Rear shock & other problems (new1200gs adv)

Be very positive and for fecks sake, don't threaten them with the old "not fit for purpose" shite that gets spouted from time to time. It bike is fit for purpose but an item has failed. As long as they are replacing it, they are in the clear and doing their job, albeit slowly.

If a bike's sitting in the shop for weeks it is NOT doing its job. Sharkz bought the bike to ride it, not to watch it grow moss in Park Lane Battersea's parking lot.

If it's still in warranty, after such a long time with no solution offered I'd reject the bike. BMW are still building bikes in Berlin every day, so saying that they cannot get a shock seems like a poor excuse.

YMMV (and your level of patience) :).

Achim
 
If there's no stock in the parts bin then they should line pinch them :rob

Not when they have a full order book:augie

The factory on get 1 payday.....................when a new vehicle is produced and is sold into the dealer network.......................so there is no incentive to halt production to supply much needed parts for a bike that they sold and were paid for 6-12 months ago, is there
 
I take your point JB but those that are left stranded for the want of a £100 shocker are going to be ex customers soon and will no doubt tell ten of their mates and ..............

Them BMW blokes are not looking at the bigger picture :blast
 
I take your point JB but those that are left stranded for the want of a £100 shocker are going to be ex customers soon and will no doubt tell ten of their mates and ..............

Them BMW blokes are not looking at the bigger picture :blast

a hundred quid?


:jes


maybe to bmw.
 
Sounds to me as if you have a pretty strong case to claim the bike is not fit for purpose and the dealer is required to give you a replacement or refund your money. Don't take any crap about it being BMW's responsibility, it's not: you bought it from the dealer so your contract and the liability rests with them. Let them sort it out with BMW.
 
absolutely correct - your contract is with the supplying dealer not with BMW UK or Germany. It is the dealer's responsibility to sort it out. However most dealers will blame the manufacturer (not unreasonable) and will give the impression that it's little to do with them. Reasonable bt firm is the way to go and you could talk to consumer advice or even just browse the www on consumer rights and vehicles.
 
It's entirely possible there simply are no new shocks anywhere in the BMW system. Many companies operate a just-in-time system so that new stocks arrive from the suppliers errr.. just in time to be put on the latest batch being put together on the assembly line - it's supposed to save costs by cutting storage space, money tied up with high stock levels etc. If BuMW don't continously make GS's with ESA the next batch of ESA shocks ready for the next build of so equipped GS's may still be being made by the supplier a few, or a thousand miles away.

I had the same problem years ago when I needed new forks, couldn't get them from anywhere for about 3 weeks including direct from the Fatherland.

No, it's not right or acceptable
 
I take your point JB but those that are left stranded for the want of a £100 shocker are going to be ex customers soon and will no doubt tell ten of their mates and ..............

Them BMW blokes are not looking at the bigger picture :blast

Coz, getting parts for italian bikes is sooooo easy too!

Saying that, I'd more than a tad upset if it was me. The GS is my only form of transport.

To the OP:
You could ask the dealer to buy you some Ohlins/WP shocks to tide you over....
<dream>
 
If a bike's sitting in the shop for weeks it is NOT doing its job.

If it's still in warranty, after such a long time with no solution offered I'd reject the bike.

Achim

Whether you like it or not,and I bet you won't, you'll find I'm right here. All the manufacturer has to do is mend the bike to keep his end of the bargain and only then if it's under warranty....period.

I used to have the same issue when I worked for a major truck manufacturer when a new truck went wrong which would happen on occasion. Even if the thing had a catastrophic failure or was off the road awaiting parts, we were completing our end of the deal by mending it. We may have given them some free servicing, parts, rental vehicle when off the road or something but we never, ever replaced a vehicle.

I'm sure it's happened but it's very very rare a manufacturer will replace a vehicle and I've never known it in 25 years of truck/van sales.
 
We've had a guy reject a Range Rover over a paint issue and yet the same guy was told politely to fuck off by the Honda dealer when his SP1 shut itself down leaving him stranded in the outside lane of the M4 at Heston one rainy Sunday night. His bike was at the dealers for over 6 months (they couldn't find a fault with it) and he only accepted it back when the dealer threatend to charge him storage :augie

I've personally rejected a Rocket III back to the supplying dealer over a persistant oil leak issue but to be fair if you want to reject a vehicle the supplying dealer has got to be preparred to accept it back. Without the dealers co-operation it is almost impossible :bow
 
Remember this isnt one week , two weeks 5 weeks. This is they are unable to tell me how long it will be they have no idea? Totally unacceptable , compare to the service when my landrover broke down , they took the car to dealers and hire car waiting for me until its fixed.

Ok personally I dont think its acceptable so I phoned a solicitor.

Step 1 is to find out in the warrenty is there a specified time when they agree to get it fixed. If not then the relationship is unspecified and I will hit them with a immediate notice saying if not back in 14 days fixed then I will hire a bike , if they cannot provide one. The 1st thing is to find the details of our contract i.e the warrenty and go from there.

Speaking with the solicitor you need to give them a reasonable time and two weeks is more than enough from then on you have recourse to get compensation.

So lets see where it goes. Yes the contract is with the supplying dealer not BMW UK or anybody else. Anybody got the small print of the warrenty?

And when its sorted rather than winge Ill vote with my feet and get a Multistrada and then Ill be able to tell how bad the italians are now the Germans have let me down.
 
multistrada sounds great but I'm going to wait a bit to see how it holds out in British weather before jumping in - previous experience with pasta rockets has left me a little wary
 
looks good , reports seem great but who knows about reliability and rust. I bet it will last 10K with out too much fuss but time will tell. Cant get one until May so will have the beast until then.
 
I take it all back BMW are brilliant!

They have authorised £30 per day limit, receipted transport costs to cover me. Which for me is perfect.

Did I say they were great , I did , didnt I?
 
just seen all your comments, very much appreciated. thank you esp sgtB, roddy, nice, archim, johnny, cookie, jpb, teamwimp, rick, concept & myers. - and for the legal opinion. talk about going the extra mile

i love that GS and i love the ride. agonised before being persuaded to buy new. with hind sight i should probably have bought an older bike but that’s not important now. like a new lover, one is tempted to overlook some failings because when she performs, she is unlike anything one has ever been with. some might be tempted give her young italian cousin a try but I doubt she comes close to the barvarian. and how would she? BM have been crafting these kind of machines longer than anyone else and if i had to break hard on a corner i would rather be on a german

an elderly friend of mine rode a 1960 r27 around southern africa for years through deserts, locust storms, rivers etc with hardly a hitch. he said to me if you kept an eye on oil and tires she would be what real lovers seldom are – reliable. the old chap died in dec yet i know that white r27 is still out there somewhere with many original parts functioning just fine. sure it doesn’t have esa, it isn’t as comfortable, but its still going, right?

we all want the modern brand to keep performing. and i get that latest models must be made from parts not entirely 'german'. like other names that were once by-words for quality engineering, Bayerische Motoren Werke have had to face hash economic realities and find ways to cut costs like every one else. the one part i took time to examine seamed unforgivably badly designed. im no mech or elec engnr but that shitty fuel pump they replaced again is unlikely to work far beyond warrantee. i only have this new bike to go by (by no means a proper sample) there does appear to me to be an overall problem with quality, replacement parts and supply of these parts. but this is just my humble opinion and it wont carry weight in a legal dispute

the shortage of rear shocks is now into 6th week and it’s a separate issue. to insist one gets ones money back is indeed the right thing to do. it may even be good for the brand and good for future riders if every unsatisfied customer made a claim and puts up a fight. manufacturing standards would likely go up - not up a lot but just enough. its sad but it’s the only way to deal with such failings. i don’t expect the nice dealers will make it easy for us and why would they? they are caught in the middle. its up to us to do something.

thanks for the excellent discussion
 
I hear your pain about the 6 weeks and no supply of shocks. Right now I am helping a Mexican friend who riding solo in Patagonia (Chile) and has a failed rear shock on his 09 R12GS (under warranty). They told him to come to Santiago in 2 weeks and he wouldd have his shock. Now, two weeks later they say they have no stock for their order. Surprise! Also, Germany can not give Chile ANY idea of when they might have stock for a NON-ESA rear shock. This guy is not missing going down to the corner store for a bottle of milk.......he is riding in an environment with up to 175 kph winds, mud and more. This is not an isolated problem. I guy I know that rents R12GS's in Punta Arenas Chile has replaced FIVE rear shocks on his rental bikes this season (December through March i.e. 4 months). Yes, there is a problem with the quality of these shocks and BMW's ability to provide warranty replacement in a reasonable timeframe. Who eats the costs of this? The bike owner, and the dealer. Oh yes, and BMW's credibility as a producer of RTW adventure bikes.
 


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