BMW K1300R - thoughts?

Bohrio

Hey guys

So after a few years without using my motorbike (a falling apart bandit 1200) I decided I wanted to give myself a treat and get a new bike. I always liked the K1300R, I know little about the bike but whats on paper and youtube, but I have never seen one or ridden one.

So I was wondering if anyone here has had experience with this bike and what are your thoughts?

I will be giving it very little daily use, mostly for the weekends or if I need to go somewhere during the week (work or not work related). I like naked bikes, my only other option would be a GS type of bike but I think I am not there yet... maybe in a few years.

I am also worried about the size, since I am a big guy I need it to be big, I feel like I am riding a scooter when I am in my bandit!

My plan is to get it from the UK, there are a few out there at the moment with very low milage for around 7000-8000 pounds with in euro it would be less than 10k. That's for a 2013-2014, the 2015s sell for around 11.500 euro which it is still within my budget.

Thanks!

Cienciano

I've zero experience with them, but they were one of the few bikes I was considering when I last changed bikes. Well, the 1200 probably.
Amazing looking bike, if you do get one, post pictures.

A few lads on the UKGSER forum have them and love them, have a read here:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/203440-K1300R-Anyone-got-1?highlight=k1300r

Bohrio

Thanks I will have a look there!

Will post pictures when/if I get one

Bohrio

Cienciano wrote: »

I've zero experience with them, but they were one of the few bikes I was considering when I last changed bikes. Well, the 1200 probably.
Amazing looking bike, if you do get one, post pictures.

A few lads on the UKGSER forum have them and love them, have a read here:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/203440-K1300R-Anyone-got-1?highlight=k1300r

Ok Cienciano

So after a bit of searching I found a K1300R I liked and put a deposit on it (pending viewing). I am flying over to Manchester on wednesday to test ride it and if I like it (which I am pretty sure I will) I will take it back with me.

The bike has done 1500 km and it is less than 9 months old. It belonged to a BMW director (it was one of those loan bikes they user for a few months and then return to be sold). Not a single mark on it and it comes with 24 months BMW official european warranty/road assistance which means it will work in Ireland as well.

Looking forward to riding it back to Ireland (if I decide to keep it!)

Cienciano

Nice one, beast of a bike, good luck with it

Del2005

Bohrio wrote: »

Ok Cienciano

So after a bit of searching I found a K1300R I liked and put a deposit on it (pending viewing). I am flying over to Manchester on wednesday to test ride it and if I like it (which I am pretty sure I will) I will take it back with me.

The bike has done 1500 km and it is less than 9 months old. It belonged to a BMW director (it was one of those loan bikes they user for a few months and then return to be sold). Not a single mark on it and it comes with 24 months BMW official european warranty/road assistance which means it will work in Ireland as well.

Looking forward to riding it back to Ireland (if I decide to keep it!)

You'll get nabbed for VAT as the bike is considered new.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/faqs-vrt.html#question27

goodlad

You need to get 6000km onto that bike before bringing it for VRT or they are going to rape your wallet

Cienciano

Yeah, its like you need to clock the bike the other way

Bohrio

ohhh good point... thanks guys

so I guess thre will be a lot of driving before VRT is due. I am gonn aneed to do 4000 km before the VRT is done. Guess I will try to postpone it as much as I can. For starters I cannot book it online, so I need to ring in. I suppose that as long as I book it before the 30 days (so lets say I book it in 2 weeks) and try to book it for mid october or something that would give me enough time to do 4000 km on it.

Alternative they have another bike with 3400 miles, but it comes with only a few months warranty (until march 2017) instead of december 2017.

PS: Ok so I took the other bike. Its in the same nick as the one I was gonna take originally but has over 3000 miles on the clock. Which is close to 5000 km. I rang the NCT and appointments take approx 2 weeks tops. Should be much easier for me to make 1000 km in 2 weeks than 4200 km... which will likely require a new rear tyre as well... shame for the warranty though

Thanks guys for the heads up, you saved me from getting a nasty surprise

Cienciano

Is it 1500 miles or km? I know a guy who bought a 750 Honda from about 1975 and it had about 1500 miles on the clock. That was considered a "new" bike for VAT purposes so he bought a second hand clock for it that showed 30k miles on it and switched it over after he bought it. Obviously easier to do that on an old bike, just a couple of bolts holding it on.
6000km is 3729miles, so as close to that without going under is what you need

Bohrio

Cienciano wrote: »

Is it 1500 miles or km? I know a guy who bought a 750 Honda from about 1975 and it had about 1500 miles on the clock. That was considered a "new" bike for VAT purposes so he bought a second hand clock for it that showed 30k miles on it and switched it over after he bought it. Obviously easier to do that on an old bike, just a couple of bolts holding it on.
6000km is 3729miles, so as close to that without going under is what you need

Yeah, its actually 1140 miles. So that's around 1800 km. That means I would need to do 4000 (200 km will be done driving it back form Machester to Ireland) in lets say 30 days tops, and that's risky since there is no way for me to control that, the woman in the NCT said it normally takes 1 week, 2 max. I could postpone it for maybe another week but it is risky. Also we all know the irish weather so ther eis no guarantee I am gonna do them in sunny weather!

Main issue I have with that is not the milage as such, which is a lot anyway, it is that I will need to replace the rear tyre in the process (at least once)

I might be able to get BMW Ireland to extend the warranty a bit... otherwise 8 months is not too bad, better than what I would get from any UK dealer which is no warranty at all.

I could do the clock thing, but I find it to be a bit too much hassle. Hard enough to find a bike like mine here with someone willing to replace clocks. New clocks are a thousand euro or so

LLewellen Farquarson

I am not sure about the new K's, but on my older K (K1100) the speedometer is governed by a pickup on the back wheel.

Holding a mains soldering iron (not gas obviously ) to the pickup shows the speedometer doing 60mph (due to the field the iron generates).

I don't know if this is an option with the new K's but it's worth investigation. It could allow you to dial up the KMs while the bike is on the stand.

Wonda-Boy

I had the same problem with my bike, its the best problem in the world riding the ass of a bike to get the miles up......best of luck.

Bohrio

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

I had the same problem with my bike, its the best problem in the world riding the ass of a bike to get the miles up......best of luck.

Heya

Not sure I want to try that soldering trick just yet

Wonda... tbh, if I didnt have another bike just like that one with just a few more miles to chose from I would probably use the week I have asked off to play you know what game and go to a trip to Spain with it... at least I know the weather there wont disappoint!

serious3

Oh and you can't ride it back..... You'll have no tax on it and the ANPR cameras will pick you up very quickly.

goodlad

Yeah thats a good point. Ive seen a good few posts about lads getting pulled over. Best to have the bike delivered to the ferry for you

Bohrio

goodlad wrote: »

Yeah thats a good point. Ive seen a good few posts about lads getting pulled over. Best to have the bike delivered to the ferry for you

oh!

Well too late, the bike is here now, I wasnt stopped but I could get a ticket in the post now... I suppose its a bit late for that now

:S

I will enjoy the moment for now, a few pictures of the bike I took yesterday while driving back. I had to stop after 100 miles since my ar..e was in bits... next changes are a new gel seat and a schnitzer exhaust, just to give it a bit of personality...

turbodiesel

Looks great, enjoy getting used to it.

GBX

Nice bike. Too many of certain bikes on the road.. good to see something different. Wear well

serious3

Ooooh that's nice! I've an air hawk on my beemer best thing I ever did! Well may she wear!

Zascar

I love the K series. I just bought one - 1983 however haha. The newer ones are beasts, mate had one, said it's pretty much great at everything. They are a tad heavy but they'll chew up the miles. Keep us updated

Cienciano

Beast of a bike. Enjoy it, some good weather at the moment too, nice timing