2000 BMW reviews

I love my BMW F650 It's funny to drive this bike. She's a king on bad gravelled roads (I call my bike Dolly), still it's a good bike on the highway. Maybe not the hottest babe for speeding, but not the worst eighter :o) And when it comes to and end...she's not half as expencive to own as my wife...hehe... ;o) Show less

My wife wanted the huge and heavy LT, but I opted for the boxer knowing I would do all of the driving. I am commuting everyday on this baby and mostly love the scoot. Handling is excellent, power just fine, torque great, and brakes outstanding. There are two flaws. One is the shifting. Why can't the Krouts design a modern transmission? They should copy a Japanese bike or something. It clunks like crazy in lower gears. Into fourth and fifth, there is no problem, but below that, wear earplugs and ignore the sounds. Second flaw is vibration in the bars above 65 mph. My wrists go numb. Why didn't I wait for the 2002 model and get the sixth gear and balanced pistons? Oh well! Otherwise I love riding all the time. Show less

Bought my K1200RSA new in 2000. Have 12,500 on the clock with no problems what so ever. Once or twice a year a few buddies and I go on long trips of 2,500 plus miles. Even with both side bags, truck plus a dry bag full of stuff NOTHING can beat the power of this bike. With 135HP I never worry or think twice to passing traffic in any gear. The ride is smooth and comfortable even on the longest days. My only complaint,, the bike is top heavy around town but get the K1200RSA out of the open road and it's near perfect. The ABS works well, yes I've needed them once or twice. Unfortunately, I have to sell it due to the economy but I will buy another hopefully by next year.... If you're in the market for a bulletproof, smooth, powerful bike, the BMW is worth a serious look. Show less

I have a 1999 F650 with 30,000 miles on the odometer. This is the same bike as the 2000 model year. It broke down once when the aftermarket carb jets died. I also threw one chain while going 80mph but that was my fault. I tried to save money with a cheap chain. I have the Ron Woods timing advance and the staintune exhaust on my bike. This does a very good job of making the bike quicker. Despite the single cylinder, it is smooth enough on the highway to make out a police car in it's mirrors. But, the handlebars get a little buzzey over 70mph. This bike has no problems keeping up on the highway. It accelerates strongly right up it's max and cruising all day at 80mph is no problem if your butt can take it. Some dealers do not do a good job after the sale. This being said I have only praise for Hebert Cycles in Baton Rouge and have had no problems with dealer support. The model bike needs it's valve clearance checked every 6,000 miles. This is the expensive part. BMW allows for four hours plus about $40 in parts for a servicing. This is of course assuming that none of the valves need shimmed. Those people with a moderate amount of shop skills can download most of the information to do this service work from www.f650.com. My bike has also had the dust guard come loose in the ignition system. But I got lucky and was able to fish it out with a tweezer. This occurred after 2.5 years and with 24,000 miles on the odometer. It was covered by the warranty. The part does have to come from Germany though, as BMW does not allow anyone but the factory to put together ignition cylinders as a security precaution. I hope this might help someone in the future with their decision. Dave Show less

I loved this bike when it was working properly. Unfortunately that was not very often. I won't go into the numerous minor, but annoying, repairs that this bike required. I don't have the energy or memory to hit them all. Some of the more serious problems were the cracked subframe and the complete exhaust system replacement. The stalling is what finally did it for me though. The bike had a stalling problem from the day I bought it until it went back to BMW. The dealer made numerous attempts to fix the problem but the only result was to add backfiring and black smoke from the exhaust to the list of troubles. BMW NA was rude, untruthful and pointedly unhelpful in my attempts to get the bike replaced. Finally I ended up suing the dealer and BMW NA. They settled and I got my money back. I can understand a mechanical problem with a bike. I cannot understand or accept BMW's behavior in this case. They were deliberately unhelpful. They did not stand behind their product and did not support the customer. If BMW had replaced the bike(or even repaired the problem) they would have earned a customer for life. Instead they've convinced me that I should never buy another of their products. I was foolish. I belived the hype about BMW. In my experience they do not deserve the quality reputation they enjoy. On a happier note, my Triumph Sprint RS has been a great bike. Show less

Around the beatiful Tuscany hills, wine tasting, excellent food, and with a head-turner like the GS, no match!!! You feel great on this monster. Ducati's where no match on the hilly roads! It is just incredible how easy it is to drive this elegant elephant! Sport bikes were astonished to see them overtaken!!! Show less

After having had them all (over 20 motorcycles, most "open class" high horsepower models), MX'ers, dual-purpose, touring, sportbikes and standards, I'd have to say that I have rediscovered the simple pleasure of riding once again in the R1150GS. The most fun I can recall having on a bike was on a little Honda scrambler back in the 70's, when I got up early on Saturday mornings and just rode all day long, nowhere in particular. that's the same sort of feeling I get on the GS; I can go anywhere on or off road that I feel like going (dual purpose), enjoy the view, carry "stuff" with me (touring), and not feel like I have to yank open the throttle to get a short lived rush of power (sportbike). In short, it's a great all around purchase, and while BMW's are famous for fit and quality, I'm just happy to know that I think I've finally found a bike that can literally "do it all". Show less

I was pleased with the comfort, the ride and the chuckability, but as most of my riding is in town I eventually found that I couldn't put up with the hunting, which got worse with the first service. Also the steering damper, in sudden low-speed darting manoeuvres, feels like a brick wall. Then I started noticing that the hunting was exacerbated by a choppiness in the ride. Then the handling deteriorated as the back tyre wore and surprised me by not improving with new tyres front and rear. I had an R90S for about twelve years and couldn't get the handling right. BMW's suit some people, obviously, but not me. I decided 18 months was long enough for this one. So I sold it. The new owner is happy with it, even though I told him what I thought of it. I'm happy with my Raptor 1000. Show less

This is my second motorcycle for my adult years and I absolutely love it. I use it for commuting and an excuse for canyon runs on a long lunch break. Weekend rides up to 300 miles are reasonable as well. Everything I ask the bike to do, it does well. Surpisingly quick in the twisties considering the width of the boxer engine. Torque is very even throughout the rev range making the bike easy to handle out of a turn no matter which gear you choose. This is a classic looking bike with the finish only a German bike could have. It gets a lot of comments from the mono swing arm with built in shaft drive to the telelever front suspension and oil coolers. This is a very unique bike. Although not as smooth as my 1984 Honda Nighthawk (also a shaft drive), the even power throughout the RPM range coupled with fuel injection are worth the trade. I am looking forward to putting a few hundred thousand miles on this bike over the next decade or two. Show less

I rented this bike in California for a week and 2000 miles. On freeways and under acceleration-I thought who would buy this bike? But when climbing Sequoia Park switchbacks at 6k feet, two up with luggage, and the twisties near Kernville, I found out it was an excellent mount. Rides good, suspension adjustments work, saddlebag near muffler small, engine not thrilling as my Triumph, but will lug to 1500 rpm in second and climb like a billy goat!! I found out why the Europeans like it in the mountains. Show less