Conundrum

[LJJ]

Happy new Year from a UK Subscriber. 

I hope you can help advise me with a “conundrum”……

I have a 2016 Lupin Blue RS which I LOVE, have “made mine”, and tour on in Europe (EU). It came with a 2 year BMW UK Approved warranty - 2 years warranty and breakdown cover (worth buying from BMW for this alone - and it worked for me in rural Spain last year when I STUPIDLY filled with Diesel by mistake - back on the road within 3 hours). 

I bought the bike with 12k miles on it. It now has 20k (I have another bike for more “local’ stuff). My warranty runs out in early December and I’ll have 25-27k miles on it by then. I can extend the warranty for £400-ish, but the ESA shock is ONLY warrantied until 30k miles. As they DO FAIL, and I’m no mechanic and I would be worried about a potential £4k bill for a new one, as well as all the other things which can start to fail on a bike with over 30k miles on it (it is serviced by BMW). As the bike itself is probably only worth £4k-ish as a trade-in with that milage on, and I have a LOT of stuff I could easily shift over to an R1250 RS (bar-risers, exhaust, topbox, panniers, Nav 5, carbon bodywork etc) should I bite the bullet with a (low milage this time) 1250 BMW Approved and get the 2 year EU warranty again (I can afford this, I wouldn’t want to afford (or finance) a NEW ‘23 bike), or should I “take a chance” and continue on with the old bike hoping the worst doesn’t happen ?

I will post this question on the “other” forum as well.

Thank You so much for your input.
LJJ

[Grumpy Goat]

Happy new Year from a UK Subscriber. 

I hope you can help advise me with a “conundrum”……

I have a 2016 Lupin Blue RS which I LOVE, have “made mine”, and tour on in Europe (EU).
...

My input based on my experience ... a lot depends on how much you work on your bike yourself, and you did not mention that aspect in your post although you did allude to the possibility that it may be only serviced by a BMW dealership. 

Another important thing is the type of coverage you have under the contemplated plan. Many people refer to warranties they have although their expectation is more along the lines of what would be covered under a maintenance contract. 

Warranties don't typically cover normal wear items, but rather manufacturing defects that occurs with normal usage during the period of coverage. One has to read the fine print to see exactly what is covered and how it is covered. 

There could also be items that an authorized shop may document as qualifying for coverage, but which could be deniable by the warrantor if they had all the facts and were able to see the issue firsthand.

If you do get all your work done by the BMW dealership and little / none done yourself, and if the cost of the contract is reasonable (which is subjective) then I think that getting the warranty and breakdown coverage is a good thing.

Some here have gotten warranties and others have not so many POVs could be had on this. I have 60k on my bike and never had a warranty beyond the BMW 3 year / 36k mile warranty. As you know from the YT channel, I do work on my own bike as far as my capabilities will allow (I am no mechanic but as an engineer I tend to "fiddle" ...) so I figured, that a warranty would not be needed if I work on the bike myself and do routine maintenance. If more than that is needed then I would walk away and get a more reliable machine. No drama tolerated with me.

So far, and knock on wood, my RS has been good to me so my plan worked for me. As for the rear shock going ... I have not known this to be a significant occurrence (and could be ignorant of this fact). Suspensions are wear items that need periodic maintenance to function as designed. If the evidence for this is anecdotal based on the opinions on the Internet then take it with a pinch of salt. There is a lot of nonsense on the Internet in addition to good stuff.

[ESquared]

Happy new Year from a UK Subscriber. 

I hope you can help advise me with a “conundrum”……

I have a 2016 Lupin Blue RS which I LOVE, have “made mine”, and tour on in Europe (EU). It came with a 2 year BMW UK Approved warranty - 2 years warranty and breakdown cover (worth buying from BMW for this alone - and it worked for me in rural Spain last year when I STUPIDLY filled with Diesel by mistake - back on the road within 3 hours). 

I bought the bike with 12k miles on it. It now has 20k (I have another bike for more “local’ stuff). My warranty runs out in early December and I’ll have 25-27k miles on it by then. I can extend the warranty for £400-ish, but the ESA shock is ONLY warrantied until 30k miles. As they DO FAIL, and I’m no mechanic and I would be worried about a potential £4k bill for a new one, as well as all the other things which can start to fail on a bike with over 30k miles on it (it is serviced by BMW). As the bike itself is probably only worth £4k-ish as a trade-in with that milage on, and I have a LOT of stuff I could easily shift over to an R1250 RS (bar-risers, exhaust, topbox, panniers, Nav 5, carbon bodywork etc) should I bite the bullet with a (low milage this time) 1250 BMW Approved and get the 2 year EU warranty again (I can afford this, I wouldn’t want to afford (or finance) a NEW ‘23 bike), or should I “take a chance” and continue on with the old bike hoping the worst doesn’t happen ?

I will post this question on the “other” forum as well.

Thank You so much for your input.
LJJ

To more directly address your conundrum, I'm reminded of the old saying:  Hope is not a strategy.  You have a popular color in a proven bike that is now 7 model years old and the depreciation curve just gets steeper from here.  If possible, sell is privately vs. trading it (after returning it to stock and keeping your impressive list of accessories) and seek a newer 1250.  Many here (and elsewhere) have attested to the improvements of the newer model, so I won't recite them.  It all involves time and the occasional inconvenience, but a '20/'21 with low miles and an add-on warranty should reward you well for the effort.
And, welcome to the forum!  Look forward to hearing how you resolve your dilemma.

[LJJ]

Hi Esquared,

I agree with you and the old saying, and I’m a bit of a “worrier”. I’ll see how I feel and take account of miles done this year by Sept/Oct. At least there are always plenty of BMW Approved RSs around, so I think I will deff go 1250 at some stage. The BMW UK Approved scheme is great, but I need to get a lower image bike next time. An 18 month old fully specced Approved bike with 4-5k miles can be had for £12,500 vs £17,000 (!!) new (Yes they’ve really shot up in price for 2023). As you say selling Privately is the way to go, but the RS is not a popular model in the GS-obsessed UK, so not so easy. I also don’t want to get caught out and have to service and MOT (our annual legal road-worthiness test) a bike I’m about to sell. It’s worth trading and letting BMW have that hassle……

Many Thanks for your response.

[Boxerboy55]

Hi Esquared,

I agree with you and the old saying, and I’m a bit of a “worrier”.  I’ll see how I feel and take account of miles done this year by Sept/Oct. At least there are always plenty of BMW Approved RSs around, so I think I will deff go 1250 at some stage. The BMW UK Approved scheme is great, but I need to get a lower image bike next time. An 18 month old fully specced Approved bike with 4-5k miles can be had for £12,500 vs £17,000 (!!) new (Yes they’ve really shot up in price for 2023). As you say selling Privately is the way to go, but the RS is not a popular model in the GS-obsessed UK, so not so easy. I also don’t want to get caught out and have to service and MOT (our annual legal road-worthiness test) a bike I’m about to sell. It’s worth trading and letting BMW have that hassle……

Many Thanks for your response.

Stop worrying about what may not happen.

I love my similar bike. Tweaked to suit me.

Bought new in 2015.  Nothing’s broken yet and I’m not worrying.

I chose a non-ESA bike specifically. And I love my key too.

My custom suspension cost less than half of what you fear an ESA shock might be.

A looked after bike will run reliably indefinitely. I’ve only clocked 40K, but ask some of our US cousins how many miles they’ve clocked up.

My bike is worth pennies now. I see absolutely no benefit in spending a 5 figure sum to get a newer model.

I’ve said it many times - spend on fuel and hotels.

I enjoy Europe every year too. My ferry and hotels are booked.

Not sure if we’re helping with your conundrum :-)

[Grumpy Goat]

No one can help his conundrum. Only he can decide this one. He’s just telling us he has the conundrum.

I like the part about just riding it and saving the money for gas and hotels. Good advice.

[runnerhiker]

I think a summary of what you are thinking is: "peace of mind" is going to cost you money. The only question is, how much? You have decided not to go the most expensive way of buying a new 1250. The next level down on cost is buying a slightly used 1250. And the next level down on cost is buying an extended warranty or a maintenance contract. I think you also don't really want to keep the 1200 without warranty.

So, two choices. More cost gives you more peace of mind. Less cost gives you less peace of mind. Forget about the cost - how much peace of mind do you want? Answer that, and there is your answer.

[Grumpy Goat]

^^ Well put, Ron.