Reliability vs spares availability

[MrMcNamara]

There are many threads on this forum casting doubt on the reliability of our Lc's & suggesting that its best to swap out bikes on lease every couple of years to avoid huge spares replacement costs. (active suspension units etc etc) My view would be that there are already lots of bikes being broken for spares & that the plentiful supply will only get better / lead to lower prices - its a popular bike after all. The majority of parts are modular / plug & play units that anyone with half a brain & reasonable mechanical / electrical ability / basic tools should be able to diagnose & repair easily & cheaply.
Most of the bikers I know love to meddle / service / repair their bikes - its part of the pleasure of biking (not just riding) I have ridden >95k on the clock of one of my previous boxers & expect to do the same on my LC with the correct care & attention. Love the bike warts & all & intend to keep her - cant see the point in chopping in just for the dealers benefit anyone with me on this?
Mac

 

[Beemer Bob]

+1 here.
I'm keeping my TE for the long haul.

You're right about the meddling bit. I removed the rear calliper the other day, whipped out the pads, checked for wear and gave the calliper a good clean. Not bad for someone who is spanner shy. I will be doing more of the servicing once I'm past the warranty stage. Plugs, oil and air filter should all be within my skill level.

BB

 

[Deleted account 181015003]

The only flaw in your plan is half the electronics are software coded to each other and you will still need the dealer network to code them to each other.

The question is will the dealers code used control boxes or just tell you they cant reprogram the unit and you have to buy new its not in the dealer or manufacturers interest to keep older bikes on the road.

I can see it now "sorry we cant code the one you bought because its used they only code once, a new unit is £2500 and £400 to code it but it might not fix the fault."

"The other option is you can PX and against a new one and we will deduct £1500 of your trade in value and take the risk on fixing the fault ourselves and you will have a nice new bike with a new 2 year warranty for piece of mind and it will only cost you £xxx a month"

The bikes are getting more and more designed to be unfixable by anyone outside the dealer group

 

[MrMcNamara]

The only flaw in your plan is half the electronics are software coded to each other and you will still need the dealer network to code them to each other.

The question is will the dealers code used control boxes or just tell you they cant reprogram the unit and you have to buy new its not in the dealer or manufacturers interest to keep older bikes on the road.

I can see it now "sorry we cant code the one you bought because its used they only code once, a new unit is £2500 and £400 to code it but it might not fix the fault."

"The other option is you can PX and against a new one and we will deduct £1500 of your trade in value and take the risk on fixing the fault ourselves and you will have a nice new bike with a new 2 year warranty for piece of mind and it will only cost you £xxx a month"

The bikes are getting more and more designed to be unfixable by anyone outside the dealer group

A little pessimistic? I work with Obsolete / coded electronics equipment day in day out - there's always a way! whilst the security components are definitely coded, they can be swapped en block. The rest are unlikely to be coded so if like for like, they will work (suspension / ecu etc) most other 'electrical' components
are straight swaps, all mechanical parts (like for like) are straight swap if you have the skills - its not difficult - they are put together in sequenced lumps at the factory by trained but unskilled workers after all. Given the bike is not my main mode of transport & more of a 'hobby' servicing / fixing is part of the pleasure of owning

 

[Deleted account 181015003]

Its not the complexity of fitting its the willingness on the manufacturer and dealer network to allow recoding of used parts its not in there interest there out to make money and sell bikes The coding of parts is to make swapping parts harder and ensuring the owners and people outside the network struggle to do it

 

[SteveM]

Its not the complexity of fitting its the willingness on the manufacturer and dealer network to allow recoding of used parts its not in there interest there out to make money and sell bikes The coding of parts is to make swapping parts harder and ensuring the owners and people outside the network struggle to do it

It also discourages feeves I suppose.

 

[Clifton]

As one who is prone to changing bikes often I honestly believe I'll be keeping this 14 GSA for quite a while simply because it works so well. It's currently at 25,000 miles and the only glitch has been occasionally on rough paved roads the suspension gets harsh. After whining about that the dealer downloaded the latest software and since then over 10,000 miles it's only happened a couple times. That's the only time it went back to a dealer. I may let them check and set the valves this winter since they've not been checked, but not even sure about that since the mechanic told me he's not found any out of spec yet.
Otherwise these bikes are a breeze to service yourself; easy peasy oil change every 5-6K which does the tranny as well, 1 liter will do 5 FD oil changes which I do every tire change, air filter and spark plugs are easy enough to change, for changing tires the wheels are a breeze to take off. I'm still on the original brake pads but when it's time they're a simple change as is changing brake fluid.

Whenever it's time to change these active shocks I'm sure it's going to be expensive but the aftermarket already has replacement/rebuild options and more are sure to come. Plus you can always buy a GS w/o active suspension which may be smart if you plan on keeping it for the long term.
I can use the depreciation I'd loose on a lease or trading every three years to pay for all maintenance, tires, servicing, and still have money left over to put in my "new motorcycle cookie jar".

For the most part problems on BMWs has not been the latest high tech stuff, rather it's been traditional low tech items that fail. Rear drive bearings, U-joints, oil seals, transmission bearings in Airheads, slave cylinders, etc. And time consuming clutch spline maintenance or the failure from not doing so.

 

[Beemer Bob]

Nice post, Clifton

Out of curiosity how easy is it to do brake fluid changes? I would like to add this routine to my limited arsenal of spanner work.

Cheers,
BB

 

[MrMcNamara]

As one who is prone to changing bikes often I honestly believe I'll be keeping this 14 GSA for quite a while simply because it works so well. It's currently at 25,000 miles and the only glitch has been occasionally on rough paved roads the suspension gets harsh. After whining about that the dealer downloaded the latest software and since then over 10,000 miles it's only happened a couple times. That's the only time it went back to a dealer. I may let them check and set the valves this winter since they've not been checked, but not even sure about that since the mechanic told me he's not found any out of spec yet.
Otherwise these bikes are a breeze to service yourself; easy peasy oil change every 5-6K which does the tranny as well, 1 liter will do 5 FD oil changes which I do every tire change, air filter and spark plugs are easy enough to change, for changing tires the wheels are a breeze to take off. I'm still on the original brake pads but when it's time they're a simple change as is changing brake fluid.

Whenever it's time to change these active shocks I'm sure it's going to be expensive but the aftermarket already has replacement/rebuild options and more are sure to come. Plus you can always buy a GS w/o active suspension which may be smart if you plan on keeping it for the long term.
I can use the depreciation I'd loose on a lease or trading every three years to pay for all maintenance, tires, servicing, and still have money left over to put in my "new motorcycle cookie jar".

For the most part problems on BMWs has not been the latest high tech stuff, rather it's been traditional low tech items that fail. Rear drive bearings, U-joints, oil seals, transmission bearings in Airheads, slave cylinders, etc. And time consuming clutch spline maintenance or the failure from not doing so.

I agree, very few parts are actually coded on the bike, most of our LC's are cosseted in garages - electrics either fail early (infant mortality) or are super reliable for years so after warranty should not be an issue. fuel injection & motorised throttle bodies get away from all of the balancing / idling issues

 

[Clifton]

Thank you Bob.

Not difficult at all. I use a MityVac which allows me to do it by myself because it's almost impossible to operate the brake lever and open and close the bleeder on the left caliper at the same time. The other, and maybe a better, option would be to use Speed Bleeders http://speedbleeder.com/install.htm .

 

[Beemer Bob]

Thank you Bob.

Not difficult at all. I use a MityVac which allows me to do it by myself because it's almost impossible to operate the brake lever and open and close the bleeder on the left caliper at the same time. The other, and maybe a better, option would be to use Speed Bleeders http://speedbleeder.com/install.htm .

Forgive my ignorance, but do you bleed the entire system from the bleed nipples on the brake callipers or do I need to strip the bike to get to the servo?
Cheers,

Bob

 

[Clifton]

Bob I only bled the calipers which no doubt leaves some fluid in the system which is diluted into the new fluid. I don't think there isn't a servo per say but I haven't run across the way to bleed whatever it is that links the brakes. Maybe Jim Von Baden has this in his inexpensive and easy to follow Maintenance DVD which I really should buy. (I have one but it's for the previous oilhead) http://www.jimvonbaden.com/Wethead.html

I basically followed Snafu's video only using my MityVac. http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gsw/2014/0111-6k-service/page2.html