50k bike: What to look for?

[martinjmpr]

Well, my search for a new bike just speeded up. Last night I dropped my Scrambler off with the buyer and picked up a hefty envelope full of cash - now I need to get another bike!

Looking around on CL there are a couple of '04 R1150Rs in the Denver area, one of them a Rockster. All seem to have ~50k on them.

My question is, I've never owned a bike with that many miles on it, what do I need to be looking for as far as problem areas? Leaks? Seals? What maintenance needs to be done around 50,000 miles?

I'm a little leery of spending this much money on a bike with miles that high, but I've heard BMWs are known to go 100k + without needing major work.

A couple of other questions: I know all the BMW R bikes are EFI - are they OBD-II compliant as well? This would make it easier to scan and reset codes. And are heated grips standard on most of these bikes?

[AZBMWRIDER]

You'll need a special code reader to access the fault codes on this bike, the connector is round, not the same as is used in 4 wheelers .
The last time I looked at them and this was years ago, they were in the $300 range .
Personally, I think I'd wait for a lower mileage bike to show up for that cost .
I've seen bikes for sale in the Phoenix area with 20-30,000 miles, OEM side cases and windshield for the prices you're looking at .
The bikes came with heated grips in the '02 model year, whether they did after that I don't know .

[MarkShelley]

50K isn`t a lot for the motor, but if it has done a lot of town riding the clutch would be the main concern as they are expensive to change.

[mnnden]

I've have well over 50k on mine, & as far as know there is not a thing wrong, & if it's not broke, I'm not going to fix it. depending on price, 50k would not bother me a whole lot, what price range are you in?

[martinjmpr]

I've have well over 50k on mine, & as far as know there is not a thing wrong, & if it's not broke, I'm not going to fix it. depending on price, 50k would not bother me a whole lot, what price range are you in?

Trying to stay at $4k or under. There are 4 R1150R's on the local CL now, two are above that and two are right at it. There's a Rockster that's had a tipover and some minor cosmetic damage, or an 04 in yellow/black that appears to be pristine. The Rockster doesn't seem to come with luggage. Both the Rockster and the yellow/black are ~50k mileage wise. Since I'm not crazy about the Cyborg headlight on the Rockster, I'm more inclined to look at the yellow/black 1150R, particularly since it's got locking bags included.

What's the deal with final drive failures? Apparently this has been a problem with some of the recent R bikes from what I've heard?

[AZBMWRIDER]

I think the final drive failures were on the later version bikes, possibly with a sealed final drive, no provision to drain and replenish the oil .

Somebody correct me, if I'm wrong on this .

[sjbmw]

A: Service Records.
If the paperwork is not saved, ask the owner who the dealer is that did the maintenance.
BMW bikes that are dealer serviced have service records available.

If the owner did their own maintenance, they have the parts records.
(BMW owners that turn their own wrenches save paperwork, and are rabid about their documenting their prowess.)

[MarkShelley]

A: Service Records.
If the owner did their own maintenance, they have the parts records.
(BMW owners that turn their own wrenches save paperwork, and are rabid about their documenting their prowess.)

True. I have an excel document with a page for each of my bikes, documenting every thing done with date, mileage and cost

When you get your 1150 don`t be afraid to do your own maintenance. There are loads of online guides and youtube videos and things that on some bikes can be awkward are simple on these bikes. The valve adjustment and throttle body balancing which should be done every 6K miles is really simple. I can do it in under an hour now, including the oil and filter.

[wvwoof]

I'm not sure I'd worry about much at 50,000 if the bike has a decent maintenance record. Don't know about the market out that way but if all the bikes of that age/mileage are coming in at the same rate it seems it's what the market will bear. I bought my '02 R1150R from a salvage yard with 16,000 on her. She had been dropped in Connecticut and the tank was damaged. I'm at 101,400 at the moment and I had to replace a small bearing in the final drive (at 75K) and replace the clutch slave cylinder at 87K and that's been it. Good luck if you purchase one of these - they are built to last!