I just sold my '08 TE610 and am looking to upgrade to a twin cylinder adventure bike. The three bikes I am looking for used are: 1. F800GS 2. KTM 990 Adv 3. R1200GS Are there any issues with the earlier models of the F800GS, say from 2009? Are there problem areas to check on a used bike? Any thoughts are appreicated. John
Without getting into the inevitable questions of "what do you want to do with the bike" where everyone will put in some personal opinion that's irrelevant (common issue on the forum these days it seems) but always leans towards the F800GS being the perfect bike... Some things to watch out for: 1. rear wheel bearings - some have an issue with rounding out 2. steer tube bearings - some have an issue with not having enough lube from the factory or not being tight and rounding out 3. depending on milage you'll want to check the stator 4. some people have issues with injectors clogging 5. some people have the bike remapped to run with 87 octane gas, if that's the case then you will get less HP overall and depending on the number of owners maybe someone didn't know what it was set to before you buy it - worth checking 6. bike runs lean from the factory so if the owner hasn't had it remapped with a power commander or bazzaz tuner then it's been living its whole life lean, not something I would care to buy but that's my opinion I'm sure there's more but that's on the top of my mind. Also, like CaseJeep said, good luck finding a used one (and if so, one that isn't way over priced). A lot of the time it's better to buy this particular bike new.
Don't forget to check for a bent upper shock bolt (and possible frame damage). Some owners will have fitted the alloy support blocks by RM or Advmoto, if so you can see the bottom of it by looking up inside the frame above the shock pre load adjuster. If you've come from a TE610 you'd find a 1200GS a great lumbering whale off road. (just my view of course). The F8 feels nimble by comparison.
My bike hasn't had any of these problems... 16,000 miles and counting. That said its señormoto gave a decent list but most are very difficult to check effectively. Re: #6 There are easy fixes for the lean fueling. I got the temp sensor fix from HighTechCoonAss. I think he calls it a Power Controller. It goes inline between the temp sensor & ECU. Tells the bike it it cooler and it pits in a little bit more fuel. The bike runs smoother and had more power. It works. All 3 bikes listed will run lean from the factory. That is why the 990 has problems with fueling too.
Looking at the previous posts I guess I was really lucky, I just bought an 09 with 2900 miles, two sets of tires, tailbag, two windscreens, and a Corbin seat for $8000. Rode it home 200 miles last night and it was GREAT! There were several to choose from in my area in including a 11 completely farkled to include Jesse bags for less than 11K. That bike is in El Paso, If you search CL you will see it. take care, Mike
The bike Mikegut is speaking about is a friend of mine's bike...... White in the middle..... A steal...I can vouch for it as well..... If you are interested... pm me for details...... Erling
Buying used I would want to be buying from the original owner, especially on a newer model. Otherwise I start wondering why this bike can't find a home.. If the bike runs well I wouldn't worry about injector issues. If it has done some sitting I would run some injector cleaner through it. If the steering swings smooth with the bike on the center stand the head bearings are probably OK. Changing them isn't the end of the world either. At least here the 800s have a three year unlimited warranty so that would take away some of the worry about wheels or stator. If you get a bad rear wheel it is a cheap fix anyways, send it to Woody. Shock bolt won't be badly bent on a bike that hasn't seen hard use. Not a big job to pull some plastic under the seat and at least see if it is really bent. You will want to install the Indy kit right away anyways. As usual when buying used try to snag as much aftermarket stuff as possible in the deal. That is where a lot savings can be had and the seller will often sweeten the deal with those goodies. Lots of 800s have run lots of miles on the stock fuel map and are fine, I run an enrichener, can't even remember which one at the moment.. and it helps. Maybe find someone local with a GS911 and plug it in to see error codes and of course a dealer inspection when spending real coin may be worth it. Oh and lastly look for the Awesome Players sticker on the bike, a sign the bike has been meticulously maintained...
Are people finding their fuel economy has changed after remapping to richen her up a bit? Sometimes vehicles (cars in my experience) come from the factory lean in certain rev ranges to pass EPA tests easier, and sometimes to give better economy, but its not uncommon for economy to improve when the mapping is changed as well.
I run the old version of the accelerator module. I lost about 2mpg (58-56). But I live 50 miles from the nearest freeway, so not much high speed riding. About BMW's lean FI settings. In order to meet emission standards in the areas where BMW manufactures or sells the most bikes (Europe & US), It runs at an optimum of 14.7 AFR, much of the time. Not the most powerful, but the most efficient, as it burns the cleanest. I doubt it is different than any modern FI bike sold in those markets. If you are wondering just how rich the stock ECU maps can produce, I think it is 14.4afr. That is the number Booster Plug claims and that is the highest I have seen on a dyno. At least the Booster Plug claims with his module, he raises that level to 13.6 under the same conditions. The BMW does run very lean at idle, 17 to 1 from what I have seen. The ECU will richen the mixture at higher RPM, but it is not instantaneous. The bike does not get to an adequate mixture until about 2,200 rpm. Think snatchy low rpm throttle The modules help and with the Power Commander you can change the setting completely. Not legally in Calif. The approved Carb version, will not allow you to change settings below the first 3 map imputs. I am sure you can buy any version you like and bikes are not emission tested, yet. Yes I realize you are in Australia. No question they all work. Yes you will lose a little mileage. The modules return to the BMW setting when you are not twisting the throttle. The PC may or may not, depending on how much "power" you dial in, and it won't do it on it own. When running the PC alone, you will be advised to run without the oxygen sensor. It will get plugged up by the richer mixture and be outside its measurement peramenters anyway. That is the device that triggers to the ECU when it is at Stoich.(14.7 afr) Auto tune replaces the narrow band sensor with a wide band sensor that can measure gas beyond the typical 14.7. Richer fuel may eventually heat up the catalytic converter to point of destroying or plugging it over time. I can't find any documentation as to what it will handle safely, but plenty of info about removing it. So figure that into your cost analysis. The 2009 bikes should have been upgraded to later bike specs. There has been no major changes, except they have smaller bolts on the rear sprocket. Even that was "updated" with different bolts. What that means, neither I or my dealer have any idea. Which seems to be the norm when inquiring WTF does that do?
I've been getting better mileage since I put in the power commander and auto-tune. I have a toggle switch on the bars that lets me go between auto-learning mode and my designated map. Once I get it fully tuned in via auto-tune I'll change the toggle to go between "best mpg" and "performance" maps. That way I don't have to compromise.
