Thoughts on BMW G450X
 

I have a chance to get a 09 BMW G450X at a good deal. It has been ridden but barely... we're talking like 20 miles. It is mint.

I know the bike got a bad rap (especially after Knight threw it under the bus when he was sucking that year) but others have done pretty well on it (Letti winning Romaniacs, Salminen improving that year to 2nd overall) and it was different and interesting but do any of you guys have any personal experience with one?

I think a husky 449 would be a better choice and you could probably find one of those for a good price too.

The bike that the factory riders had success on had a different frame where the swingarm was not "coaxial" with the counter-sprocket. The frame used by Salminen and other BMW factory riders allowed them to adjust this distance between the swingarm pivot and the countershaft. This allowed them to tune the chassis behavior for different tracks. This is a known "technique" used on road racing frames...

There is a reason why motorcycles do not have the swingarm pivot and the countersprocket aligned. With the traditional configuration - The behaviors of this "traditional configuration" are used by riders to accelerate, corner, and deal with obstacles on the trail - and most are oblivious to the physics behind it. They just learned "what worked" - e.g. if I blip the throttle and then unweight the pegs - I can "bunny hop" over this crap... If I roll on the throttle hard in this section where I have traction - I'll get some "bite" and "go".... Yes, the rear suspension is affected (and in turn the bike geometry & weight bias) when accelerating or decelerating with the traditional config -but riders can and do use it to their benefit in many situations.

BMW differentiated the bikes features and positioned it as providing new technology that provides better performance (and value to the rider). I won't say what's "right" or "wrong" here - but I do think you should have a true understanding of the "physics" of the situation and make an educated decision.

Jeff

I have also heard about the effect of the coax sprocket on handling. It also does not have a kick starter and I believe there was a recall on the starter motor or some other wound item related to it
I know two guys that had them and I think the fact that it has the power of a 350-400 and not a 450 makes it a bit more forgiving/easier to ride but I am not a fan of it

09 bikes had a few problems. There were a couple bought back at my dealer for undiagnosed stalling issues. They also were known for collapsing the oil filter in its housing which may of lead to some oil starvation issues. They also require extensive maintenance intervals according to the manual. Complete rebuild in 30hrs with crank. I don't know anyone that actually did one since its so pricey. BMW moved on for a reason.