If I could find one of these locally with low miles and in pristine condition for the right price I would be very happy. Specifically a 2004 year bike. The last year made.

The production run was from 1997 to 2004.

Yes, Your right. Had a senior moment. Of course the last was built in 2004. Jclevesque wrote:
The production run was from 1997 to 2004.

Just something you might want to be aware of... only in just the last year or two, Consumer Reports has begun to poll their extensive readership on the frequency of repairs they've had to have on bikes since purchase, and by means of their readership response in the hundreds of thousands has begun to compile a frequency of repair record somewhat similar to that which they've done for automobiles for decades.

BMW, has the highest frequency repair of all manufacturers, according to the response of CR readers. Fortunately for all of us here, Yamaha, as an entire brand, held the place of having the very lowest frequency of repair record of all the makes!

Besides having the highest, BMW and one other brand, were considerably far apart and worse, than the rest of the pack. Would anyone care to guess who had the second highest frequency of repair, and was somewhat of an outlier... out there almost as bad as BMW?

You know you are absolutely right. I get side tracked by good looks and tend to overlook high maintenance. Kinda like my first wife. I don't need more complications in my life so am going to quit lusting after that BMW. A boat, bike, house, lawn, yard tools, are sufficient to keep me busy and any more would cut into my recreation time. The more you own the more it ties you down and then if what you own is maintenance intensive then your aggravation level goes up while your bank account goes down. Questcap wrote:
Just something you might want to be aware of... only in just the last year or two, Consumer Reports has begun to poll their extensive readership on the frequency of repairs they've had to have on bikes since purchase, and by means of their readership response in the hundreds of thousands has begun to compile a frequency of repair record somewhat similar to that which they've done for automobiles for decades.

BMW, has the highest frequency repair of all manufacturers, according to the response of CR readers. Fortunately for all of us here, Yamaha, as an entire brand, held the place of having the very lowest frequency of repair record of all the makes!

Besides having the highest, BMW and one other brand, were considerably far apart and worse, than the rest of the pack. Would anyone care to guess who had the second highest frequency of repair, and was somewhat of an outlier... out there almost as bad as BMW?

The second worst was a domestic manufacturer's product whose name will remain secret.

Who cares what Consumer Reports says. If you love it, ride it. Many people ride "unreliable" bikes and have tall stories to tell. They eventually have cult like followings...yet I read a story about a fellow that rides BMW R100T and says it is the best bike he has ever ridden. Rode one for 9 years putting loads of miles on it and found a "new" one and rides that now. Never let him down.

I dont think your wife would be a happy camper on the back of the bmw lol have you ridden the F6B yet?

The one who will care, is the one who has a roadside breakdown, or can't ride because it's in the shop... and then, he gets the bill... that's who will care.

I've 2 buds who went the BMW route for awhile. Loved them... while they ran well. Hated them for all the tough, high-cost maintenance and repairs. Neither rides BMWs any longer.

They cared... because those things deeply mattered to the both of them.

One of thee principal reasons I'm a huge Roadies fan, no two reasons, is because they hardly ever break, and, other than the trans recalls on them, I've done every mod, maintenance and repair on them by myself, and enjoyed doing it, too!

But, I will agree, if you can still love it in spite of the 'experiences' you are more likely to have with them... by all means, go for it! Nobody would have any right to knock someone for it.