Looking for a new naked - BMW reliability? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Looking for a new naked - BMW reliability?

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stangn99

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After 6 years and 35k trouble free kilometers I parted with my Street Triple. It was an awesome bike, especially after a slight gearing change. I initially sold it because I was interested in getting into a 2024 Street Triple or perhaps the 2023 Speed 1200rs.

After looking at the numbers I decided against going with a brand new bike. After taxes and freight I'd be paying around $18,000 minimum for the Street and $24,000 for the Speed. Just can't spend that kind of money. I don't ride enough to justify the cost.

Anyway. I came across a 2018 s1000r (single "r") that caught my attention. I don't love the headlights (admittedly, I also didn't like the headlights much on my Street Triple much). I'm thinking of going to check it out sometime this week.

I don't know much about BMW bikes. What's their reliability like? how difficult are they to work on? is built quality and reliability on par with Triumphs?

The Street was easy to work on. I did my own maintenance, including the 20,000km service, which required me to get some new shims and all. I did order a few special tools from Triumph to do the job, but it cost less than $200 total. The sockets and wrenches I had in my garage worked fine for all required maintenance work, and I used TuneECU on Android and an OBD Bluetooth scanner to reset service lights, sync throttle bodies, etc.
 
From your post, I am sure that you would easily manage the maintenance of a BMW bike. To start off, you will need a set of torx wrenches and a BMW compatible OBD2 scanner.
 
The maintenance manuals are available... Kinda. No longer directly from BMW, but through Amazon and eBay, can get PDFs or CD's of the full factory service manual.

Parts are easy, if not a little spendy at times - and for tools, other then a couple of specific torx sizes; nothing too exotic. There are OBDII dongles and apps for your smartphone to handle that side of things.
 
Haven't personally own one, but by all accounts, reliability is good, easy to work on, high on practicality and competence, short on character
 
S1kr is a great bike. Don’t be intimidated, with some basic wrenching knowledge and a torx set you’ll be fine.

Fit and finish is up there with the best.
 
Thank you all - I appreciate the feedback.

@bigpoppa "short on character" - I haven't ridden one myself, but did come across a few reviews that mentioned this as well. I assume it's like comparing my old cbr or zx6r to the street triple. I found the triple way more fun to ride than the other two. I can't really describe the feeling, but the Triumph just felt more fun to ride without needing to get the RPMs anywhere near redline.

Dang. I'm starting to have regrets about selling the triumph :(
 
stangn99 said:
Thank you all - I appreciate the feedback.

@bigpoppa "short on character" - I haven't ridden one myself, but did come across a few reviews that mentioned this as well. I assume it's like comparing my old cbr or zx6r to the street triple. I found the triple way more fun to ride than the other two. I can't really describe the feeling, but the Triumph just felt more fun to ride without needing to get the RPMs anywhere near redline.

Dang. I'm starting to have regrets about selling the triumph :(
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the s1kr motor will need its neck rung a little more, it is an inline 4 after all.

character;

i recently made the jump from a '20 s1kxr to a '23 ducati panigale v4 and i can say i understand for sure what people mean. The BMW had very few flaws, it started everytime and did what you asked it to, no complaints. But the lack of flaws contributed to a sort of 'flat' feeling while riding it. The Duc on the other hand shimmy and shakes and feels like it takes about 3,000rpms to sort itself out. It puts a smile on my face but it could easily be a reason people would not want to own one.

I also rode an FZ09 previously, so i have some experience with triple motors. That 'whistle' sound they make certainly adds what i would call character.

Now the BMW is not going to sound the same as any old inline 4 (GSXR/Honda), it has a nice unique sound in its own right.

My advice; try and demo it. I would try and get it out for an hour so you can stretch it's legs and then you can make an informed decision.
 
stangn99 said:
Thank you all - I appreciate the feedback.

@bigpoppa "short on character" - I haven't ridden one myself, but did come across a few reviews that mentioned this as well. I assume it's like comparing my old cbr or zx6r to the street triple. I found the triple way more fun to ride than the other two. I can't really describe the feeling, but the Triumph just felt more fun to ride without needing to get the RPMs anywhere near redline.

Dang. I'm starting to have regrets about selling the triumph :(
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Streeties are very nice bikes...you mentioned initially you were looking to get another triumph, cant blame you for that, but you had budget constrains?

Maybe you can look at the 'R' model? My understanding is, its 90% the bike the RS is, but if you're not chasing lap times or running in fast group on the track, its a non issue. You can also check out some older 675 or 765 models?

Can always go the used route, or hit up GP, they have several leftover almost new bikes that they will probably be willing to part with on a discount.

Im in a bit of a similar predicament atm, looking at next bike, the s1000r/m1000r looks very nice, but I cant drop that kind of money on a plain jane inline 4, no matter how much spec sheet horsepower it makes.

I need some character, some soul, some sound and fury.
Evoex said:
It puts a smile on my face but it could easily be a reason people would not want to own one.
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This reminds me of the 1290 superduke, as there can be a case of too much character,
KTM is also on the shortlist of potential manufacturers, but when I think back and try to gather my thoughts, I often remember the madness of that bike, it had a raw/harsh/angry/aggressive vibe to it, that is very fun for short rides, but might be a bit much for longer rides/ownership for some people.
 
I've too come to learn that there's more to a bike than just HP.

I have way more fun on my Duc Scrambler 800 with 74 hp than I ever had on my 150 hp GSX-S1000 and the Duc has way more character from the engine.
 
bigpoppa said:
Im in a bit of a similar predicament atm, looking at next bike, the s1000r/m1000r looks very nice, but I cant drop that kind of money on a plain jane inline 4, no matter how much spec sheet horsepower it makes.
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I would not consider the s1kr motor plain jane per say, it certainly does not sound like a gsxr or fireblade. the m1kr has an even better motor.

if m1000r is within your budget, i can't see anyone being unhappy opening the garage up to that thing, or throwing a leg over it.

other areas of the bike sure, if you want drama this is not the bike for you.
 
I have the XR version which has the exact same driveline. Just as reliable as any other modern bike out there and easy to work on. I've had zero issues and judging from the BMW forum that's the norm. That app with compatible dongle will be all you need to reset the service light (that's how I did mine).
The bike is a hoot and has tons of character. A proper tune much improves the low-mid power levels that the euro standards kills (mandatory mod imo as it's dramatic the difference it makes). I thought the bike was "just ok" and something I might not keep but after the tune it's incredible.
 
Evoex said:
....

My advice; try and demo it. I would try and get it out for an hour so you can stretch it's legs and then you can make an informed decision.
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Thanks for the advice. I'm going to see if the seller will allow me to test ride the bike. Of course I'll offer cash in hand, as I did when I bought the Street Triple. I know many sellers are against test rides, so we'll see how it goes.

bigpoppa said:
Streeties are very nice bikes...you mentioned initially you were looking to get another triumph, cant blame you for that, but you had budget constrains?

Maybe you can look at the 'R' model? My understanding is, its 90% the bike the RS is, but if you're not chasing lap times or running in fast group on the track, its a non issue. You can also check out some older 675 or 765 models?

Can always go the used route, or hit up GP, they have several leftover almost new bikes that they will probably be willing to part with on a discount.

Im in a bit of a similar predicament atm, looking at next bike, the s1000r/m1000r looks very nice, but I cant drop that kind of money on a plain jane inline 4, no matter how much spec sheet horsepower it makes.

I need some character, some soul, some sound and fury.


This reminds me of the 1290 superduke, as there can be a case of too much character,
KTM is also on the shortlist of potential manufacturers, but when I think back and try to gather my thoughts, I often remember the madness of that bike, it had a raw/harsh/angry/aggressive vibe to it, that is very fun for short rides, but might be a bit much for longer rides/ownership for some people.
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That's right. I wanted to stick with Triumph given the positive experience I had with my Street, but just can't get myself to spend so much money on a machine that sits in the garage for most days. With a toddler at home now I went from putting 6,000km/year (which I know isn't much compared to some other guys) to less than 3,000km/year.

I use my bike for weekend rides and running errands when my wife is out with the car, so I do a 50/50 mix of city (traffic) riding and more longer distance rides (400-500kms). I also ride it to work occasionally, which is a very short 4km commute.

I know exactly what you mean about character, and the SDR did make my shortlist. I went to the motorcycle show and spoke with the KTM guys, then got home and did some research. I got turned off from all the issues that were reported in both short-term and long-term ownership. I also didn't like the idea of paying to have features unlocked.

I also considered the MT10 but couldn't get past how ugly it looks.

The Tuono V4 (non-factory) was also a consideration, but again, I'd be looking at spending quite a bit of $ and given the amount of city riding I do, I'm a bit worried about heat issues with a V4.

Anyway, I'm going to see the S1000R tonight. I could be wrong, but it doesn't look like it was garage stored so that's something I'll be taking into consideration.

Here's the listing if you're curious.
 
stangn99 said:
Thanks for the advice. I'm going to see if the seller will allow me to test ride the bike. Of course I'll offer cash in hand, as I did when I bought the Street Triple. I know many sellers are against test rides, so we'll see how it goes.


That's right. I wanted to stick with Triumph given the positive experience I had with my Street, but just can't get myself to spend so much money on a machine that sits in the garage for most days. With a toddler at home now I went from putting 6,000km/year (which I know isn't much compared to some other guys) to less than 3,000km/year.

I use my bike for weekend rides and running errands when my wife is out with the car, so I do a 50/50 mix of city (traffic) riding and more longer distance rides (400-500kms). I also ride it to work occasionally, which is a very short 4km commute.

I know exactly what you mean about character, and the SDR did make my shortlist. I went to the motorcycle show and spoke with the KTM guys, then got home and did some research. I got turned off from all the issues that were reported in both short-term and long-term ownership. I also didn't like the idea of paying to have features unlocked.

I also considered the MT10 but couldn't get past how ugly it looks.

The Tuono V4 (non-factory) was also a consideration, but again, I'd be looking at spending quite a bit of $ and given the amount of city riding I do, I'm a bit worried about heat issues with a V4.

Anyway, I'm going to see the S1000R tonight. I could be wrong, but it doesn't look like it was garage stored so that's something I'll be taking into consideration.

Here's the listing if you're curious.
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For what its worth, in my 3 years of ownership and riding I had no issues with the KTM. (Apart from 1 lose bolt, that took me 10 mins to find and $0 to re-tighten)

mt10 is also a great bike, just cant deal with yamaha always cheaping out with suspension and brakes(even the SP). The new gen looks are also atrocious.

As for charging extra, all the euros seem to do this now (bmw started this trend I believe) but if you're buying used it doesnt really affect you.

My most finnicky bike was the old Sv650, probably because it was abused and neglected by previous owners (transmission didnt know what was a neutral)

If you're just doing city/urban riding, the V4 tuono is probably way overkill anyway.

As anyone who has ever used social media will tell you, the internet does not equal reality, and to get an accurate picture and understanding of ownership experience and reliability , you have to ask owners.

Let us know how it goes, 6k isnt a lot of miles, but check the tires, they might be old
 
bigpoppa said:
Let us know how it goes, 6k isnt a lot of miles, but check the tires, they might be old
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Easy solution. Have the seller do safety and if new tires are needed, add onto agreed sale price.
 
The seller postponed the viewing yesterday. He said there was another buyer who saw it previously and wanted to check it out once more.
 
stangn99 said:
The seller postponed the viewing yesterday. He said there was another buyer who saw it previously and wanted to check it out once more.
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plausible but sounds kinda odd.

If i don't have deposit in hand it's first come first serve.
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