Newest Consumer Reports motorcycle reliability ranking

scootac said:
Near the top?
Not good enough... Who is the top???
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From here...

Brand Percent failed
Yamaha/Star 11%
Suzuki 12
Honda 12
Kawasaki 15
Victory 17
Harley-Davidson 26
Triumph 29
Ducati 33
BMW 40
Can-Am 42
 
BendBill said:
No surprise: Honda near the top rank.
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Says more about the responders to the survey than anything else. Some owners complain more than others and some owners just don't care :D. The same Consumer Reports Survey had 2 parts and rated "Consumer Motorcycle Satisfaction". Top two manufacturers, Victory and HD; ..... and all is still right with the world.... :rofl1:
 
Yeah, Stats... half the time you can make them looks any way you want... the other half you can make them look any way you want... So, 100% of the time I'm 50% right.
 
Satisfaction aside, the ST has proven very reliable even after 7 1/2 years. It did experience a failure during first year of ownership when the temperature drop to 26 and a serious coolant leak resulted. Constant tension clamps were put on all the hoses under warranty. Thank you Honda!

Our Can Am experienced a major electrical failure, frying both the stator and regulator in the middle of nowhere Nevada. I believe this was self inflicted. The battery light came on and the wife kept riding without letting me know. I believe a simple battery replacement could have prevented the other components failing. Another lesson learned.

BMW seems to be addressing their issues by recent recalls. Maybe a result of these reliability surveys. I hope Consumer Reports continues to perform the service.
 
Based on what I know and what I have seen these stats look accurate. No surprise the Japanese build the most reliable bikes.
 
One thing to keep in mind these surveys rarely ask specifics, just ask if they had a warranty claim. So if you compare a bike with bluetooth, heated seats, heated grips, an audio system, electronic suspension, cruise control etc. to something that doesn't have these features the cards are stacked against the feature rich product.

Gerhard
 
Mellow said:
Yeah, Stats... half the time you can make them looks any way you want... the other half you can make them look any way you want... So, 100% of the time I'm 50% right.
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My old research methods professor once said "Ya know, reality is kinda complex."
 
Gerhard said:
.....So if you compare a bike with bluetooth, heated seats, heated grips, an audio system, electronic suspension, cruise control etc. to something that doesn't have these features the cards are stacked against the feature rich product.

Gerhard
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That may be true.... but shouldn't the frills be designed and built to be just as reliable as the rest of the product?
If I'm paying for filet, I don't want it to taste like chuck!
 
All I know is my four year extended warranty just lapsed and I completely wasted my money on it, LOL. My 07' has never had to go back for warranty items.......shoulda spent the 484.00 on pie!
 
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My point was that there are more components to fail so even if a more complex vehicle has the same component failure rate as a simpler vehicle the more complex machine will have more warranty claims because there are more chances for something to go wrong. Some claims really aren't failures, for example the bluetooth won't pair with the newest phone introduced yesterday so the customer goes to the dealer to have it fixed by a software update, this is a warranty claim is it a failure though? That very thing happened to my car.

I guess taking it to extremes it is like comparing a hammer to a pneumatic nail gun installed in an assembly line, I am sure the hammer has fewer warranty issues. I don't believe that anyone is building Yugos or Ladas today, those where examples of a breakdown waiting to happen.

Gerhard
 
Gerhard said:
My point was that there are more components to fail so even if a more complex vehicle has the same component failure rate as a simpler vehicle the more complex machine will have more warranty claims because there are more chances for something to go wrong. Some claims really aren't failures, for example the bluetooth won't pair with the newest phone introduced yesterday so the customer goes to the dealer to have it fixed by a software update, this is a warranty claim is it a failure though? That very thing happened to my car.


I guess taking it to extremes it is like comparing a hammer to a pneumatic nail gun installed in an assembly line, I am sure the hammer has fewer warranty issues. I don't believe that anyone is building Yugos or Ladas today, those where examples of a breakdown waiting to happen.

Gerhard
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Pay more, expect less? I'll take the hammer.
 
I'd like to use my cell phone as a hammer too, which is exactly why I could care less about "pairing up". Guess I meet Honda's target demographic for these dated, inferior ST's, lol
 
I occasionally see posts in brand specific forums where owners say they switched brands because they got fed up with high operating costs and/or reliability issues with previous bikes or brands or they routinely get off bikes at warranty expiration and get a new one. It's true that unhappy owners are over represented in these anecdotal complaints compared to happy ones but there is a direct correlation between these CR type rankings that use at least some methodology and the anecdotal ones seen in forums. There aren't a lot of owners saying they got fed up with reliable motorcycles that are easy to live with BOTOH the reverse is not unusual. Just an observation.
 
I'm bailing on Honda and jumping ship to the Yamaha. These stats say the Yammie is 9% better. :yes:



(Joe, half of me believes you're right about stats, but the other half believes you're right about stats.)
 
I question the validity of those numbers as my recent Honda experience has been outstanding. In nine years of owning an ST-1300 and a Gold Wing I didn't have to make any type of repairs, just regular maintenance. The Triumphs have not been as reliable, but they haven't really stranded me anywhere although they gave it a good try. They have had a lot of recalls and TSBs.
 
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