[Haroon]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

Well as per my understanding the 24000 service interval is for the major service.which is checking valve clearance etc which goes wrong on ducatis every now and then.The regular oil interval should be still 10k.Basically after a level of engineering on the engine it all depends on the oil as to how long it would last.

Moreover the infamous ducati unreliability is somehting which i actually am afraid of.Also in case of getting stranded i hope bmw in india would provide the same support that it provides for the car.Whereas Ducati is hopeless even abroad and would be even worse in india.I have read about owners having to wait for 2 months and counting for a simple gasket for the engine.and this is in UK.

Which is the BMW R1200GS being offered in india? the Standard one or the Adventure one?

Also haroon since you're a owner what is your opinion about the electronic suspension settings and the onboard computer and the abs etc.Are they worth it.

Basically what do you suggest for a superbike rider who now wants to shift to a go anywhere bike.A newbie on the adventure biking genre.

Well the 24000km oil/service interval is ONLY for the Multistrada 1200 whereas all other ducatis still go with the 10000km service interval. BTW, the valve adjustment job on the GS is a 15 minute affair as against hours on almost all other bikes.

BMW-india are presently offering only the standard GS but the fully loaded model. I think this is more than adequate, coz the Adventure is more for those RTW travellers who will be seeing many days of 400-600kms of dirt roads/no roads & no gas stations in between etc (Spoke wheels/knobby tires/36 ltr fuel tank/taller suspension etc). BTW, it is heavier & taller than the standard GS.

As for my impressions on the 1200GS, the first time I rode it, I knew this is a bike tailor made for my biking style which is more of touring/long solo rides. Besides that, a few of my supersport riding friends who tried the GS during its brief stay in India instantly agreed this is probably the most comfortable you can get on a touring bike. Just that you should not be vertically challenged and should have some flexible muscles around the thighs to mount & dismount from this tall bike. My Peninsula ride report on my R1200GS is still in progress due to travel/lack of time, but I shall put it up soon for you to get a general perspective on its India-specific touring capabilities.

Its high ground clearance together with the tele-lever front & para-lever rear suspension makes it probably the most rider friendly bike for our Indian conditions. Myself & wife rode straight almost 600kms from Kanyakumari to Pondicherry and except for the wet-butt inconvenience, our bodies/muscles were easily good to go for atleast another 300-400 more kms. If you are coming from the sportbike side of things and want a comfortable & powerful tourer for even 2-up riding, think no further- as long as you are not too short. Getting used to its size & height will take a few days, but once that is overcome, you can handle it as easily as a pulsar 150 or similar bike. The low end torque is also adequate, while braking is simply awesome with the brembo & ABS. Also lots of points to mount hard/soft saddlebags and topcases for long trips. The electronic suspension is good to have, but not an absolute necessity. I dont have it on my 1200GS, but had it on the R1200RT that we rented in Germany to tour Europe (you can see it in BIKE-India Nov 2010 issue), but I did not find it a super essential thing to have (rather less things to go wrong!). Whereas the Tire Pressure sensor is a great thing to have as also is Traction control during touring duty.

[tushar_lalsan]

BMW Motorrad: HP2 Sport
capacity : 1170cc.
Max torque: 115nm at 6000rpm.
133hp at 8750rpm (max rpm 9500rpm).
Retails at 22L ex-showroom Mumbai.

[navpreet318]

Anyone have any details or pics of the R1200 GS sold in India?

What are the specs of the R1200GS for india.I had heard its loaded with all the packages offered by BMW.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by Haroon

Myself & wife rode straight almost 600kms from Kanyakumari to Pondicherry and except for the wet-butt inconvenience, our bodies/muscles were easily good to go for atleast another 300-400 more kms.

Hey Haroon,

Where is the blog on this. Please PM the link. I really enjoyed your Alps trip report so much I am eager to look at your take on some of the familiar routes in South India

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

[Haroon]

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Hey Haroon,

Where is the blog on this. Please PM the link. I really enjoyed your Alps trip report so much I am eager to look at your take on some of the familiar routes in South India

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

Sorry Ram for being lazy. Since I had close to 400 pics & some videos to upload and as I hosted the pics on 3rd party website for the 3 online bike forums where I am a member, so it was a huge task to again upload here. Anyways, here is the link to all our experiences on our South Indian Peninsula Ride on my wonderful R1200GS:

South Indian Peninsula trip 2-up on a BMW R1200GS - xBhp.com : The Global Indian Biking Community

[fz_rider]

BMW’s Bangalore dealer Navnit Motors has the S1000RR on display. The BMW S1000RR is available in two colours only, Acid Green and White Blue Red (BMWs racing colours). The S1000RR is priced at an insane Rs. 22.95 lakhs (on-road, Bangalore).

source :motorbeam.com

[navpreet318]

Now the problem here is that it seems that BMW India has nothing to do with the bikes sold in India.It seems that only Navneet Motors and Deutsche Motoren are importing the motorbikes and selling them. So what exactly is the support status in india.Do we have a full fledge parts and service backup.Especially for the Adventure bikes which would require more support if used in the way they are meant to be.


Edit: Someone please correct me if i'm wrong.

[gsferrari]

Navpreet - the answer to that is a resounding NEGATIVE.

They don't have the fundamental spares...everything has to be shipped from Germany. They claim to have trained mechanics and a service center, reality is that they share the garage space with their BMW cars. Even the mechanics are common. It is possible that the mechanics have received training on the bikes but nobody has had the chance to experience this.

Overall, along the same lines of Ducati, HIGHLY questionable post-sales support infrastructure. The general attitude seems to be that we'll fix it on our schedule. They have also inflated the prices sufficiently to put it out of the reach of enthusiasts. Only the really wealthy can afford these bikes now...and they will probably ride them up to the Cafe and back occasionally.

After initially exploring the option of getting an R1200GSA I gave up and decided that it is probably better to get a ninja 650R and work on it to make it off-road capable with the right set of tires.

It is cheaper for you to import the BMWs yourself and handle the maintenance on your own. Some of us were in talks with BMW GmBH to arrange this and we got pretty far along the process. You stand to save close to 5L going solo.

A shame really...they should have partnered with a bike-centric manufacturer and done it properly instead of this "cash in and run" approach which they used the last time as well. I guess, like Fiat, they haven't learnt!

[Ajaybiz]

Any updates on their outdated F650GS getting ARAI approval and the final prices? As local BMW guys are either clueless of international market or over smart to sell the old product with new price tag, they are asking whooping 15L for F650GS, even though it was suppose to be 9.99 L during launch.
Whats the best way to import this bike as even if i pay the duty and import cost I don't think so ill be paying anything over 15L, any contact at BMW will surely helpful I am good to do things on my own, will not seek help from local showroom for service etc.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by Ajaybiz

Any updates on their outdated F650GS getting ARAI approval and the final prices? As local BMW guys are either clueless of international market or over smart to sell the old product with new price tag, they are asking whooping 15L for F650GS, even though it was suppose to be 9.99 L during launch.
Whats the best way to import this bike as even if i pay the duty and import cost I don't think so ill be paying anything over 15L, any contact at BMW will surely helpful I am good to do things on my own, will not seek help from local showroom for service etc.

Hi Ajay,

Since you are in India - you will have to look at import under OGL (Open General License). Basically the bike has to be above 800 cc. So that rules out F650GS (though the BHP is more than the old GS 800)

Be aware of the folllowing as well

1. All new bikes under OGL will have to be invoiced out of the Country of Production or so for BMW it will have to be from Germany.
2. For the New Brand Bike the duty is 97% under O.G.L. (used bikes over 800 cc on TR its 137% on depreciated price)
3. The Brand New vehicle should get an the Certificate of Production from the manufacture
4. Homologation certificate. (For GS it will have to be from the equivelant of ARAI in Germany
5. Manufacturer Invoice and not the Dealer Invoice if Purchased from Dealer than you should ask the Dealer to give the Manufacturer Price of that model vehicle only.
6. The payment - proof of paying foreign currency directly to the dealer or manufacturer.
7. Clearance at Mumbai Port only

The above info has been supplied by the Clearing and Forwarding Agent I am working with (actually for my possible TR, but he also gave me the info for OGL as well)

Hope this is useful

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

[Ajaybiz]

Thanks Ram for the detailed write-up, unfortunately this bike is 798 cc(just 2 cc below the boundary line defined by our Govt.), now what other option is there to import this, may be directly from Germany.

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm

Hi Ajay,

Since you are in India - you will have to look at import under OGL (Open General License). Basically the bike has to be above 800 cc. So that rules out F650GS (though the BHP is more than the old GS 800)

Be aware of the folllowing as well

1. All new bikes under OGL will have to be invoiced out of the Country of Production or so for BMW it will have to be from Germany.
2. For the New Brand Bike the duty is 97% under O.G.L. (used bikes over 800 cc on TR its 137% on depreciated price)
3. The Brand New vehicle should get an the Certificate of Production from the manufacture
4. Homologation certificate. (For GS it will have to be from the equivelant of ARAI in Germany
5. Manufacturer Invoice and not the Dealer Invoice if Purchased from Dealer than you should ask the Dealer to give the Manufacturer Price of that model vehicle only.
6. The payment - proof of paying foreign currency directly to the dealer or manufacturer.
7. Clearance at Mumbai Port only

The above info has been supplied by the Clearing and Forwarding Agent I am working with (actually for my possible TR, but he also gave me the info for OGL as well)

Hope this is useful

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

[Haroon]

Originally Posted by Ajaybiz

Thanks Ram for the detailed write-up, unfortunately this bike is 798 cc(just 2 cc below the boundary line defined by our Govt.), now what other option is there to import this, may be directly from Germany.

What Ram said is very relevant. Additionally, there are a few more things that will add up to your dutiable amount like some education cess, cost of shipping etc. You have to be ready for a long process for the whole pre-shipment documentation as well as the clearance process etc. Personally, its going be a royal pain.

The only other alternative suggestion is if you know of any NRI who can do a TR. In such case he will have to buy the bike for you and have it registered on his name for atleast 1 year in that country and he can import it on TR as a 'used bike' but the odo reading should show some usage and if possible he will have to leave some dust on the bike (may sound funny, but this suggestion comes from someone who imported his used bike & customs officers were arguing its a new bike seeing it clean & shiny!). Again make your choice on a bike above 800cc as that will make it all a lot more easier coz remember the NRI is doing you a favor.

As for the seaport, if for a used bike, from what I have seen & heard, Chennai & Cochin customs are a lil more easier to deal with.

[plimsollmark]

Originally Posted by Ajaybiz

Any updates on their outdated F650GS getting ARAI approval and the final prices? As local BMW guys are either clueless of international market or over smart to sell the old product with new price tag, they are asking whooping 15L for F650GS, even though it was suppose to be 9.99 L during launch.
Whats the best way to import this bike as even if i pay the duty and import cost I don't think so ill be paying anything over 15L, any contact at BMW will surely helpful I am good to do things on my own, will not seek help from local showroom for service etc.

Hi Ajay,

I visited the BMW showroom in Worli, Mumbai recently. Was told that the F800R should be up for sale sometime 'soon' !
Hinted at a 10L ex-showroom price for the base model which sounds quite tempting. There was a Black/Yellow one on display looking absolutely delicious. When I asked them about the F650GS they didn't have any updates.

Cheers.

[Ajaybiz]

Originally Posted by plimsollmark

Hi Ajay,

I visited the BMW showroom in Worli, Mumbai recently. Was told that the F800R should be up for sale sometime 'soon' !
Hinted at a 10L ex-showroom price for the base model which sounds quite tempting. There was a Black/Yellow one on display looking absolutely delicious. When I asked them about the F650GS they didn't have any updates.

Cheers.

Thanks Plimsollmark for the update looks like soon their bikes which were suffering the rules of being below 850 cc should be on road
And if its 10L ex showroom then I am sure they have the winner in their hands, most of their 800 CC bikes are ranging between 8-11K USD, so more or less they should be between 9-11L max ex showroom.

[Ajaybiz]

Here's the latest update
http://www.autocarindia.com/Review/3...test-ride.aspx
Launching outdated model with a premium tag of 11.5L ex showroom is not fair, but we Indian passionate bikers are helpless and forced to buy dated product at premium price, sigh can't help. Waiting for the bookings and launch now :(