My local Big 4 dealer has an ex-CHP bike for sale. They took it as a trade from a guy who said it was too big for him. I don't know, I sat on it and it seems fine to me. (My other bike is a Ninja 500R, which is a LOT smaller.)

This bike has 87K miles on it and they are asking $4000. Service history is unknown. I've done a bit of research and the R1150RT-P is favored over the R1200RT-P due to the size of the saddle bags. (They looked like a pretty generous size to me.)

This would be my second motorcycle. I have been riding for one season now. Does anyone think this is too large of a step up from a 500?

And of course,

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price is not bad and being a police bike it was well maintained. That doesn't mean it wasn't riden hard, but with low miles I'd say it is a good buy. Definitely a major step up from the Ninja. I was used to 750 inline 4's prior to Mikes 1100 RS and it took some getting used to. It feels very top heavy compared to smalller bikes and It still worries me to lay it over in a corner because of the size, but I have scraped by shoe on the pavement twice now so I must be getting used to it Bags are nice to have

I am told that CHP keeps them for 100K miles normally. It shows its age, but for $4K it seems like a good way to get into BMWs. Word from a BMW salesman at another dealer is the price is good.

Easy on the throttle, you'll being doing 80 before you can blink and 100 comes on faster than a fart

Do I see a makeover in your future ?

You'll get used to it pretty fast.
Here's the same bike for sale near me for twice that price-
http://slo.craigslist.org/mcd/2345519802.html

LOL Scotty. That's a Kawasaki, is it not?

They were filming a segment of CHIPS in front of our hangar at the VanNuys airport one day. I was standing next to Eric Estrada and he asked me if I liked the show? I told him "I never watch it". He then slowly walked away.

Dang, maybe I need to get my butt back over there and take it for a test ride.

Actually I think the contract is for 60K miles but there was a bit of a dust up in the bidding department. Harley Davidson won the contract a few years back but failed the performance tests. CHP continued to use the RXXXXRT-P beyond the contracted miles in an agreement with BMW. Most of the NorCal bikes were maintained at the same shop I get mine serviced at. Harley is sueing over that if I recall correctly.
Before I tell you that it is a good price, I would have to ask the year. My 2000 R1100RT is only worth about $5K now I would guess and it only has 32K miles on it.
There is no performance advantage between the civilian bike and the P. The P just has a better alternator to power all the electronics. My point is, with a little Craigslist diligence you should be able to find a civilian bike with far less miles for about the same price. Particularly if you travel out here and ride it back. These are as common as Harley Davidsons here...
My previous bike was a 1987 Honda Shadow that I put 30K miles on IN MINNESOTA with a 5 month riding season! I found the transition to the R1100RT to be quite easy. It handles very well. As with any big bike, slow speed operation is where you will have the most problems at first.
As far as mileage, I get a consistent 45MPG no matter what I do unless it is all highway. Then it climbs toward and above 50MPG. Oh, and you will not believe those ABS brakes! Incredible!!!

Here's an example of what I am talking about. 20K less miles, prettier and you save $700 bucks. On top of that, you get a memory of a lifetime riding it back to MD...

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/mcy/2354928638.html

Not bad. I am interested in having one of the older R1100 some day. My friends had a pair and it is true, I got on the throttle to go through all of the gears and looked down to see I was doing 120mph....windshield gives a false sense of slowness

If you have to ask then I'd say yes. IMHO. My first street bike was a KZ400. I rode it about 3 months and then bought a HD SuperGlide and the transition was not a problem for me. Have you been down on a bike yet? I waited til I had laid mine down. Everybody knows there are 2 types of bikers, those who have gone down and those who will go down.

Dropped the Ninja 3 times. 1 time it was parked on a hill, the other 2 times I was on it.

Get it, and slowly get used to it.

Oh ya, and Shoe is definitely a rider that "will go down" if you know what I am sayin'

giggedy giggedy, giggedy ewe

Been riding on and mostly off for the better part of 15 years and I have yet to go down "I have had a couple of close calls, including one last week. A ping pong ball size rock under the rear tire at 60 will wake yer ass up

I can tell you form my recent experience that it took me a good while to get used to the extra throttle. I had a hard time maintaining a speed. I just realized today that I was keeping it steady. the SLIGHTEST movement and it gets going at any speed, so DO NOT think about breasteses or vajayjays while riding

Oh yeah, I wasn't planning on trading the Ninja for it. I need to get back into practice, and that should be don on my more familiar bike.

I'm going to do a bit more research about the BMW as far as service needs or glitches go, and if all looks good I will make a decision this week. Main concerns are the shock (was told on another board that is a 30K/60K service item and this bike has almost 90K miles) and rear drive condition. It started pretty nice, a lot easier than my Ninja or my Porsche.

Point taken, Rob. At my level of riding experience, though, riding across the country intimidates me. Heck, I only own one *car* that I would feel comfortable driving across the country... and I have been driving cars for 30+ years.

Think maybe this is why you can't keep a woman?

this coming from YOU ????

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/mcy/2332607307.html

C'mon, Scotty. If you had a poon downstairs, would you want a face like Ken's anywhere near it? No way.

Ken, I have the '94 r1100rs....I don't like the riding position, that said, the rs is more aggressive than the rt.

I have 82K on mine. paid 4K. The bikes are easy to work on, I did have some pulled head studs, helicoil and back in business. head gaskets are expensive. Around $50. point being that it is not hard to work on. When the cylinder were off, looked at the condition. they looked new. At 80K miles. slapped everything back together, old rings and all. No problems. The handling is exceptional. try it. You will like them. Keep searching, look at the BMWBMW.org site, some great deals there and the BMOA site...some sweet deals.

I have seen some very low miles bikes go for low $$. Most BMW owners really take care of them and don't ride too hard. Most, not all.
good luck and join the club!

Well, crap. I might as well give up motorcycling then.

OK, how did I get dragged into this now?

Mikes clearly been on rotation too long.

Zach

make sure the trans is ok. I have seen a lot of police bikes in the shop with blown transmissions. In my area probably 10-12 bikes at the shop with the transmissions out of them. The police service their bikes religiously, but they are also very aggressive riders. I would probably waive off for a privately owned bike at that price unless they warranty out the transmission for another 20k.

Hmm. Good point. This dealer sells Kawi, Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha. They don't normally deal in BMWs, and I doubt that there will be much of a warranty at all.

So how would I verify the condition of the transmission?

I was at the dealer picking up my Ninja today, so I asked again about the BMW. Couldn't really see the shocks as they are buried deep. I asked how firm the price was, and offered $3600. They ran the numbers and said they would do $4000 out the door, including a hard tag. $3600 + tax, title, tag comes to $4087, so I consider this to be equivalent to $3600 in a private sale.

Going to try to get in a test ride on Friday and make up my mind then.

nothing rides like a boxer. sounds like a fair deal.