New member in South Florida 650 GT

[Delray]

Hello,

This is my first post and intro as a new member. One week ago I bought a white, 2016 BMW C 650 GT. On my birthday!

I'm Mike, an ad agency creative guy from upstate New York now living in Delray Beach, Florida. It's 30 miles north of Fort Lauderdale.

I've been riding since my early 20's when Dad gave me a Suzuki 650 as a college graduation present. I discovered scooters in 2016 while vacationing in Key West, where you can rent little putt-putts for $20 a day. When I got back, I was in a BMW bike dealership looking at a new G 310 R when I walked by a 650 GT that stopped me in my tracks. Didn't look like a motorcycle. Floorboards? A hump? Wha --?. That was my discovery of mega-scooters, and I have never looked back.

Within weeks, I bought a 2003 Honda Silver Wing. Half a year later at a Honda dealership I walked by a 2013 white Suzuki Burgman 650 with a red Corbin seat and that stopped me in my tracks. Bought it with my Silver Wing trade-in. A few months later I added another 2003 Wing with a black Corbin seat so I had a two-bike stable. Sold both to get a 2012 Silver Wing because I liked the simplicity and reliability of the Honda (the Burgman's "lifetime" belt kept me up at night. If it fails, you basically eat the bike).

I was planning on keeping the '12 Wing for years until I happened upon a Facebook ad for a white 2016 BMW GT 650 up in Jacksonville. The price was $5,000 with 818 miles. I'm thinking, "How do I NOT buy this bike?" I took Amtrak 302 miles north and bought it from a feisty, 66-year old grandma who told me she did over 100 on it ("but only once"). And thus, I have arrived on the mountaintop of mega-scooters, full circle from the day I discovered them at a BMW dealer.

Lots of likes, no particular order ...

It's beautiful. BMW makes gorgeous bikes. I think I'd prefer a black one but I like the visibility of the white.

The growl. Love the throaty sound from the muffler.

Handling. I remember with my R1150 R I often thought, "This thing almost corners itself." Same feeling with the 650 GT.

Stability. The bike felt rock solid at speed. Never felt that way with the big Burgman and Honda. The brakes are ridiculous.

Tech! I'd been riding a Silver Wing essentially designed in 2001 and never changed (that's good and bad; Honda's engineers nailed it in 2001. You won't find a more reliable, easier to maintain, cheaper to keep mega-scooter anywhere). That said, it was SO nice to have live PSI readings ... LED lights and courtesy lights ... on-going mpg's (49.7 so far) ... traction control ... controls for seat opening and gas cap right on the ignition switch ....

The "braille" bumps on the cubby opener. Easy to find in the dark.

No tabs! I took off the right front faring to charge the battery and there were no tabs to break. Three screws into three machined holes. Bingo bango boom. German engineering.

Heated seat and grips. On the way home from Jacksonville, it got chilly late at night after a rain. I suddenly realized, "Ooh, guess what I have?!"

Couple dislikes ...

Trunk light should have an on-off switch. I installed one on my Silver Wing.

Windscreen is too short (at least for me at 6'1"). At my first rest stop on the way home from Jacksonville, I bought a GIVI screen on my phone. It's 5.1 inches taller and should be perfect, keeping the wind off my face while letting me look over the screen.

Storage. Not much room in the cubbies (compared to Honda and Suzuki). And the big wheel well hump under the seat doesn't help.

Service manuals. I get the feeling I have better odds of winning a Mega-Millions jackpot than finding a printed service manual. I know you can get DVD's for PC but I'm an Apple guy. I may have to invest in a cheap PC laptop. I like doing my own basic work ... oil and gear oil, coolant and brake fluid, belt and plugs, brake pads, etc.

A smart key so I never have to take my keys out of my pocket. I drive a Prius and have keypad-coded door locks for my house. Am I getting dangerously close to whining?

The dreaded BMW/Bring Me your Wallet myth. Everyone hears this, but in fairness, I have never experienced it. Oh, wait. Maybe I did. A GIVI screen for a Silver Wing is $99. It's $247 for the 650 GT. The previous owner "set it down" (vs. dropped it) in her gravel driveway and there are a few tiny scratches on the right front faring. That's $157 for a Silver Wing and $448 for the 650 GT. Maybe the myth is true.

So there you go and here I am.

 

[Rodan]

I've been a regular on Burgman 650 and Silver Wing boards before this.

Welcome.

This board has about 1% of the activity of the Burgman 650 forum. There are maybe 1-2 posts here per day -- sometimes not even that many. But, that is to be expected because of the low number of BMW scooter sales compared to the Suzukis.

The Burgman forum is a great forum: https://burgmanusa.com/forums/

 

[Delray]

"This board has about 1% of the activity of the Burgman 650 forum ... because of the low number of BMW scooter sales compared to the Suzukis."

Thanks for the welcome.

You're probably right about low activity = low number of comparable sales. Too bad. The Silver Wing forum is more active than this one and has regular posters. I loved the Burgman site. There is rarely a quiet day on it.

Any other forums dedicated to this bike where fans are passionate and posts are more frequent?

 

[Rodan]

Any other forums dedicated to this bike where fans are passionate and posts are more frequent?

Not that I'm aware of. The BMW MOA forum has a section on the C650GT but it is less active than this forum. Maybe one post every 2-3 weeks.

You can try here: https://advrider.com/f/forums/battle-scooters.36/ (lot of scooter activity and some of it is BMW related)

 

[fluufy]

Welcome from Australia. I have a 2017 that is pretty much identical, as 2016 was the last major upgrade for these. Fabulous machine with some idiosyncrasies as noted, the underseat light is connected to the auto headlights and the timing can't be adjusted, it always goes off while I'm getting my stuff!

You are right about parts prices, these are high but I have found better value ordering some things from Europe (from down here anyway).

Enjoy the machine.

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

[jorgebri60]

Welcome,
I have the exact same bike you do... I went with a CALSCI tall windshield and change my seat to a Corbin. It's been a great bike even on long rides. Did an Iron Butt on mine just to prove a point to my Harley/Goldwing buddies. Hope you enjoy the bike.

 

[Chiro]

Welcome,
I have the exact same bike you do... I went with a CALSCI tall windshield and change my seat to a Corbin. It's been a great bike even on long rides. Did an Iron Butt on mine just to prove a point to my Harley/Goldwing buddies. Hope you enjoy the bike.

Mine is the 2017 on Black.

 

[Delray]

"I went with a CALSCI tall windshield and changed my seat to a Corbin."

I love Corbins. I've had two on Silver Wings and one on a '13 Burgman 650.

I'm tempted to get one for the 650 GT. The price is up there because it's heated ... $892 + tax = $65 shipping. I can get over that because I know how much comfort and support the seat adds to every ride. However, a former member here, now a regular on the Silver Wing forum, warned me against them for the 650 GT because it didn't align right, especially around the gas filler cap, and was difficult to close. My 650 GT seat is perfectly aligned and closes with a solid BMW "thunk" in one push. Love to hear about your fitment perceptions.

I'm eager to get the tall GIVI screen on the bike. Added two RAM mounts on top of the brake reservoir covers today for GPS and phone -- love how there is a gap on the bottom of the cubby door that lets you thread a cord through to the power socket. That's real world engineering.

I'm thinking about a lidlox helmet lock on the handlebar grip. Looks bulletproof, handy and affordable. My Schuberth M1 doesn't quite fit under the seat, and I'd rather use that space for other stuff. I suppose I could also just get a skinny bike cable and run it around the passenger grips.

 

[jorgebri60]

No problems here at all. When they first installed it, there was a slight misalignment with the rear latch. that was a simple adjustment when I got home from my 1200 mile ride. Never had any issues with the fuel cap.

oh, and yes... my large full face shoei with senna audio fits in the truck along with a light jacket, gloves and a cap.

 

[Delray]

That's a pretty seat. Nice touch with the white strip wrapped around the rider's seat.

Found out today I have 20 days of warranty left, since the bike was originally purchased on December 28, 2016. That's perfect because my windscreen doesn't work, which is an electrical issue that's covered. The night before I bought the bike the owner left the key on and drained the battery dead (I had to wait four hours for it to charge so I could ride 300 miles home). I think I remember reading about a similar situation with the battery and it affected the ECU and windscreen in a similar way, and resetting it fixed the screen.

While I am in the dealership this Friday, I am talking to the finance guy about an extended warranty, which are much cheaper if you buy them while you're under the original warranty. He quoted $887 for two years and $1482 for six years. The bike only has 1,200 miles on it but I like the peace of mind since I will be riding this incredible machine a lot.

 

[Skutorr]

Great Idea! That warranty is a MUST with a BMW Scooter. Oh, a couple of our best friends also live in Delray Beach! Small World...

 

[Delray]

Update on the white 2016 650 GT ....

It's now someone else's white 650 GT.

I sold it 16 days after I bought it for 3 reasons:

1. I found a better buy on craigslist.

2. It was a bit rough around the edges with scratches and scrapes from the previous owner, a West Virginian mountain woman.

3. The "CHECK OIL" warning and scary looking yellow pyramid light kept coming on. This drove me crazy. I checked the oil 100 times on the bike and it was always fine, right in the middle of MIN and MAX. So I knew the bike was fine mechanically. Apparently, my 2016 model is not the first to experience random CHECK OIL warnings.

So, I found a 2017 650 GT in Metallic Black Storm with 2,000 miles and over a year of warranty left. The owner said, "Not a hint of a scratch on it" and he was correct. I sold the '16 for $1500 more than I paid, kicked in $500 of mine, negotiated the price from $7400 to $7000 and bought it. I drove it home from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the Atlantic coast and the ride was perfection. I plan to keep it for a long time. This bike feels like it was designed around me. Love it!

 

[RRocket]

Fantastic!