My misgivings are around the "unscheduled" services, not the routine maintenance stuff which I would mostly do myself in either case. I talked to a GS owner at a local BMW dealer (they were showing the California BDR film that night) that ended up $8,000 out of pocket for a busted rear shock! I expressed disbelief but all he did was shrug.
Always a case of “I talked to a” BMW nightmare.
I know why hearsay isn’t admissible in court
.I bet most GS type motorcycles see no more off road use than the average touring bike. Most buy them for the style, the ability to go off road but not to actually go any distance off road.
So why is it that there are always the "I talked to a BMW owner" stories?I know why hearsay isn’t admissible in court
Even from BMW, the newest 2018/19 rear shock (ESA spring strut) is still around $3000. He may have needed a new 6 speed transmission too to get it up to over $8K.
Tom
Because the people who actually own BMW's here all came from ST's, and there are many, like their bikes and really have no horror stories to tell.
No different from the average 4WD SUV owner.
Well I might ride one in the dirt more than the average person. I live on a gravel road.
There are some models that are more problematic than others, perhaps the people here have mostly stayed away from those models, dunno. I can only give you second person complaints because after seeing how crappy my friends BMWs were, I'd never consider buying one to convert myself into a first person complainer. I haven't ridden any of the more recent models though, so my data points are getting a bit old by now.Because the people who actually own BMW's here all came from ST's, and there are many, like their bikes and really have no horror stories to tell.
I get tired of hearing complaints second and third person, the others are probably tired of responding or out riding.
Tom
We have very different experiences, not only have I never owned or even ridden a crappy BMW; I obviously also have less discerning friends.
That is one of the things that has discouraged me from going down the BMW Route. I like all the cool stuff they are doing with the newer GS line. More so the new R1250GSA with the TFT dash. Even the newer (waterhead) R1200GSAs with factory cruise and such. But then you keep reading about the final drive failures. Granted I would read about that more on the oil heads I think. Not to mention the CAN Bus system they use which is way more complex compared to what we have on a ST. On newer ones I have read a lot about handle bar switches failing. It is great to have bells and whistles but it is just more stuff to break. The complexity means either you are throwing parts at the problem guessing at what it might be or taking it to the dealer. Both of which would get really expensive, really quick. Then there is the other common thing where all you really ever hear about is the people that have problems. So that seems to amplify reliability complaints. For every rider out there having switch gear or final drive problems, how many have never had an issue?
they're rolling technology platforms that have way too many potential failure modes that are not user serviceable.
Douglas, you are so right and unfortunately usually not fully tested before release, meaning the early adopters can suffer. I took my BMW motor car in under warranty for a buggered rear windscreen wash. Now how hard could that be? Apparently and I quote, "the car wouldn't talk to Bavaria". Which translates to 10 days in a loan car awaiting the repair. Thankfully it has been fairly reliable besides, but now it's the same conundrum; what new car can I buy that isn't an awaiting technological disaster. I don't want or need 10inch screens x 2, headlights that know when it's dark or a car which can park itself. I'm quite good at parking thank you very much and Er'Indoors won't let me out in the dark.
Peace and Love man.I have been riding BMW's for 42 years and have never been left on the road by one. The
only bike I ever had to load on a wrecker was a 1991 ST1100. Go figure.
This one went to Prudhoe Bay and Inuvik and motored on home...
This one has taken me from Georgia to Maine to Georgia every fall...
This one hasn't missed it's first beat yet...
Nope, this one didn't break either...
I sold this 43 year old baby a few month ago. It is touring the western half of the continent
with it's new owner at the moment...
I am selling several of these and returning to ST1100's again after 21 years. Not because I
am disappointed with BMW's but because I enjoyed my last ST from 1991 to 1998 and
wanted to give it another go. I'll put the money from the BMW sales into a Miata for the wife
and I to putz around in, as she is unable to ride with me any more on the bikes.
One can enjoy the ST's (I certainly enjoy mine) without the need to discredit anyone else's
choice. I have absolutely enjoyed my BMW's and my ST's. I'd hate to think that I missed
out on the beemers because somebody knew somebody who heard on the internet that
somebody had a problem. I only have 42 years and 300K miles with eight BMW's, but I am
still waiting for my first serious problem. Peace. Out.
It’s a 1993/4 K1100RS, the replacement 1996-2005 K1200RS/GT was also a beautiful, reliable machine.
