Any reliability issues with GS

[FatAl]

Many owners take out the extended warranty each year, most get far more back than they pay out so if you really want a GS and don't want to risk huge repair bills then expect to pay £310 per year for warranty and an avereage of about £350 every 6k for servicing.

Also note the double service scehdules for BMW's, they need servicing on an annual basis and every 6k, so unless you do exactly 6k a year you may find yourself having an extra service between mileage ones.

I carry an FPC (£80) and I believe the EWS faults are sorted now, Final Drives still seem to crap themselves far too often and look at the final drive failure thread here and you will see 2009 models still blow them up and sometimes before the bikes have reached 10k. My bike also managed to warp both discs, blow both fork seals and develop a clutch fault on my last tour (just 14k on it)

Have you tried the Yamaha Super Tenere, as a long term and high mileage / commuting option this would seem more practicle, I would not see the Stelvio or MTS as year round bikes.

Oh, I disagree with finish complaints as my GS seems better than most modern Jap bikes with regard to paint thickness and general finish.

Why on earth shouldn't a Stelvio be a year round bike?

My first Stelvio managed two years with winter use and proved to be more reliable than many of the GS1200s I read on these forums. I have no doubt my new NTX will be just as good. My GS1150 that I owned and ran all year round for six years showed far more corrosion after it's first year than my Guzzi.
I have a pal in Scotland who keeps his Stelvio out on the road uncovered all year, he's had no problems with it and far less corrosion than he suffered on his GS ADV1150.
Another pal uses his California Vintage all year, no problems with his bike either.

Moto Guzzis in my rather limited experience of 30 months ownership are no worse than BMW in terms of reliability and quality of finish.

 

[Rasher]

Why on earth shouldn't a Stelvio be a year round bike?......

Moto Guzzis in my rather limited experience of 30 months ownership are no worse than BMW in terms of reliability and quality of finish.

No offence meant, I would definately expect at least BMW levels of reliability from a high mileage 1970's CZ, however I suspect high mileage modern Guzzi's may not fare so well with depreciation as whatever the real situation is with BMW reliability the general perception is they are reliable and capable of high mileages.

The Ducati will rot at the first sign of clouds, just go and look at some dealers demo Ducati's after a few summer months use, most of them look worse than my 3 year old GS.

 

[Deleted account 251212001]

I would prefer a site where you can see the truth, warts and all, rather than sites like Triumphrat.net where anyone who is negative about Triumph gets banned and their posts removed.

At least you can make up your own mind based on full information rather than get the rose tinted view.

thing about that is, you dont neccessarily get a balance, thats not meant to be a criticism. Disgruntled owners post about a final drive or whatever but thats likely a small percentage of the actual numbers out there, the fact the gs is pretty much the best selling bike out there covering the largest mileages doesnt come into the equation. They arent as robust as they used to be but neithers a vw passat.

To be honest if you read the multistrada forum, those things appear seriously fragile with more faults listed than on here, gearboxes the works, but the owners seem more forgiving about the product...i sense it is wearing thin though.

Then you get the likes of stretch using perceived reliability as an excuse to get another hayabusa!

 

[Rasher]

Disgruntled owners post about a final drive or whatever but thats likely a small percentage of the actual numbers out there, the fact the gs is pretty much the best selling bike out there covering the largest mileages doesnt come into the equation. They arent as robust as they used to be but neithers a vw passat.

Very true, but the fact that literally hundreds of FPC's and Final Drives fail highlight they are a very weak area. Nothing else fails in large numbers (if you ignore early EWS problems)

I think the FPC thing is not terrible and many other bikes have similar niggles, and these faults are not hugely expensive to fix, you can carry a spare FPC, or even replace it every 2-3 years as a precaution.

Had BMW resolved the FD / FPC issues within a couple of years I think the bike would be recognised by virtually everyone as reliable. An official goodwill policy for final drives under a certain mileage would have been almost as good.

I think the stance of pretending it is not an issue and paying famous to people to follow spares trucks and camera vans to boost the models sales, although sucessful, now has the effect of exposing many ex Jap bike owners who are used to extremely good reliability - and expecting even better from a bullet-proof BMW GS, to what is really no better and in some areas much worse. It has been a long time since the big four have launched a bike with a major mechanical failing on the scale of an FD, possibly early 80's with Honda's Cadbury Cam Shafts?

 

[(RIP) Mark H]

Have you noticed the OP, sk4r4m4ng4 made his one and only original post and has'nt been back since

 

[Yonkyo]

My first two GS's (an 04 & 06) had reliability issues.

However, my current 09 GSA with 20k miles on it has been 1000% reliable (yes 1000%)

 

[Stretchamus]

I think the stance of pretending it is not an issue and paying famous to people to follow spares trucks and camera vans to boost the models sales, although sucessful, now has the effect of exposing many ex Jap bike owners who are used to extremely good reliability - and expecting even better from a bullet-proof BMW GS, to what is really no better and in some areas much worse. It has been a long time since the big four have launched a bike with a major mechanical failing on the scale of an FD, possibly early 80's with Honda's Cadbury Cam Shafts?

+1 For me Rasher has just made the statement of the year.


Well said Rasher, best regards Stretch.

 

[BBB61]

I think the stance of pretending it is not an issue and paying famous to people to follow spares trucks and camera vans to boost the models sales, although sucessful, now has the effect of exposing many ex Jap bike owners who are used to extremely good reliability - and expecting even better from a bullet-proof BMW GS, to what is really no better and in some areas much worse. It has been a long time since the big four have launched a bike with a major mechanical failing on the scale of an FD, possibly early 80's with Honda's Cadbury Cam Shafts?

Not at all, take a look around and you will find the Japanese have had issues with their bikes since the 80's. Being selective with your memory again Rasher. Who'd have thought with a handle like that that you would tell porkies

 

[cookie]

Very true, but the fact that literally hundreds of FPC's and Final Drives fail highlight they are a very weak area. Nothing else fails in large numbers (if you ignore early EWS problems)

I think the FPC thing is not terrible and many other bikes have similar niggles, and these faults are not hugely expensive to fix, you can carry a spare FPC, or even replace it every 2-3 years as a precaution.

Had BMW resolved the FD / FPC issues within a couple of years I think the bike would be recognised by virtually everyone as reliable. An official goodwill policy for final drives under a certain mileage would have been almost as good.

I think the stance of pretending it is not an issue and paying famous to people to follow spares trucks and camera vans to boost the models sales, although sucessful, now has the effect of exposing many ex Jap bike owners who are used to extremely good reliability - and expecting even better from a bullet-proof BMW GS, to what is really no better and in some areas much worse. It has been a long time since the big four have launched a bike with a major mechanical failing on the scale of an FD, possibly early 80's with Honda's Cadbury Cam Shafts?

a pretty fair assessment IMO

 

[zoltan]

It has been a long time since the big four have launched a bike with a major mechanical failing on the scale of an FD, possibly early 80's with Honda's Cadbury Cam Shafts?

You mean like this one?


"HONDA UK is recalling 392 VFR1200F machines over metal shavings inside the engine, which could result in engine failure, the company has announced."

For the past 20 years I had BMW bikes ,they ALL had some niggles/faults etc but were fixed. So I don't know were this myth about BMW been bullet proof comes from.

 

[Beemerman59]

I think the stance of pretending it is not an issue and paying famous to people to follow spares trucks and camera vans to boost the models sales, although sucessful, now has the effect of exposing many ex Jap bike owners who are used to extremely good reliability - and expecting even better from a bullet-proof BMW GS, to what is really no better and in some areas much worse. It has been a long time since the big four have launched a bike with a major mechanical failing on the scale of an FD, possibly early 80's with Honda's Cadbury Cam Shafts?

One wonders then whether the current Yamaha/Nick Sanders arrangement will result in a change in the market dynamics. They copied the GS as a bike with the 1200 Tenere and are now copying the marketing tactics which in my experience is typically Japanese in business methodology. Whilst their sales are low, the reliability will naturally be perseived as excellent because there are few people complaining about it. We all know how perseption is more important than reality when dealing with modern day communications such as the internet etc.

I don't doubt the Yamaha is a really good machine etc etc. But so is my GSA and frankly the Tenere does'nt offer anything radically new or interesting to make me even want a test ride. Same with the Stelvio. I'm not brand loyal so if someone does come up with anything that gives added value over my GSA (come on Triumph - get yer act together with the 1200) there would be nothing stopping me making that switch.

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

If the Super Ten is so damn good why does Nick Sanders ride an R1?

 

[NorthernBoy]

For the past 20 years I had BMW bikes ,they ALL had some niggles/faults etc but were fixed. So I don't know were this myth about BMW been bullet proof comes from.

I think that it mainly comes from owners who flat out refuse to class any failures as such. When my last one started indicating left on its own, resulting in me having to stop (you don't want to let every car that is waiting to pull out think that you are turning off), I was told repeatedly that this was not really a failure, as it was so minor, and if I'd just had some extra tools with me I could have whipped out the bulbs and been on my way.

We see similarly here, with people saying that as long as you catch the final drive failure early, nd change it every 15k miles, it's fine.

 

[cookie]

You mean like this one?


"HONDA UK is recalling 392 VFR1200F machines over metal shavings inside the engine, which could result in engine failure, the company has announced."

For the past 20 years I had BMW bikes ,they ALL had some niggles/faults etc but were fixed. So I don't know were this myth about BMW been bullet proof comes from.

i think the difference there is that honda had an issue and DID A RECALL.

bmw have swapped a couple of items out at service time, and i think there was a genuine recall to replace a brake pipe that i've never heard of anyone having a problem with.

but yes, bmws have never been paragons of reliability in my experience.

 

[Rasher]

I don't doubt the Yamaha is a really good machine etc etc.

Yes you do, just here...

But so is my GSA and frankly the Tenere does'nt offer anything radically new or interesting to make me even want a test ride.

Try one and see, to be honest if you love the Adventure I doubt you will like the Yamaha all that much, it is smaller and more compact than my standard GS, but it is a mightily refined package and at £10k pretty good value.

I'm not brand loyal so if someone does come up with anything that gives added value over my GSA (come on Triumph - get yer act together with the 1200) there would be nothing stopping me making that switch

Well apart from disliking Yamaha for no apparent reason and desperately wanting the Triumph to be good.

The Japs do copy, sometimes very well, but Yamaha definately only looked at the spec sheet and missed some GS tricks such as great switchgear (with the exception of the shite indicators) Quality luggage that is a dream to use and the engine character (which I can personally can take or leave, as it is just a way of saying it vibrates)

The Honda is gonna be just as bland, but if they get the luggage / switchgear and other ergonomics spot on it may well be the winner - just can't see them making a V4 for the price the Yamaha's are available for (or even the GS for that matter)

 

[Beemerman59]

Rasher,

I don't see how your logic works sometimes. Where did I say I disliked the Yamaha? When I'm saying the Yamaha does'nt offer anything new or interesting over my GSA that does'nt infer the Yamaha is a bad bike. I'm sure it's a good bike, just not better than my GSA. In my opinion based on never having ridden one

You're getting very defensive of Yamaha ... does this mean a decision has been made?

 

[BBB61]

Beemerman,

You should know by now that when it comes to Rasher and logic the two are mutually exclusive

 

[Rasher]

You're getting very defensive of Yamaha ... does this mean a decision has been made?

Well it is likely to be the cheapest of the contenders so trying to find a warm spot for it

To be honest it comes quite well specced, rides very nicely and according to my brain will be a billion times more reliable and far cheaper to run than the BMW.

I actually prefer the idea of the Honda, especially as it will have a goodly amount of power and is only likely to lose out off-road, and much as I like the idea of off-roading I can't bring myself to start falling of £10k motorcycles as a hobby.

The downside is it will have a goodly amount of power and put my licence in the sort of danger that led me to buy the GS in the first place

So far the Yamaha is the closest thing to the GS, but without the issues I preceive the GS of having, namely expensive running costs and iffy reliability.

If I genuinely believed the GS was as reliable as the average Jap bike I would be looking for a Twin Cam one and not even considering the opposition, but the continuing saga of failing FD's, dodgy Cam Sensors and Fuel gauges which plague the model in its 8th production year put me right off, if anything they seem to be getting worse!

There is nothing wrong with anyones logic, we all believe our logic is right!

 

[Humbug]

sk4r4m4ng4


off topic, but i need to ask: is your username the product of a password generator?

pronounciation is proving tricky

Sounds like a troll to me.

 

[Scubaquiche]

Im new and have read a lot of the negative posts but I still want a GSA. If you want one there is no point in buying something "similar" because you'll always be wondering and wanting just like I have. On that note I pick up my smoke grey 10 plate GSA next wednesday. oh yeah!!