Interesting Blog - 100,000 miles on a 2005 1200GS

[JohnnyBoxer]

http://bmwr1200gsservicehistory.blogspot.com/

The bike originally cost $18000 and the running costs/repairs have cost over $15000

Admittedly some of the repairs have been under warranty

But running costs @ 80% of the original purchase price for the 100,000 miles covered seems pretty scary

 

[BeemerBaz]

http://bmwr1200gsservicehistory.blogspot.com/

The bike originally cost $18000 and the running costs/repairs have cost over $15000

Admittedly some of the repairs have been under warranty

But running costs @ 80% of the original purchase price for the 100,000 miles covered seems pretty scary

At what stage did you import it ?

 

[D6]

he,s including brake pads an stuff, hardly fair,
but,
still scary

 

[Trippy]

I'm suprized it was that high.














At least 90'000 must have been done on the back of a recovery truck

 

[Steve the Kiwi]

The costs ae scary! but how many other brands get put through such treatment and mileage? I guess few or no other brand gets purchased with the expectation or has the same historical pedigree. So what can it be compared to? oh hang on.... oh yeah a 11X0GS.....

 

[Rushy]

The bikes has obviously had a hard life and I thought maybe a lot of the cost was over exaggerated and came in the latter part of the 100k but then I read further and thats not the case.

Check out the first 40,000miles , pretty scary stuff

" The following items are noteworthy for a new motorcycle:

6,000 miles: output shaft seal and clutch failure (replace both)

10,613 miles: rear mudguard sheared off from vibration (replaced, and that
one too failed at 31,000 miles.)

18,310 miles: clutch slave cylinder seal failed

19,192 miles: front brake discs warped (these discs had been installed new at 4,000 miles, when I changed the bike over to spoked wheels for the journey.)

22,735 miles: fuel gauge failure (fuel pump assembly replaced)

26,550 miles: fuel pump regulator failed (in Mexico. Pushed bike back to U.S.!)

31,000 miles; Rear mud guard sheared off again (weakness in mounting configuration)

35,600 miles: speedometer failure

37,700 mile: rear drive seal fails

38,420 miles: rear drive and brake rotor failed (rotor cupped)

38,420 miles: front discs warped again (for several thousand miles) "

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

A pretty comprehensive account and very scary reading

If you bought a VW Passat or a BMW 3 series car and it cost you say £20,000 brand new on the road

Then you covered 100,000 miles in it and the running/repair costs amounted to say £16000 of that £20,000 purchase cost...................would you be happy/content/overjoyed

Perhaps not - the car analogy isn't a red herring - it's a mechanical item and transports you from AtoB

Just because it's a bike we can't excuse those horrendous costs/design flaws/crap manufacturing quality

Why shouldn't a 1200GS cover 100,000 miles or 200,000/300,000 with regular servicing and maintenance without major components like the gearbox going awol

Plenty of older K series BMW bikes do that - ask Steptoe

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

he,s including brake pads an stuff, hardly fair,
but,
still scary

Why ............it's a valid running cost item - he states the bike is very heavy on pads and discs for wear

It's been reported here too and my dealer has seen rear pads go in less than 2000 miles by some 12GS owners

My 2005 1150Adv has done 21,000miles and is still on the original rear pads, which are two thirds worn and will get to 24k service

My 2008 1200GSA has done 5100 miles and the original rear pads are already two thirds worn and will probably only last until 7000 miles

Same rider, same types of roads.....................2 different GSA's

From that........ I'd conclude the 1200 series GS was heavy on pads and most probably discs

Not as durable as the 1150GSA from my laymans perspective

 

[sockpuppet]

http://bmwr1200gsservicehistory.blogspot.com/search/label/accident

He's also including stuff that he did when he dropped the bike.

 

[steveh]

21000m's on mine

mines cost me nothing bar tyres and fuel, whats he doing attacking it with a hammer every day he rides it??

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

Haven't read it all the way through, but he seems to include extras he's added for his overland trip, as well as cost of repairs when he's dropped it.

 

[Tricky]

He’s kept the bike for over three years, so perhaps he doesn’t consider it an unreliable crock of shite or ‘scary’ in the cost department...

 

[Gonzo]

A pretty comprehensive account and very scary reading

If you bought a VW Passat or a BMW 3 series car and it cost you say £20,000 brand new on the road

Then you covered 100,000 miles in it and the running/repair costs amounted to say £16000 of that £20,000 purchase cost...................would you be happy/content/overjoyed

This is not normal use of a motorcycle. It appears to be a voyage that's a little more specialist than the mainstream buyer would subject this mainstream bike to.

If he'd done the same to a mainstream (i.e. not specialist such as a Landie) car, the story may have been the same.

I'm not sayin' that some of the failures are right, but he has stress tested more than most.

 

[Steve the Kiwi]

Haven't read it all the way through, but he seems to include extras he's added for his overland trip, as well as cost of repairs when he's dropped it.

That's fair i think. If you ride it as intended - down rough tracks etc ( or the sainsbury carpark) you'll drop it at some point for sure. So if stuff breaks it needs to be fixed. These are costs that need to be considered for using it in this way. Is there more to break ( or more expensive parts) on the newer bikes than the older?

To be subjective what sort of problems are they getting over at the KTM ADV camp? i know very little(that goes for most things) about them but I've heard of water pump failures being a common problem. Are KTM riders also having these sort of expensive wide spread repairs as outlined in this guys blog? Is it a sign of the times? or is BMW dropping the ball like a US Olympic relay baton?

 

[BBB61]

My 2005 1150Adv has done 21,000miles and is still on the original rear pads, which are two thirds worn and will get to 24k service

My 2008 1200GSA has done 5100 miles and the original rear pads are already two thirds worn and will probably only last until 7000 miles

Same rider, same types of roads.....................2 different GSA's

Johnny, does your 1150 have ABS?

 

[Pukmeister]

I find myself amazed when reading this blog, that my 2004 bike has had exactly the same common problems with only 31,000 miles of road use on it:

Rear drive oil leak
Oil seals leaking oil onto clutch
Warped front disks
Cupped rear disk
Failed fuel pump electronics

Must be 'par for the course' of 1200 ownership ??

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Why did he need to replace a clutch cable

Andres

 

[RickG]

The most scary thing I reckon is the general ineptitude of the BuMW technicians he encountered on his trips who's unhelpful responses probably contributed to the size of the final bill.

 

[MartinL]

Hang on guys, don't worry too much about the big numbers. Not counting fuel we're talking 15 cents (8p) / mile.

If we presume the bike has retained a third of it's purchase price then it's cost him 27 cents (15p) / mile overall.

 

[MartinL]

I've just read it properly and he's included best part of $5000 for spoked wheel conversion, accessories, trip spares and accident damage. You can't really attribute this to the running cost of the bike though obviously they are part of the cost of his big trip.

It does not excuse the build quality issues but 10 cents / mile for this kind of hard use doesn't sound too bad.