Are 1200 gs's designed to fail

[BMW TEKKY]

Faults

3 Months with no reported faults yet.
First service due which incidently Bmw dealer are going to charge me £165 as told final drive oil needs replacing!
Yamahas first service is free apart from a few quid for sundries.
We all must be quackers???
Am I missing something here??::eyesdown

 

[wilbjr21]

Is there anything at all which has not went wrong with the 12
Ive not got one, but from what is said in here, there cant be many parts which have not given trouble.
Im not sh*t stirring. Im interested. I might have to get one someday.

I know ..... lets make a list. Copy it and add your reliable component

Question :- What parts of the 1200gs have been totally reliable.(as far as you know)

?
?
?
?

The CAN bus for a starter

 

[Tricky]

Is there anything at all which has not went wrong with the 12
Ive not got one, but from what is said in here, there cant be many parts which have not given trouble.
Im not sh*t stirring. Im interested. I might have to get one someday.

I know ..... lets make a list. Copy it and add your reliable component

Question :- What parts of the 1200gs have been totally reliable.(as far as you know)

?
?
?
?

Do a search then.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Perspective

Gents, get some perspective FFS.

You only hear of the ones that have a problem. The vast majority are running beautifully, are cheap to run, give no issues and their owners are completey happy. Me and all my friends who have 1200`s are in this category.

If you were new to this forum you would be put off for life but then again, if you read the Yamaha/Suzuki etc etc forums, they whinge the same!!

Just ride the fecker and accept that nothing is perfect or buy a Yamaha....choice is yours

 

[bustupbiker]

3 Months with no reported faults yet.
First service due which incidently Bmw dealer are going to charge me £165 as told final drive oil needs replacing!
Yamahas first service is free apart from a few quid for sundries.
We all must be quackers???
Am I missing something here??::eyesdown

YES, your Yamaha

 

[marcus]

Gents, get some perspective FFS.

You only hear of the ones that have a problem. The vast majority are running beautifully, are cheap to run, give no issues and their owners are completey happy. Me and all my friends who have 1200`s are in this category.

If you were new to this forum you would be put off for life but then again, if you read the Yamaha/Suzuki etc etc forums, they whinge the same!!

Just ride the fecker and accept that nothing is perfect or buy a Yamaha....choice is yours

My experience of owning two suggests that the majority have the same problems as both of mine repeatedly konked out with the the same bits failing.

Systemic failures, in other words. There is a strong chance that yours will suffer the same.


The obvious ones being
......fuel pump, (BMW assist always carry spares)
clutch / gearbox,
weak battery
rear shock

 

[Gipsy]

I've had issues with my bike, but wouldn't change it. I do however agree with Marcus in that there are sufficient numbers of particular failures to warrant a re think on BM's part. In particular the fuel pump relay fails so often I would have thought some form of re design would be in order. My third one packed in despite the new gasket fix, which is the only modification they have come up with so far. Now carry a spare at all times.

 

[Russ-AFC]

My experience of owning two suggests that the majority have the same problems as both of mine repeatedly konked out with the the same bits failing.

Systemic failures, in other words. There is a strong chance that yours will suffer the same.


The obvious ones being
......fuel pump, (BMW assist always carry spares)
clutch / gearbox,
weak battery
rear shock

Makes you wonder how many of the faults are caused by the sloppy link? Mine nearly a year old now 12k miles on the clock, no problems at all, has cost me one back tyre. Maybe BMW have sorted out the problems or my sloppy link doesnt mess around.

 

[Dahoum]

It's not unusual to read this sort of stuff on any bike board. www.advrider.com has an entire section called GSpot....lots to read there.

I am new the the GS genre. I recently traded in my R1150R for a GS - which I'll pick up this April.

I wouldn't let the 'negatives/issues' get too much in the way of enjoying this bike. I loved my R very much, and amidst the issues I had with it (drive spline failed twice - both times repaird under warranty) I travelled 70k kms with that bike in 3 years and some of my fondest lifetime memories were on that bike.

I expect to have many amazing miles on the GS once I actually get it. I anticipate having to deal with some issues also.

I found BMW to be very attentive with regard to the warranty - at least in North America. This is one reason I stayed with BMW, as I was looking at other brands when I decided to trade the R.

In 3 years' time I know I'll have more riding memories and experiences than GS failures.

I calculate it like this: number of days riding vs. number of days in the shop. I tend to put a lot of miles on my bikes (even in Toronto with a relatively short season). The number of days in the shop seem miniscule compared to the fun I have when riding. So I deal with it keeping that in mind.

Just my .02 worth

Wise words indeed

 

[Dahoum]

Question :- What parts of the 1200gs have been totally reliable.(as far as you know)?

Oh probably much the same as the old 11** models Den

 

[marcus]

I found BMW UK to be a cunch of bunts with the warranty, but that's another tale alltogether........

 

[BBB61]

My experience of owning two suggests that the majority have the same problems as both of mine repeatedly konked out with the the same bits failing.

Systemic failures, in other words. There is a strong chance that yours will suffer the same.


The obvious ones being
......fuel pump, (BMW assist always carry spares)
clutch / gearbox,
weak battery
rear shock

It's funny to see a bloke slag off the reliability of the 1200GS and then see the same bloke go out and buy a Alfa Romeo

 

[BMW TEKKY]

Faults

Is this a cunning plan to get us all back for losing the wars?
They seem to be succeeding!

 

[Tricky]

but that's another tale alltogether........

I think we've all had enough of your tales of woe Marcus.

Maybe it's time to just get on with enjoying your new Honda.

 

[nick_boxer]

This really is a tired and old sort of thread. Early bikes it would appear yes - recent bikes no. One can only go by personal experience because some of the owners are too stupid to own a bike - and they can be the "vocal" variety. I've had no problems - but I read the manual.

Supercilious or what???? Most of us read manuals and frankly it ill becomes contributors to this forum to brand others as stupid. Look in your mirror.

Manuals don't help when your fuel pump controller fails, your gear box indicator goes on strike or your bike refuses to start with an EWS message dohhhh! After a lifetime of other models I've owned 7 BMW's and the quality control has got steadily worse. I suffered a near-death experience on my last RS when the brake servo packed up 3 months out of warranty.

Leave the self-satisfaction bubble and listen.

 

[Brian ROSEN]

".....Most of us read manuals..." a sweeping statement! From many of the questions on this and other forums I thought that the manual had been discontinued - like the tool sets. (And as for the Haynes manual, available at only £15 including postage from NN, it has the answer to most questions asked and all sorts of interesting data such as how to convert mpg to litres per 100km etc.etc

 

[wilbjr21]

Supercilious or what???? Most of us read manuals and frankly it ill becomes contributors to this forum to brand others as stupid. Look in your mirror.

Manuals don't help when your fuel pump controller fails, your gear box indicator goes on strike or your bike refuses to start with an EWS message dohhhh! After a lifetime of other models I've owned 7 BMW's and the quality control has got steadily worse. I suffered a near-death experience on my last RS when the brake servo packed up 3 months out of warranty.

Leave the self-satisfaction bubble and listen.

Don't be such a silly chap and get a grip.

The things you've quoted are faults- NOT operator errors caused by the rider and then blaming the bike. There are many examples of the later; the one that springs immediately to mind is that it was impossible to start a servo braked bike on a hill.

This is my point - reading the manual allows you to understand your bike.

I find your personal attack quite appalling and out of order: you don't know me or anything about me. As for "self satisfaction bubble" ? Does being happy with my bike and dealer cause this.

BTW: Many people are proud of not reading manuals and regard it as a last resort.

An apology or admission that you've been on too much of the local produce will be acceptable.

 

[nick_boxer]

Don't be such a silly chap and get a grip.

The things you've quoted are faults- NOT operator errors caused by the rider and then blaming the bike. There are many examples of the later; the one that springs immediately to mind is that it was impossible to start a servo braked bike on a hill.

This is my point - reading the manual allows you to understand your bike.

I find your personal attack quite appalling and out of order: you don't know me or anything about me. As for "self satisfaction bubble" ? Does being happy with my bike and dealer cause this.

BTW: Many people are proud of not reading manuals and regard it as a last resort.

An apology or admission that you've been on too much of the local produce will be acceptable.

Dear Wilb. "Non-tech" threads like this often produce more heat than light because they rely on one's own experience. Yours is obviously honeymoon-like. Paul Gray and his colleagues at Mill BMW must be delighted to have such a satisfied customer. My own experience after several Beemers is that BMW quality-control is getting worse. I find the 1200GS is a brilliant bike to ride but like quite a few others I am finding ownership to be a different story. The brilliant thing about this forum is to find out how others cope with work-rounds, useful tips etc. I normally like to respond positively in kind but when I read supercilious comments like your original post I despair. Whilst BMW has compliant and uncritical customers they will never sort out these problems like a premium marque should. Being a satisfied customer is great - good luck to you and those who are in the same position. I'm genuinely pleased for you. Disparaging those who aren't satisfied is another matter. If people want to express a different view that's their right but might I suggest at least you try it in a less patronising way? Then we can all move on.

 

[wilbjr21]

Dear Wilb. "Non-tech" threads like this often produce more heat than light because they rely on one's own experience. Yours is obviously honeymoon-like. Paul Gray and his colleagues at Mill BMW must be delighted to have such a satisfied customer. My own experience after several Beemers is that BMW quality-control is getting worse. I find the 1200GS is a brilliant bike to ride but like quite a few others I am finding ownership to be a different story. The brilliant thing about this forum is to find out how others cope with work-rounds, useful tips etc. I normally like to respond positively in kind but when I read supercilious comments like your original post I despair. Whilst BMW has compliant and uncritical customers they will never sort out these problems like a premium marque should. Being a satisfied customer is great - good luck to you and those who are in the same position. I'm genuinely pleased for you. Disparaging those who aren't satisfied is another matter. If people want to express a different view that's their right but might I suggest at least you try it in a less patronising way? Then we can all move on.

That doesn't sound like an apology and it's a bit early for the vino

I'm afraid you still haven't addressed my coments - only continued in the same personal vein.

How many times have you seen RTM in threads?

I'm not going to criticise when I've nothing to be critical about and I won't be silent on my positive experiences because it doesn't suit you.

You have annoyed me, but best we ignore each other and, as you say, move on.

 

[marcus]

It's funny to see a bloke slag off the reliability of the 1200GS and then see the same bloke go out and buy a Alfa Romeo

The Landy was prone to letting me down

The BMW was replaced by a honda, as we know.

and yes, enough of my tales of woe Tricky!