Recalls/Problems with new R1250GS/A

[Edventure]

Well I thought I had a major issue with my new 1250 GSA. Opened the garage last week and noticed a huge pool of water round the bike. First thought was a coolant leak but water wasn't coloured.... Asked my super friendly dealer, Bahnstormer, to collect the bike and check it over and also to give it the first service.

Bike checked and all ok. Water must have blown under the door when we had that foul weather last week

They informed me that they couldn't do the first service as it had only 260 miles!! Now, being a distinctly soft southern fair weather biker I'm not that keen to be heading out in the rain and cold so when they kindly offered to put a 100 miles on the bike for me, I accepted

All done now and I'm looking forward to some decent weather and getting out on it

 

[Warlord]

Fookin 'ell

So you paid someone to ride your bike around !!

I've heard it all now......

 

[Bem]

Fookin 'ell

So you paid someone to ride your bike around !!

I've heard it all now......

Or maybe its good customer service on the part of the dealer?
I am always available for this purpose (at a price!)

 

[Edventure]

Fookin 'ell

So you paid someone to ride your bike around !!

I've heard it all now......

Don't worry, they didn't charge me for riding it

 

[DC]

Well I thought I had a major issue with my new 1250 GSA. Opened the garage last week and noticed a huge pool of water round the bike. First thought was a coolant leak but water wasn't coloured.... Asked my super friendly dealer, Bahnstormer, to collect the bike and check it over and also to give it the first service.

Bike checked and all ok. Water must have blown under the door when we had that foul weather last week

They informed me that they couldn't do the first service as it had only 260 miles!! Now, being a distinctly soft southern fair weather biker I'm not that keen to be heading out in the rain and cold so when they kindly offered to put a 100 miles on the bike for me, I accepted

All done now and I'm looking forward to some decent weather and getting out on it

Hope the bike was used by the dealership and not handed out to a third party to “demo “ it ! I wouldn’t trust a lot of people riding my bike, least of all during the running in period for obvious reasons

 

[Edventure]

Hope the bike was used by the dealership and not handed out to a third party to “demo “ it ! I wouldn’t trust a lot of people riding my bike, least of all during the running in period for obvious reasons

Actually, I have a lot of trust in the dealership and the guy who did the 100 miles on it. My post was somewhat tongue in cheek but in reality I wanted to get the first service done now because I'm unlikely to be doing much on the bike for the next couple of months. I always run my bikes in fairly hard anyway and I somewhat doubt he would have ridden it any harder than I do especially in the crappy weather we had last week.

 

[casbar]

Actually, I have a lot of trust in the dealership and the guy who did the 100 miles on it. My post was somewhat tongue in cheek but in reality I wanted to get the first service done now because I'm unlikely to be doing much on the bike for the next couple of months. I always run my bikes in fairly hard anyway and I somewhat doubt he would have ridden it any harder than I do especially in the crappy weather we had last week.

Are they coming to fix your garage door so water doesn't come underneath as well

 

[Edventure]

Are they coming to fix your garage door so water doesn't come underneath as well

Good idea; I'll ask!

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

Well it's possibly the end of the line for me now. Took my bike back to Williams Manchester Saturday to have the replacement engines oil changed and also have the tapping/knocking sound looked at. The technicans do not agree the noise is particularly concerning even though it ONLY eminates from the left hand cylinder, they also started up 2 more 1250's and they are almost silent compared to mine. They also acknowledge that mine sounds significantly louder than others.

They stuck a camera inside the bore and there's no evidence of piston slap which apparently was confirmed to be the problem with my original engine. They also can find no cam movement or gear backlash. Basically they can find nothing that they feel would constitute BMW authorising any further investigation. They believe it could be the decompression valve flapping causing the noise.

I've also noticed that since the engine swap there is a massive chunk of powder coat from the frame thats been chipped off on the RHS behind the radiators and above the RHS cylinder. It wasn't previously there (I have a pic of the bike that proves it) so I'm currently waiting for Williams to let me know what we can do about it.

Marshall BMW who I bought the bike from have come back to me to say that they have been speaking with the BMW Tech's at the 900XR launch recently and they all say that these engines are just noisy and it's fine. Given that I've heard upwards of 10 other 1250's and while there is some variation in noise, none rattle like mine, I have had no choice but to instruct Marshall to start the process of rejecting the bike.

I have been told a replacement bike is almost certainly out of the question so as I said above, for me this seems like the end of the line. It's a shame as I'll be significantly out of pocket even if they accept my rejection request.

 

[Jverdoes]

That is such bad luck mate. To get 2 duds in a row and all the hassle involved, I would walk away too.
I wonder if there is a specific batch of engines with bad components like with the spoke wheels. My 1250 has done about 4k miles and from day 1 has run true without any issues.
Good luck mate, hope all gets resolved without too much loss.

 

[daytripper!]

Bad luck peejay. When folks get engines replaced etc it seems inevitable that frame paint and bolt platings etc are going to get marked and subsequently corrode. Hopefully you will get a full / near full refund and maybe (assuming you enjoyed the bike itself) you could buy in again in a year's time when the new design / QC teething issues have been resolved. All the best

 

[stonehenge]

Well it's possibly the end of the line for me now. Took my bike back to Williams Manchester Saturday to have the replacement engines oil changed and also have the tapping/knocking sound looked at. The technicans do not agree the noise is particularly concerning even though it ONLY eminates from the left hand cylinder, they also started up 2 more 1250's and they are almost silent compared to mine. They also acknowledge that mine sounds significantly louder than others.

They stuck a camera inside the bore and there's no evidence of piston slap which apparently was confirmed to be the problem with my original engine. They also can find no cam movement or gear backlash. Basically they can find nothing that they feel would constitute BMW authorising any further investigation. They believe it could be the decompression valve flapping causing the noise.

I've also noticed that since the engine swap there is a massive chunk of powder coat from the frame thats been chipped off on the RHS behind the radiators and above the RHS cylinder. It wasn't previously there (I have a pic of the bike that proves it) so I'm currently waiting for Williams to let me know what we can do about it.

Marshall BMW who I bought the bike from have come back to me to say that they have been speaking with the BMW Tech's at the 900XR launch recently and they all say that these engines are just noisy and it's fine. Given that I've heard upwards of 10 other 1250's and while there is some variation in noise, none rattle like mine, I have had no choice but to instruct Marshall to start the process of rejecting the bike.

I have been told a replacement bike is almost certainly out of the question so as I said above, for me this seems like the end of the line. It's a shame as I'll be significantly out of pocket even if they accept my rejection request.

Is the bike on a PCP, it could make a difference if it is?

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

Is the bike on a PCP, it could make a difference if it is?

Yeah it is, BMW Financial Services seem keen to stay out of this and show zero interest in the issue.

And thanks all, overall it's a completely unfortunate sequences of events. I've put 600 miles on the bike in the time I've owned it, 450 of those were just plodding miles to run it in, the other 150 was getting it home from the original dealer and then getting it to Williams. I've not actually ridden the bike yet on what I would call a pleasure ride. The running in mileage was all done on crappy roads, freezing temps and mostly on boring routes.

 

[Tigger390]

Well it's possibly the end of the line for me now. Took my bike back to Williams Manchester Saturday to have the replacement engines oil changed and also have the tapping/knocking sound looked at. The technicans do not agree the noise is particularly concerning even though it ONLY eminates from the left hand cylinder, they also started up 2 more 1250's and they are almost silent compared to mine. They also acknowledge that mine sounds significantly louder than others.

They stuck a camera inside the bore and there's no evidence of piston slap which apparently was confirmed to be the problem with my original engine. They also can find no cam movement or gear backlash. Basically they can find nothing that they feel would constitute BMW authorising any further investigation. They believe it could be the decompression valve flapping causing the noise.

I've also noticed that since the engine swap there is a massive chunk of powder coat from the frame thats been chipped off on the RHS behind the radiators and above the RHS cylinder. It wasn't previously there (I have a pic of the bike that proves it) so I'm currently waiting for Williams to let me know what we can do about it.

Marshall BMW who I bought the bike from have come back to me to say that they have been speaking with the BMW Tech's at the 900XR launch recently and they all say that these engines are just noisy and it's fine. Given that I've heard upwards of 10 other 1250's and while there is some variation in noise, none rattle like mine, I have had no choice but to instruct Marshall to start the process of rejecting the bike.

I have been told a replacement bike is almost certainly out of the question so as I said above, for me this seems like the end of the line. It's a shame as I'll be significantly out of pocket even if they accept my rejection request.

With regard to the chipped powder coat, I can't believe they don't protect the frame. If I do any work like that I cover the at risk areas of frame or whatever with masking tape and then duck tape on top of that. The duck tape is for protection and the masking tape ensures it comes off easy.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

With regard to the chipped powder coat, I can't believe they don't protect the frame. If I do any work like that I cover the at risk areas of frame or whatever with masking tape and then duck tape on top of that. The duck tape is for protection and the masking tape ensures it comes off easy.

Sloppy workmanship

 

[Nutty]

Bad luck peejay. When folks get engines replaced etc it seems inevitable that frame paint and bolt platings etc are going to get marked and subsequently corrode. Hopefully you will get a full / near full refund and maybe (assuming you enjoyed the bike itself) you could buy in again in a year's time when the new design / QC teething issues have been resolved. All the best

After rejecting two consecutive bikes, would you buy another in a years time?

 

[beaver]

After rejecting two consecutive bikes, would you buy another in a years time?

No.. never... But BMW don't appear to get this point... It's all rosie in the garden right now so they don't give a sh*t... it will catch up with them in the end!!

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

So I've just had a call from BMW, the guy admitted he might have gotten the specifics a little wrong and to wait until Williams call me (hopefully today). So apparently the head of BMW UK Customer Service has been brought into my particular case and has seen all the emails and has said he's very appreciative at the way I've handled this so far, and that I've been very specific in my grievance and how complimentary I've been of the experience with the 2 dealers I've had. I'm told he also said that he appreciates my frustration and that I deserve an explanation as to the cause of the noise.

Meanwhile, Williams have apparently been authorised to investigate the noise further and found (this is the bit he was sketchy about) that the timing was out and a crack has been found in one of the camshafts. He did stress it would be better to wait for Williams to relay the exact info but thats what I was told.

Typically they would replace just the damaged parts but they have decided to replace the entire left cylinder head and all it's gubbins.

The guy at BMW UK has said that IF I decide to keep the bike they are willing to add a 4th years warranty on for free AND give me £500 to spend at any BMW dealer, but advised I should wait until the bike is returned to see if I am happy with the current state of it and am happy to go forward with it.

 

[casbar]

So I've just had a call from BMW, the guy admitted he might have gotten the specifics a little wrong and to wait until Williams call me (hopefully today). So apparently the head of BMW UK Customer Service has been brought into my particular case and has seen all the emails and has said he's very appreciative at the way I've handled this so far, and that I've been very specific in my grievance and how complimentary I've been of the experience with the 2 dealers I've had. I'm told he also said that he appreciates my frustration and that I deserve an explanation as to the cause of the noise.

Meanwhile, Williams have apparently been authorised to investigate the noise further and found (this is the bit he was sketchy about) that the timing was out and a crack has been found in one of the camshafts. He did stress it would be better to wait for Williams to relay the exact info but thats what I was told.

Typically they would replace just the damaged parts but they have decided to replace the entire left cylinder head and all it's gubbins.

The guy at BMW UK has said that IF I decide to keep the bike they are willing to add a 4th years warranty on for free AND give me £500 to spend at any BMW dealer, but advised I should wait until the bike is returned to see if I am happy with the current state of it and am happy to go forward with it.

Feck me, how many other manufacturers would have taken the trouble to address your issues. Good luck with your decision process

 

[stick]

Feck me, how many other manufacturers would have taken the trouble to address your issues. Good luck with your decision process

Try getting that service from a KTM dealer , it would be impossible , BM despite all the knocks always come up trumps, I had a bike in the workshop prior to a euro trip , they lent me a 350 mile old gs to do my10 day trip , no questions , fixed the bike , I rejected it , they then gave me a new 2016 Tripple black , free service and further discounts along the line. No other manufacturers do this.
I may be lucky but my 1250 is fine and it’s been abused . The gs is a great bike and the support is even better , I’m my experience
The Ktm bit refers to all other makes if it offends , sorry Knutty