What was the most serious issue with yours and when

[vaclove]

It is the time of the year when BMW extended warranty services ask me for more money in exchange for piece of mind.
As there were few post here about extended warranty by myself and others discussing whether it is or it is not a good deal/think to do, I thought it might be worth to sum up experince of various F800GS owners with their bikes to have an overview of reliability of the bike and give an impression to people who think about extending their warranty.

Could anyone who wishes to participate mention Bike age, mileage and major issues he had with it (at what mileage), eventually how much was the repair.

As for myself:
4 years/22000 miles/No issues

 

[Silversurfer]

F800GS Bought new June 2010 - current mileage 27k

Failures: 1 x headlight bulb at approx 8k - cost £7:15p in France

Other than above bike has been totally reliable

 

[thomo57]

F800 GS Registered March 2009
Current Mileage 39,000
1 Issue : Rear brake caliper, disc & pads replaced @ 28,733 miles after caliper seized on floating pins, replaced myself and cost £270 using OEM parts.
Very happy with the bike
Have had extended warranty for two years but not renewing this year !

 

[shaunj]

F800GS Bought Feb '10 with 2.2k on clock
Current mileage 30k
Failures: Can't remember at what mileage
1x Headlight bulb
1x Rocker gasket leak
2x Head bearings
and the only failure to leave me stranded:
Gear selector cracked, leaving me stuck in 6th replacement was £48 fitted myself

 

[tosh23]

The thing is that I love my icckle beemer, I love the mpg, the noise from the stock zorst and the fact that they are not common...
I must admit I have never own a more unreliable bike, Ok it stupid little things like head bearings, water pumps, wheel bearings.. just silly little things. I have owned a few jap bikes and none of them have ever broken like my icckle beemer..
The wife's bike (fazer 6) is a great ride and totally reliable..After my last episode with my bike I did contemplate getting a jap bike..
I just cant, I have never had a bike that puts a smile on my face like the beemer does.. I cant explain it but its my bike and im proud that its my bike..
Would I buy another ??? Maybe an 1150gs

Airbox, I broke when doing the valve gasket... 12k

 

[Micky]

Don't forget that the extended warranties don't cover half of what the original warranty did

85,000 + miles, five years summer & winter use ... no serious problems

Four sets of head bearings, alternator and rectifier errrr mmmmm

.... that's about it.

If BMW, or for that matter VW, Panasonic or the LEC fridge people want to take a few hundred bier tokens off me to guarantee (questionable) their stuff a bit longer then I'll call their bluff and do without .... to date I'm in front

 

[GSTourer]

Don't forget that the extended warranties don't cover half of what the original warranty did

85,000 + miles, five years summer & winter use ... no serious problems

Four sets of head bearings, alternator and rectifier errrr mmmmm

.... that's about it.

If BMW, or for that matter VW, Panasonic or the LEC fridge people want to take a few hundred bier tokens off me to guarantee (questionable) their stuff a bit longer then I'll call their bluff and do without .... to date I'm in front

Micky,

I tend to agree...however.

I figure that BMW have done their homework on extended warranties and they don't offer them to save me (the customer money) they have worked it all out and overall they will come out on top.

Having said that, I took it out on my old bike (2007 GSA) and was glad I did when the driveshaft went.............£1500 at the dealers, and yes I know I could have had it done it a lot cheaper elsewhere.

The initial manufacturers warranty runs out on my 2010 RT in June.......the question is, what do I do this time?

 

[jonnie comet]

Don't forget that the extended warranties don't cover half of what the original warranty did

85,000 + miles, five years summer & winter use ... no serious problems

Four sets of head bearings, alternator and rectifier errrr mmmmm

.... that's about it.

If BMW, or for that matter VW, Panasonic or the LEC fridge people want to take a few hundred bier tokens off me to guarantee (questionable) their stuff a bit longer then I'll call their bluff and do without .... to date I'm in front

Micky......Four sets of head bearings seems a lot to me, even with that mileage (but then I come from an age when we changed pads, not discs and pads)

What's your opinion?.......Please......

 

[Micky]

Micky,

I figure that BMW have done their homework on extended warranties and they don't offer them to save me (the customer money) they have worked it all out and overall they will come out on top.

Well that's exactly what I said. It's a gamble, I called their bluff, I'm in front For others it could be different. But if you pay for extended warranties on everything you bought

Micky......Four sets of head bearings seems a lot to me, even with that mileage (but then I come from an age when we changed pads, not discs and pads)

What's your opinion?.......Please......

Well I probably came from an age before ya ....
From an age where the only pads we knew were on the elbows or shoulders

I certainly don't change discs and pads ... I'm still on the original discs and put the first set of pads (front) in at 70,000+ miles and those taken out still had plenty of life left in them and were well within tolerance Don't ride a wuss mind, fitted dozens of tyres in those 85,000 miles

Head bearings? mmmmm a source of irritation for sure
Tried genuine BMW replacements, fitted NSK's SKF's, Koyo
Fitted as per BMW, adjusted by feel, tried them tighter and slacker .... ain't come up with any conclusions as yet

There's lotsa talk elsewhere about the bearings not being big enough ... loada Bollox, they used to be
Talk elsewhere about fitting grease nipples & pumping grease in, but a roller bearing will 'wipe out' excess grease
A roller bearing is designed for spinning, for revolving, and not the full on pressures of one, maybe two rollers taking the for and aft movement of an F800GS braking and accelerating.

I think it's just poor quality of the bearings that are available these days

Are Wagon Wheels as big and as nice as they used to be?
Is a Mars Bar as big and as nice as it used to be?

It's not a long or difficult job to do the head bearings on an 800, three or four hours, £40.00 .... not out of the way, can't see what the fuss is all about misen
I prefer the odds rather than those of a 1200's final drive

 

[StumpyFingers]

Bought mine in 2011 Bike was threee months old ex Demo, now got 9000+ miles on it and needed one set rear pads and a set of headrace bearings. Also new pins in the calipers.

 

[Jonnie Boy]

My F800GS story so far....

Fault, miles, reason

Headrace bearings, 3500, Loose, adjusted

Ignition Switch, 4800, U/S warranty 19/1/11 water ingress

Cam cover gasket, 12200, Leak, warranty

Headrace bearings, 12200, Notched, warranty 1/7/11

Water Pump, 17400, Leak, warranty 9/11/11

Rear Wheel Bearings, 27000, Replaced

Ignition Switch, 29000, Replaced, water ingress

Headrace bearings, 33000, Replaced 3/12/12 notched

Front Wheel Bearings, 32000, Replaced

Headlight, 35100, Reflector U/S s'hand unit fitted

Headrace bearings, 36500, Replaced 20/3/13 (didnt use and not enough of correct grease, water ingress)

+ Set of brake pads front and rear, chain and sprockets, tyres 3 sets I think

Currently at 37k

 

[jonnie comet]

Well that's exactly what I said. It's a gamble, I called their bluff, I'm in front For others it could be different. But if you pay for extended warranties on everything you bought



Well I probably came from an age before ya ....
From an age where the only pads we knew were on the elbows or shoulders

I certainly don't change discs and pads ... I'm still on the original discs and put the first set of pads (front) in at 70,000+ miles and those taken out still had plenty of life left in them and were well within tolerance Don't ride a wuss mind, fitted dozens of tyres in those 85,000 miles

Head bearings? mmmmm a source of irritation for sure
Tried genuine BMW replacements, fitted NSK's SKF's, Koyo
Fitted as per BMW, adjusted by feel, tried them tighter and slacker .... ain't come up with any conclusions as yet

There's lotsa talk elsewhere about the bearings not being big enough ... loada Bollox, they used to be
Talk elsewhere about fitting grease nipples & pumping grease in, but a roller bearing will 'wipe out' excess grease
A roller bearing is designed for spinning, for revolving, and not the full on pressures of one, maybe two rollers taking the for and aft movement of an F800GS braking and accelerating.

I think it's just poor quality of the bearings that are available these days

Are Wagon Wheels as big and as nice as they used to be?
Is a Mars Bar as big and as nice as it used to be?

It's not a long or difficult job to do the head bearings on an 800, three or four hours, £40.00 .... not out of the way, can't see what the fuss is all about misen
I prefer the odds rather than those of a 1200's final drive

Thanks for the info'.....Interesting.....

 

[RickM]

It's not a long or difficult job to do the head bearings on an 800, three or four hours, £40.00 .... not out of the way, can't see what the fuss is all about misen

Maybe not if you're only changing them every 14-15 months (4 times in 5 Years?).

What if after 25 years of Jap bikes and finally being in a position to own an "Ultimate Driving/Riding Machine" you find you have to change them every 2-3000 Miles? That's 3 to 4 WEEKS in my case.

To date and since my dealer acquired my 800GS it has now the head bearings changed 4 times (3 months and about 8000 miles) - 2 x by me and 2 by them.

 

[Blind Lemon Ade]

I have done a pathetic number of miles on my '09 F650GS twin, with no issues.

I didn't trouble the Extended Warranty, after reading on here how reliable these bikes are. You weren't wrong.

 

[RickM]

Yep. Annoying niggles aside I have every faith in the Rotax engine (the main reason for me choosing the bike) and as for the Brembo brakes - I've had over 130,000 trouble free miles from the Brembo brakes on my '09 Tenere. Not one strip down/overhaul.

But to continue the theme of the OP a couple of other "niggles" are:
Rattly/loose front brake discs (wtf?! The original ones still on my Tenere are rock solid) and;
Failed/intermittent heated grips.

 

[mark71]

Maybe not if you're only changing them every 14-15 months (4 times in 5 Years?).

What if after 25 years of Jap bikes and finally being in a position to own an "Ultimate Driving/Riding Machine" you find you have to change them every 2-3000 Miles? That's 3 to 4 WEEKS in my case.

To date and since my dealer acquired my 800GS it has now the head bearings changed 4 times (3 months and about 8000 miles) - 2 x by me and 2 by them.

Cant for the life of me understand why they would need changing so much, I would be inclined to supply my own well sources quality bearings which I have in my garage but since I bought them I have never needed them.

I always refuse to pay to have work done that I can do myself, but there again I worked in the trade fr a few years so I know how things are done when the door is closed and I would always prefer to do it myself.

If you need a hand to do it yourself there are always people on here who know how it should be done properly but as they say be careful as advice is cheap (enough said)

 

[andy5329]

13,000 miles,only problem is the rider....Keeps dropping it and putting scratches on the engine bars!!

Serious note just had its second MOT and at a hefty price of 29 quid flew thru with no advisories.
I had the usual warranty replacement as we all did in the first year,after that easy motoring.

Its ridden when ever im in the Uk in all weathers. Extremely happy with it,its been the longest i have had the same bike,so thats saying a lot.

 

[RickM]

Cant for the life of me understand why they would need changing so much...........

Apparently, it's due to the poor quality of bearings these days Must be a worldwide conspiracy to increase aftersales revenue




Changed a few head bearings in my time with the same Jap brands but not after such rediculously low mileage.

Anyways, still a great bike with more than ample power and great mpg if not ridden too aggresively. Looks like an old favourite of mine as well - Suzuki's DR800.

 

[nrg]

2009 reg... 15K Lava Orange on which I replaced a light bulb in Spain and rear bearings in Italy. Was thinking long and hard about what my next bike should be. In the end I got a white one.....2013 F800GS that is.

 

[Magic Ayrton]

2009 reg... 15K Lava Orange on which I replaced a light bulb in Spain and rear bearings in Italy. Was thinking long and hard about what my next bike should be. In the end I got a white one.....2013 F800GS that is.

Well done, I have just purchased one too.. Just in the process of adding kit to it.

F800GS in white, 2013 MY