Has your GS1200 been reliable...or not?

Simong said:
Most unreliable bike I have ever owned.
final drive bearings, 2x fuel pump controllers, 2x indicator switching units, 2x potentiometers, 2x antenna ring main, ignition unit, final drive replaced bacause of corrosion, multiple areas of corrosion all over the bike.
This bike lives in a garage, and is serviced regularly. only 50k miles
I will never buy BMW again.
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T.REX63 said:
'07 1200GSA
43,000 Flawless miles :thumb2
Did replace ring-antenna and fuel pump controller because my vin# was in the range of bikes affected. However, did not have any problems with it prior replacement.

I've done significant mileage on long distance trips in remote areas.

Best bike so far in terms of trouble free miles :D
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I've seen this same thing so many times that i can't even count them. One person who has nothing but trouble and the next has no trouble at all.

To me this just shows that buying one of these bikes is a crap shoot no matter how you look at it.

It doesn't seem to really be purely a design issue either. It seems to be more of an assembly and QC failure of the individual parts than anything else. A great bike put together with defective parts is still a major PITA to own.

It's a real pity.
 
jpooch00 said:
I've seen this same thing so many times that i can't even count them. One person who has nothing but trouble and the next has no trouble at all.

To me this just shows that buying one of these bikes is a crap shoot no matter how you look at it.

It doesn't seem to really be purely a design issue either. It seems to be more of an assembly and QC failure of the individual parts than anything else. A great bike put together with defective parts is still a major PITA to own.

It's a real pity.
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I have a new '09 GSA coming by the middle of next week. Hopefully, I didn't jinx myself by boasting how great my '07 GSA is...:eek
 
T.REX63 said:
I have a new '09 GSA coming by the middle of next week. Hopefully, I didn't jinx myself by boasting how great my '07 GSA is...:eek
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From what I've seen, it's a 50-50 proposition. It'll either be great, or it'll suck. :nenau

Wishing you good luck,

John
 
jpooch00 said:
From what I've seen, it's a 50-50 proposition. It'll either be great, or it'll suck. :nenau

Wishing you good luck,

John
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Thanx :D! I want to believe the chance that the bike will be fine is greater 50%. If you think about it, anybody with a great running bike is out riding. Only the once with issues have time to hit the keyboard...;)
 
T.REX63 said:
Thanx :D! I want to believe the chance that the bike will be fine is greater 50%. If you think about it, anybody with a great running bike is out riding. Only the once with issues have time to hit the keyboard...;)
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That is another way of looking at it for sure.

Wishing you the best,

John
 
Currently 18000km on my 2007 GS. And I know it is not much but as I'm away for 50% of time it not that bad :comfort

I had problems with level indicator and it was replaced.
Same as others I was recalled and Ring antenna and Fuel pump controler were changed. But I never had any problems with those.
 
I made 86kkm with my ADV 2006 , once I had EWS but I was able to start bike after one hour period , every time(other has not this possibility). For our last trip I had with me spare EWS antenna and electronic module for fuel pump. In my opinion we should ride a lot and not to be afraid, problems should stay at home.
Regards Marek
 
Yes

Yes,
49k miles and no major faults(yet),
no ews, no fuel pump,
I abuse it like a whore,
just did a rear Trail wing in 3.6k miles to completely bald,
they crash well,
wether the winter well and it keeps coming back for more,
best bike I've had in 30 yrs of riding:bow:bow:bow
 
Being new to this GS lark I think it's worth pointing out (if it hasn't been done already) that whilst some may feel the bike is unreliable the milages compared to many other bikes are absolutely huge.

People tend to buy these bikes (myself included) to cover distances. A lot of other so called more reliable machines are only used for a Sunday ride down to the local bike haunt.

When buying my 08 GS the majority of bikes for sale were over 20k miles with many a great deal more. Go Buy a Jap plastic projectile and you can buy 4/5 year old bikes with less than 6k miles on them all day long.

Having said all that, all modern bikes are way too complicated. I purposely bought a GS without all the ABS, electronic suspension etc and if they sold it with carbs I'd be happier still:D. Do we really need all these immobilizer issues. If someones gonna nick your bike they'll just chuck it in the back of the van and break it for parts
 
Tuono1961 said:
Being new to this GS lark I think it's worth pointing out (if it hasn't been done already) that whilst some may feel the bike is unreliable the milages compared to many other bikes are absolutely huge.

People tend to buy these bikes (myself included) to cover distances. A lot of other so called more reliable machines are only used for a Sunday ride down to the local bike haunt.

When buying my 08 GS the majority of bikes for sale were over 20k miles with many a great deal more. Go Buy a Jap plastic projectile and you can buy 4/5 year old bikes with less than 6k miles on them all day long.

Having said all that, all modern bikes are way too complicated. I purposely bought a GS without all the ABS, electronic suspension etc and if they sold it with carbs I'd be happier still:D. Do we really need all these immobilizer issues. If someones gonna nick your bike they'll just chuck it in the back of the van and break it for parts
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Well said and exactly right! My sentiments exactly. :thumb
 
I've been up and down the Pyrenees, col de la Bonette 2715m, Stelvio 2757m, Wales, Scotland, ... would not want to have carbs, a well defined map for electronic injection will do me nicely.
 
i'd like to think mine has been reliable in that its always got me home,however the final drive has just been replaced so maybe not:confused:
 
Mine continues to be indestructible. Total cost on consumables and parts due to failure within the last year has come to £0. My most reliable bike so far, even more so than the second most reliable bike I owned - the 1150. Now on 48k.
 
Mines still in the garage 4 weeks after the ESA shock went. Still BMW have no idea when they can get one. 5 other bikes in same dealer waiting. Glad I wasnt abroad.
 
cmyers_uk said:
Mines still in the garage 4 weeks after the ESA shock went. Still BMW have no idea when they can get one. 5 other bikes in same dealer waiting. Glad I wasnt abroad.
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I wonder if the newer-version ESA II shocks are any more durable/reliable? Seems like I've heard about a lot of ESA failures, especially the rear ones.
 
jpooch00 said:
I wonder if the newer-version ESA II shocks are any more durable/reliable? Seems like I've heard about a lot of ESA failures, especially the rear ones.
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Exactly why I bought as basic a bike as possible.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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