1200 GS Breakdown

smirky · Oct 11, 2006

Again!!

Yet again the 12 has let me down by not starting

its not the EMA issue this time, it appears it's getting no petrol :nono

. Phoned BMW assist who were quick to respond all very professional, bike now on its way to the local dealer for repair. But i have to say i have had bikes for 30 years and this is the most expensive one and most unrelaible yet, i love the bike, the look, the ride etc but i am very dissapionted regarding the relaiblity of the bike.

anyone want to buy a 1200GS :nenau

Bones · Oct 11, 2006

smirky said:
Again!!

Yet again the 12 has let me down by not starting its not the EMA issue this time, it appears it's getting no petrol . Phoned BMW assist who were quick to respond all very professional, bike now on its way to the local dealer for repair. But i have to say i have had bikes for 30 years and this is the most expensive one and most unrelaible yet, i love the bike, the look, the ride etc but i am very dissapionted regarding the relaiblity of the bike.

anyone want to buy a 1200GS

Can I suggest you re word your ad

Hope you are back on the road soon. A day at home is not all bad anyway :beer:

Timolgra · Oct 11, 2006

smirky said:
But i have to say i have had bikes for 30 years and this is the most expensive one and most unrelaible yet, i love the bike, the look, the ride etc but i am very dissapionted regarding the relaiblity of the bike.

anyone want to buy a 1200GS

And yet there are those who defend the 1200s reliability issues.
Beats me :nenau

luckylucian · Oct 11, 2006

I agree and remember the ones who's bikes do work are too busy riding to post "My bike works" every time it doesn't let them down. Any forum will list problems, if you used owner's forums to pick your next bike, you wouldn't buy any of them. :bounce1

Dahoum · Oct 11, 2006

timolgra said:
And yet there are those who defend the 1200s reliability issues.
Beats me

At least we have the excuse of it being a completely new model

Dahoum · Oct 11, 2006

luckylucian said:
if you used owner's forums to pick your next bike, you wouldn't buy any of them.

wot he sed

only 1 percent of people looking at this forum even post according to THIS

BGF · Oct 11, 2006

smirky said:
but i am very dissapionted regarding the relaiblity of the bike

I'm not surprised ... having to be 'recovered' 3 times in 6 months is pish :spitfire

GS TRV · Oct 11, 2006

I'm keeping my 1150 for a LONG time

MATKAT · Oct 11, 2006

Reliability

timolgra said:
And yet there are those who defend the 1200s reliability issues.
Beats me

I figure that the down side

of our wonderful forum, is the fact that every little issue with our bikes is so well documented

.

In all the years (nearly 40) i've owned bikes i've never been so paranoid myself about any bike. :confused:

My 1200 is the best all round bike i've ever owned

, i've had more personal satisfaction from it than any other (and that includes my airhead

) due to it's multi abilities. :bounce1

Reliability.it's never let me down, covered 22k miles and its nearly 2.5 years old !!!!

OK so the gearbox was replaced at 5k miles and then oil seals at 14k under warranty. The warranty ran out in March but BMW replaced the front engine cover at 22k miles and 6 months out of warranty :clap

.
I get excellent service and support at Clarkes

.what more could i ask for :nenau

I'm sure if you collated information on every manufacturer and every model there would be similar issues and given the amount of 1200's sold it is inevitable that some will have problems..........

In the meantime I turn then key

, hope it starts

, pray the seals don't blow or have a catastrophic failure :confused:

.......................and then grin

every time i ride it and forget it might have a problem till the next time i'm on here :clap

Davy F · Oct 11, 2006

timolgra said:
And yet there are those who defend the 1200s reliability issues.

My 12GS is now @ 9996 miles. Not massive compared to others here, but it's been 100% reliable so far. I've had Jap bikes with a worst record than that.

I like to think I've got a goodun'..........

snoopy · Oct 11, 2006

I'm waiting for the first 1200 to get to 40,000 miles without the need for a new gearbox/transmission/drive etc. I'm yet to find one. People might say there are lots of reliable 1200's driving about but I see no evidence. My 1150 is at 40,000 and has had the fork seals changed. That's it.

Taff · Oct 11, 2006

MATKAT said:
I figure that the down side of our wonderful forum, is the fact that every little issue with our bikes is so well documented

Fair comment, but how come we don't appear to get as many posts complaining about 1100s or 1150s when I assume the number of people on here who own those outnumber the people who own the new 1200. :nenau

I know a man who bought a brand new 1200 but sold it within a year to buy an RT simply because he'd lost all confidence in it, after it started "playing up". Towards the end he didn't even like riding it into the nearest town (just 10 miles away) "in case it wouldn't start". :eek

I didn't like to ask him how much he lost out financially.

In fairness MATKAT you say that you get good service from your dealer after the warranty has expired, but what happens when this goodwill runs out?

MATKAT · Oct 11, 2006

All well and Good

snoopy said:
I'm waiting for the first 1200 to get to 40,000 miles without the need for a new gearbox/transmission/drive etc. I'm yet to find one. People might say there are lots of reliable 1200's driving about but I see no evidence. My 1150 is at 40,000 and has had the fork seals changed. That's it.

Thats all well and good but there are folks with 1150's that with that sort of mileage (40k) are on their 2nd or even third gearbox/transmission/drive etc.

As for the reliability of the 1150 if this site had been in it's present form way back, when the 1150's were introduced there would have been all sorts of tales to tell !!

All the 1100 owners would have said the 1150's were crap compared to the 1100 (and they were a much better built bike).....................
All the airhead owners prior to the 1100's would have said the same (airheads still the best

)
Funny really

all the years i ran airheads including 80/7, 80G/S , 100RS and 100GS never had any problems, mine never seemed to go wrong, just normal servicing, the odd seals, consumables, batteries..........................but I bet 1000's of riders could give catalogues of disasters with 'em all

MATKAT · Oct 11, 2006

Taff said:
Fair comment, but how come we don't appear to get as many posts complaining about 1100s or 1150s when I assume the number of people on here who own those outnumber the people who own the new 1200.
why dont you do a poll and ask every 1100 or 1150 owner that has not come into GS's in the last 3 years, i.e. back to say 1994 and has owned a GS or 4...bet there would be loads of issues.
The 1200 has brought many newbies into the GS family and until this site was set up there was no collation of like minded individuals. Add to that the fact that pro-rata more 1200's have been sold than any other model (given how long they have been available) there has inevitably been issues, but still well over 90% of owners are absolutely thrilled with them

I know a man who bought a brand new 1200 but sold it within a year to buy an RT simply because he'd lost all confidence in it, after it started "playing up". Towards the end he didn't even like riding it into the nearest town (just 10 miles away) "in case it wouldn't start". I didn't like to ask him how much he lost out financially.

If he bought a 1200 RT then basically the mechanics /electrics are the same.............gremlins and new models...................and yes, there's nothing worse than a bike breaking down, but you can't tarnish them all because of the problems encountered with a few out of the 1000's on the orad. You would also be surprised how many folks ride GS's and have never heard of our forums..............perhaps they are the lucky one's riding around in ignorant bliss with a great big grin

Eastriding2002 · Oct 11, 2006

luckylucian said:
Any forum will list problems, if you used owner's forums to pick your next bike, you wouldn't buy any of them.

Agree, and I say that as one who held off from getting a 1200GS for 18 months because of this forum listing it's faults in the early days.

Deleted account 211025001 · Oct 11, 2006

Matkat talks a lot of sense

Andres
(22,000 miles and no issues

)

Dahoum · Oct 11, 2006

Taff said:
Fair comment, but how come we don't appear to get as many posts complaining about 1100s or 1150s

Errrr we do - read the relevant sections

marcus · Oct 11, 2006

smirky said:
Again!!

Yet again the 12 has let me down by not starting its not the EMA issue this time, it appears it's getting no petrol . Phoned BMW assist who were quick to respond all very professional, bike now on its way to the local dealer for repair. But i have to say i have had bikes for 30 years and this is the most expensive one and most unrelaible yet, i love the bike, the look, the ride etc but i am very dissapionted regarding the relaiblity of the bike.

anyone want to buy a 1200GS

In the interests of being scientific,
how many is "again" and what are the issues?

M

MATKAT · Oct 11, 2006

Yippee

Dahoum said:
Errrr we do - read the relevant sections

well said that man

it amazes how so many people have their heads in the sand over these issues :clap

redcastle · Oct 11, 2006

All in all I agree with MATKAT, great bike and loads of fun but my issue at the moment is with the speed at which it gets turned round if it does break down.

No bike for ten days and counting (gearbox)
The bikes used everyday, or, was used everyday.

I would have thought that BMW would have given their dealers a directive that if there was a known problem that caused a breakdown it should get sorted out urgently, not just to hold onto the customer and give him confidence in the service but to encourage prospective buyers.

Just not good enough really.
Maybe im just one of those picky owners mentioned in an earlier thread but BMW ought to remeber the adage
"the best salesman is a satisfied customer"

1200 GS Breakdown

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