Madhatter
Well-Known Member
sounds delicate .
I have a '16 Tenere and absolutely love it. That being said...I have attended 2 courses out at Rawhyde in CO. They are a BMW certified school and the bikes they offer are all Beemers (GS & GSA). In both of the classes, there have been numerous crashes on the BMW's and I wouldn't call them delicate. They are all equipped with crash protection from the factory and stand up well. This includes one I saw tumble down a hill. A K1600 is like my FJR...all plastic and not made for the crash. I get that they are maintenance intensive and expensive but I don't buy that the GS line is particularly delicate.The bikes are delicate definately. Don't ever tip one over, even while sitting still on grass. Another one of my BMW stories, neighbor has a K1600 or whatever, don't know BMW because I learned my lesson years ago, but it was sitting in the yard and the kick stand sunk into the grass, so the bike tipped over. Next time I see it, it's back on 2 wheels, but all kinds of "crap" hanging off including mirror, pieces of the fairing ect. He hasn't ridden it since as I assume damage causing inability to do so. I think the kick stand or frame actually broke because after this happened he had a small floor jack under it to hold it upright.
Think long and hard if this is the type of motorcycle you want. Wow, the R1200GS is way lighter than the Yamaha! Fragile things are not often made real heavy vs strong competition.
We're coming into winter and the release of updates and new models so it might be worth waiting a bit.parked tenere on oct 10 tried to start it a couple of days ago , no go . so it has finally let me down . have tried everything suggested but will not start. it was running great when I parked it now nothing. time to consider other options .