My Concerns

This is a big bike. Would the 800 be a better fit for me? I'm not a large individual at 5'9" 175lbs and the KLR was a chore when it got hairy.

I took it out for a 100 mile trip which included Interstate, city roads, highway, gravel roads and single track and I was pretty surprised at how well it felt. All around better than the KLR but I was left wishing for a lower gear. A GSA would be nice.

Sent from my iPad

The Why

Well I probably needed this bike like I need a hole in the head but here it is. Sometimes I have weak moments. But I figured that I could avoid a $20k + weak moment with a nice used GS to see if I would actually like it.

I have had a KLR 650 for several years now and really liked the crap out of it. It was the first bike I owned as an adult and suited me well as such: A good entry level bike that could go on and off road. As I progressed as a rider the first obstacle I hit with the KLR was that it isn't all that great for serious off road use which I started getting into. So I bought a KLX 300 R and problem solved (for the most part though a KTM would be sweet).

But I still really had a passion for adventure riding and always thought that the 1200 GSA was the ultimate bike. Then came the F 800 GS and depending on the day it was either that or the 1200. I have been wanting to upgrade from the KLR and my itchy trigger finger was pushing me dangerously close to just getting one.

After riding with a buddy that had a 2003 GSA with lots of miles on it I found my 2002 GS for sale at the local BMW dealer. I was really impressed with my buddies older GSA and after some deliberation went ahead and bought this one. I think it will scratch my GS itch but we'll see and I'll blog my experiences here.

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The Rundown

2002 R 1150 GS
44,000 miles
Crash bars
Driving lights
Purchased November 2011 $5000

Sent from my iPad

At Home

So I can't quite figure out how to get MMS posting working with pics so I'll try email. Here she is!

Sent from my Windows Phone

Ok wanted to get my phone set up so I could blog remotely and post pictures. Speaking of here is the bike!

Test post from my phone

Chapter 1

Inspired by Greg Nedham's blog about his adventures in owning a used BMW R 1150 GS, I decided to add to the thread by creating a blog of my own documenting my experiences as the proud owner of one of these fantastic machines. I will try my best to keep this up to date and content rich. More to come!