The End is Nigh

[skinnersscotch]

After a long, far too long, litany of failures from my GS Adventure, it will benefit from one final repair before being sold to some poor unsuspecting individual and I am going to find another manufacturer, who may be as bad but not worse.

My final drive oil seal, replaced last May, has given up once again.

Add that to rear wheel bearings, rear shock absorber, handlebar switch failure, the inability of a certain mechanic to set up a bike properly from the outset and various other minor gripes, and you end up with an unreliable, expensive ornament on which no-one can depend.

This time the failure occurred in Thurso.

It has had its chance. Four years and 2 MOTs (last one failed due to an LED indicator failing), 30880 miles, and it has been great to ride. Shame about not always arriving though.

I should have spent more time reading the reviews and stayed away from the marque altogether.

Ho-hum.

 

[Blackal]

After a long, far too long, litany of failures from my GS Adventure, it will benefit from one final repair before being sold to some poor unsuspecting individual and I am going to find another manufacturer, who may be as bad but not worse.

My final drive oil seal, replaced last May, has given up once again.

Add that to rear wheel bearings, rear shock absorber, handlebar switch failure, the inability of a certain mechanic to set up a bike properly from the outset and various other minor gripes, and you end up with an unreliable, expensive ornament on which no-one can depend.

This time the failure occurred in Thurso.

It has had its chance. Four years and 2 MOTs (last one failed due to an LED indicator failing), 30880 miles, and it has been great to ride. Shame about not always arriving though.

I should have spent more time reading the reviews and stayed away from the marque altogether.

Ho-hum.

It's cos you're a "Fifer"

I did 30k on my first one, and 6k on the second - no problems. Sounds like you either got a bad-un, or you are even more ham-fisted than me, Ewan.

Look on the bright side re - your latest breakdown............

It could have left you stranded in WICK!

Al

 

[WEE BOAB]

oh dear, best get yersel wan o them there Honda's, no more breakdowns then.....

 

[gerarddwatts]

oh dear, best get yersel wan o them there Honda's, no more breakdowns then.....

Or even better, get an 1100/1150......

 

[Northern jock]

Or even better, get an 1100/1150......

What the man said. If you will buy a 1200

You'll be telling us next that you put coke in yer whisky?

 

[arcboutant]

oh dear, best get yersel wan o them there Honda's, no more breakdowns then.....

Every bit as bad mate .... from experience i'd say H's are worse, certainly from time and cost to repair.

My VFR8Vtec , has a problem that seems quite common from the viffer forum even the new VFR12's brakes applying by them selves at their own behest and in a very emergency stop way!!!
Hoping mine will be returned end of this week - THREE WEEKS
My first '03 1150 GS was totally reliable when it left (if I remember) in the very early 40 thous. This one a '55 GSA is an even better machine, at 46thou.
Better built and better finish too.

 

[skinnersscotch]

It's cos you're a "Fifer"

I did 30k on my first one, and 6k on the second - no problems. Sounds like you either got a bad-un, or you are even more ham-fisted than me, Ewan.

Look on the bright side re - your latest breakdown............

It could have left you stranded in WICK!

Al

At least Wick has a distillery!

 

[skinnersscotch]

What the man said. If you will buy a 1200

You'll be telling us next that you put coke in yer whisky?

Now that is a step too far!!!

 

[skinnersscotch]

I suspect my view is coloured by the time the bike spent in Dalkeith whilst a certain 'technician' tried to ruin it...sorry...set it up properly. If he didn't know how to fit HID lights he should have declined or asked someone and listened. As it was he buggered the first set sent to them.

If he didn't know what he was doing with the Autocom, supplied with the idiot guide, he should have suggested I take the bike somewhere else to have it fitted.

This bike was my one and only chance of experiencing being the owner of a new vehicle and he screwed it.

The other failures I have to lay fairly and squarely at the door of BMW. I know people have final drive seal issues. i know some people have rear bearing failures. I know some people have shock absorbers go, but not all in the first two years and 20,000, and not very often all together.

The thing may have been a Friday afternoon bike for both BMW and Dalkeith, but with the price they charge for both the bike and servicing, BMW should not have Friday afternoon bikes.

 

[G.C.]

If it was a new bike, less than 2 years and 20k, why were these issues not corrected under warranty ???

 

[skinnersscotch]

If it was a new bike, less than 2 years and 20k, why were these issues not corrected under warranty ???

There were attempts to correct them under warranty. Four rear wheel bearings worth of corrections. They replaced the shock under warranty but the final drive seal was just out of extended warranty.

Each time there was a failure I was given a hire car as no bike was available and each took at least a week. I bought a BMW motorcycle, not a Fiat Punto or Volvo estate.

I reckon the bike spent about 4 months in Dalkeith. Add in 5 months waiting for an accident repair and final drive seal replacement...

Not the experience I was hoping for when I bought a BMW.

I still love riding the thing, but can no longer depend on it, that's the issue.

 

[G.C.]

After all that, not even a goodwill gesture on the FD bearing
No wonder you are leaving the brand.
Best of luck with your next bike, it can only get better.

 

[pedro]

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182296&page=3

Is there not a common theme here Ewan ? Last time I saw your bike, it looked like it had spent some considerable time in the sea.

 

[skinnersscotch]

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182296&page=3

Is there not a common theme here Ewan ? Last time I saw your bike, it looked like it had spent some considerable time in the sea.

Nothing that has gone wrong with my bike has anything to do with the state of its cleanliness. Nor anything to do with corrosion.

It would appear that the final drive nut had worked loose causing the latest failure. That nut is hidden on the drive shaft up inside the swing arm. It has failed twice.

The fuel level sender is kept in a bath of petrol and free from corrosion. The rear wheel bearings were just shite.

I had Clarks look at the value of the bike yesterday and they say it is in average condition for a bike with that mileage = 30,000 in four years, with time off for bad behavior.

I spent my working days washing and cleaning vehicles, I wasn't about to start washing and cleaning things everyday when I came home from work. The bike has survived pretty well and I am glad I have not tried to preserve it and ride it only when the roads are dry and clean.

My cousin used to be given toy cars which he kept in the box and didn't let people play with them. That's not what I wanted from a toy car, and the same applies to the bike.

I have had fun on it, but it is a working machine and it hasn't performed in that role with sufficient reliability to keep it any longer.

 

[briso]

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182296&page=3

Is there not a common theme here Ewan ? Last time I saw your bike, it looked like it had spent some considerable time in the sea.

good quote