So how reliable is the 1200 really?

[up in smoke!]

Hi, Ive just sold my 1200gs and replaced it with the 650 dakar for money reasons. The 1200 is an excellent bike which I have owned for a year but I have had my fair share of problems, headlight flasher switch, tappy engine, noisy clutch. It would have cost me a fortune if I hadn't bought it from a dealer. I bought it from South London Motorrad in Caterham, their service is second to none!
My advice would be not to worry about reliability as long as you buy from a proper dealer as the prices are not really any different from ebay. All in all the best bike I,ve ever had, much more advanced than the dakar.

 

[KevinW]

[snip] My advice would be not to worry about reliability as long as you buy from a proper dealer as the prices are not really any different from ebay.

I was intending to sell my GTR and buy a GS privately, probably from here where I bought our previous excellent 1150, but I'm coming to the same conclusion as your advice. Funnily enough I was having this exact conversation with SWMBO when the email telling me of your post arrived as, based on previous experience she thinks I should buy from here.

Kevin

 

[BBB61]

I bought my 1200GS in July 2005 and it has done 26500 miles since then. In terms of reliability it has failed to start twice. The first time was at 13 months old and the second time when it was 3 years old. Both times the problem was caused by the battery. I have now replaced the standard battery with an Odyssey. Apart from that it has started when I wanted it to and it has not left me standed by the side of the road.

It is still on the original EWS and fuel pump controller, which seem to be the usual suspects acording to reports of breakdowns.

Kevin, if you are looking at buying a GS from one of the tossers here, if you end up buying one that is under 2 years old it will have the balance of the manufacturers warranty left on it.

 

[kicky]

No Problems so far

Traded in my R850R for a new GS Adventure in August 2008. So far so good....
Seems to me most of the problems are from their earlier models, so maybe they've got round to fixing these for the new models (I'm hoping).

Like the Bike a lot but never got used to the seat though, too soft and High (and I'm 5'-11") so bought a Sargeant seat that's lower and seems to fit my large a*se and now the numbness I had on Journeys over 40 minutes seems to be cured.

Waiting till after it's 6k service before venturing to far a field.

Kicky (New Member so please be gentle)

 

['Nuffsaid]

On my forth (2 x GS , 2 x GSA) - Covered 100K miles - and besides the odd minor ( I mean minor ) niggle - they have been really reliable - The new models seem to be mostly sorted and are one of the most accomplished, competent bikes to have been developed. Everytime I go to change the bike, I come back with another GS12 - Everything else I try never fill me with as much confidence as the Beemers - They are a fantastic bike to live with as an everyday machine.

BTW - When you do get your GSA - Treat yourself to a "holiday" with Uncle Bill (Fanum) in Morocco - it will make you appreciate the GS's abilities ....

 

[Engineer]

OK, one last try. I have had many, simple and very useful answers and they were exactly the type of answers I was looking for. I know they're subjective answers, just like yours is at the bottom of your post which is also useful, and that's all I was after. I'm not trying to run a technical project in which I agree all terms need to be defined, I'm just after an idea of how people feel about the reliability of their bikes.

Kevin

And one more last try from me!

I am not really in disagreement with you BUT your original question cannot be answered simply.

Your question ..."So what's the real story? Is there a reliability issue with the 1200GS?".

Well the truthful answer is simple but not that helpful.... it is YES and NO i.e. some examples of the 1200 have had problems and some haven't - If your question really intended to quantify the level of reliability then that is far more difficult and at best will be a crude estimate unless you have access to BMW's data.

 

[ExpatinIstanbul]

Thanks David. It's good to know the pillion seat is comfortable as that is key (as you know, we used Air Hawks on our 'wander' and Lyn said that was the most comfortable she'd ever been on a bike).

Subject to test ride I'm fairly sure we will be following the advice in your last paragraph. Hopefully, we'll see you in Istanbul again in the not too distant future where we can mutually admire each other's bike. .

Now, who wants to buy a 1400GTR?!

Kevin

It's good to see you're off again so soon after your last trip, you certainly make good use of the bikes you buy. It looks like I'm finally going on the Black Sea loop ride (if the bloody Russian's give me a visa for crossing from Georgia!). This is between the 18th of July and 2nd of August, if you're here before or after then I expect you to stay at my place while you're here.

Keep in the loop with your plans.

David

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Let's look at this from a purely factual and analytical view.

1. There have been some serious failures within the research, development and testing process as there are lots of very low mileage models around which have had the same problems as high mileage bikes. This defeats the argument that the Fireblade does lower mileages and therefore the problems don't show up...............................

10. BMW created an brilliant concept with the R1200GS. It is one of the best multi-purpose machines available in the world.
11. I bought an 07 ADV a couple of weeks ago. I'm loving every minute ..... and I've got my fingers crossed.

From a factual point of view the bike came out in 2004 - I bought my first in September of that year. With any model that is comparatively new my advice is to get some mileage on it quickly and have it serviced as soon as possible - then all recall/updates/ remapping etc; will be done and you won't even know about them (unless you read this forum of course.) I don't believe that reliability is related to milegae - it is often the bike that sits in the garage most of its life (or worse, outside in a shed or even outside full stop ) that will suffer the problems. Of course I live in an area where one can use the bike pretty well 12 months a year - so I am not at all surprised that I had no problems during the four years I had the bike and it was a great extravagance to change it for a new one this year. ( As a matter of interest, the boss of my dealership in Lyon usually road tests all the bikes himself after service - I think that is important and keeps the mechanics on their toes.)

 

[RichGSer]

The nearest BMW dealer is Coopers at tunbridge wells. They are pretty helpful. i have an 1150GS which im very pleased with and live on Romney Marsh so get the opportunity of lots of non crowded lanes to ride. I tried a 1200 Gs when mine was being serviced and it certainly felt lighter and a bit more power but i really preferred the feel of the 1150.

 

[richorich]

FWIW...how 'bout the possibly rather sexist analogy:

my other half is (by her own admission) not particularly reliable, F***ing expensive to maintain, makes me laugh approximately as much as she makes me cry, has a mind of her own (thankfully), and parts that sadly I am unable to service or understand.....

....but would I even so much as consider anyone else......WOULD I 'ECK!!

If riding a GS just, well, does it for you, the rest will take care of itself!

Get one and enjoy!

 

[mrsroynie]

I've had my 1200GS for 4 years. I don't look after it that well, I must admit. My OH and I go in for 'binge riding'. The bikes will sit idle for weeks, then we'll suddenly start using them every day until, one day, we decide it is too hot, too cold, too wet, too ... and the bikes just get parked, on the street, until we next get the urge to take them out.

On the other hand, we do go in for long-distance touring and, in 2006, flew both bikes (John's old Triumph Trophy and my GS) out to the US for a 6 week trip. We did over 10,000 miles on interstates, highways and backroads in temperatures ranging from 30F (-1C) to 122F (50C). The GS never missed a beat ...

My only grumble was due to a software fault whereby my Autocom unit caused the accessory sockets to cut out intermittently. Very annoying at the time, but didn't affect 'reliability' and was eventually sorted with a software upgrade.

Last year the fuel pump controller failed also, but was replaced under warranty.

The bottom line is that, for a bike that spends the winter months gathering dust in our hallway on trickle charge, and can spend a two or three weeks at a time in warmer months parked, uncovered, on a corner of pavement opposite our house ... It works just great.

We're off to Alaska this summer, and I have no concerns at all about 1200GS' reliability - though John and I have booked ourselves on BMW's new Adventure Maintenance skills course just to be on the safe side.

 

[ExpatinIstanbul]

Oh the irony! There I am, saying I've not had many problems with my 1200 and that I'd buy another, when what happens today? Dead battery. I was all set to go and have goodies I've just bought fitted, but now I have a parrot bike....dead. I think it might be because I switched the ignition on and off very quickly yesterday, and the computer's gone haywire. My fault entirely.

I'd still buy another though.

An update. I charged the battery and everything's fine again. I'm fairly certain that because I switched the ignition on and off quickly, without giving the computer time to run its diagnostic check, I confused the poor thing and it drained the battery while trying to do its job.

All's fine now.

 

[KevinW]

The nearest BMW dealer is Coopers at tunbridge wells.

I'm not having a lot of luck with them at the moment. No answer from motorcycle sales at around 13:00 despite hanging on for ages. I called them back just after 15:00 but was told the person I needed to talk was out having his lunch and would call me back; must be a long lunch!

I've just tried sending them a request for a test ride via their contact form so we'll see if that elicits any response.

Kevin

 

[blackbird160]

I've been into Coopers on three occasions (it's just about my nearest dealer) and each time I've been completely ignored by the staff. Despite the showroom being more or less empty.
Even when I went and asked about something they really didn't seem interested.
I don't think I'll buying anything from them!

 

[Brian ROSEN]

I never cease to be amazed

I've been into Coopers on three occasions (it's just about my nearest dealer) and each time I've been completely ignored by the staff. Despite the showroom being more or less empty.
Even when I went and asked about something they really didn't seem interested.
I don't think I'll buying anything from them!

This is, I think, much more of a problem in France than the UK. I went with a friend who wants to buy a new Fireblade from the same large rather grubby Honda showroom fromp which he bought one last year. After we wandered around looking at a few bikes he got fed up because the only saleman there was busy with another client. After 10 minutes we left.
HOWEVER when I go into the BMW shop, which is clean and shiney; a saleman will spot me straightaway and before anything else ask me if I would like a cup of coffee. But there the boss is always around and keeps them all on their toes!

 

[KevinW]

Coopers redeemed themselves. I had an email response and a telephone call from the Sales Manager who told me a 'Sales Executive' will call me shortly to sort out the test ride. She did, was very helpful and was very apologetic for the problems I had yesterday.

Even better, I could have the demo bike out for24 hours which would give us a real opportunity to test it. Unfortunately their demo insurance won't provide cover if I carry a pillion. Pillion comfort is a critical factor when we buy a bike so a solo test ride is pretty much a waste of time. This is the second time I've come across this problem and I think it's ridiculous that dealers are happy to allow bikes out on demonstration but the insurance doesn't cover a pillion.

I was quite happy to pay for short term cover but I couldn't find anyone who would provide it.

We have several bikes that are insured through two companies - eBike who won't cover a bike that doesn't belong to me and Carole Nash who don't do short term policies.

Google threw up dayinsure which points to Flexirider who won't provide pillion cover, Express sent me to shortmotor.co.uk which goes to eBike. BMW Motorrad Insurance couldn't provide cover but assured me the dealer would be able to. I couldn't find anyone else so I ended up cancelling the test ride.

Kevin

 

[John Armstrong]

I guess the dealer is happy to insure £10k as that's the max it'll cost to repair. But if you add thirf part claims in as well it could easily go over £1000k. Why is yoofs insurance so much for a clapped out Corsa? Because of the 4 passengers who claim against the driver

Surprised your BM insurance won't let you add if for a day or two, with the usual £15 admin fee

 

[Decster]

I thought that you could swap your cover from 1 bike to another for a short period 1day-1week and they charge a small administration fee

There must be someone on here who could lend you a 1200 for a few hours or would that not be covered by insurance

Crazy isn't it. Cant imagine they lending you a car and saying no passengers

 

[KevinW]

I guess the dealer is happy to insure £10k as that's the max it'll cost to repair. But if you add thirf part claims in as well it could easily go over £1000k.

An accident could easily involve a 3rd-party even if I was solo.

Surprised your BM insurance won't let you add if for a day or two, with the usual £15 admin fee

I don't currently have any BM insurance, I was calling them at the dealer's suggestion to see if they could provide a short term policy.

Kevin

 

[KevinW]

I thought that you could swap your cover from 1 bike to another for a short period 1day-1week and they charge a small administration fee

There must be someone on here who could lend you a 1200 for a few hours or would that not be covered by insurance

Crazy isn't it. Cant imagine they lending you a car and saying no passengers

The first is quite easy to do with eBike and there is no charge but it's only possible to do it for a bike one owns.

I can't comment on the second other than to say someone would have to think long and hard before lending a bike to someone they don't know, particularly as I could only show them 3rd-party insurance and promise to pay for any damage. I'd do that for a mate but someone I don't know? That would definitely take some careful thought.

Good point about the cars.

Kevin