After the horrific customer service experienced by purchasers of a new BMW R1200RT last year, you'd literally have to REALLY want that specific bike to consider one. People that had bought brand new bikes were off the road for a very long time with advise to not ride them whilst awaiting to be recalled, and without any guidance as to how long it would take to get their recalls completed. It was completely unprecedented for any manufacturers recall that I can remember, and it was a total shambles. I personally know one person that was forced to buy a second bike because it was his primary mode of transport.
The Triumph 955 might be a point to follow. Often people confuse off road with upright sitting off road style. triumph eventually understood this with the 1050 tiger Be sure what you are looking for, something to occasionally go off road or something with an off road style.
FWIW, and others will scoff I'm sure, but I find my KTM1290SA to be a perfect Multi alternative (having owned both an original and Skyhook, but not a DVT (I was fed up with reliability issues by then)).
BMW have a reputation for sorting problems when they do occur and the incident that occurred last year is unlikely to happen again. The R1200RT remains the only other bike I would seriously consider as an alternative to the Multistrada, but as I am unlikely to be changing my Multistrada any time soon it is a bit of a moot point.
@Mobile Chicane If it's any help I swapped my 2012 Multistrada S Sport (owned from new) for an S1000XR last August. I've just gone over 3,000 miles and so far I like it very much indeed. No, it hasn't got quite the same character as the Mutley but neither have I got that nagging worry in the back of my mind that the more I use it the closer I am to an expensive service or another niggly problem. As others have said the XR is much more frantic than the Mutley. I would sum it up by saying on the Mutley you don't think you are going particularly quickly but you are, whereas on the XR you think you are going quickly and yes you jolly well are. Frankly it didn't take me long to adjust. So why did i choose the XR? After having a loan DVT for several days it didn't excite me and I felt that while Ducati have done a lot to make the DVT appeal to a wider audience (which I fully understand) it has lost the rawness I loved and has dare I say it become a little bit sensible for my taste. VFR Honda'ish even? As for the problems you mentioned. I occasionally visit the two XR forums and I know two other people with XR's, the only recurring problem I have seen is fuel pipes becoming detached. Probably due to not being fitted properly in the factory. The other thing you see is guys that only buy BMW and have swapped from a GS to an XR and find that (unsurprisingly) it's a completely different kettle of fish and don't gel with it. Nothing to lose by giving an XR a spin! Hope this helps. Phil
Same here - I found the XR a little manic and the vibrations at (legal) cruising speeds were annoying - the latest bikes seem to have some handlebar vibration damping but I don't know how effective it is. An alternative worth trying is the BMW R1200RS; it's no Multi, but it is a nice ride.
It can also be retro fitted to earlier bikes and most dealers are doing it FOC apparently. I haven't bothered yet as I haven't found the vibes bad enough to trouble me, in fact I think they are really overblown by some people. I probably will do though at the 6,000 mile service as I'm sure at re-sale time most buyers will be looking for it to be done.
I agree that they do generally, but you have to admit that the debacle that unfolded last year was a total PR disaster. They were recalling bikes for safety reasons and simply didn't have a fix for them at the time. I know for a fact that the whole thing translated to long-term lost business and not just the millions lost due to the cost of the recall itself. My friend ended up becoming a Triumph customer as a result, and he was a BMW guy through and though.
Rather than being overblown I think it's more likely that it's combination of different people have different levels of tolerance to vibes at different frequencies, or that their expectation might have already been set by owning a vibe-prone bike previously and therefore accepting the level of vibration as being normal. It's definitely subjective, but at the same time I did find it too intrusive. I'd previously owned a Kawasaki Versys 1000 which vibrated to unacceptable levels where it was literally destroying itself with vibes. I just couldn't live with the prospect of another vibey bike and the experience with the Versys had been so bad that it just left me completely intolerant. As a result it was purely this issue that drove me towards the Multistrada after test riding the XR. That said, when the time comes to change the Multistrada the XR will be on the table for me as an option. I'll try one again for sure as I'm certain BMW have tried to address the issue, unlike Kawasaki who just said "they all do that sir" as it went about breaking the glass in it's own wing-mirrors and loosening fairing fixings until they buzzed like a sex-toy. It was ridiculous. I seriously considered backing the Versys to the dealer for a refund as it wasn't fit for purpose, but in fairness the dealer tried everything they could to resolve it. Instead, I did a part-ex for something else as it was cheaper than litigating, cancelled my H2 order, and vowed never to own a Kawasaki again.
I still think this could be my alternative, a nice looking machine with great off-road capabilities, urban and touring, about 20 kilos lighter than the adventure, the sport version with premium package has all the toys too. About the same price as dvt s
It may have been a PR disaster but imagine how much worse if BMW had held off the recall until a fix was ready and in the interim there were accidents and injuries .
Yes it was a PR disaster but they deemed it better to recall the bikes as soon as they knew there was a problem rather than waiting util they had a fix. If I had had a R1200RT at that time I would have been very pissed off but credit where credit is due, BMW acted like a responsible manufacturer.
Furthest mine goes "off road" is across the pavement from the road to my drive. It's quite a wide pavement to be fair! :smiley:
I changed to a multi when my 1200gs was off road for 9 weeks as BMW couldn't get a esa shock for it. They paid 2.5k in taxi fares can fault customer service but bike was still sat in a garage going no where. Tried XR but vibrations were on the rev range that annoyed me . DVT was just too smooth and boring so I remain with 2011 but upgraded. Just don't know what to get next
X2 The obsession with peak horse power is ridiculous when few roads will allow for it to be exploited safely, let alone legally! A good well set up torquey MTS1000 is my choice for most situations and that's why the 1200 is up for sale (dog not included!)
