Ten reasons why the 2006 1200 GSA is a bag of shit

That lot gave me a giggle or two.. I can see both sides of it- we are very protective about our choices and some of us are honest! Mine an 06 and Ive had it from new- its well-known to Coopers in T'QWell, cos sadly, I ride it.
Its got 66k on it and today its packed up- but thats now reason to dis it.
I wish more of you didnt ruide yours- as during the winter its easy to pop in and have a wee job done- this time of year its a months wait.

Ive had 5 final drives and 4 gearboxes.
Ive had 2 front timing covers- laquer comes off
Ive had two panier sets and brackets- cos Its either been knocked over or I have and everthing breaks/snaps
It burns a bit of oil- but now as much as the 1150 I had before it.
Th CANBUS is an arse if you want to plug stuff in- the Gerbin for instance- so I connect direct.
I cant pick it up if I drop it.
Srews come loose- but Thats what w/end maintenance is for.
Ive had 2 sets of stick-coils go.

the trouble is.. I cant think of any other hack that will do 100 miles a day and stand the test of time/roads/winters..

Honda VFR VTECs - no need for replacement gearboxes, brake discs, FDs, oil level checking/top ups, no HIDs needed (original lights are spot on).
 
Who said BMW' are bland......:toungincheek


Also just remembered why I have not logged on for the last 9 months.....due to moaning fecks like this guy.

Wota yer mean!! One of the best threads I've read in a long time. Really entertaining! Love it when people come out of the woodwork!
 
hi all
few years back ,1150 adv 24000 miles ,no problems ,rain or shine all year round .not rust at all ,admittedly did use a hand brush with waxoil on once a year dirt and all. didn't even clean it till i part ex ,got over half my money back ,any else i have is not worth jack when traded in. now on second gs 1200, 3 years old ,not been cleaned either ,no problems ,well apart from the dreaded fuel pump controller. poor thing lives outside and gets thrashed daily,been to france switzerland and italy in a week ,rained the whole time ,3500 miles later ,1 puncture. i have learned not to trust the tank range indicator. my only grip is the side stand ,needs to be a 1 inch higher.total mileage 13500.would i buy another NOT A CHANCE .
this one is still ok . however i do treat it a little better , the poor mule gets a wipe over once a fortnight with a oily rag ,20/50, not that washing up oil in a can wot sit ,good for nothing rubbish , i would use waxoil ,its the problem getting it off once its on ,linkages got a treat with it. i have now taken the bike on its annual holiday to france . 2000 miles so far ,only problem is got no head key to top up with oil .
 
Had an 1150GS..great machine...know lots of folks with the 1100...they love em too.....

the 2006 GSA is a bag of crap because (in no particular order)

(ps I own one...and am sick to the teeth of it)

1) EWS fails!.... nuff said.... can happen any time anywhere.....for no reason....happened me on the border of Colombia and ecuador...thats it...600 bucks in a truck to Cali

2) Throttle position sensor location.... tourtech make a fortune making accessories for BMW because they've a crap design....

3) Vitamol for clutch fluid...and oh yeah if you put in dot3/4 the seals leak....now for the bike you can take anywhere supposedly...do you think you can get Vitamol anywhere? you can in your hole!!! Someone should find the gobshite who came up with this beaut and say to him...ok..now your in Mongolia...go find some vitamol (I happen to be in mongolia looking for vitamol!)

4) Final drive.... currently running at about 2000 bucks worth of repairs to my final drive...yep I'm a fat bastard so this may be my fault....

5) The poxy seat... unless your a leprechan your arse end dangles between the gap...and you have to keep WD40'ing the catch to get the seat off...what the hell was wrong with the old seat? one piece...came off handy pandy

6) The headlight...try and change it without breaking the assembly!... i dare ya.... I know guys who really know there stuff who've done this...another 250 bucks out of you sky rocket

7) The CANBUS... try and pump up the tires using the electric socket beyond 30psi...the canbus says screw you on account of the current load....

8) Add basically any electrical component, gps, etc...CANBUS kicks you in the nuts

9) Fuel gauge / Range monitor...about as good as a chocolate firegaurd....never work..not just on my bike others too....don't put em on there if they dont work

10) No dumb dumb switch on overheating....and they overheat like a whores bastard in a hot climate in a city

11) How the hell do you take off the hand spoilers? what tool is that? do you have one in your kit? like would you bring one with you to Mongolia?

12) Battery drops below 12V..the bike is fubar...totally fubar....stops working completely

13) No overvoltage protection to jump it off a car....none do...but this is the bike that supposed to go anywhere..what the hell do you do if you get a flat battery...(always park uphill?)

14) Piston head protection bars aren't worth a shite compared to the 1150

15) Just way too many specialized tools, electrics, etc....for a bike that will end up in remote conditions you can't fucking fix it.


WAS: BMW's are great, bikes built to take you anywhere; they'll never let you down = 1150/1100

IS: BMW's are overpriced bags of fuckstory; they will fuck you at your most vulneralbe = 1200


Yeah I know thats 15 reasons!.....

Comments on a postcard please.

I have an 06 GS.

1. 43,000 km and still no problem with EWS
2. Don't know the problem there, has not effected me.
3. No problem with mine, and to my knowlege its not been changed since new.
4. No problems so far, change the oil at 40,000km
5. Not a huge issue, there is a nack to it, take the back off first, push down on the seat when undoing the front.
6. Have change my bulb twice, easy to do. Have had (still have) trouble with the 3 way connection behind the assembly, needs pushing every now and then fpor light to work...
7. No problems but don't like its complexity.
8. Don't have any extras.
9. Fuel gauge is crap but the distance computer till empty is spot on.
10. Never a problem at all, never overheated and I live in the tropics.
11. Need a big star thingy cost me 5 quid and now I carry it in the kit.
12. Had 2 new batteries and each time the bike just gives up completely a total fecking pain.... luckily both times I was close to home.
13. Once when new..first day was able to jump it from a car (in the BMW showroom) after taht never been able to do it again...
14. have them on, save a few scatches so far I think.
15. Well, overpriced yes, but there are a lot out there with out problems. and certainly enough with to piss people off.
 
hi spudboy
yes i would buy another,will take a while to wear this one out ,i ride every day to work ,on average do 17000 to 20000 miles a year shared between 3 bikes . commuted like this for the last 10 years , the bmw bikes seem to get most money back when traded in . the mileages don't seem to make a difference when they are quite high .
bmw for me:thumb:thumb:thumb:thumb
 
Too much

Thats it I'm off to sell my 1200 and buy a ural or an MZ a proper unstoppable bike, I'm not going to bring any tools with me to get it back from the shop either
 
The only unstoppable bike there ever been really is the Africa Twin 750. ANd its a honda.

Maybe , just maybe the early GSs too until 94....
 
its now four years since i sold the gs ..i had a lot of problems
.. i pop on this site and scan the postings almost weekly just to see if the trend ...mines brill mines shite .... has changed ...

it seems still to be very hit and miss .. the front page nearly always has a fd of battery or ews on it week in week out
for every three salty sea dogs with 10s of thou up there somone having trouble ..
thats the impression i get ..
of course other bikes have problems now and again but the postings on other forums regarding failures breakdowns and suchlike are as rare as hens teeth by comparason



i use this site to moniter real riders response to their problems to see if its safe to dip a toe back in even now four years on ..but the trend is the same each time you log on and look at the postings

the fact this thread is here at all is kinda worrying on its own ...??
the postings on this forum without doubt have kept me from trying the brand again ..thats the truth of it
if they subsided to very occasional i could be interested again but it seems some way off ...
ride well
regards steve
 
All the replies to Oisin are from Tesco Warriors mostly.

The man is going round the world FFS....and is mightily pissed off that BMW is a machine that can't be fixed by the side of the road in the normal sense - when it is SOLD AS CAPABLE.

Quality is defined as : A measure of excellence or state of being free from defects, deficiencies, and significant variations.


:blast

Curate's Egg, more like
 
Oisin .... if you said black was white I'd agree with ya ;)
:beerjug:
 
The only unstoppable bike there ever been really is the Africa Twin 750. ANd its a honda.

Maybe , just maybe the early GSs too until 94....

i dont think so. there is a great thread on advrider about a bunch of polish guys who rode to afghanistan on their ATs and they brought spares:comfort mainly the regulator rectifiers which are a problem:thumb

no bike is unstoppable :thumb2
 
i dont think so. there is a great thread on advrider about a bunch of polish guys who rode to afghanistan on their ATs and they brought spares:comfort mainly the regulator rectifiers which are a problem:thumb

no bike is unstoppable :thumb2

fair enough....
 
i dont think so. there is a great thread on advrider about a bunch of polish guys who rode to afghanistan on their ATs and they brought spares:comfort mainly the regulator rectifiers which are a problem:thumb

And fuel pumps:thumb
 
I love reading this stuff
So far my money is on Oisin:thumb

My GS dont have his problems
Then Mablethorpe aint Mongolia

This guy is in Mongolia!!!!!:bow:bow on a bike that dont do what it says on the box

He is entitled to a f,,,ing good moan
Do you think any one from BM reads this stuff ::thumb
 
Just because one GS couldn't be ridden across Mongolia doesn't mean they all won't, keep it in perspective guys.

Most problems encountered on a GS in Mongolia will be related to it's weight and suspension, other than that, the bike doesn't know where it is so will perform pretty much the same anywhere.

There's been a few 1200s that won't make it around the M25 and I'm sure there must be some that have.
 


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