Maintenance Cost Pricey?

[Rider_Rico]

I just put a deposit for a new c650gt, and now I'm having buyer's remorse mainly because of the thought of maintenance cost, with it being a BMW. Should I be that concerned? Should I have gone the the Suzuki Burgman 650 instead? Your thoughts please.

 

[bill steele]

I would say the BMW mite be a little bit more than most bikes depending on what you have done to the bike some parts can be pricey

 

[Oldscoot]

The BMW C series is the best scooter ever manufactured. All things being equal it may cost a little more to maintain - but that cost is easily offset by the enjoyment of ownership.

 

[JaimeC]

Unlike every other two-wheeler I've ever owned, the owner's manual for the C650GT simply specifies "Annual service." Compare that to my TMAX which had a recommended 4,000 mile service interval, but an oil change interval of 3.000 miles (there was a warning light to "remind" you that, when it first came on, causing me a bit of panic because I thought it was a low pressure warning), and a belt replacement interval of 12,600 miles. That all adds up to a LOT of servicing! I might change my oil at 6,000 mile myself if I put on more than that in a year (which, going by my past record, is almost a foregone conclusion) but other than that, I'm not at all concerned about service costs.

 

[Cajun1962]

I just called the dealership for my fist service at 600 miles. They quoted a price of $275. That seems high. I love the bike but this seems high.

 

[justscootin]

I just called the dealership for my fist service at 600 miles. They quoted a price of $275. That seems high. I love the bike but this seems high.

The price of $275 is not bad (still a little high) if they put the BMW high performance 15w50 that is recommended in the manual as that alone will cost about $120 on its own with a filter. When I did my own oil change the dealer charged me $68 for the rest of the service. I only let them service it so I could get the stamp in my book. Another person put a post up and said he paid $400 so don't feel to ripped off.

 

[JaimeC]

Depends on the dealer. I got my 600 mile service FREE.

 

[Xian Forbes]

Something to keep in mind with the Burgman 650 is the electronically controlled CVT which, in my own opinion, is overly complicated and unnecessary as BMW found no need to add such a system to the C-series.

I see no reason that a fella could not do a majority of the maintenance at home. Things like oil changes, filter changes, ect. are easily done by the owner as long as one purchases all the correct things like crush washers and oil pickup tubes and the little odds and sods that get changed when a dealer mechanic would do the job. I think that A&S cycles would have all of that stuffs available at a reasonable price. For all std geared BMW bikes A&S sells maintenance kits with all the bits needed and no need to figure out what to order. I would recommend taking the bike in for "major" services like Belt replacement (if you dont have or are comfortable with torque wrenches and whatnots) valve adjustments and that type of stuffs. To keep costs down, get comfortable with removing all of the plastic on the bike. At $100.00 per hour shop labor I see no need to pay someone 30 to 45 min labor costs to do something that I can do with a simple torx set of drivers and a little elbow grease. Plus I find it fun to ride my bike around with the trim off, its a totally different experience.

 

[Oldscoot]

$275.00 is not that bad.

 

[Cajun1962]

Has anyone done the 6000 mile service? What was the cost of that service. I am hearing they go up. Based on this belt replacement will be $1000 or more. That is 10 percent of the total cost of the bike. If my truck had the same percentage it would cost $4k. That would be considered major cost.

 

[JaimeC]

Has anyone done the 6000 mile service? What was the cost of that service. I am hearing they go up. Based on this belt replacement will be $1000 or more. That is 10 percent of the total cost of the bike. If my truck had the same percentage it would cost $4k. That would be considered major cost.

Belt replacement will be at 12K, not 6K. Breathe in slowly... breathe out.

 

[bill steele]

Belt replacement will be at 12K, not 6K. Breathe in slowly... breathe out.

So if you get charged $1000.00 dollars or any thing near that you are getting ripped off it should be about $ 350.00 the belt is probably about $175.00 and about the same for labor. if they add the sliders/rollers figure about $100.00 more since they already have the unit open so the labor will be a little bit more plus the material.

 

[Cajun1962]

Thanks guys. I will see how it goes. I will enjoy the riding and figure it out when it gets there.

 

[bill steele]

So if you get charged $1000.00 dollars or any thing near that you are getting ripped off it should be about $ 350.00 the belt is probably about $175.00 and about the same for labor. if they add the sliders/rollers figure about $100.00 more since they already have the unit open so the labor will be a little bit more plus the material.

A bit of an update- while looking around the web I came apon a UK site for parts and they had a Malossi kevlar belt for the 600 and GT models of the BMW scooter for 97 pounds which come out to approx. $154.00 dollars and that is with there 17% vat tax so the belt here in the USA about $135.00or less just wanted to pass this along.

 

[omniphil]

That's certainly reasonable for a belt. When I hit 12000 miles i'm going to pull the cover off and measure the belt width vs a new belt.

A bit of an update- while looking around the web I came apon a UK site for parts and they had a Malossi kevlar belt for the 600 and GT models of the BMW scooter for 97 pounds which come out to approx. $154.00 dollars and that is with there 17% vat tax so the belt here in the USA about $135.00or less just wanted to pass this along.

 

[JaimeC]

That's certainly reasonable for a belt. When I hit 12000 miles i'm going to pull the cover off and measure the belt width vs a new belt.

I'm wondering if it's not just wear. The heat and friction may also "harden" the rubber a bit, causing it to start slipping on the pulleys making it less efficient. Check the condition of the belt, not just the width. Of course, you probably already KNEW that but didn't mention it for the sake of brevity.

 

[omniphil]

That's good information. Yeah, certainly if its all cracked looking then it would need replacing. What we need is the minimum belt width acceptable. But maybe the service manual doesn't have that, they just replace at 12K and call it a day...

I'm wondering if it's not just wear. The heat and friction may also "harden" the rubber a bit, causing it to start slipping on the pulleys making it less efficient. Check the condition of the belt, not just the width. Of course, you probably already KNEW that but didn't mention it for the sake of brevity.

 

[AZ Tee Jay]

If we measured our enjoyment against cost in everything we did we would all be single! And forget golf
I LOVE my BMW scooter. And although I have no problem changing the oil/filter myself, there are other things to look at like the chain slack, etc. It's the cost of doing business (and of riding something that not everyone can afford to enjoy).
I will even attempt to change out the belt and rollers for sliders when the time comes. I certainly want to figure out how to check the chain adjustment and handle that (comes from my days with REAL motorcycles).

If you want to ride something that doesn't cost a fortune to simply RIDE, then I would recommend Japanese (I traded my Ducati Monster for a Suzuki SV650).
If you want to own something semi-exclusive; something that puts a smile on your face every time you so much as look at it, something that, despite it's less than perfect measurements (seat hight is excessive) induces dreams of spending time with it, then take the leap of faith and say' "I do". You will not regret it!

 

[SteveADV]

I just called the dealership for my fist service at 600 miles. They quoted a price of $275. That seems high. I love the bike but this seems high.

Cajun, C'mon you bought a BMW. $275 is ok in the short run. The bike will last forever. We have a lot of mechanical experts on this site (I'm not one of them....but you've probably read some of the threads....wow!) and I believe what they tell me. You bought an exceptional machine that will last you a long long time.

 

[JaimeC]

My last "First year model BMW" was the K1200LT I bought in the summer of 1999. I still have it, and the odometer is just shy of 178,000 miles. Before that, I bought a K100 in it's first model year (1985). It was stolen from me almost exactly ten years later when it had 158,000 miles on the odometer.

I think you'll have your scooter for a good long time.