‘It’s lost half its value already’
Not many riders can say they’ve gone from Buell to BMW, but it’s a leap that MCN reader and R1200RS fan Kev Coleman has made. He said: “I’ve owned many bikes since passing my test at 17, but the standout one was a Buell Firebolt XB12R that I owned for eight years. I loved it and never intended to get rid of it but the primary drive chain failed and damaged the gearbox during a trackday at Brands Hatch, and that was the end of that.” Still keen to get another big twin, Kev then had a dalliance with a KTM RC8 but, as his wife discovered, the cool-looking Austrian machine was no good two-up.
“After that we got into BMW K1300Rs and I had three of those. Then just over two years ago we had a big accident two-up, the K1300 got totalled as a result and I suffered a badly broken arm.
“BMW had stopped making the K1300 by the time we got back on the road, so we started looking at other bikes that did what we needed to do and the R1200RS ticked all our boxes. This is my second RS in two years (see 0 miles, right) and I’ve covered over 34,000 miles on the model in total.”
With his R1200RS now showing 20,000 miles after regular use with the IAM and touring trips, Kev says it has lost around half its value. That sounds alarming but the good news is that it should start to hold its residuals better now with bikes like his finding a level after the first 18 months of use.