How reliable is your 1200?

Geordietraveller · 14-04-06, 19:19

Reg. Sept '04. 31k miles (mostly round Canada, Western US and Mexico hundreds / sometimes thousands of miles from a dealer)
Probably tested as hard as any 1200GS. Carrying 2 plus gear for a year. Used hard, put away wet, taken down lots of gravel tracks, dropped and thrashed.

Final Drive replaced @ c.5k (corrosion)
Fuel Pump sender replaced @ 6k (failure)
Transmission, seals, clutch, replaced @ c.15k (seals failed + contaminated cluch)
Balancer Shaft machined to repair grove worn by incorrect assembly at factory c.15k
Gearbox replaced c.15k (jumping out of 2nd)
Battery replaced c. 24k after failure
Stepper motors reprogrammed c. 26k (made bike idle rough but that's all)

Has it needed more attention than any previous bike? - yes
Are early 1200s all prone to the same faults? - seems so
Am I convinced that all the problems are over? - not sure (but looking good so far)
Is it the best bike for a real 'round the world' ride? - no but no worse than an 1150 with ABS. Something older, cheaper and smaller would be more sensible.
Would I swap it for anything else? - Nope
Is it the best bike I've ever owned? - Definitely

Si

BTW the ABS is diiferent on the GSA anyway, but I think you got more chance of regretting NOT having it when you needed it, (it's not going to immobilise the bike)

14-04-06, 19:57

25,000 miles in first 12 months.
no big problems...except the rear wheel barings are "going" - so they are doing them under warranyty

14-04-06, 21:16

You've certainly tested it SiFi - and had all the "normal" problems with a couple of extras thrown in for good measure. Still a lot of problems-per-mile though. It would be nice to think BMW have addressed all the common problems now with the latest builds, as the majority seem to be Final Drive/Gearbox/Fuel Pump/ABS, i.e. a few specific problems rather than loads of different ones. I do know that the newest boxes are very different.

I've only today learnt that the ABS cannot immobilise the bike, which is also a relief. After my last 44,000 miles being on ABS-equipped-bikes, I may have got more used to relying on it more than I realise.

How is the GSA's ABS different - is it the new Continental Teves system I've read about? And do you mean it's different form older 1200's or different from the latest normal 1200? I've not heard this before.

Happy travels!