Thinking of a K1300S

[radlefty]

I recently sold my Triumph Sprint St, which up to this point has been my favorite all around bike. I hadn't planned on buying anything until next sprint but I wandered into the local BMW shop and they have a brand new fully loaded 2011 K1300S for $15,900. It originally listed at $18,595.  I've been riding Twins and inline 3's for a long time and every time I ride an inline 4 I don't really relate to the feel. But there's something about the K1300 that really pulls me. Plan on taking a test ride this week. Just sitting on it the ergos feel perfect for me. So, first question I have is does this seem like a decent price on a leftover 2011?

[miles]

I don't know about the price- it depends a lot on options. (ESA, hard bags, GPS... there are a ton of options)

But again, it's completely relative.  Ride the bike, and see if you think it's worth the money.

[Bigpoodle]

What is included in "fully loaded?" If it's all the electronic doodads only, that's an OK price, slightly below original dealer invoice. If it includes the sport bags and anything else normally considered a "farkle" such as a GPS, that's a pretty good price. If it includes all that plus Dealer Extortion Charges such as freight, destination, etc., then it's very good.

Keep in mind that you'll get whacked with depreciation as soon as you roll it out the door--you will not be able to recoup the $15,900 if you change your mind a week later no matter what was included. If you're sure it's a keeper (I've had mine for 2-1/2 seasons now, and it's a keeper for me until I'm too old and decrepit to handle it), you'll have to do some looking to find a better entry point.

[Jetpilot5]

I see BMW is running incentives on leftover 2012 bikes, don't know if that would apply to this 2011 as well but it can't hurt to ask.  Additional $750 off on the K1300S until the end of October.

Whether it's a good deal or not is really determined by what you value.  The only way to get the 3 year warranty is to buy new from a dealer.  You can find lightly used examples for thousands less and the bike hasn't changed much since it came out in 09 but if something big goes wrong it'll be on you.

Take it for test ride and see what you think.

[JeffMorse]

Not quite an apples to apples thing, but last week I paid about $3,000 less for a K1600GT than people who bought the bike at full list price. This includes a $900 BMW incentive.

[radlefty]

Thanks for the replies. Options installed include ESA, Gear Assist, power outlet, on board computer and heated grips. One of the things I've never liked about BMW is that virtually every bike I've looked at has at least those options installed from the factory. Be nice to pick and choose which options you want. They seem pretty firm on price but sounds like he'd be willing to give me $3000 on my Guzzi Sport 1100 in trade which is more then I think I could get selling it. I'll take it for a test ride in the next couple of days and decide. I have a bad history of wanting to change bikes every couple of years, so I'd really need to blown away by it and be convinced that I'd keep it for at least 5 years to justify the cost.

[miles]

Once you get a bike with heated grips you'll wonder how you managed to live so long without them.

[Royal Tiger]

Once you get a bike with heated grips you'll wonder how you managed to live so long without them.

Amen to that!  

I just went back and forth between buying a K or an R and settled on the R as I'm a big fan of twins.  They are both good bikes and I really enjoyed the K1200RS I rode a few times.  I was close to buying a used K1300S.  Love that bike.  Good Luck!!!

[CMS_Sprint]

The "loaded" version of the K1300S is something like $19,200 at the local shop here, that includes all the options. ESA, Shift Assist, heated grips, power outlet, Tire Pressure Monitoring. There are often some good deals to be had towards the end of the year, so if patience is on your side, you could wait a bit and see what sort of incentives come along. I bought mine on 12/31 and got an '11 at a really good price. When factoring the costs, have a look at the saddle bag costs, this is a bit of an eye opener at almost $1500 for the package.

I can't say enough good things about mine.  While I've only put 5000 miles on it so far it's been the most comfortable easy to ride bike I've ever owned, and it sips fuel! (I get about 45 mpg on average). I just got back from a long trip and spent about 1000 of the 2200 miles riding in the rain on it, and I can now say with confidence that it's got quite good coverage from weather as well. I don't know how cold it has to be to ride with the grips on 2 dots (high), but I can't hang onto the bars if I set them on high. The riding position for me is perfect (6' 190 lbs) and almost identical to the sprint. On my Sprint I had to replace the saddle for a Corbin, but the BMW saddle has been perfect for me, even on long 500+ mile days.

Service costs are typical of BMW ownership (they are proud of their work) but the costs are known, and they can tell you what each service will cost.

If you decide to pull the trigger, I think you'll be happy.  I know I am.

[Neub]

I would push for more off the new 2011.  See you are from MSPS so I am guessing the one you are seeing is the dealer here that has a red loaded (ASC, ESA, quick shift, heated grips, no alarm) plus that dealer adds hundreds in dealer paper handling and license fees.  I got my best deal from Moon with no haggling and no hundreds in extra fees.  Agree with above statement you will get nailed with depreciation as soon as you drive it out the door.  

[ConPilot1]

Agree with above statement you will get nailed with depreciation as soon as you drive it out the door.  

True with ANY bike purchase. Just probably moreso here due to the higher MSRP.

The K1300S looks like one hell of a good machine from what I've been reading.

[Neub]

True with ANY bike purchase. Just probably moreso here due to the higher MSRP.

The K1300S looks like one hell of a good machine from what I've been reading.

More so with the 2011 now two model years old....2013 are already hitting the showrooms and a few sold in the US.   Ps:  I love my K1300s

[radlefty]

CMS_Sprint - Thanks for your comments and impressions. Nice to hear from someone who switched from a Sprint and has not regretted it.  Neub - yup that's the bike. They're not exactly my favorite dealer. I had a very bad experience with their service department in completely failing to diagnose a problem with my Norge, that another dealer was able to fix immediately. But except for the ridiculous $495 destination charge, I think it's a decent price. There also willing to take my 95 Guzzi Sport 1100 on trade.  I test rode the bike on Monday and absolutely loved it. It's pretty rare that I keep a bike for more then 3 years, so now I have to decide if I can commit to keeping it for more then 3 years to afford taking the hit in depreciation. It's pretty much everything I've been looking for. Great ergos, great handling, great power, great looking...  It's just a freaking lot of money.

[Neub]

Radlefty,  FYI I paid 14,500 for my leftover 09 in Dec 2009 (the depth of the motorcycle recession) and I thought that was a lot also but when I looked at the time the new Honda vfr1200 listed for 14995 with no options (and at the time dealers were not going to knock anything off when the became available in March) my decision was made and I didn't even have the opportunity to ride one due to the snow and cold.  Only negative to the bike is that it does vibrate at high rpms (7000+) but i also came off a 99 vfr which is smooth all the way up to redline.

If you go with the k1300s  and want to see if some modifications fit you are welcome to stop by (I changed the rock hard BMW grips while retaining orginal heating elements, HID low beam, mra windscreen, helibars, power distribution box and additional outlets for gps, detector and heated wear plus I had Sargent modify the factory seat so I wasn't slowly sliding forward into the tank).  It is a great bike, you wont be disapointed.  Randy

[Jetpilot5]

So radlefty, did you buy it?  I see it's gone from their website.

[radlefty]

So radlefty, did you buy it?  I see it's gone from their website.

Yup, picked it up 2 weeks ago. I'll post up some early impressions later today after work. Thanks to everyone for their input.

[Justin]

Nice  , but we need pics!