Faults:

This review is going to be a little different than most on the BMW R1100 GS. I bought this bike when it was already 10-years old and it had 52000 miles on the road. However, it was owned by the dealer and always serviced.

The bike is panzer; herein lie the virtues and the problems:

Left side tensioner.

Plugs, and plugs and plugs.

Front brake pads and rotors.

Starter, a really crappy french made Remi. The magnets in the stator are glued very poorly to the body of the starter, and they come off, break when the rotor is spinning and destroy all the assembly. Real third world cheap skate.

Many rear tires.

Transmission will give up sooner or later. Clutch gave up at the end of honorable service.

Always synthetic oil and new filters, always maintained as per schedule and more.

The original seat is uncomfortable; that is easily remedied with a redo or an aftermarket.

Faults:

Gearbox, input shaft broken at approx 100.000 km.

Broken lever on gearbox at 90.000 km.

Ignition sensor plate failure at 80.000 km.

Oil leak from the front fork.

General Comments:

Great bike for daily use, very easy to handle at both low and high speed.

Reasonable fuel consumption, 17.5 km / liter.

The aftermarket LeoVince exhaust produces wonderful music, and makes the bike look even better than it already did.

Faults:

Hall Effect (ignition timing) sensor at 80,000 miles.

Starter noisy (needed internal lubrication) at 90,000 miles.

Rear differential outer seal at 75,000 miles.

General Comments:

A magnificent bike, through and through. The quality of BMW components do more than merely justify their high cost. The cost/durability ratio easily matches or exceeds even Japanese counterparts, and the value of being able to rely on a twelve year old motorcycle with nearly 100k miles on the clock -- while traveling down a 2500 mile offroad trail (Continental Divide Trail) -- is immeasurable. On no other bike would I have even considered this challenge.

Its performance on-road continually amazes me and -- much to their chagrin -- many a sport-bike owner. Even with Michelen Anakee's (60/40 street/offroad), this bike will hold a corner til your heels bleed, no exaggeration. Offroad takes a period of personal adjustments in comfort and riding style, but after riding with a friend of mine (rides a KTM 450), he expressed his awe from watching the capabilities of this bike in scrambles and tight single-track.

It is isn't the fastest bike out of the showroom. But it isn't sluggish either (especially at low rpm), and there are many effective, yet healthy upgrades for it. After re-chipping this with a very inexpensive aftermarket product (<$100 US), I gained significant improvements in both mid-range performance and fuel efficiency (<= 55 mpg).

My only complaint (and no doubt that of others') is of course the weight. I've managed to trim mine by 40-45 pounds at the peril of the ABS system. The only time this becomes a real drag is when uprighting the bike from its side, or in the kinds of scrambles that this bike has no earthly business attempting in the first place.

I positively love this bike, and I am one tough customer (in general). I'd say that I'll always buy BMW, but I seriously doubt that I will ever need to buy another bike again.

Faults:

Only replaced the rear brake pads.

General Comments:

I bought this bike when it had 100,000 Kms on the clock. I have done another 20,000 kms and it has been a dream.

No problems, it will still do 200 km/hr and handles really well at any speed.

It is my first BMW and first big-bore bike. Heavy when parking and you need to be careful as it is a beast, but once underway it is light and very torquey.

I have been thinking of buying a 1200 GS, but need to convince myself why? I don't need to go faster, or need a bike that handles better. The 30kgs lighter is probably the only reason, but it is a big cost if just for that.