Break Down Worries

[red rocket]

Had the DEC 2003 1150GS for almost a year now.
I'ts now on nearly 20,000 miles 10,000 of which I've done this year whith 3 european trips including the Dolomites.
The only problem I've had is paralever bearings replaced at 15000 along with the reer diff oil seal .It's now back in having the gearbox seal replaced as it's still seaping from the gaitor & annual brake fluid change.
Now in the past I've always changed my bikes at similar mileages & years old all be it vfr's and never experienced or expected a problem.

My question is this at what mileage do you guys start worrying about touring & expecting breakdowns with these .My main worry I guess is servo failure & abs. Must admit to always having a bit of a fobia abour breaking down convinced it goes back to my early Triumph AJS & BSA days where I worried about leaving the county let alone the bloody country.
R.R.

 

[greggs]

[My question is this at what mileage do you guys start worrying about touring & expecting breakdowns with these .

Around 300k +.
What you are experiencing is character ! Once repaired - provided the repairer knows his stuff - you are away. People dont ride VFR's etc. around the world - they ride GS's for a very good reason
Mr BMW engineers his machines to do the big milages - stop worrying and get out there and ride the wheels off the thing.

cheers

 

[Gas'd Off]

Somewhere on the bmw motorrad website is a link to a sheet showing the European dealer network. Take the list with you to guarantee a breakdown free trip

 

[red rocket]

you see what amazes me about you guys is you seem to expect to breakdown then get the ferkin thing fixed now the last thing I want is to break down in the first place.
I actually love the bike yes & love the character but not if it means breaking down & getting it fixed while abroad touring with the wife.
I've had a load of new & year old vfr's taken to 20.000miles & never needed to adjust the oil or the chain while touring never ever had a problem with them but chopped them in for another new one because I could afford to as I didn't loose £3000 pound like I've just done in less than a year on a nearly three year old GS
Now I'm not slagging the GS off just wondered if my fears of breakdown are unjustified as not had a bke over three years old for 10 years now & that was an old air head which you knew wouldnt't go wrong.

R.R.

 

[Mick_rw]

I don't...

you see what amazes me about you guys is you seem to expect to breakdown then get the ferkin thing fixed now the last thing I want is to break down in the first place.
I actually love the bike yes & love the character but not if it means breaking down & getting it fixed while abroad touring with the wife.
I've had a load of new & year old vfr's taken to 20.000miles & never needed to adjust the oil or the chain while touring never ever had a problem with them but chopped them in for another new one because I could afford to as I didn't loose £3000 pound like I've just done in less than a year on a nearly three year old GS
Now I'm not slagging the GS off just wondered if my fears of breakdown are unjustified as not had a bke over three years old for 10 years now & that was an old air head which you knew wouldnt't go wrong.

R.R.

worry about it, my bike is an 04 1150GS it has now done a total of 63500 miles of which 60500 was done by me and it has only broken once, hall sensor, as to your fears of breaking down IMHO I think your worrying to much....

 

[Steptoe]

Why worry. Whats the point.

A new bike can breakdown as much as an old bike.

 

[snoopy]

What's the point in worrying. If you can't afford to have the bike destroyed/written off/nicked then you'll worry about it like you are doing and shouldn't be riding an expensive bike in the first place.

When I did Morocco I packed all the gear necessary for my survival. I certainly wasn't prepared to pack spare parts for every part of the bike than could fail.

Take a leaf out the Mondo Enduro style of traveling and just ride...

---

GS@40K (no problems other than consumables).

 

[Schtum]

People dont ride VFR's etc. around the world -

Not so. A friend of a friend went around the world on his VFR with that Nick Sanders fella. ISTR that little, if anything, went wrong with the VFR on the trip.

 

[red rocket]

You may find this amazing schtum but I've been to 2 of Nick's chat evenings now I actually asked the question if you had the choice of riding anything around the world what would it be and with no prompt from me & it wasnt a vfr meeting his words were what you need is a vfr they never go wrong & as strange as what it may seem from the films I've just shown you of GSers you don't want one of them think 10 were on the trip & about 7 had problems (his words not mine)

What's the point in worrying. If you can't afford to have the bike destroyed/written off/nicked then you'll worry about it like you are doing and shouldn't be riding an expensive bike in the first place

I can afford all of those & I just don't want to breakdown simple as that

 

[Motorista]

Nick Sanders

Was it the same fella who went round the world on an R1 as well.

The shaft drive and gearbox seems to be source of breakdows, bearing failures oilsesal failures ETC due to the design, a chain is always going to be simpler to repair/replace and is easily do-able in the field, modern 3 and 4 cyl bikes have the gearbox in line with the engine with a sprocket on the end of the gearbox output shaft, easy to repalce bearings and some gearboxes are cassete types that come out as an assembly.

I think Red Rocket has a valid concern.

 

[JAY]

Well you can't blame Red Rocket can you - paralever bearings, diff seal and gearbox seal all within 20,000 from new. I'd be pissed off and questioning what else can go wrong. Different if the bike was over 50,000 or more.

And as far as suggesting that the GS is the be all and end all of RTW bikes - how sad. They are no more robust than many other makes and models.

 

[Sea Lion]

BMW's do have reliability issues.

Sure, some do 100k with no problem. Plenty have major problems at 20k. The problem is consistancy. I you buy a Honda you can be sure it won't let you down (in my experience). Out of the 3 modern BMW's I have had, 2 have been unreliable. Out of the 17 bikes I have had, only a Meriden 1979 Bonneville sticks in my mind as being less reliable.

Sure, I was probably unlucky, but it wasn't for want of trying....

 

[robbie c]

I don't understand

sell the GS and buy a jap bike
I've done 10k on the bike this year with no problems,however when I tour I don't have a "must get there " agenda.
if the bike breaks ,gets a puncture ,luggage falls off then so be it.
I travel for adventure and I don't want it sanitised

02 adventure,the best bike I've ever owned, total character
it's not the best at anything (IMHO) but for me it has everything

and the GS clubs are great too, if you can suffer the piss taking

I won't be changing back to a jap bike( I've been riding them for the last 20 years)

totally happy with the GS

Rob

 

[chapsworth]

I'll start by saying that I loved my GS, even had 2 at one point. The grin factor was enormous BUT they weren't reliable! I hate to think what I had to have done on my '98 brand new Anniversary edition. BTW, it wasn't just the GS' but other BMWs as well. Probably not huge problems but things you expect BMW to have sorted over the years. Remember the misting up on the speedo of the K series? My dealer wanted to charge for fixing mine 2 weeks out of warranty.

Would I have another GS - of course I would! Best bike in the world.

At the moment I'm riding a Pan (sorry to mention that on this forum!) and in 7 years they have had to tighten up one of the water hoses.

 

[Vern]

If it's mechanical,and it's got more than one moving part,it has the potential to break down,regardless of what is written on the tank!

My 1100 does everything I want it to,sure it's broken down a few times,but any other bike would have been broken in half and thrown away by now.My last big jap bike dissapeared in a big ball of flames one evening, on the way home from the pub,and blew itself to pieces.Hows that for jap reliability then,ten miles from home.

Stop worrying and get on and ride the thing,that's the only way you'll find out how reliable it is.

PS My bevel box bearing and seal lasted 183000miles,German crap

 

[Gipsy]

I'm a worrier by nature, and I've had similar thoughts about breakdowns at the back of my mind, however having read Jupiters Travels I've decided it's time to worry less, and just take what life is going to serve up. It won't stop me keeping the bike in as good condition as I can,and carrying a few spares, but I need to trust in the future to look after itself.

 

[boundless]

If it's mechanical,and it's got more than one moving part,it has the potential to break down,regardless of what is written on the tank!

Not just mechanical either.....

 

[TED 1972]

lmfao