Is BMW really all that good?

R1100S-Rider · 11-18-2006, 05:36 PM

I've been wondering, if BMW is really a good, reliable bike.

At 50,000 miles my dad has put $1,800 in his 2002 BMW R1150RT. For sincere in the engine that has died for some reason, to 3-4 replacements for the right heated handgrip, and other thing. Just today, my 2001 R1100S ABS doesn't work. I have never had a problem with the ABS. My dad and I can't figure out what it is. But the darn ABS just won’t turn on. In my opinion, BMW isn't as good as it says. It’s unreliable, hard to work on, expensive for what it is, and doesn't handle as well as the Jap bikes.... I know my next bike wont be a BMW, and it with my dad.

Bomb300 · 11-18-2006, 05:44 PM

From the riders I know, they are great until something goes wrong with the paralever shaft drive.

nig · 11-18-2006, 05:56 PM

They were pretty sturdy for a European bike back in the day. Now they're too complicated and shit seems to go wrong more. It's like working on a car.

Repeater · 11-19-2006, 12:29 AM

The Paralever has really been the bane of the last 10 years worth of BMWs, it seems. Everything from the big R1200GS to the R850R I've heard of people having wholesale shaft failures on. Odd, because folks with older (1990 or so and before) never seemed to have complaints. Hell, I'd seen R100GSes and K75Ses both do over 200,000 miles without needing new shafts or transmissions.

With an increasingly complex mechanical system, there's just plain more to go wrong. Even if one part fails an average of only once every 75,000 miles, if you have 500 parts instead of 300, your chances of a failure are just that much greater. I think they are good, but very, very complex from a sheer numbers standpoint.

I've heard of a lot of folks with ABS failures on their BMWs, too. If I opt for a BMW cycle some day, I've decided to make an active effort to avoid the ABS-equipped bikes. That being said, I've heard very rarely of the ABS on a Honda (whom probably uses them as much as BMW) fail...

I wouldn't necessarily say they're harder to work on; it is just a mechanical system like any other motorcycle. They're just put together in a manner that most people aren't familiar with. Ask most sport bike riders how to grease the splines on a shaft drive, and they'll look at you funny; ask an old BMW rider how, and they'll break out the stands and have the thing taken apart in no time... it's a matter of how much experience you have with it. The addition of electronic systems, though, (traction control, ABS, etc.) adds a whole new dimension of troubleshooting when something breaks. Not difficult, just another thing to learn.

As for your ABS light, check your battery/charging system voltages. I've heard the BMW systems are very sensitive to sags in voltage. Make sure everything is running at proper voltages and you don't have any funny grounding issues, then talk to a dealer about having it reset. A simple ABS light reset shouldn't set you back too much; some dealers have done it for free. BMW is aware of issues with some of their ABS systems, and dealers in Britain were offering free checks of the system after being alerted to some problems.

sfarson · 11-23-2006, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R1100S-Rider

I've been wondering, if BMW is really a good, reliable bike.

At 50,000 miles my dad has put $1,800 in his 2002 BMW R1150RT. For sincere in the engine that has died for some reason, to 3-4 replacements for the right heated handgrip, and other thing. Just today, my 2001 R1100S ABS doesn't work. I have never had a problem with the ABS. My dad and I can't figure out what it is. But the darn ABS just won’t turn on. In my opinion, BMW isn't as good as it says. It’s unreliable, hard to work on, expensive for what it is, and doesn't handle as well as the Jap bikes.... I know my next bike wont be a BMW, and it with my dad.

Have owned six BMW's over the years. Had a GS with a bad clutch. Tail lights went out once on it. This is it. The stator on my Honda left me stranded this past summer. Despite the Honda stator problem, wouldn't say the BMW reliability is up there with Honda, but it is very close and BMW quality is high.

I don't buy at all BMW's don't handle as well bikes from Japan. Have owned many Asian bikes. Most would say the opposite, including many magazine reviews. This is where BMW shines. Have ridden an R1100S for over five years and while Asian hyper bikes I ride, along with those my friends are on are struggling over uncertain roads, the BMW is in its element.

Hard to work on? Egads, valve adjustments, engine access, etc. simple. Only pain in the a$$ is the stupid location of the battery in most BMW's.

Expensive? Yes, but the price is sure nice to have when selling. The other day I bought a $$$ bike. Sold a Honda and a $$$BMW. Was sure nice to have the $$$BMW to put against the purchase.

HighsideSV · 11-23-2006, 10:26 PM

I just passed 60,000 on my CB750 and havent had a major problem yet despite the fact that it has been treated like absolute shit through most of it's service life. The only thing that worries me about BMWs is that there are a few weird things on them that are *very* difficult to fix while bikes like my honda can be repaired by blind monkeys.

mikeym · 11-27-2006, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bomb300

From the riders I know, they are great until something goes wrong with the paralever shaft drive.

yep, thats what happened to my dads last r series...

he currently has a r series with 83,000 on the clock and still running strong...

as for the cb750, redmenace they are bombproof bikes but on these old bmw's you could adjust the valves in 5 minutes in the parking lot of cvs... if you know how to do it, they are cheap, simple machines

~mikeym