At least we'l know how to spot you at the meetings !!

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Welcome to the HUBB

Thanks Whitey ... so I guess all can now be reassured that the thousands of documented problems with the BMW models you list are nothing more than "here say" from "haters" and those jealous of "superior German Engineering?

That ALL "so called" problems are from people who don't own BMW's? Are paid by the Japanese to discredit BMW?
Are you implying none ever break down and are 100% reliable?

I'd love to see you're service histories on all those bikes and decide what
"no major problems" really means as this interpretation can vary from owner to owner.

Wow, another BMW thread. Why do they all end up like this? Allow me to relate:

I had a Honda (POS) then an MZ (best bike ever made). I wanted faster and bigger to go further but knew I had the mechanical skills of a penguin. "People" told me BMW's were reliable. (In my defence this was pre-internet). I latched on to an idea that so long as I had a new enough BMW I'd never end up walking across North Africa wondering how you get a bike back to civilisation when it's cooling system is stuffed. This becomes a sort of mantra you repeat, something you need to cling onto to make the demons in your head go away.

Now, any heretics who might want to break up this nice, safe, warm world of BMW has to be flamed mercilessly by the believers in case they are actually right. BMW shafts do not strip, burn the heretic, BMW indicator switches are not pointlessly complex, burn the heretic, BMW are value for money they never break down, burn the heretic.....

Four bikes later and I'm walking across a bit of North Africa with a plan that involves walking into a petrol station and buying enough glue, sealant, coolant and oil to bodge together a semi-functional F650 waterpump. The god of BMW's was dead to me, the idea that I'd get some practice in and become a better mechanic was looking much nicer.

I had a Yam and then a Triumph. Just like the heretics said they were just as good when working, just as bad where the manufacturers had cut corners (eg by not having bearings in the waterpump, by using Bosch relays made in China etc. etc.) but more to the point cheaper. I'm now putting together a K-outfit and hanging about with BMW people again. Their god is alive is alive and kicking in many cases.

So, IMHO, is an R1200GS worth it, no, not unless thats the bike you want.

Ask youself why you want it. Do you want a high tech, powerful bike made to modern styles and standards? If the answer is yes the BM should be on your list of things to look at. Do you want a bike that never breaks down? If that's your reasoning you need get inventing because no one makes that bike yet, certainly not the marketing department in Munich and their worshippers on the web.


Andy

As I will now be asked if I actually owned any BMW's a resume:

1994 F650 1994-1997 no problems except crap service at the dealer. They all do that Sir!
1997 R1100R 1997-1999 had three front shocks in three months plus an electrical meltdown when new. Sorted at three months.
1999 F650 1999-2004 Died in the desert.
1996 R1100R 2002-2005 Electrical **** galore
1984 K100 2010- 23000 miles on the clock of which only 450 are mine. Everything works so far.

I had an early 1200GS and had some problems (shaft drive failure), main seal leak and clutch replacement but I think the newer ones are better.

It is a very good bike despite the problems, and if you get one with warranty, the problems are much less annoying.

I did 30,000 miles on mine in a year and a half and in the end the main reason I sold it was because of how fast it was depreciating.

Still riding my 1100 around without the same worries.

Buy the bike you want and be happy, people will always write more about their grievances than their happiness so most problems you read about are exaggerated.

HTH,

David

Yes Rab, quite right IMO. All bikes have various problems and in the end we strike a balance, where the benefits outweigh the bad points. It's funny about BMWs though, because a minority of people get nasty when they slag them. I don't know where the hatred comes from.

I know the common probs on my bike, and adjust for that, as most of us do.

I can buy into this summery without problem . Don't care too much for BMW marketing either. ...long story


Hmmm, ...could this history have something to do with your style of riding and wrenching???

__________________
Thomas

"Hey, ...I'm just ridin' shotgun"

Certainly. The Yamaha though was showing every sign of living with this style and the Triumph has lived with it for six years. I break MZ's at a rate of about one incident that needs parts every two years, but they are stupidly easy to fix.

Andy

Certainly seen a lot of the failure / problems reported and by no means suggesting that they will not go wrong at some point, its just that its not my experience. The maintenance I have done has just been in line with BMW's recommendations though never go past milage on oil filter changes.

By no major problems I mean no final drive bearings , nothing on the engines within the outer cases i.e crankcase, barrels , heads , rocker covers, no gearbox problems and no electronic problems on the later models.

Few carb related issues on the R100 ran this from around 50k miles to 70k miles. Nothing on the R1100GS and had this from 25k miles to 50k miles. Then tried to buy a new 950KTM but kept getting messed around by dealers so walked away from that plan and bought the R1200GS. Ran that from new in 2004 (so early model) to 20k miles and bought the GSA. Flogged that last year to raise some funds. Grabbed an R1150RT to hack around on as thats my only transport at the moment needed something to haul luggage and don't want a car.

Along the way in 25 years of biking I've had Honda's, Yamaha's a Ducati and a Moto Guzzi (for a while), a KTM and GAS GAS enduro bikes. If its a motorbike I like it. They'll all break your heart at some point but the R1200GSA has given me the biggest smiles and fitted the bill of most things I want out of a bike.

Haha, this is really funny! Here is Whitey, a guy who has owned several BMWs and simply stated that he thought they were good bikes and made no general statements about BMWs at all...

And then there is Mickey D, who then for some reason goes on to draw sweeping and wholly unjustified conclusions about what Whitey was implying...

Micky, why don't do us all a favor and quote some of these posts in which people claim that "the...documented problems with the BMW models...are nothing more than 'here say' [sic] from 'haters'" or that "none ever break down and are 100% reliable"? Because I don't remember seeing any?

Welcome to the hubb

I thought you had learned not to write anything positive about BMW.
Luckily I was wrong, but don't push your luck

Aha !!... but you didn't try the R1150 or the R1150GSA which was maybe really the best of them all .... you might never know

__________________
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