It looks like it is pressed on. See post #128 I think the instructions shown are for the fitting of this collar/bush.
Fork Stanchion recall?
- Thread starter gerarddwatts
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It looks like it is pressed on. See post #128 I think the instructions shown are for the fitting of this collar/bush.
fred_jb
Registered user
If it's a press fit, which it looks like it is, then it seems like it will be quite effective at preventing the top of the relatively thin stanchion underneath it from flexing under load, which I suspect is what is causing the rectangular crimps/dimples to deform and loosen.
People aren't half getting worked up over this.
Yes, there have been a few reported failures around the world, and some of these have been, or could have been very serious. But this is a relatively few failures out of how many hundreds of thousands of bikes sold?
I know some users on here have posted that the dealer is replacing their fork tubes on relatively new, low mileage bikes. Yet up until just the other day a dealer in the North West, who reportedly have checked many bikes in the last couple of weeks, haven't yet found one with a problem (though I did get this news second hand from a friend having his new bike serviced).
My 2014 GSA hit a great big rock at about 60 MPH in it's first week of ownership, the bike now has 25,500 miles on it, when I checked the forks the other day they were fine.
Obviously, some bikes are having issues with this but, as others on here have said, providing people carry out their own checks, regularly (it only takes a few minutes), until their bikes are checked by the dealer, and the fix applied (assuming it is been carried out on all bikes), then they shouldn't have anything to worry about. I know I'm not worried, I know what the potential problem is, I'm checking the bike after each long ride, I'm continuing to enjoy the bike, and I'll wait patiently until BMW inspect it and do what they have to do.
Just my take on things.
Yes, there have been a few reported failures around the world, and some of these have been, or could have been very serious. But this is a relatively few failures out of how many hundreds of thousands of bikes sold?
I know some users on here have posted that the dealer is replacing their fork tubes on relatively new, low mileage bikes. Yet up until just the other day a dealer in the North West, who reportedly have checked many bikes in the last couple of weeks, haven't yet found one with a problem (though I did get this news second hand from a friend having his new bike serviced).
My 2014 GSA hit a great big rock at about 60 MPH in it's first week of ownership, the bike now has 25,500 miles on it, when I checked the forks the other day they were fine.
Obviously, some bikes are having issues with this but, as others on here have said, providing people carry out their own checks, regularly (it only takes a few minutes), until their bikes are checked by the dealer, and the fix applied (assuming it is been carried out on all bikes), then they shouldn't have anything to worry about. I know I'm not worried, I know what the potential problem is, I'm checking the bike after each long ride, I'm continuing to enjoy the bike, and I'll wait patiently until BMW inspect it and do what they have to do.
Just my take on things.
fred_jb
Registered user
I've just got mine booked in to be done in a couple of weeks when they get more kits in, as the few they have are already committed. I am away on the bike for most of August and could be doing up to 3000 miles with luggage, and most of that with a pillion too, so I thought it would be a good precaution to get it done before we go. I'm pleased with the service from the dealer in agreeing to do it.
I think in your situation, about to go on a long trip, I'd probably be pushing to get it done, if they can fit it in.
Looks like a neat job.
How dare you be so sensible! - the whining old women on here will tell you off because in their opinion its all doom and gloom
roadrunner
Registered user
Letter today from my dealer. My 2017 GSA was repaired last week already though on as was in at the dealer for another warranty issue.
Deleted account Aberdeen GS
Registered user
Yep , its not as if having your forks fall off while riding could be a serious thing....
Deleted account Aberdeen GS
Registered user
I think the things that stand out for me are;
(i) BMW would have carried on manufacturing defective bikes if it hadn't been for a huge campaign on social media
(ii) The length of time (2013-2017) is bloody long !
(iii) Some riders actually were injured (wheras they wouldnt have been on a KTM/Other dualsport bike)
(iv) This is going to cost them millions , it would have been cheaper to engineer it properly in the first place.
(i) BMW would have carried on manufacturing defective bikes if it hadn't been for a huge campaign on social media
(ii) The length of time (2013-2017) is bloody long !
(iii) Some riders actually were injured (wheras they wouldnt have been on a KTM/Other dualsport bike)
(iv) This is going to cost them millions , it would have been cheaper to engineer it properly in the first place.
I am happy to use my 25,000 mile 2015 GS everyday to commute, got a Dales trip coming up at the end of the month then the Picos at the end of August - the trips are both two-up and fully loaded - even if the mod can't be done beforehand I am more than confident to use the bike - the forks look perfect, so they ain't gonna kill me anytime soon.
(i) It is unreasonable to call them defective bikes - an extremely small percentage have had a fault, mostly caused by extreme use.
(ii) But when did the fault become apparent?
(iii) It is simply not reasonable to say that they wouldn't have been injured on other bikes - a gross exaggeration.
(iv) I am sure they thought they had engineered it right in the first place. No company would purposely do this.
Yes, there is a problem which BMW are actively addressing, but the hyperbolic reaction on social media is overblown.
Yep , its not as if having your forks fall off while riding could be a serious thing....
Which they are highly unlikely to do if you carry out the checks as suggested until such time BMW invite you in for a check/fix. There are thousands of GS and GSAs out there, I've seen about 20 on my short ride out today, I don't think I've seen any at the roadside with their forks in pieces.
I recognise there is a problem with some bikes and people need to be aware of it, but providing you inspect your forks, as suggested, I do see any need to get in to a panic over it.
I see in your next post you mention a huge campaign on social media. A campaign that was so huge it only came to the attention of the majority of us in the last 2 or 3 weeks, despite the first reported incident being about 2 or 3 years ago, from what I remember seeing in the thread/forums that have been linked to from this forum.
bodge it
Registered user
(i) They are advertised as the go anywhere Enduro bike, they have Enduro Mode, the clue is in the name, we traveled around South Africa on dirt roads, some rocky, hardly extreme.We had too many failures of the forks in such a small group of bikes for it to be a one off. It is a defect to be sure.
(ii)BMW wont tell you when it became apparent, I asked them last year and got no reply. I far i a can see they tried to ignore it up but eventually there were too many failures.
(iii) It is perfectly reasonable to say it wouldn't have happened on a KTM. It is not a gross exaggeration. It is a fact. You tell that to my mate who owns a KTM but was nearly killed on a BMW.
(iv)Everyone makes mistakes, its how you deal with a highlighted problem that makes the difference. I think BMW should have reacted more positively and sooner. Why did we the customers have to be the crash test dummies?
(v) I do hope for you sake that you never get on the receiving end of this fork failure. When you are upside down in the middle of nowhere all busted up you might think again about social media reaction.
Yep , its not as if having your forks fall off while riding could be a serious thing....
It strikes me that those to whom this might happen are probably the most practiced at riding on the back wheel only and therefore best equipped to deal with it!
Bodge it, I do not know the circumstances of your group tour with its failures, but it is an extremely small percentage failure rate. Even if a bike is sold as an enduro - although the Mode name is just that - there will still be loads that may exceed design tolerances. If the front end were designed to be utterly unbreakable it would be so heavy that the bike would handle like shit; the art is to make it JUST able to sustain the loads required, and arguably BMW have perhaps slightly underengineered it. The litigation culture dictates that companies have to be extremely cautious when responding to issues, and to a great extent social media exacerbates this hesitance and slows down action to resolve minor issues.
I am 100% certain I won't be on the end of a fork failure, and so will 99.99% of other GS riders.
I am 100% certain I won't be on the end of a fork failure, and so will 99.99% of other GS riders.
Don't think they do worldwide recalls based on 0.01% but in reality that might be quite close to the failure stats, don't know. Do you work for a well known car and bike manufacturer? I think your view of other people's potential injuries stinks. This shouldn't be happening at all and to make out this issue as insignificant is wrong frankly. Can we assume you won't be getting the 'fix' done? You being a real man and all 
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I have absolutely no allegiance to BMW and don't work for any other manufacturer. I haven't made any comments re other people's injuries, so how you can say my view stinks is a mystery - but this is a fairly typical extrapolation on this forum when someone doesn't toe the party line. And the 'real man' bollocks ..... really? I'm pretty sure BMW will insist I get the fix done to pfrotect their backs against future claims. But the fact remains that for practically all of this this simply is a pretty insignificant issue. I say again, how many failures have there actually been and under exactly what circumstances?Don't think they do worldwide recalls based on 0.01% but in reality that might be quite close to the failure stats, don't know. Do you work for a well known car and bike manufacturer? I think your view of other people's potential injuries stinks. This shouldn't be happening at all and to make out this issue as insignificant is wrong frankly. Can we assume you won't be getting the 'fix' done? You being a real man and all
How many bikes have been involved in minor low speed bumps on the road (ones which on earlier gs or gsa models or convemtional bikes would have left them relatively unscathed), yet because of the defect the forks have parted writing off the bike.
Over the past 3 years there seem to have been more than a few salvage ones for sale where this has happened, will BMW be making good the financial loss to those who have had their bikes written off in that period
Over the past 3 years there seem to have been more than a few salvage ones for sale where this has happened, will BMW be making good the financial loss to those who have had their bikes written off in that period
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