Little help buying a bike please

[Bryn]

If all goes to plan, this time next month I'll have nearly passed my bike test, meaning I can have a restricted 'big' bike. I've been looking around for a while (started looking at Honda XL 125's), and I've come to the conclusion that the BMW F650 is the bike I want. I've read how it's a good first bike and my instructor recommended it, so there we go.

Anyway, I've seen this F650 literally around the corner from where I live, it's a 1998 Funduro with just over 19,000 miles on the clock. In the pictures it looks immaculate and it's got full MOT history but not much service history as the owner has serviced it himself. The guy who owns it is 69 years old and he bought the bike for his son so that they could go touring together, they completed one tour to wales and then he hasn't rode it since. He's asking for £1350 but has said that he'll accept £1250, I offered £900 but he seemed insulted :woohoo: .

Here's some pics of the bike:

Bike.jpg (64 KiB) Viewed 2442 times

Bike 2.jpg (46 KiB) Viewed 2442 times

Bike 3.jpg (44 KiB) Viewed 2442 times

Bike 4.jpg (51 KiB) Viewed 2442 times

Bike 5.jpg (44 KiB) Viewed 2442 times

Bike 6.jpg (40 KiB) Viewed 2442 times

What do you reckon? Good buy, bad buy?

[Orlando_Orange]

looks like a decent bike. my first bike after my direct access course was an f650 and they're a good first big bike. they'll get you used to riding without killing you and if you want to ride to spain on it it'll do that too... i rode mine to work every day thru london and also took went two up down to dorset camping on it...

don't know about the price as ai bought mine a few years ago...

B)

[Roadcat]

The pics make it look almost immaculate and it's got a reasonably low mileage for the age of the bike. For that price I'd grab it. As the name implies it's a great bike and are tough enough that a few of them have been used in RTW trips before now.

[VR_Rider]

Looks good to me mate.

If your after a bit more advice try this forum link,

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/forumdispl ... 7f8df&f=79

Theres allot of useful advice there.

Hope that helps!

[Mr Free Market]

"He's asking for £1350 but has said that he'll accept £1250, I offered £900 but he seemed insulted"

The vendor either wants your hard earned or he doesn't. Never be frightened of having a spot of negotiation. If you don't like the price, walk away. There is always another bike & if the seller won't haggle .....

[gebrauchtwagen83]

hi mate, looks like a nice bike and the fact that he was insulted could be seen as a positive aspect as hes not going to give it away. ive some experience with this engine and not a good one unfortunately for me, i would run it for a bit while your chatting to him and let it get warm especially as its been used rarely. check for oil after its been running. apart from that, good luck and happy riding. (also starter clutch can be an issue but you will know about that

[Orlando_Orange]

oh yeah and one thing - definiteyl take it for a test ride and check the gears as well... the selector forks on mine went a bit dodgy....

[Mark Young]

My brother-in-law had one of these as his first Adventure style bike and loved it to bits. Never had any trouble with it and used it for every day and touring albeit solo touring.
For some reason he then went on to Ducati’s… All our conversations end up with “How I miss my BMW”

I think there is some truth that a used machine is more reliable, but don’t get caught up in that. Take it for a spin warm her up and try to remain calm… I spent money on a lot of regrettable things through getting caught up in the moment.

[gebrauchtwagen83]

My brother-in-law had one of these as his first Adventure style bike and loved it to bits. Never had any trouble with it and used it for every day and touring albeit solo touring.
For some reason he then went on to Ducati’s… All our conversations end up with “How I miss my BMW”

I think there is some truth that a used machine is more reliable, but don’t get caught up in that. Take it for a spin warm her up and try to remain calm… I spent money on a lot of regrettable things through getting caught up in the moment.

that makes 2 of us!

[davecopland]

+ 1