Am i crazy, or go for it?

I'm getting a bike in NM, and circumstances have placed me in the area about the time I was going to have it shipped. That being said these are the details

It's a stock r80g/s
It has not been ridden more than 20 miles in 4 years
It had a tune up and some decent work done before being put away
It does run now
It has a minor seal leak, but not a drip
I will be riding it to Maine

Possible?

Possible but risky...were it me, I wouldn't, but that's just me...

It's sposed to be an adventure.

Hail >NO< !

I bought a totally restored needs nothing ride it anywhere BMW sight unseen TOTAL PIECE OF SHIT THAT BARELY ROLLED (Looked good, though...)
You pays your money and takes your chances, but don't ride the thing home until you've lived with it for a week or two- at least.

Aw c'mon.. We need somone to bail out who's broken down on the side of the road somewhere.

That's a long way to risk driving any unknown bike....If you have the time you might ride it straight to a dealer for a full service.. Then maybe ride it home.

If you have a couple of weeks to get home... WTH go for it..

Check it out and if it runs ok and the tires look good, Hell , It might make it..

It sure would make a great story.. But it might just cost LESS to go ahead and ship it.

I have ridden almost every bike I have bought (in one piece) home. It is a long way from California to Kentucky on a bike with a bent frame and front rim (ebay). I would still ride it home again. Really good trip across the desert at 65mph.

Jeremy

Assuming the bike is actually in the condition you believe it is....
I'd do it. However, There are a couple things I'd do before hitting the road, assuming it runs okay. I would change out EVERY fluid in the bike. Brake fluid, Engine oil, Transmission lube, Final Drive Lube, and the gear oil in the swing arm. If I had a weekend and a place to work, I'd also change out the fork oil, but that's a much lower priority. Take a long hard look at the tires, and make damn sure they have the required pressure. A low tire will ruin your day. Fuel lines: even if they look good, get some fresh fuel line to carry with you.

I also have unlimited time and will only be doing 300-400mi per day. Not pushing the bike at all

all fluids will be done, just emailed a dealer for service pricing, and the tires are new. The po took good care of this bike and it had fresh fluids prior to storage

Good question! A tough one to answer...

Most of my bikes I've had to travel for and ride home. I must have gotten three or four from the bay area -900 miles away - and ridden them home. And sometimes it was a bit 'iffy'. I have four-day weekends every other week, so car pooled down then rode home. The G/S wouldn't start as expected even though I brought a battery (what the PO figured was the problem). Turned out it was the bean can, had a used one over-nited and rode home without even a test ride. It's turned out to be a very good bike, but I must have used up half my 'good-karma' points on that one. It was mid January and not only were the mountain passes clear, but it didn't even rain on me. Can you believe that?

My most foolish one was buying the 77R100RS (Essified) in VA and riding it home. It looked great in the pix, but needed some work the PO somehow hadn't noticed or overlooked. He had told me the rear tire needed replaced so I had one shipped there. Once the wheel was off, while greasing the bearings I noticed the spun bearing... OH Crap! Pulled the tire back off, and swapped for a Lester he had, checked everything else out, and headed home. The front end felt stiff, but the bike handled ok. Found out later one of the fork tubes was bent.:huh Felt bad about riding 3500 miles that way, and it would have been a more enjoyable trip if it was running like it is now.

The ideal situation would be to ride the bike several days and have several more to fix whatever you find. But if you're anything like me, there's only so much time available. I would suggest you have one of us in the area check it out for a second opinion on what it might need.

And remember - dry start up is the number one cause of engine wear! In this case, four years is more than enough time for the oil coating every moving part to be completely gone. The solution is to rotate everything - engine, trans, final drive, by hand for quite a while. Then once you do start it up, with the bike on the center stand, put it in gear and run it that way to ensure lube goes everywhere in the trans and FD.

I'd do it in a heartbeat, given the above information, and I'd probably seriously consider it anyway.

What's the worst that could happen? Arrange to ship the bike home from wherever it breaks down, and get on a Greyhound bus to Maine. If you're going to Arizona anyway, and you don't ride it home, you'll have to do this anyway!
(well, not the Greyhound part...)

The more likely scenario is somewhere in between, where you have to use a bit of ingenuity and luck to get the bike rolling again.

i bought a low mileage R80ST (basically the same thing) that hadn't been ridden much in the past few years. did the deal and rode it from ohio to nyc, about 550 miles. no big, it was fine. your trip is a bit longer but the circumstances are similar. being this is america the WORST thing that'll happen to you is a catastrophic breakdown, a resulting tow, flight and shipping of the bike home. doesn't seem to be too bad. maybe i'd see how bad the seal (i'm guessing rear main or oil pump) is leaking, but i rode mine home with all the usual weeping.

If you do a full tune up you have seen/inspected almost anything that is not causing a catastrophic failure when going wrong: tires, brakes, fluids. It's easy to re-pack and adjust headstock and swingarm bearings (to avoid tankslappers or other unwanted chassis related issues), do it! Do a visual check on wiring to see f there is much corrosion. if there is, treat all accessible connections accordingly (electrical cleaner spray will do for a couple of days ride). Any mile travelled on your two wheels reduces cost of shipping (theoretically). Choose a route that is close to independant BMW dealers (there's a GPS POI file floating on POIfriend or here on the ADVRider forum I think), just in case. What seal is leaking? If minor, 800 or 1000mls shouldn't be a problem, but it can be.

The above tune-up shouldn't take more than a day with coffee and food breaks along the way. The PO will most likely help as he wants you to arrive alive!

It will be a valuable experience. Plan for the worst, expcect the best and go for it!

I would. I had a G/S and it takes all kinds of beating without complaining.

Don't go to the local deal... contact Omar at Motoghost he's THE airhead guy in AZ...

Some other member bought an R100GSPD via fly-n-ride and stopped at Omar's place for a bunch of unexpected repairs, can't rember who but their ride report was great!

If you go out prepared with tools and small things, some extra fuel line, pull ties, spark plugs etc. and have the time for the possibility of Murphy's occasional visit, then go for it and enjoy the adventure.

I recommend finding a bike further away...

Another very infrequent member here bought a G/S last year about this time in New Mexico (Sante Fe?) and rode it back to Michigan or Wisconsin. It was a tricky deal with the seller but he worked it out. He took his time and rode it back all the way. Was very lucky IMHO to get nice weather so he didn't freeze to death. I can't recall his AdvRider name but he's on here on occasion. I think he really enjoyed the experience.

I remember people poking fun at a certain travel bag he took with him. It was hilarious.

Tom

From what I'm getting is go for it, I should be fine, just plan for crap and post here to get it sorted out.

Here is the lucky bike, the blue one.
The blue bike

go for it!spend a few days in az.to make sure everythig is in order (you have the time).post your planned route so that we can keep an eye out for you/help along the way.the only other issue is the weather.i'm in santa fe,nm if you want to stop on the way.safe trip!!

I'll agree.


Look it over good when you get there. Get your maintenance taken care of and any other things that look questionable.

Ride it, take your time, and enjoy.


Mike

I did something similar in March '08.
Flew to San Diego and rode back to Kansas City.
Rotor went out first day after about 300 miles. Overnighted myself new rotor, repaired in parking lot and was on my way. Even though the fluids were replaced prior to my arrival, I replaced them all again during the day downtime as well as filters (not ridden much in the prior couple years).
All has been fine since (touch wood).
With unlimited time - I would definitely do it. Get a great bike and a good adventure off the bat.
Main thing - get your mind right and havagood time. Keeps us in the loop.