Corrosion

[elefantmanshawn]

Bollocks wilful neglect/duty of care is all they'll say,faulty paint batch would see hundreds the same and there's just not,its a bike not a car and is priced and built as such,its not even an expensive bike until you add unnecessary expensive tat into the equasion

 

[Dainese Brave]

its a bike not a car and is priced and built as such,its not even an expensive bike until you add unnecessary expensive tat into the equasion

About the same price as a Mini...or even a Mercedes A class........wouldn't expect them to be looking shabby in 18 months would you???

...and if they did....they wouldn't sell!

 

[cookie]

...and if they did....they wouldn't sell!

and if all GSs looked like that, they wouldn't sell either, but they remain quite popular.

 

[Dainese Brave]

and if all GSs looked like that, they wouldn't sell either, but they remain quite popular.

I'm not saying this is representative of all GS's.......but whatever it's experienced, to look like that in 18 months is worrying.....for all of us.

I'm not saying all of our bikes will look like that...but we shouldn't accept the one's that do.

And in this instance, whatever the circumstances, I think the OP has a justified grudge to bear against the BMW warranty dept.

 

[FatBob]

My GSA is only 6 months old. It is kept garaged and cleaned regularly. i have just had the wheels and final drive replaced under warantly because of corrosion. There are also a few rust spots on the frame around the rear pegs but BMW have (so far) refused to do anything about it because they say its not a manufacturing defect and is due to "external influences". What, like I actually rode the bike outside instead of leaving it parked in the garage?

Fortunately the level of corrosion is minor now but it only took a few months to get like that. I wondered what it would be like in 18 months...now I see and it ain't pretty!

BMW aren't going to volunteer do anything that costs them money unless you are able to put some pressure on them somehow. If there are no consequences to ignoring you, that's what they'll do.

 

[NorthernBoy]

its a bike not a car and is priced and built as such

That's one of the strangest responses so far. If you look at the materials and engineering that went into it, it is actually priced up there with the premium cars, and of course owners expect the quality to be similar.

It has a total of 200kg of pieces (about an eighth of a three series BMW), yet is much, much more than an eighth of the price. If they had to have massively more advanced technology than in the cars, then there would be some argument for having to cut back on quality to keep costs down, but that is far from applicable here.

The GS puts out less horsepower per litre than a lot of pretty average modern cars, for example, so it is not as though they are pushing the envelope there, or anywhere else, really.

No, the bike is actually pretty pricey when you compare to cars, and is produced in enough numbers now that the differences of economy of scale have become pretty minor, so I don't think that it makes sense to use price as an excuse when it is not up to scratch.

 

[jim123]

Dunno if this helps, but have a look at part of the frame that is not exposed to the elements e.g. under the seating or up around the fuel tank. You may find evidence of corrosion patches in these areas, or blistering/scab formation under the paint of the frame. If so, it may be due to either a contaminant on the frame surface before it was painted, or a failure of the paint process to adhere properly to the frame, an you can show this to BMW.

You might also want to try and remove some of the paint in one of the above areas with your finger nail - this could imply undercured paint during manufacture.

Looking at your photos, there is also a large amount of corrosion on the wheels. These would be manufactured completly seperately from the frame, and to a different process. Corrosion on the frame as well as wheels may be down to you having unwittingly driven through some corrosive spillage on the road. I saw something similar with a relatively new car, and the guy got an opinion from the manufacturer, which helped him get a respray via an insurance claim.

 

[elefantmanshawn]

It does not matter what you do to a motorcycle or car for that matter if someone sets out to wreck it through abuse or neglect