Has your GS1200 been reliable...or not?

[R17GSR]

Oh dear,dunno whether to say owt or not

L'Escargot, you got me all in a dither now. I know GSa's are prone to "characture anomilies", but at the end of 4 pages you spelt it out. Bloody hell all that survey b---o-xs. Dont do Graphs and pie charts, that's for the H&S peeps. I've got the same gripes with my 08 Moto Guzzi Stelvio ,so was thinking a GS might last longer. At least there would be more dealer support. I've been waiting 9 days for a sump gasket. Just returned from Sweden on a
2k mile trip on my pan euro, no glitches, no EWS, no FPC. Been stranded twice on the Guzzi, cam follower melt down, and engine speed sensor. Allso had speedo sensor and two oil leaks.
Maybe the Kwack GTR1400 is a better buy after all. No personality, just boringly reliable.
Ride safe
Gary

 

[mac163]

r1200 gs reliability

Hi,
R1200gs 05 plate

Miles - 29,895

Faults -
Fuel Pump Controller.
Battery failure.
Gear box oil leak.
Gear sensor indicator fault.
Corrosion - Front Cover, Drive shaft & Petrol filler.
Premature rear pad wear.
Both front and rear disks replaced.

Always serviced on schedule.

Ridden all year and religiously washed in winter after outings and FS365 applied after every wash.

Glad I bought it with a lifetime warranty!!

Love riding it - but always have a question mark - what next?

Cheers,

Mac

 

[Paulenglish]

Not Reliable

56 Plate 1200GS owned from new
FPC failure within 12 months - stranded (they all do that sir)
Rear brake pads replaced at 10,000 miles (they all do that sir)
Ring antenna replaced (on my insistence) prior to Ireland trip
2 years - gearbox / shaft oil leak (apparently very unusual sir) ho ho ho
Nail in coffin - headlight bulb fails- sort of sums it up - in 20 years I have never had a single fault with japanese bike never mind one breaking down, come to think about it nor have I had a car breakdown.
So great bike- but why am I doing the development work?
Next bike? not a BMW- hopefully Yamaha will launch Superten problems solved

 

[its all poo]

The facts are all available to answer the question of reliability. Very few other motorcycles have this many problems a number of which are very dangerous. I now see why BMW offer such a long warrenty. Perhaps if it did not more people would realise the magnitude of problems when they had to pay for alot of the failures. If a car had problems like wheels falling off and brake failure it would I am sure make the news. Hats off to BMW their marketing is so good that people still think their bikes are OK even after many trips to the workshop and many reported potential failures. I again say if these bikes had a different badge and less effective marketing they would not sell in the numbers they do.

 

[L'Escargot]

L'Escargot, you got me all in a dither now. I know GSa's are prone to "characture anomilies", but at the end of 4 pages you spelt it out. Bloody hell all that survey b---o-xs. Dont do Graphs and pie charts, that's for the H&S peeps. I've got the same gripes with my 08 Moto Guzzi Stelvio ,so was thinking a GS might last longer. At least there would be more dealer support. I've been waiting 9 days for a sump gasket. Just returned from Sweden on a
2k mile trip on my pan euro, no glitches, no EWS, no FPC. Been stranded twice on the Guzzi, cam follower melt down, and engine speed sensor. Allso had speedo sensor and two oil leaks.
Maybe the Kwack GTR1400 is a better buy after all. No personality, just boringly reliable.
Ride safe
Gary

Trouble is,now,if I dont get back what I expect on Friday,how am I gonna feel ?
Doing the Croatia trip on 9th,am I going on my own bike ? I do hope so.
I'm very much afraid that if the love affair comes to an abrupt end ( Still shaking and lurching etc ) what will I get for the bike,nowhere near what I paid for it I know !
What other Bike can fill the GSA's boots tho (Troubles apart that is ) I had a Brand new Pan in 2006,took it two up fully loaded with top box and tank bag for 7 weeks around Europe,had 130 mph out of it,no wobbles or anything,but it was just so impossibly good that it was boring !!
Theres no getting away from it,the GS has Character by the bucket load,people stop and stare at them,even folk who know sod all about bikes so why oh why havent BMW managed to sort the glitches and get it right !

Perhaps the folks at Head Office should have a look on this Forum and sort themselves out !

PS on my earlier post I mentioned a new rear wheel bearing ! I got it wrong,they said they have a new BACK AXLE in for me !!!!!!!!!

I'm feeling very depressed !

 

[dogman]

Good point 'its all poo' but not sure about marketing playing any major part. I bought a BUMW as I believed that these bikes were built to a better standard than others and that the higher price would should at least secure you something special to ride and that will last for years. This was after riding boxers for years, although not for ten years. So the badge is a seller yes. As for marketing, I'm not so sure how hard they have to try!
If the 08/09 bikes prove to be problematical, then I think their luck will come to an end. I'm hoping it doesn't as I have bought one and want to be able to sell it at some point!

 

[Fluffy Bridges]

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

Fanum.

Who is that delightful person on your avatar? She slays me!

As for reliability, No.
All the usual stuff + all three discs and a battery. BUT am I bitching? No, 'cos CW motorcycles fixed it all promptly, without fuss. Going to do the front cover as well soon. Truth is, it's a belter of a bike an' I love it. All part of the experience
Fluff.

 

[Amstel_Stu]

Problems on 06 1200GSA

1) Weird paint cracking on metal side panel - RUW (replaced under warranty)
2) Crash bars rusting - RUW
3) Heated Grips sticking throttle - fixed by dealer
4) Gear selector indicator not working/malfunction - WD40

After service and first MOT dealer left throttle cable caught in side panel. Turned left and the revs shot up to limiter Took bike back to BMW dealer and gave them a bolloxing for it...could have bloody killed me!! They took it round back and unjammed it.

If your dog poops on the kitchen floor do you kill it - NO do you still love it - YES

If your GSA screws up and faulters - do you sell it - NO do you still love riding it - YES

 

[graham h]

R1200GSA 09 BIKE ON 58 PLATE

In a word NO it has not been reliable i have just been called to say it's ready for collection again!! it's less than 8 months old and has 5800 miles on the clock,now on it's 3rd replacement Final Drive and first Clutch Slave cylinder and when they get one in from Germany a Clutch Master Cylinder which are currently on back order with no date given

Now the dealer has been great and carried out the work with now problem BUT f**king hell where has the BMW quality gone

 

[trebor]

March 08 GS, 7500 miles:

EWS failure, but not stranded was able to restart and it got me the 220 miles home.

Head lamp failure a couple of days ago - swapped full beam with dipped beam lamp till I could get a replacement

Love the bike and on the whole feel it is very reliable.

 

[SHORT LEGS]

GS1200 BREAKDOWN - SW LONDON

Anybody able to assist an Irish GS1200 rider, enroute to S Italy, broken down in SW London?

 

[birdseye]

Sad to see you lot still asking this question after the 1200 has been around so long. I reckon the real problem is that the 1200 is perceived as being expensive and higher quality than everyday Jap bikes. The reality is that its a bit more expensive and like everything non Jap, a bit lower quality.

BMW cars are less reliable than Toyota and mor expensive too. Same for Merc. And the same for the GS.

But just like BMW cars, the bike has way more character than a Honda or Yam.

You pays your money and makes your choice.

P.S. For those who mumble about the BM quality rep remember that was earned back with bikes like the R45 when BM prices were double everyone elses. If you were happy to pay15k for a boggo 1200GS I reckon you could get superb reliability.

 

[elefantmanshawn]

I'm convinced my GSA will go on with out fault

 

[billynomates]

Ive had my 1200 ADV since jan 08 done 14K been off road in Portugal and Salisbury Plain so not surprised the Rear wheel bearing went, was replaced UW along with a Rear warped disc.
However it would have to have an endless number of breakdowns to put me off its overall ability to do so many things (covered that with extended warranty)
Its the only bike that after being thrown down the road at 40mph comes away with a ground down cylinder cover and crash bar.
Wether its more or less reliable than a Honda I could'nt care less,they leave me cold a bit like most mass produced white goods.
I like my bikes to have character and to give me a buzz and a smile when I ride them being a 100% reliable does'nt even enter the equation when Im Bike hunting.
Yes I did surf this site for advice but the positives far outway the negatives and ive done more mileage in 18 months than the previous 4 years.
Ian

 

[(RIP) Arkwright]

I think you have to put some of these things into context and then take a view. There are a large number of GS/GSA's sold and they generally tend to do higher mileages than some other models. The more fancy bits they have on them the more there is to go wrong, which is why I went for simplicity with mine........heated grips is the only extra...............I have the same view with cars which is why I'm a luddite and run a '96 Hilux with no electronics whatsoever (similar to the one Top Gear couldn't kill).

Mine is an '07 model GS 16,000 miles, 2 major European trips and no hicups whatsoever, in fact it's only dealer visit was for its EWS recall.............but I do carry a spare FPC and the tools to fit it just in case! I have taken a few precautions as well, plenty of ACF50 in the relevant places, Final Drive oil and gearbox oil changed at every service, all electrical plugs treated with slicon grease, cover over the back of the tail light, Ultraseal in the tyres, etc, etc.

And I intend to keep it until either it's worn out or I am!!

Duncan

 

[Powerful Pierre]

I have had three 1200's so far , an 04GS which did 41,000 miles , an 06GSA which did 42,000 miles and my current 08GSA which has so far done over 36,000 miles . There have been no reliability problems what so ever in all those miles though each GSA has had 2 sets of replacement front discs but this has not been a show stopper . The 04GS had its ECU corrupted during its 18,000 service and BMW had to supply a reboot disc to get it started again though this was a dealer created problem .

I've had the usual corrosion problems with fasteners and the alternator covers of the 04 & 06 bikes were each changed under warranty three times . The 08 GSA is corroding all over the crankcase and gearbox and I'm waiting to hear what BMW are going to do about it . B*gger all I would suspect ! Product improvement and quality issues do not appear to be high on the priority list for BMW and if my 08GSA is anything to go by the finish gets worse year on year rather than better .

All this being said I choose these bikes for their riding qualities and how much fun they give me and when my current bike gets repaced it will be with another GSA most probably . Parts replacements and corrosion are secondary to the fact that in 119,000 miles of riding 1200's over 5 years there has not been one mile when I would have chosen another type of bike or type of transport . But thats just me !

 

[GLIDARN]

Yes, my -07 GSA has been totaly reliable so far. I really love her and she fits in everywhere, but tend to be a little expensive on rubber...

Her name is Bergsgeten / Mattias

 

[pathfinder]

9000 miles since the beginning of april 09 on a gsa,no problems,have replaced rear tyre twice and front once,I love em.

 

[jonothan]

My 58 plate GSA has had air in the clutch hydraulics after a long run in top gear requiring three visits to the dealer.

First visit, they cleaned and tightened all the unions, the second time they replaced the master cylinder and on the last visit, I insisted they replaced everything - master, slave and the hydraulic line between the two.

This they did, with good grace it has to be said, and since then it's been just fine.

My 06 plate GS was fault free.

Still love the GSA though.

 

[dogman]

Arkwright2007 - very much agree with you on the point of 'the less fitted - the less to go wrong! Mine only has comfort pack. Nice and simple....well as simple as these bikes can be anyway!