Recently I have seen discussions of various costs associated with owning the RS and I thought, that would be a good thread topic for this forum community.

Many people automatically assume, usually with very good reasons, that Japanese bikes are the most cost effective and reliable bikes on the planet. I am one of those people. So that when time came to buy my BMW that was a genuine concern. The bike was expensive to begin with, and then if the anecdotal evidence on the fora were to be believed, they seem to like to go back to the mother ship to fix this or that. And sometimes the problems seemed like BS problems to me ... at least on a bike that commanded such a high starting price and had such a pedigree.

Now any time you speak of cost of ownership, the focus is on the machine as a means of transportation. As a means of deriving pleasure, establishing value is much more difficult and subjective. On the other hand, if the instrument of pleasure costs an arm and a leg, then there comes a point when one has to make a decision.

The true cost of ownership of a vehicle is often the cost per mile measure, where all costs involved in running the bike (most accessories not included) are divided by the number of miles (or kilometres) covered while incurring those costs. This cost goes down the more you ride the bike with nothing breaking, wearing out, etc., and the more the bike is fixed without incurring cost (like working on the bike yourself).

While Google searches can result in many hits on motorcycle costs per mile, with answers all over the place, I want to focus this thread a bit more on the RS.

Based on your ownership experience, how does the cost of ownership of the RS compare with other bikes you have owned? Would you be able to share a simple calculation and cost per mile total for your bike?

Can't give you a comparison. I have not owned another brand since 1984.

(11-21-2018, 10:59 AM)Lee Wrote: Can't give you a comparison. I have not owned another brand since 1984.

Yes you can. You can give a comparison to other BMWs you have owned. For instance, is the wasserboxer cheaper to own than your 4 cylinder K bikes ...?

Based on my experience with the 21 BMW models I've owned over 47 years, the WasserBoxer R1200RS model is no more or less expensive when total maintenance, insurance, fuel and tires are looked at as a group. I believe the $0.184/mile actual costs so far on the first 70,000 miles on the RS are real world costs and does not vary a great deal with the other bikes. Of course doing all you own maintenance could reduce $0.03/mile and mounting your own tires might reduce another $0.02 per mile. But fuel, insurance, maintenance parts, and tires themselves will not vary by more than $0.01 among riders.

Disclaimer - this is solely my experience and the detailed data I have collected for my R1200RS and your opinion and data may vary from mine.

(11-21-2018, 11:21 AM)Grumpy Goat Wrote:

(11-21-2018, 10:59 AM)Lee Wrote: Can't give you a comparison. I have not owned another brand since 1984.

Yes you can. You can give a comparison to other BMWs you have owned. For instance, is the wasserboxer cheaper to own than your 4 cylinder K bikes ...?

I misread your post. I thought you wanted to see how BMW costs compared to Japanese bikes.

If you take your bike to the shop for service the labor cost of the LC boxer is similar to the Brick K bikes.
Labor on a Slant four K1300 will be higher because it is time consuming to get at the plugs and valves.

I got the best tire mileage out of the R100 and K75 bikes.
The K1200RS and R1200RS are similar for time wear.
The K1300S wore tires faster than any of our other BMWs.

Gas mileage on the R1200RS is similar to our K75 bikes.
The K1200RS and K1300S got similar gas mileage.
Fuel cost was the cheapest for the K75 because it called for 87 AKI.
The K1200RS and R1200RS call for 89 AKI.
The K1300S called for 91 AKI.

The front suspension maintenance on our Brick K bikes was cheaper than the upside-down forks on the R1200RS.

The K1300S was the most expensive for front suspension maintenance because the front ball joints would get worn by 30,000 to 40,000 miles.
Replacing the ball joints cost around $800.

(11-21-2018, 02:46 PM)Lee Wrote: I misread your post. I thought you wanted to see how BMW costs compared to Japanese bikes.

That too ... I remember when I used to read car mags regularly the rule of thumb for a good car was 6 cents per mile. Motorcycles are typically more expensive per mile and I wanted to see how much more the RS was than (a) cars and (b) other bikes including Japanese ones, if the data was available.

So any commentary would be good.

(11-21-2018, 03:01 PM)Lee Wrote: If you take your bike to the shop for service the labor cost of the LC boxer is similar to the Brick K bikes.
Labor on a Slant four K1300 will be higher because it is time consuming to get at the plugs and valves.
...

I would assume the 6 cylinder bikes would be more expensive, largely for that reason (access) and also simply more cylinders and their valve trains.

But that aside, any out of pocket repair costs for the RS that would add to the cost or ownership?

I have not had too many issues with the RS over its 32k miles, of course not counting the accident. Also the cost of tires that were replaced due to punctures have to be adjusted accordingly. Unlike Darrell I don't have all expenses tracked so I don't have these numbers at hand so easily but hope to add that to this thread at some point in the near future.

(11-21-2018, 05:06 PM)Grumpy Goat Wrote: I would assume the 6 cylinder bikes would be more expensive, largely for that reason (access) and also simply more cylinders and their valve trains.

That's true. I did not mention the 6 cylinder because we have not owned one.

(11-21-2018, 05:06 PM)Grumpy Goat Wrote: But that aside, any out of pocket repair costs for the RS that would add to the cost or ownership?

It's too soon to compare RS out of pocket repair costs with other bikes we have owned.
Warranty does not run out until later this winter.

(11-22-2018, 10:54 AM)Lee Wrote: It's too soon to compare RS out of pocket repair costs with other bikes we have owned.
Warranty does not run out until later this winter.

Mine's done. i am on my own now.

RS have been the cheapest bike I have ever owned apart from maybe my Suzuki GSX-R600 purely because that was a different time and a different world...but mostly because I don't have the documents to work out the stats.

Maintenance Costs up to 35,000km (Services + Tyres)

1st Service - R 2303.15
10,000 km - R 1985.37
Pilot Road 4 Rear 18,638 km - R 2300
20,000 km - R 3993.01
30,000 km - R 1944.86
SBS Rear Brake Pads 32,000 km - R 461.80
Pilot Road 5 Front 30,050 km - R 1950

Total : R 14,938.19 / $ 1 093,57

Petrol Price

Lifetime Average Economy - 5,6 l/100km. (Only .2 l/100 more than my lifetime average on Triumph Street Triple 675).

Total Cost : R 26 723,33 on 34,933 km tracked (got bike with 800km odd on the clock)

Cost per km : R 0,759 / $ 0,056

Purchase Price

Now this will throw off most numbers and comparisons because not only do we get better deals on BMW's down here in Africa but I also got a stupidly ridiculous deal in the first place.

Total Price (Comfort+Touring+Dynamic Package + Quickshifter + GPS + Keyless Ride) - R 145,000 / $ 10 608,26

(Original price/insured value on invoice was R 216,065 / $ 15 808,07 but includes the luggage)

Accessories purchased with bike (side cases, top box and inner linings) - R 19 776,51

Total cost per kilometer.

R 5.78 / $ 0.42 per km.




****

This excludes insurance, but that I don't think is a fair thing to compare and include anyway.

I do my own tires and oil changes. My Guzzi is easier to maintain, but the RS makes no unreasonable demands. I'm enjoying this bike a great deal.

(03-14-2019, 10:07 PM)Blackshirt Wrote: I do my own tires and oil changes. My Guzzi is easier to maintain, but the RS makes no unreasonable demands. I'm enjoying this bike a great deal.

So am I. Yet to do tires but I now have the equipment.

How is the Guzzi easier? They both have sticking out cylinder heads so I'd think that part would be similar and as for the other maintenance aspects that a DIYer could tackle, the RS is pretty easy.

I had a Guzzi Breva for a while. If I remember right it was a 2 valve head. Very easy to work on. The odd part was that you didn't need a wrench to turn the engine over. Once the plugs were out you could turn it by hand. Very loose.

I liked the bike a lot. But the final drive dumped oil on the back tire on me. Twice. The second time I took it in I told the dealer to keep the bike. Not worth the risk to me. I had gone to Guzzi because of the final drive failures making the news on the BMWs. Turned out that both MG and BMW were using the same bearings and that was at least part of the problem.

So I sold the MG and got an F800ST.

(03-17-2019, 10:35 AM)BobAintStoppin Wrote: The odd part was that you didn't need a wrench to turn the engine over. Once the plugs were out you could turn it by hand. Very loose.

When checking valves on our RSs and past BMWs I would turn the rear wheel to turn the engine.

Once the warranty ran out on my Ducati, many moons ago, there were still plenty of dollars to spend on wearable items. Like the clutch and the valve guides, etc. Looking forward to Beemer ownership being slightly less involved. My cost of ownership, to this point, has consisted of tire replacement and oil and filter changes. Although my 12k checkup was a little pricey, I felt it was worth it.

In eleven years of ownership, my Guzzi has only been to the dealer three times. I do all the rest myself; not because I'm an ace wrench, but the stone hammer simplicity of the 2VPC Big Block engine and a frame design that goes back 49 years. The valve adjustments are a 15 minute job. It is very overbuilt...I expect I'll have it til I die. Also, bias ply tires are fairly cheap and it gets 47mpg. Since re-flashing the FI CPU, I no longer need to use the expensive 10W60 AGIP Synthetic oil as it runs a great deal cooler. Guzzis are probably the best deal around for folks who are willing to do their own servicing. Though there are not many dealers around, there are some excellent parts resources and a great community of riders.