1200 final drive failure poll.

[JohnnyBoxer]

I agree with Rasher, one of the reasons my 2010 twin cam GSA has gone is because I didn't want to keep it out of warranty, it will be out next April so I flogged it whilst it was still worth a bob or two.
Also before I came to GS's I'd never even thought of extended warranty

Rasher dya wanna buy some FS365 and ACF 50 somthing else I'd never purchased previously

Best regards Stretch
PS I'll keep the WD for around the house and garage

What you got now?

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Just got back from my Alps tour and the bike has a knackered clutch, warped discs and leaking fork seals - at 14k.

Surprisingly (well to me anyway) the FD is still running OK and I did not need to deploy my spare FPC - but I don't want to risk another tour on the bike next year when it will have a rather high mileage of 20k on it as it is falling apart like a cheap watch at 15k.

The rebuild option, although financially viable does not get around sods law, which is that it will fail on the first day of your once in a lifetime trip - who is gonna rebuild before every holiday

Rasher, glad you finally enountered some real problems and you'll now be spending £1000 on a new clutch/new discs and some fork seals

Because you talk the biggest load of bollox I've ever fecking heard............

 

[Stretchamus]

Rasher, glad you finally enountered some real problems and you'll now be spending £1000 on a new clutch/new discs and some fork seals

Because you talk the biggest load of bollox I've ever fecking heard............

Hi JohnnyBoxer,
Rasher bought the GS from a main dealer with extended warranty, so should not have a problem

Best regards Stretch
PS gone back to a Hayabusa, which was what I traded in for my new GSA in the first place.
PSS Looking to buy a cheaper adventure bike, maybe a 650 Tenere of something along those lines

 

[Rasher]

Hi JohnnyBoxer,
Rasher bought the GS from a main dealer with extended warranty, so should not have a problem

Best regards Stretch
PS gone back to a Hayabusa, which was what I traded in for my new GSA in the first place.
PSS Looking to buy a cheaper adventure bike, maybe a 650 Tenere of something along those lines

Yes indeed, extended warranty and as stated £1000 of repairs from one trip, yet most GS owners seem to think it is fantastic because the bike limped home, my last bike did 3 tours, it did knacker some discs, but apart from that it was fine. I noticed another chap was quite happy after his trip was runied by an FPC failure. It seems I will never fit in as the BMW brain washing implant must have failed to take with me and I therefore still think bikes that repeatedly go wrong are utter crap

I also noticed that 2008 / 2009 bikes seem to have the highest failure rates, I know a lot of folk think I talk crap, but what about BMW and there claims of the FD's being massively improved with the 2008 onward bikes - total bollox!

Good luck on adventure bike Stretch, I know a chap whp just got a real nice Cagiva Elephant for a good price, I suspect there must be a few good older "Giant Trailes" from that era.

 

[cookie]

Yes indeed, extended warranty and as stated £1000 of repairs from one trip, yet most GS owners seem to think it is fantastic because the bike limped home, my last bike did 3 tours, it did knacker some discs, but apart from that it was fine. I noticed another chap was quite happy after his trip was runied by an FPC failure. It seems I will never fit in as the BMW brain washing implant must have failed to take with me and I therefore still think bikes that repeatedly go wrong are utter crap

I also noticed that 2008 / 2009 bikes seem to have the highest failure rates, I know a lot of folk think I talk crap, but what about BMW and there claims of the FD's being massively improved with the 2008 onward bikes - total bollox!

Good luck on adventure bike Stretch, I know a chap whp just got a real nice Cagiva Elephant for a good price, I suspect there must be a few good older "Giant Trailes" from that era.

still not telling us what the problems you had actually were



ps. buy a cagiva elephant 'cos a GS is too much trouble? good plan

 

[Sgt Bilco]

I think I miss read Rashers post up there. I think he's saying the clutch is shot, the fork seals leaked and the discs have warped so at least he's got something to moan about at last............but let's look at it in the cold light of day:

Is the clutch worn or is it a leaking gearbox seal? If it's just worn it's pilot error (either Rasher or it's previous owner) and if it's a gearbox seal, that will be warranty I suspect.

Fork seals: feck me, dirt can get into any seal on any bike and they leak. No problem on the GS because the forks don't really do much and a quick change in 20 minutes. That's regular bike maintainence in my book and please don't say you've never had a fork seal go before.

Front discs warped: are they just worn or warped? If they are warped should be warranty.

Rasher, the seals can happen any time so you can hardly blame the bike (but you will), the GS isn't known for eating clutch's so maybe pilot error? Easy to replace anyway with an independant if you have to pay and the discs don't last forever although some say the GS is prone to this. I've personally not had any of the above and I'm not standing up for the manufacturer but for the bike which you just can't help wanting to berate.

Probably best you get it sorted and p/x ed against a Super Tenere and I'll be intrigued to know what is wrong with those because I'm sure you'll find out pretty quickly

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

My last bike did 3 tours, it did knacker some discs, but apart from that it was fine.

Good luck on adventure bike Stretch, I know a chap whp just got a real nice Cagiva Elephant for a good price, I suspect there must be a few good older "Giant Trailes" from that era.

Ah a pattern is forming

You're good at wrecking discs, I reckon you should re-learn how to ride

I've never knackered discs on a tour, or anywhere else in 150,000 miles of riding GS's....................even on the most extreme roads, so you're doing something wrong

Cagiva Elephant.........................a paragon of ultimate mechanical reliability

Rasher, you bought the wrong bike - simple as that

Try a nice R11GS or a R1150GS, if you want an older traillie

I've had Africa twins and Tigers, but my first 11GS trumped them all and did 40,000 trouble free miles

 

[Stretchamus]

Try a nice R11GS or a R1150GS, if you want an older traillie

JohnnyBoxer, he's talking about his experience with R1200's

Best regards Stretch
PS I'm not buying anymore foreign cr@p from now on its Japanese all the way

 

[Rasher]

Ah a pattern is forming

You're good at wrecking discs, I reckon you should re-learn how to ride

My ZZR did in two sets, both times whilst touring two-up, I fitted PFM's and did another tour with no issues, a mate bought these discs (as his had warped - along with 30% of ZZR owners on the forum) and he has also since done a lot of miles with no issues.

My mates GTR did in set of discs number four on this trip, as have many other GTR owners.

I suppose every ZZR and GTR owner on the planet obviously does not know how to ride, or have forgotten as I had never knackered a set of discs in 100,000 miles on other bikes.

The GS clutch loses pressure and you have to pump the lever or over time you cannot disengage the thing, no problem on winding roads / around town, but after 1.5 hours on the motorway in top it is difficult to even change gear.

I think this is going way as my FD is still intact, and hopefully will stay that way until I change bikes.

OK 3 small niggles on one tour maybe considered good by BMW standards, but my last bike managed 3 tours with no issues apart from the discs, and with them replaced with quality items I would expect it to do many more tours reliably, the new owner has already taken it around Europe with no problems.

Back on the FD subject my last bike had covered 15k on the chain which was still in fair condition, which is much more than many FD's have lasted, and probably a good 50% of the average FD life with a replacement cost of about 1/10th of that of an FD.

 

[Neil W]

I'm going to stick my head above the parapet with this one and say I'm with RASHER there are problems with BMW's that should not be there for such a prestige marque.

We all know about them and they are not just rumour and supposition, so why defend so vociferously something that is flawed whether in design or manufacture.

I've forked out for a new 1200 Adventure because the bike best suited me for size , comfort and concept BUT I'm not blind to it's potential faults and if god forbid it turns out to be unreliable I would fight BM tooth and nail regarding any repairs.

It is perhaps the only make of bike I've ever bought where I would consider extending the two year warranty ' just in case' because if someting major goes wrong it will no doubt be expensive to fix.

I have no doubt that if a Japanese manufacturer had similar problems on bikes they would be sorted PDQ, look at Honda and the original VF750 engine woes , they very quickly brought out the VFR which has to be one of the most reliable bikes ever manufactured.

 

[cookie]

OK 3 small niggles on one tour maybe considered good by BMW standards

i would not consider that good by any standards. i would consider it unusual, or perhaps unlucky.

just back from switzerland on my 2010 bike with no issues at all. my previous 06 bike did 24K, and many tours, with just having the engine/gearbox seals changed. this was done under warranty and before it caused any problems beyond a slight oil trace on the crankcase.

i have several friends with 1200s. not one has had a FD fail. one has had an FPC failure. one has had warped discs. most have had the oil seal issue. none of that should have happened, of course, but all fixed, without fuss by bmw. yes, they should be more reliable, but the dealers IME are first class.

had my clutch hydraulics been suffering air ingress while away, i think i would have stopped at a dealer to get it fixed. simple enough job, maybe you didn't have time

went to EM event at the w/e. loads of 1200s there. don't recall any of them breaking. a guzzi (a make you were thinking of switching to) did though, and i saw a kawasaki 1400 (a make you seem to hold in high esteem) broken down at the side of the road on the way up.

 

[Stretchamus]

I'm going to stick my head above the parapet with this one and say I'm with RASHER there are problems with BMW's that should not be there for such a prestige marque.

We all know about them and they are not just rumour and supposition, so why defend so vociferously something that is flawed whether in design or manufacture.

I've forked out for a new 1200 Adventure because the bike best suited me for size , comfort and concept BUT I'm not blind to it's potential faults and if god forbid it turns out to be unreliable I would fight BM tooth and nail regarding any repairs.

It is perhaps the only make of bike I've ever bought where I would consider extending the two year warranty ' just in case' because if someting major goes wrong it will no doubt be expensive to fix.

I have no doubt that if a Japanese manufacturer had similar problems on bikes they would be sorted PDQ, look at Honda and the original VF750 engine woes , they very quickly brought out the VFR which has to be one of the most reliable bikes ever manufactured.

+10
I would never buy another BMW, even though mine only had three fuel gauge issues in 12K miles.
I couldn't get my head around buying extended warranty when the previous 33 bikes I've owned just got used and abused

Anyhow good luck to every R1200 owner, great bikes, then I found UKGSer.com and couldn't justify my ownership with what could go wrong
Best regards Stretch

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

I have no doubt that if a Japanese manufacturer had similar problems on bikes they would be sorted PDQ, look at Honda and the original VF750 engine woes , they very quickly brought out the VFR which has to be one of the most reliable bikes ever manufactured.

The key part of that is that Honda never fixed the VF750, they made a whole new bike leaving the people who owned them to pay for camshafts practically every service. I know I had one. I also owned a CB900F that had a dog of an engine as well. Honda has been reliable lately but they went for a long time producing mechanically bad bikes. The point of all this is that every manufacturer has their problems and you pays your money and takes your chance. I will never buy another Honda because of my experiences with them in the past and the same will happen with BMW if my current bike turns out to be a dog. My last bike, a TDM wore things out at an alarming rate and basically dissolved before my eyes. Sure they are cheep but that doesn't make them a good bike. As for a the Elephant, that has to be one of the most unreliable bikes I have ever known. My M8 will sell you his if you like because he cant get rid of it even though its a limited edition injected one.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

JohnnyBoxer, he's talking about his experience with R1200's

Best regards Stretch
PS I'm not buying anymore foreign cr@p from now on its Japanese all the way

Therein lies his problem, he and you chose the wrong GS

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

+10
I would never buy another BMW, even though mine only had three fuel gauge issues in 12K miles.
I couldn't get my head around buying extended warranty when the previous 33 bikes I've owned just got used and abused

Anyhow good luck to every R1200 owner, great bikes, then I found UKGSer.com and couldn't justify my ownership with what could go wrong
Best regards Stretch

Bye then

Glad you had a reliable 1200GS

(A broken fuel guage isn't a real failure, is it................just an annoyance)

 

[seahorse]

I'm going to stick my head above the parapet with this one and say I'm with RASHER there are problems with BMW's that should not be there for such a prestige marque.

We all know about them and they are not just rumour and supposition, so why defend so vociferously something that is flawed whether in design or manufacture.

I've forked out for a new 1200 Adventure because the bike best suited me for size , comfort and concept BUT I'm not blind to it's potential faults and if god forbid it turns out to be unreliable I would fight BM tooth and nail regarding any repairs.

It is perhaps the only make of bike I've ever bought where I would consider extending the two year warranty ' just in case' because if someting major goes wrong it will no doubt be expensive to fix.

I have no doubt that if a Japanese manufacturer had similar problems on bikes they would be sorted PDQ, look at Honda and the original VF750 engine woes , they very quickly brought out the VFR which has to be one of the most reliable bikes ever manufactured.

I'm with you on this Neil.
I have owned many bikes in the last 30 years, including a few BMWs. There is no doubt that BMW build quality and reliability have declined over the years, but then in real terms they are not as expensive as they used to be either. My problem is that I think the 1200GS is a great bike and can't really think of anything else I would buy instead. So although I agree in principle with what Rasher and others have expressed, I have made my decision to go with the GS and am aware of what problems could come my way. Equally they may not, so in the meantime i will continue to clock up the miles and enjoy the bike. With a spare antenna ring and FPC stashed in the top box of course.........................

 

[Stretchamus]

Bye then

Glad you had a reliable 1200GS

(A broken fuel guage isn't a real failure, is it................just an annoyance)

JB, no its not bye then, otherwise I would not be sat here typing this, as I said in a previous post I intend to buy another Adventure Bike in the future.
I have enjoyed this Forum very much and will most likely pay my subscriptions again when I am closer to making that purchase.

Reliable 1200GS. Wow JB admitting such a thing actually exists

It is an anoyance when the dash is flashing Fuel at you, until the point it goes into the Dealers to be fixed, come next April I would be having to pay for it myself.

JB I'm not moaning about it, I've made a decision and took an action and that's it, however I do understand other 1200 owners concerns.

Maybe your right and I bought the wrong GS

Best regards Stretch
PS my mate CnC would have me buy an 80

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

JB, no its not bye then, otherwise I would not be sat here typing this, as I said in a previous post I intend to buy another Adventure Bike in the future.
I have enjoyed this Forum very much and will most likely pay my subscriptions again when I am closer to making that purchase.

Reliable 1200GS. Wow JB admitting such a thing actually exists

It is an anoyance when the dash is flashing Fuel at you, until the point it goes into the Dealers to be fixed, come next April I would be having to pay for it myself.

JB I'm not moaning about it, I've made a decision and took an action and that's it, however I do understand other 1200 owners concerns.

Maybe your right and I bought the wrong GS

Best regards Stretch
PS my mate CnC would have me buy an 80

No worries, you may have liked a 1100 or 1150GS better, fully able to enjoy it without some electronic annoyances

 

[skywalker]

My ZZR did in two sets, both times whilst touring two-up, I fitted PFM's and did another tour with no issues, a mate bought these discs (as his had warped - along with 30% of ZZR owners on the forum) and he has also since done a lot of miles with no issues.

My mates GTR did in set of discs number four on this trip, as have many other GTR owners.

I suppose every ZZR and GTR owner on the planet obviously does not know how to ride, or have forgotten as I had never knackered a set of discs in 100,000 miles on other bikes.

The GS clutch loses pressure and you have to pump the lever or over time you cannot disengage the thing, no problem on winding roads / around town, but after 1.5 hours on the motorway in top it is difficult to even change gear.

I think this is going way as my FD is still intact, and hopefully will stay that way until I change bikes.

OK 3 small niggles on one tour maybe considered good by BMW standards, but my last bike managed 3 tours with no issues apart from the discs, and with them replaced with quality items I would expect it to do many more tours reliably, the new owner has already taken it around Europe with no problems.

Back on the FD subject my last bike had covered 15k on the chain which was still in fair condition, which is much more than many FD's have lasted, and probably a good 50% of the average FD life with a replacement cost of about 1/10th of that of an FD.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz bored now. Air in clutch is not a knackered clutch u balloon. Reroute the clutch hose as per service info end of problem simples.
As JB said there's a pattern forming !