Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog
My guess is BMW simply buy an "off the shelf" item from Showa. Showa would take no part in testing or spec-ing out the shock or forks. It's all up to the BMW to figure out what component is best for the particular bike.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AliBaba
Yes, as I said “ Anyway it’s not interesting that Showa made the forks, BMW has the responsibility for the final product.
It looks like you liked Chris story of broken shocks, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were Showa. But again, that’s BMWs responsibility.
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There is no such thing as ‘off the shelf’ I reckon. The problems people are having with fitting aftermarket forks show that. The part in question would be custom for the bike and there would have been some design component in there I reckon. If we design infrastructure of the architect’s plans we ask for all relevant parameters to design the infrastructure to the relevant standards set out by a body charged with setting these standards. In Australia this would be AS. These are based on lab test, etc.
Therefore I just can’t accept that a company in the automotive industry would just walk into a Showa shop and ask for ‘that one’.
In the case that I’m imagining Showa would prepare the design which is supplemented by a spec listing out all sorts of engineering parameters that they used and as mentioned before this (when agreed by both parties) becomes the reference document for any contractual issues. If there is anything missed in the spec (which happens more that you think) the lawyers will have a field day with it and create a tug of war.
This could even be the case considering the inaction and revised forks (which supports my feeling that it’s not an ‘off the shelf’ product). Even for this Showa would have been involved because this would void the old spec supplied by Showa putting all responsibility on BMW. Not a position you would want to be in if you initially contacted another consultant/company to do engineering for you.
I don’t think you can count out Showa this easily. Yes BMW has end responsibility to the customer, because it’s their product in the end as they’re selling it to you. If the Millau Viaduct would fall over would you contact Foster Architects who took all the credit for this job and ‘sold it’ to the local government, or the engineers who designed it. Than within that framework you have to dig deeper to find out who’s responsible because the structural guys would look at their parameters, which are based on the civil guys who in turn received information from the geotechnical guys. It’s not that simple.
What about the factory who actually built it? Would that be a Showa factory or maybe someone else? Who knows. Could be a production issue as suggested.
As for saying outright BMW is crap is just crap on it’s own. I’m not a BMW fan, but am a fan of any company who thinks outside the box. Evidently shown by the new concept of the G450. Similarly KTM (upcoming electric bikes and 2-wheel-drive) and Yamaha (Supertrail, can’t wait for a 450) with their inspiring concepts. My first bike was a 3AJ Tenere, rebuilt by Dave Lambeth, which we took through some of the roughest terrain Asia has to offer. It had it’s own problems which if it would have been a BMW, people would have burned Yamaha for it. But because it’s not, you don’t hear anything about it, and the design flaw is still there.
Personally I think that people hate the culture of arrogance surrounding BMW which causes all this, but that is just a psychoanalytical observation.
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