Possibly buying a used R1200R today and need advice.

[Dale_K]

My first post on this forum. I'm thinking about trading in my Triumph Scrambler on a used 2008 R1200R in Little Rock. I test rode the bike yesterday and liked it but I want to check with you folks before completing the deal. I need some fast replies because it will only be a few hours before I pick it up (or not). The bike fits me like it was made especially for me.

The bike has about 14,000 miles. It has ABS, a centerstand, a computer, heated grips and a little teeny windshield (believe it's called the touring windshield). I can get it for a little over $10,000. The cosmetics are decent but not perfect. The glossy parts shine but the silver paint on the motor, wheels, etc looks tired. The left valve cover has some marks that tells me the bike fell over at least once. It has warranty until Jan. 2011 and has a new rear tire.

So basically I have two questions: Is the price in line with the general BMW market? And second, are there any specific items I should look out for like recalls or known trouble issues that I would want cleared up before writing a check? On the test ride the only negative seemed to be the motor didn't run perfectly smooth at idle. It ran great once you touched the throttle.

[famousperson]

The price sounds OK to me. My 2007 new in 2007 with the exact same accessories cost $14,500. See if you can't get something knocked off for the valve cover damage. That ain't cheap to replace (functionally it shouldn't matter).

[deilenberger]

Pretty standard equipment - and yeah, $14.5k or so out the door (if it had bags - about $15.3k).. Used price sounds reasonable. Might bargain them down a few hundred..

Recalls: Brake line recall.
Service campaigns: EWS (anti-theft system) antenna

Make sure both of these were done.

If you can find/get the service records, make sure it received the 600 mile service, and at that service that the rear-drive oil was changed.

The tiny windshield is the "sport" shield. Nice shield if you don't do a lot of highway riding (the wind blast at 80-90mph is gonna be tiring). Since the engine is painted - scrubbing it with some Simple-Green, water and a brush will do wonders to bring it back to life. The scraped valve cover - it happens, and various companies (including BMW) sell guards to protect against this - which also work well to cover up existing scratches (hey! This time I put the guards on BEFORE putting the scratch in the valve cover!)

And they all idle a bit lumpy. Luckily, we don't actually ride at idle - so off idle is where it's important. If that's smooth, things sound fine.