Has your GS1200 been reliable...or not?

[dogman]

I see a considerable amount of criticism regarding the reliablity of the GS1200 /GSA for various reasons, which can cause some alarm for many new or future GS owners who may be wondering when their bike will let them down. I have yet to see any survey completed on overall satisfaction with 1200 owners and I am interested to know roughly how many owners have viewed their 1200 to be a reliable bike..or not, as the case may be.
So has your GS 1200 / GSA been reliable overall?...or not?
If not please feel free to say why. This is of course subjective opinion and one persons view on reliability may differ from another, so an alternative question could be 'have you been happy overall with your GS1200'? Either will do.
I am hoping to be reassured by the replies as I'm sure other owners and future buyers will be!
1100 and 1150 owners need not tell us how wonderful their bikes are as we already know.
Cheers!

 

[DING-DONG]

Hi to all, as someone window shopping for a new 09 gs after reading many post's on problems!! it really has got me thinking if im doing the right thing trading my k12r for a gs and tbh ive even thought about trading for a k13s now ive heard all the bad posts however i would rather have a gs just dont want it to go pete tong..

 

[Engineer]

Yes, so far, 2005 (39,700 miles) - can't give a simpler answer, sorry!

 

[Funners]

just short of 10,000 miles in 9 months....not missed a beat, can't fault it really...

 

[contact23]

sad to say no, replaced fuel pump controller last monday and 24 hours later stranded badly with ring antenna failure(EWS) , 2 show stoppers and not amused ,1200gsa 06 8.5 k!

 

[magpie]

08 12k.......................not one fault very happy

 

[Sgt Bilco]

This subject has been done to death to be honest and there is nothing wrong with 1200 reliability.

Sure, people do have problems but you will only see threads some of these unlucky owners and to be honest, a lot of them are completely trivial and are sorted outby the dealer.

The vast majority have trouble free riding and remember the 1200 is one of the most popular bikes out there so there are plenty on the road.

Mine is a 56 plate 1200 GSA, lives outside, has done 47,000miles, has never let me down, has the original battery and isn`t a rust bucket. The only problem I have had is a knuckle joint failed in the final drive I was recovered and it was fixed under warranty with no drama. Oh, I`ve changed the stop lamp bulb as well

Contrary to popular myth, they are not unreliable and are a brilliant bike.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

I see a considerable amount of criticism regarding the reliablity of the GS1200 /GSA for various reasons, which can cause some alarm for many new or future GS owners who may be wondering when their bike will let them down. I have yet to see any survey completed on overall satisfaction with 1200 owners and I am interested to know roughly how many owners have viewed their 1200 to be a reliable bike..or not, as the case may be.
So has your GS 1200 / GSA been reliable overall?...or not?
If not please feel free to say why. This is of course subjective opinion and one persons view on reliability may differ from another, so an alternative question could be 'have you been happy overall with your GS1200'? Either will do.
I am hoping to be reassured by the replies as I'm sure other owners and future buyers will be!
1100 and 1150 owners need not tell us how wonderful their bikes are as we already know.
Cheers!

As a matter of interest, do you have a 1200?

 

[contact23]

have to disagree, it hasnt let you down, it has let me down, twice and many like me, i love the bike but it has issues.
when a hi tech machine leaves you stranded it leaves you cold my friend.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

have to disagree, it hasnt let you down, it has let me down, twice and many like me, i love the bike but it has issues.
when a hi tech machine leaves you stranded it leaves you cold my friend.

You are unfortunately one of the unlucky few who has had major problems. It is a small percentage and you only hear of the problematic bikes. Hopefully the problems have been sorted and you can now enjoy the bike.

If they were as bad as the myth suggests, you wouldn`t see so many around and about.

 

[pathfinder]

7000 miles in 9 weeks,09 1200gsa,no probs.

 

[lkyphl]

84,000kms and completely reliable .......but I'm on my eighth headlight globe ....

Phil

 

[Fanum]

This subject has been done to death to be honest and there is nothing wrong with 1200 reliability.

Nope, nothing at all

C'mon, who do you think you're trying to kid?

Yes, there are more negative views on a forum because people don't tend to report that their bike is 'running fine TYVM', and yes, some perceived weaknesses of the 1200 are utter rubbish (canbus for example, I've still not seen one report of a genuine canbus failure yet it seems to put people off and gets slated as being unreliable) but you must admit that there have been some major problems that have caused some common (and oft repeated on the same bike) problems that are patently major concerns

Trying to stick your head in the sand and pretend that they don't exist won't wash

The bike's overall ownership experience and dealer backup/warranty support may well outweigh the faults overall, and many people have never had a problem....fine, I accept that, but sorry, saying "there is nothing wrong with 1200 reliability" is just not true.

PS If it wasn't for the fact that I don't like the feel of them compared to my lebbenfidddy's, I'd still get a 1200GS in preference to a KTM 950/990....In all the trips I've run to Morocco, we've never had a 1200 not finish because of breakdowns, yet we've had several KTMs shipped home on a trailer because of theirs

I wouldn't let the reports of unreliability stop me from buying one, but you do have to accept that just like any other machine, they're not perfect and they can break down and they do have certain weaknesses.....sorry, but that's the truth, exactly like it was for the 11xx's (I will grant that the 09 model seems to have had most of the glitches and weaknesses ironed out according to reports here, but we haven't yet had many out with us to Morocco so I have no personal experience of them so far

There ya go....I'm trying to be as fair as I possibly can

EDIT....If any BMW dealership would like to take issue with this and is convinced enough that the latest model is totally reliable, I'd be very happy to use one as a lead bike for a year and I promise I'll give totally truthful and impartial feedback on how it performs

 

[mikepg]

'07 GS - 'of the box model' no farkles or extra bits and bobs added and not a single problem to date. Oh hang on......I think I cleaned it once or maybe twice if that counts?

 

[Decster]

have to disagree, it hasnt let you down, it has let me down, twice and many like me, i love the bike but it has issues.
when a hi tech machine leaves you stranded it leaves you cold my friend.

check out all the other manufacturer forums....what about Pan Euros allegedy killing motorcyclists (i police rider),, forcing a change to BMs and that is a Honda, the supposedly holy grail of bike manufacturers.

All modern bike manufacturers have reliability issues, BM gets knocked more for it than others, due to price and previous high standard.

I suggest you read some of the ride repports from guys who really ride these bikes. A guy just finished riding his from England to Ghana, 08GSA Eadventure.....

Problem with hi tech is reliability, as it relies on electrical circuitry etc, get a low tech gs like a late 1100 or an early 1150

My computer leaves me cold and unloved all the time...

 

[babu]

...
So has your GS 1200 / GSA been reliable overall?...or not?

Not.

I've had more problems, worries and breakdowns with this bike than with all my other bikes combined. And there's been a few over 25 years...

Breaks, battery, charging, oil-leak, fuel pump, windscreen, topbox, ...

These are not trivial matters. Three of these faults left me stranded. Some other are dangerous.

A friend of mine experienced a cracked frame. A cracked frame!

I love the handling, the design, the engine, the comfort, the general feel.

But the realiability is non-existent I'm sad to say.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

The foglight switch on my 2008 12GSA packed in

 

[elefantmanshawn]

So far so good,think alot of the faults are on early 12's and some are more model related i.e fuel pump on GS not as much GSA,poor batteries could be down to all the electric tat people pay for and under use,i'm thinking of marketing fake buttons to stick to your switch's to give the look of fully loaded without the weight or problems

 

[[email protected]]

PROBLEMS

I always wanted one so in the end I put up my money and bought one, from a well respected dealer, battery went within 5 days ( its an 05 plate so it was probably the original battery, I feel it should of been changed before I bought it) left me stranded but braekdown went out of their way to get me a new battery,then about 2 months ago it started running like a bag of spanners, called breakdown again, had to loose bike for 4 days as the injector had gone, again replaced under warranty, its now done 24900, 2500 by me,its has corrosion on the frame and front engine cover, which is not good and which BMW declined to repalced, I painted the front cover black and I taking it around europe in August, so we will see how reliable it is

 

[dogman]

Sgt Bilko,
I think you are right when you say that people who have problems tend to post on forums rather than those who dont. Of course this can have the affect of skewing the perception of many people who read forums into believing things that may not actually be the case, hence this thread. You say this subject has been done to death and yes there are lots of threads talking about reliability of the 1200's, but I cannot find anywhere a survey of owners of 1200's to get a more accurate picture or indication of how owners feel about their bikes. If there is one done recently please show me. If it is only the unlucky 10% of owners that are having problems and posting on here and ADV Rider forum, then we have a problem in that some owners may well be thinking about getting rid of their 1200 in the belief that it will let them down and those thinking of buying one may well go and buy a Honda instead. If I had started reading this forum before I purchased my new GSA then I probably would have gone for something else. I am still glad I didnt as I love the bike, but I have to admit to wondering when it might me down as opposed to if? and on a 10k bike that is not good. If this thread shows 100 replies with most saying they are happy with the reliability of their 1200, then I will feel a lot better. It aint scientific and it's open to differing opinion, but it's a start. I'm sure others will be interested in the replies to this question and the numbers involved.
I wonder if BMW will conduct an independant survey of all 1200 owners? I somehow doubt it. I am sure many will say stop worrying and just ride, which is just what I want to do! Perhaps not reading forums might help!
Regards