Regarding the shaft ‘lube’ it wasn’t a recall, it was a service bulletin. There is a thread on here somewhere covering it in depth. Nothing to worry about. BMW will already have the VIN of the bike and if it requires lubing it will be dealt with by the time you buy it. No harm in asking to double check but seriously don’t be concerned. As Anibal says there is basically next to no tech on the FE so that could be a plus or minus depending upon what you want. My bike doesn’t have cruise because it’s an early one but that’s fine I would never use it anyway, Noelpolar on the other hand in Oz finds it very important and I can totally see why. Australia is massive. I agree it’s not an all rounder bike, it’s an ‘occasion’ bike, it feels special and that’s why I got it. The bike goes well, handles well (within cruiser limits) and I find the riding position very open and roomy (5’11” and 31” inside leg), suspension is firm, the bike rides flat. Rear preload adjustment makes a difference but if roads are bad, potholed, unavoidably very rough you do feel it but then again it’s no Africa Twin so you will. Regarding weight I think you’ve just got to be confident, the FE is the lightest of the range and it’s got cat like balance. There’s many aftermarket seat options available now including some spectacular artisan work. Reverse is useful IF you have an awkward parking spot but most of the time you won’t ever need it. There’s a lot of chrome to clean and the header pipes like to burn on dead bugs. Finally I suppose extended motorway (freeway) riding would be a bit of a chore if you had to do a lot of it because there’s no wind protection and no way to avoid it but I find 60mph very do-able, much faster into the wind on a windy day is very hard going though. I’ve had mine approaching two years Mat and no regrets, it's lovely. Really is.
