My other brother experiences BMW

[Medic Man]

Well BMW has striked again in my family. My other brother bought a used RT1100 from a buddy of his that had taken excellent care of the bike. Well he was on a trip this holiday weekend and I got a call to see if I could come get him. He was in Ohio or West Virginia and needed a trailer to get his bike home. The bike had mobil 1 75/90 synthetic gear oil in it. The verdict is the bike has drive line failure. Does anyone have a final drive for one of these bikes laying around?????? Oh my other brother takes his 07 1200 GT to the shop every two weeks for something........makes me wonder.

 

[Crash Cash]

Man... with all the shaft-drive bikes I've owned, friends have owned, and talked about on the forums, in 20 years I've NEVER seen one fail other than on BMWs. I'll own a car before I ever buy a BMW bike.

 

[kenporider]

I can't even comprehend how pissed and disgusted I'd be. That's alotta dough for a bike that blows up on ya.

 

[JRO]

This is why it's called the 'Broken Motor Works'.

They really should spell it out on the 'roundel'. Optimistic souls are sometimes easily confused, assuming the initials stand for something else.

 

[doctorJ]

I can't even comprehend how pissed and disgusted I'd be. That's alotta dough for a bike that blows up on ya.

Yes, and it can be a very sore subject for a lot of BMW owners. Many are very loyal to the marquee and get very defensive about any comments about final drive failures etc. I would have liked to have had an R1200RT, but realized I would have paid about 3,000 bucks more for a 2 year old used on than a brand new FJR. The lack of any factory extended warranty, the cost, the maintenance and mostly the uncertainty about whether a final drive will last for 200,000 miles or maybe 100 miles was just too much for me. It seems of those that fail, they simply replace it with one just like it. I'm not a fan of that so I chose with my pocketbook not to (likely never) get a BMW motorcycle. I have observed yamaha since the FJR came out in the USA, and it is the most responsive manufacturer to the complaints and desires of the owners that I have seen.

doctorj

 

[gregory]

On the Grand Canyon North Rim Rid we just did last weekend, there was a BMW (from Michigan, I was told) with final dive death only 45 miles from the canyon. He had a choice of either Phoenix or Salt Lake City for the tow truck to take him to.

 

[FZ/FJR Mike]

There is a comprehensive article on final drive failures in this month's Motorcycle Consumer News. BMW still hasn't acknowledged the problem but I would recommend your brother read it as there's some good recommendations in it. Since it's a subcription only mag, if you can't find it, PM me & we'll work out at least a copy of it for him.