My New to me 1150GS/A

Hi everybody , My name is Clint "ironarmknives" and Last night I found this '04 r1150GS/A with 40,000 Miles for $5,000.00 needs a back tire, and the eng. guard is cracked. I'll post more pic's later today after it gets light… got back home at 10pm last night, I've been reading this site for any info on or about all adv. bikes for about two months now you all have helped a lot ,even the "bike vs. bike" it helped me make up my mined that my heart wanted one bike, my wallet wanted another, my common sense wanted another ….. LOL so I went with my Heart !!!!!!!
the 04 1150 GS Adventure is the look and bike i wanted…. for all types of reasons and now i have it….Yahooooooo!!!!!!!!! just wanted to say thanks for all of you who posted about all the stuff….. "tire picks ,fun add ons…. and pic's of your bikes….all of it helped……and what I think I got out of all of it, is you all like your bikes…..and riding more than what type of bike ….. about me I live In San Diego,Ca. for my whole life except the Army days i Was a combat Medic, and weapons spec. for ten years, now I Make Knives, and work Construction,as a equipment operator.. I have a 17.5 year old daughter who rides dirt bikes , and wants to be a Game warren officer.. and a very Cool wife of 24 years… who works for the school dist. NOW about the good Part
MY NEW BIKE VERY CLEAN, ALL THE EXTRAS , I THINK AND LOW MILES ,I DO NEED A REAR TIRE I want a knobby looking tire set up on the bike for this first set of tires , i work 40 miles from home so i get some great 80 mile a day ridding coming up it never rains in San Diego ,so i think i can get -a-way with the knobbys , then i'll try the street type may-be !!!. so wheres the best place to get a manual or CD on this great bike ,and brand of tire that last and run the best IS ? and i know SILVER is the Fastest color , but i Think She'll get a face lift ,….. thats more talking than i've done in months….. i just got back from the oil fields in North Dakota working 120 hrs. a week and am ready for some ridding fun .hope to make lots of new friends ….and contacts and learn lots Thanks
<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/user/ramonas1manarmy/media/IMG_1898.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/r/ramonas1manarmy_IMG_1898.jpg" border="0" alt="bmw photo IMG_1898.jpg"/></a>

That's a good buy considering the extras on the bike. I've spent more than than on parts for my R1150GS in the last month.

If you want a manual or almost any info on this fine steed, look to the bottom of the page and click on "Hall of Wisdom". Good stuff.
Couple of things to check. If it's ABS, flush the brake fluid. It's a bigger job with the servo ABS, but good to do. Also see if it's had the cam chain tensioner upgrade. Easy upgrade for under $100, big tear down if the chain rail self distructs. Great bike, I miss mine.

If you want a manual or almost any info on this fine steed, look to the bottom of the page and click on "Hall of Wisdom". Good stuff.
Couple of things to check. If it's ABS, flush the brake fluid. It's a bigger job with the servo ABS, but good to do. Also see if it's had the cam chain tensioner upgrade. Easy upgrade for under $100, big tear down if the chain rail self distructs. Great bike, I miss mine.

Yep....great looking bike. I am about to turn 100,000 miles on my 04 1150 GS and it's running like a top!.....I'm sure yours will be the same.

+ 1 on the Hall of Wisdom suggestion.....lots of great info there, as well as the brake fluid flush. Regarding the cam chain tensioner, my understanding is this upgrade was only relevant up to 2003 models.......I think I read (on this forum) that BMW got it right from 2004 model onward........I might be wrong but mine has the stock cam chain tensioner and no rattle on start up.

Congrats on the new (to you) bike.
Mine is an 02 and I have to say it works well for me on the long hauls.
The cam chain tensioner that requires replacement requires a 17mm wrench and the upgraded one is a 15mm so it is pretty easy to determine.

If you want a knobby... Be ready to spend lots on tires. That was the first shock of owning a motorcycle to me. The fact that tires don't last very long. Couple that with riding every day and sometimes longer commutes... Let's just say that I was disappointed that the TKC80's only lasted a couple months. They aren't cheap, so I never put them back on. I would have spent $1,200 a year on tires. With your commute you would burn through them faster.

I've been very happy with the look, ride, cost, and mileage I get from my Shinko's. I'm getting 8-10,000 per rear and roughly 15,000 per front. I've ridden them in sand at the salton sea and singletrack off the Ortega highway. They've more than held up.

Wow, sends like a great deal that you got on your bike.
I'm in Riverside, let me know if you want to ride sometime.
Perk

a few pic's in the day after my first ride thank for the replys I had to take the battery out and clean it it was not charging good at all now it is holding a charge "12.60v this morning".I think i'll get a pc680 oddessy and put it in the knife shop just incase this one craps out . now its tire time and time to fix the crash bar on the right side its broke needs welding .looking at the other bars not sure if i want these bars .i don't want them to fold into the tank like i've seen on some pic's i don't plan on off-roading soon but i do like the way the hepco's look.. man big bucks !!!!! about tires i might go for the more street tires this time i read the k60 wear out real quick Is this true.!!!!! I sure like the look .

thanks for the replays and help i need all i can get&#8230;.laid the bike over when pushing it around in the shop man it takes all a man has to lift it back up felt like a puss !!!!. went on a 130 mile ride today this bike handles much better than my kz1000p did &#8230;.. I like it.this bike get to 70 not even trying and feels good at 100 that will be the only time it ever see thats again me being a ex-medic i've seen what eating shit at 100 looks like NOT FOR ME thank-you!!! 55-70 will be my ave . I think i'll get a oddessy pc680 and put it in the shop just incase this one craps out&#8230;.i hate looking for one on the weekend you want to go fishing and no bike because no battery LOL the old owner said it was going bad&#8230;&#8230; it was the owner going bad LOL he should of cleaned it there was crap on the connections ,i cleaned it now it was reading 12.70v this morning .they don't make it easy to get to the battery do they LOL&#8230;.tires next week as soon as i figure out what i want knobbys or street-ish tires .. there are two plugs on the left side of bike .. if your sitting on it&#8230;one i know is POS battery "male plug sticking out"&#8230; what is the other plug for..female plug right next to it.. and next to the fuel gauge the oil side is that oil temp. gauge .. and when you turn on the heated grips how long before you start feeling the heat &#8230;.

Love my 1150GSA, was going to sell it after getting the 12GSA but just can't seem to let it go. Congrats on a fantastic ride

The pugs on the starter cover are
1. jump start B+ terminal (well that what I use it for) could be used to charge the battery.
2. A "PowerLet" socket, can be used to power up heated clothing (gerbing/Warm & Safe)

Tires?? If you run knobs on the street expect to buy a lot. I have been running mostly on the street so Michelin PR2 seem the best fit and last forever, well almost forever.

As to how long till the grips get warm, depends on the gloves you wear. Usually within or less than a minute

You bought that for $5000??!!

PO musta been drunk or stoned.

Come on--tell us the truth. You told him he had to sell it to you for $5000 or you were gonna go to the Feds and tell 'em what you know. Right?

Thanks for that bit! I also have an '02 GS/A that I've had for 2 years and was wondering how to tell if it'd already been replaced.

You got a fantastic deal on that. Congrats.

That's what I was thinking. Too good of a deal for there not to be a little blackmail invovled.

nope just looking every hour for a month had two for under 7000.00 and one for 6000.00 the 6000.00 was a 2001 with 19,000 but i bought the 04 one day before the guy got back to me&#8230;. its on craigslist in san diego now for 6500.00but its just a gs not a adventure its one of those fast yellow ones LOL man if only i had all the money !!!!!! ok so i changed the oil yesterday now tomorrow the FD oil and Clutch oil took it to work today 80mile round trip nice 70 derg. day in san diego no traffic to speak of.. just the normal 1 million people coming home from work i think i was 30 min ahead of the pack today&#8230;..nice to be ridding again &#8230;. oya no payments bike all mine glad i didn't get a 1200, or the tiger i'd be making payment&#8230;.and driving some plastic bike &#8230;. this mule is very nice.. still having a hard time keeping from driving under 70 the bike just sits at 3800rpm at 70 just saying lets go i'm just getting started &#8230;. LOL yes she talks&#8230;&#8230;.

You are going to love it. I have the exact same bike and ride it to work every day. They just love to go.

BTW, you when you were working the Bakken, you were driving by the family farm. It is amazing what the economy is like in ND now. More millionaires being created than any where else in the country right now. Lots of families are making amazing money on land that was not worth much a decade ago. Good for all those that held their mineral rights!

ya not many did, got them stole in the last oil boom there, lots of old land owners with kids all over the states getting a piece of the pie also but ya lots of money to be made if you can stand the weather , its just ugly no tree land but the green cash is real fine…….

Hey Clint,

I'm going to shoot you a PM with my phone number. I'm here in San Diego too and have a 2004 1150GS Adventure too. It's even in the faster silver color. It has almost 114,000 miles on it now. It's taken me all over the desert southwest, to Baja and all over SoCal for work.

I do all my own maintenance and have all the manuals, RepRom, JVB videos, etc., in addition to a GS911. I'd be happy to go through things with you, etc. I can also give you some good advice on tires, etc.

Scott

Here's my GSA down in Baja in October:

bump

new tires today changed eng oil ,trans fluid, FD oil , ordered new quick release fuel tanks con.and new fuel lines... got oddessy pc680 battery, and speedo hub upgrade on order &#8230;. thats it &#8230; until more money comes in &#8230; after a few knife sales , then new eng guard maybe tank guard&#8230; :loll
these are the tires i wanted because of the look i spend most of my time on the street but fell in love with this bike style because of the way it looked so she gets new shoes and the k60's are suppose to last good on the rear and the tkc80's are better than the k60's on the front by what i read so thats what we have going on the word of a few cool guys i've talked to &#8230;. man this is fun&#8230;&#8230;.