The Essential Buyers Guide – BMW GS

This is the latest in the essential series from Veloce Publishing and written by well known journalist Peter Henshaw. The small soft-back A5 format is deigned to be slipped into a jacket pocket to be available as an invaluable handy reference source when looking at a machine with the intention of buying it. 

Viewed in that light, the book like all the others in the series, gives the reader sufficient knowledge and confidence to view a machine and investigate any areas that might prove costly without the knowledge imparted in the book. As a pre- read for those intending to purchase it is also excellent and it points you in the direction of other more in-depth publications or specialist websites should you want to go further.

Good use is made of experts and technicians who know the flaws in the various models and you also get a good idea of what the running costs will be like. Likewise those riders who have clocked up serious high mileage on the models also contribute to the informative text, which is totally independent of the manufacturers input.

My only slight criticism of this particular book is that more care could have been taken with the photography.

This at times, gives the impression of a series of snaps quickly taken at a dealer, rather than images planned to illustrate the points being made in the text.

However, this is just a small point as the book does exactly what it sets out to do at a very reasonable £9.99, which could be money well spent. Check out this and other existing titles in the range as well as up and forthcoming ones on www.veloce.co.uk where you can order the books if you cannot get them in your local book shop. ISBN 978 1 84584 135 5 

Review by Ian Kerr