R1250GS reliable or not !

Giles said:
So out of 48 replies (half of which are just banter) we've had One bike burst its brake lines, one on its third set of callipers (and has been in the dealer for four weeks) and one broke down on tour and then the petrol cap wouldn't open a week later ..???? !!!

But hey .... You've got a great european dealer network right .... :confused:
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And how many who've had no issues haven't bothered responding? ;)
 
I never go out on my GS1250 without a backup van following me.

In 9000 miles I've not needed to use it.
 
This months ride magazine, New 1250RS fuel cap wouldn't open (keyless), seat cover fell apart, paintwork is considered to be poor. All this on a premium brand bike.
 
iandavid said:
This months ride magazine, New 1250RS fuel cap wouldn't open (keyless), seat cover fell apart, paintwork is considered to be poor. All this on a premium brand bike.
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What determines a premium brand in your opinion. Always puzzled me as bmw are not really premium priced compared to many bikes,. Spec a Ktm adv to the same level or a mutley at rrp. ( ktm hugely discount older stock) And how many problems can you find for those models online ?

So what sets the bmw apart from them if you consider the bmw more premium ? Just curious.
 
spoonz said:
What determines a premium brand in your opinion. Always puzzled me as bmw are not really premium priced compared to many bikes,. Spec a Ktm adv to the same level or a mutley at rrp. ( ktm hugely discount older stock) And how many problems can you find for those models online ?

So what sets the bmw apart from them if you consider the bmw more premium ? Just curious.
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BMW set themselves up as a premium brand. Look at the cooperate image, the advertising, showrooms, both car and bike and a long history of being up there as a German manufacture equal to Merc & Audi.
 
iandavid said:
You shouldn’t get that shit on a brand new bike costing upwards of £15k. I’d expect it on a Yin Yong Yang 250cc costing less than £5k but not on a BMW.
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Every brand has its Friday afternoon Monday morning bikes. You only ever hear of the bad stuff on forums, never the thousands of bikes that don’t have any problems whatsoever. Three year warranty pretty much covers the time in which something is likely to go wrong. Yes it shouldn’t happen, but it does, even with the best of stuff.


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iandavid said:
BMW set themselves up as a premium brand. Look at the cooperate image, the advertising, showrooms, both car and bike and a long history of being up there as a German manufacture equal to Merc & Audi.
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So basically corporate spin has led you to believe that bmw bikes are set apart from the rest and therefore shouldn’t have these faults. Despite costing the same or in some cases less than brands considered less premium.

I think that is a fairly antiquated view of German marques generally in this mass production age. But I doth my cap to their marketing if people still see it that way.
 
iandavid said:
This months ride magazine, New 1250RS fuel cap wouldn't open (keyless), seat cover fell apart, paintwork is considered to be poor. All this on a premium brand bike.
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I wouldn't pay too much attention to such evaluations. Did they even bother to read the manual?

Lots of the testers seem to do the outermost to trash the bikes. When ever they screw up, they do not tell the full story, but rather they blame the bike. (Remember the K1300GT that had it's engine blow up on AutoBahn, or the test of a hexhead GSA where the swing arm broke?. It later turns out that the K13 blew up because they where doing 240 and downshifted from 6th to 4th, thereby grossly overspeeding the clutch basket which turns with the rear wheel. The heaxhead got a broken swingarm because the tester lost control when doing a wheelie and hit a stone fence.)
It boils down to the fact that some people do not understand that you can not treat a crystal bowl in the same way as an anvil without experience some consequences.
 
Always thought that the motorcycle rags, especially MCN supported whichever manufacturer paid for the most advertising in any given month. Bunch of self appointed “experts” much like you find inhabiting the pub and a couple other sections on here.


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When I was into Mx many moons ago, my best mate was the top quad racer in the uk. Dirt bike rider magazine wanted to do a feature on the Suzuki quad at our local race track. They took some pics of him sliding and jumping it then went off down the pub. They never even sat on it, yet the review went on about plush suspension and savage power they experienced etc.

It was a total farce and probably not uncommon among magazine tests.
 
Fifteen years or so ago, an ex-colleague of mine got pushed out of MCN for writing a critical article about frames cracking on Triumphs. Now MCN, Ride, Bike magazine etc are all owned by Bauer Media (German, in case you didn’t guess) all the articles are extremely flattering towards BMW. Who’d have thunk?
 
Mulcher said:
Fifteen years or so ago, an ex-colleague of mine got pushed out of MCN for writing a critical article about frames cracking on Triumphs. Now MCN, Ride, Bike magazine etc are all owned by Bauer Media (German, in case you didn’t guess) all the articles are extremely flattering towards BMW. Who’d have thunk?
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They’re not though, are they? As they’ve just slated the RS, apparently.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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