How reliable is the 1200 Gs?

[Barrie]

Ian
I would have gone potty, taken legal action if that had happened to me.
I have heard so many horror stories about the 1200GS.
BMW have more chance of getting struck by lightening than getting any of my cash for a 1200GS.
I love the 1150 I have and would not change it.

I also have a 1987 Harley 1340 which has never missed a beat.
reliability is THE most important virtue in a bike, it seems that the GS1200 does not have it.......are they made in China?
Barrie

 

[smartrider]

Mine is june 04 has done 17,000 miles and I am very happy with it.

My 1150 had various problems which were all fixed promptly with no arguments

The 1200 has corrosion on the alternator cover but that will be replaced at the next service.

It has been totaly reliable, starts instantly every time even after I left it a month in the winter whilst I was on holiday ( I had to go on a plane)

The only thing wrong with the 1200 is wet weather riding leaves you covered in c**p.

 

[Tricky]

smartrider

Red GS1200 outside Orwells (Ipswich) this afternoon (04 plate) yours or anyone else on this site?
Nice condition....... whoever it belonged to

 

[Chris Terry]

My 1800 mile 12 took a ride on the back of a transporter down to CW Dorchester(BMW) today. The problem was the back wheel flopping about sideways. I think the swing arm bearings are the problems, but CW have'nt let me know yet (they said they would ring me this afternoon but have not done so). The good news is I have a Honda to use for a day or two.

 

[cliff]

The Blue GS on the back of a recovery lorry was mine, while out riding on Friday evening , I noticed the gear indcator display in the dashboard was flickering and then disapeared alltogether coming back intermittently as I used the gearbox , I then lost the neutral light indicator so I drove the bike home without stopping or knocking the engine off once parked up outside the house I switched the engine off. I then tried to restart it but to no avail phoned out the BMW rescue service , he looked over the bike and said that the gear position sensor was faulty, the bike did not know it was in neutral so would not start, it would have to go into the dealership for repair, anyone else come across a fault of this nature

hi kev

this happened to me couple of times and this was because i washed the bike with a pressure washer and water had got into the gear selecter and the bike has been fine the next day after it had dried out

during the drying out time the bike would have the neutral light on and be in 1st or 2nd gear and sometimes no gear would show so as for your bike not starting did you check that the bike was in neutral by pushing it and not relying on the neutral light indicator

now when i wash the bike i spray wd40 in the gear selecter sensor area and have no problems

hope this is of use
cliff

 

[Arthurwg]

Not Very!

If not for the servo brakes I think the bike would be VERY reliable. But I had one total brake failure incident on the road last year, and last week I had a momentary failure and extended failure warning. The downloads were so confusing that they tell me they have to replace the ENTIRE WIRING HARNESS. Still waiting for the part (s) to come in. Hope I get the bike back in time to ride this weekend. Missed the last one-- Memorial Day-- with perfect riding conditions.

 

[SQD8R]

before the internet you would be unaware of the problems listed as you are in contact world wide & most people only right to complain it looks bad .I have had a lot of bikes in the past & no problems yet if i look on the web they all have faults

33,000 km and no issues. Most reliable bike I've owned but every bike fails eventually, at least all of mine have.

 

[Gipsy]

Still more failures since I last posted. It would be interesting to know what percentage of bikes sold this represents. Also wondering whether it is worth resurrecting the old threads re final drive failure and adding those in. One thing I would say however is that if I bought a car and it spent as much time in a dealership so soon after taking delivery, I would be a very unhappy bunny, and I suspect the fact that for some of us our bike represents a second means of transport rather than an essential means of getting around, might cloud our thinking.

 

[drdata]

9300 miles, no issue other than a slight wobble from the front brakes at speeds over 60. I attribute this to brake testing brought about by DrABS' postings before I had properly beded the pads.

 

[Tomcat]

I think the title of this thread is automatically going to draw a majority of replies from people who've had problems, and it will always grossly overestimate the real rate at which problems have appeared across all of the 1200GSs that have been sold. But to redress the balance a little, Dec 04, 3,400 miles, no problems
TC

 

[Arthurwg]

I'm thinking of trading the bike, but the question is, to what? Perhaps the 2006 bike, with a revised brake system and perhaps other problems fixed, would be the answer.

 

[KEV R]

hi kev

this happened to me couple of times and this was because i washed the bike with a pressure washer and water had got into the gear selecter and the bike has been fine the next day after it had dried out

during the drying out time the bike would have the neutral light on and be in 1st or 2nd gear and sometimes no gear would show so as for your bike not starting did you check that the bike was in neutral by pushing it and not relying on the neutral light indicator

now when i wash the bike i spray wd40 in the gear selecter sensor area and have no problems

hope this is of use
cliff

Cliff
Thanks for that advice where is the gear sensor located so I can spray it next time before I wash the bike, and yes the bike was in neutral I checked this numerous times and also the BMW technician checked this upon arrival.

Thanks
KEV R

 

[smartrider]

smartrider

Red GS1200 outside Orwells (Ipswich) this afternoon (04 plate) yours or anyone else on this site?
Nice condition....... whoever it belonged to

Not mine. I spend most of my life riding around bury st edmunds, Its rare that it looks good, It gets a good clean once a week, but it usually rains soon after, so it seems that it is always dirty. and mine is the reliable blue color.

 

[ianm00]

Went to the dealer today to collect my bike but on turning on the ignition it was obvious the fault was still there! NOT PLEASED with this sort of service.
Anyway dealer still hasn't got the diagnostic equipment back so now my bike will be relayed back to bristol tomorrow and hopefully they will be able to repair it ASAP.

My weeks holiday which I expected to be touring around cornwall on my GS has now been completely ruined. The GS has been in the dealers for the whole week. Im not very happy about this sort of dealer backup!

Ian

Today the bike & myself were relayed back to BMW Bristol. They started the diagnostic process as the fault was showing. During the process the diagnostic computer asked them to remove tank to access something under it, after doing this the fault appears to have gone.

Its now an intermittent fault which will be difficult to find!

What can I do? I don't want a bike which may or may not fail sometime in the future. Can I demand a new bike?

Ian

 

[tricolourforever]

Seriously though (despite what you sometimes read on here) the GS (on the whole) is i'm sure no worse in the reliability stakes than any other mass produced modern bike.

Complete and utter shite Tricky.

 

[BBB61]

Complete and utter shite Tricky.

Are you talking about what's inside your head by any chance?

Bob

PS Your style (or lack of it) is reminiscent to a recent poster on here who has now disappeared into oblivion. He had the same tendency to open his mouth without thinking too. Are you perhaps one and the same person?

 

[cliff]

kev
if you look just behind the gear lever in towards the engine you can spray that area with wd40 after you hose down or pressure wash the bike and that should clear any water left around the sensor, since i have done this i have had no problem

this was explained to me by a couple of guys on here previously when when i first encountered the problem
sorry but i cannot post a photo
cliff

 

[Andy0557]

Clutch and rear shock failure

March '04 1200GS. 13,500 miles and both the rear shock and clutch failed on the same trip from Manchester to Cornwall. After talking to dealers at Manchester and Plymouth I was "rescued" and given a Vectra as a replacement... woe woe.

Ocean very kindly diagnosed it as buggered but a 3 week lead time to repair. So it is now being kindly tended to by Mitch at Williams.

I'm glad I wasn't in Kazakhstan as planned!

 

[Gonzo]

this happened to me couple of times and this was because i washed the bike with a pressure washer and water had got into the gear selecter and the bike has been fine the next day after it had dried out

Pressure washer??? RTFM.

 

[GSAde]

Despite what some wearers of rose tinted spectacles have posted on this site, I'm not yet convinced that BM have got the build quality/quality control fully sorted.

Could be right there - mate of mine yesterday told me BWM had at last agreed to replace his bike after FOUR recoveries & FIFTEEN warranty claims in just over a year. Told him to get a GSA but he says he's too short in the leg department

I personally also know of two others who, despite loving the bike got shut 'cos they were so fed up with the bikes always being in the workshop & numerous others who've had one or often more warranty claims / breakdowns - glad I decided against one

Ade