 53K on it and isn't in that pretty of condition. (of course I ride off road, that's what the dang thing is for; going anywhere).Good luck and if you get it, Have Fun and Let the Farkeling Begin!

no one has managed to actually wear out a oil head yet. some are over 500k

You will be replacing some parts along the way, but with good care you will never wear out the engine or the transmission or final drive, but you will need some rebuilding and repair along the way. and some bearings will need attention. It is all in the hall of wisdom.

See how many miles on the clutch and slave. Make sure the ABS works. Plan to upgrade the cam chain tensioner. Actual price should be less than 4K unless you have a new clutch and plates, new slave, new pivot bearings, maybe a big ball bearing in the final drive and rebuilt drive shaft, and recently rebuilt shocks. even then, price no where near 8K.

Rod

One thing that is very likely to fail soon on the bike is the tank liner. They have a service life that is apparently around 15 years unless you live where I do and then it is greatly reduced. The liner is not necessary but it will make a mess of things if it clogs the fuel intake thus creating a super lean situation. I ended up just removing the big chunks, flushing out the tank, replacing the filter and running it bare inside. All good.

You got the best color scheme there though!

Looking at the bike I don't believe it has more than 100K on the clock. The Muffler headers are still shiny and all paint on the engine looks like new.

+1.

A buddy just bought the exact same model, similar mileage, almost as clean , I mean really close to that clean it amazing with Jesse bags and lots of farkles for $5000

I also had the exact same bike and I wouldn't worry about the bike itself, mine had 100K miles and ran like a top. I sold it for $6k with farkles.

I think the price is too high.

Miles are fine, price is about 2x what it should be.

with any other gas tank on there, it would be a $2500 bike.

Sold an '01 with a metric ton of expensive accessories like Jesse bags, Adventure tank and an Aeroflow screen last summer for $4400 with 102k miles on it. I was happy to get that for it! Keep looking.

+1 on the last few posts. Looks like a great bike, good luck on getting it down to a reasonable price.

What is the price? "Nicely under $8k" what does that mean? It is evident that people are reading that to mean different things. I agree bike is way overpriced at or near 8k.

My friend, that's a $2000 motorcycle. I'm a little curious about the aftemarket covers (I think, I actually don't know what they are) for the front pivot pins. If that checks out OK, here's a quick list of things that will need replacing immediately. Brake lines. Fuel lines. Drive shaft. Rear pivot pins. Slave cylinder. If all that has been done, it's a $3K motorcycle. You will eventually need a new clutch and new front brake discs.

With these bikes you normally get a good or a bad one. A good one will go forever. A bad one will cost you multi-thousands of dollars every 30K miles. This bike has made it to 128K miles, which means it was probably a good one. If you can get it for a reasonable price and you don't mind a little tinkering it may be a great deal.

There is a beautiful low mile 11GS in the flee mkt right now asking 8.5k.

i bought a 95 r1100gs in june '12 for $3300.. it came with a never used engine and final drive which is sitting in my buddys garage as art work

bike had 148k on it.. in oct did a 2700 mile trip in a week from pittsburgh to ft lauderdale and then looped out west through the smokies tale of the dragon/ blue ridge highway. got 157k on it now.. knock on wood not a single problem yet.

even better my friend has the same 95 1100gs. i knew he was the best to be able to feel if there was an issue.. he took it for test ride and even rode it home for me lol.. so i bought it with only sitting on his bike for a 1 min couple days before i bought mine.

off on a 36hr 600+ mile trip to DC this weekend.

Thanks to everyone that answered. I know these sorts of forums are valuable for the knowledge each inmate brings to the forum.

Thanks!

The price - OTD - tax title and license - $6700.

Don't yell! :huh :eek1

Obviously the sales guy saw a n00b with stars in his eyes and wanted a nice commission just before Christmas.

I'm inclined to pass on this one as I doubt that the dealership will bring the price into the realm of reality - I have the impression that they are really proud of the bike.

The cases are plastic - nice unmarred plastic, but still plastic. I fully expect to have any bike take a dirt nap on me at some point and it'd be just my luck that an errant rock would reach up and shatter one of 'em. Aluminum that can take a whack is much more to my liking. So that's at least another $$ grand or so. And it'll need a seat to support my scrawny ass - another $$ 2/3 of a bike buck.

The point is that spending $$ would not be done regardless of the price I could bargain them to. So, after sleeping on it I'll pass methinks.

Thanks again for the input.

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