New 800 GS Recall !!!!!!
 

Manufacturer: BMW of North America
Model Year: 2008
Models affected: F800 GS
NHTSA Campaign Number: 09V088000
Problem: BMW is recalling model year 2008 F800 GS motorcycles. The axle shaft wall thickness may not have been manufactured according to specifications. If the wall thickness was not sufficient, the axle shaft could deform and could break increasing the risk of a crash.
Corrective Action: Dealers will inspect the axle shaft assembly and replace or repair the necessary components free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided an owner notification schedule. Owners may contact BMW at 1-800-831-1117.

Ooops!!!

BMW quality control has been a little less perfect for some time. There building bikes in non Germany BMW plants. There engineering bikes to look grate in a show room not work in the real wold. There building to a set price point set by there sales department not building bikes then having there salesmen work at selling a grate bike.

Seen it happen before people call it a world market and outsourcing. The fix is easy, just hope the new axle shaft is of good quality.

I will never ever buy a bike within eighteen months of initial launch.

I will never ever buy a bike within eighteen months of initial launch.

I will never ever buy a bike within eighteen months of initial launch.

I will never ever buy a bike within eighteen months of initial launch.

I will never ever buy a bike within eighteen months of initial launch.

I will never ever buy a bike within eighteen months of initial launch.

I will never ever buy a bike within eighteen months of initial launch.

(should be 100 lines but you get the idea)
Tim

Why does this not surprise me with:thumbdown: BMW??

Yes, new bikes occasionally have problems. Here we have a bit too many of them, but actually I'm more surprised that BMW has decided to bundle this bike with low quality chains and forks. They basically sell you budget bike that looks like premium bike, and they of course charge premium price for it. And salesmen are pitching something about "German quality". :)

I'm keeping one eye open as I want to buy another bike to complement my 400 but this kind of business practice is really something I can't stand.

...Japanese are quite good at making Japanese bikes -:)
Germans are really good at making German bikes -:)

Japanese are making Japanese bikes - and enhancing them all the time -;)
Germans have stopped making German bikes and are now trying to copy Japanese bikes... the result is like Japanese copies of european vehicles back in time (post WWII economical wonder of the east)... Did you ever expect anything else?...

/7 2-valve was a very well developed and tested conception. Then came the tipped-over car engine, K-models, which seemed to do all right (inspite of its quite weird construction).

Then came Fun-du-ro... ever tried to drive below 3000rpm with one?... Impossible to handle in traffic-jam. Nice when running over 50km/h and below 120.
But seriously - what crap! TOO many issues with it.

Remember when BMW launched the Cobra as we quickly nick-named the -shake-rattel-an'-roll machine in Sweden; the 4-valved freak in 1994:ish ?
GAS POWERED BREAKERS/DRILLS Cobra Combi, Cobra mk1, Cobra TT

Why do BMW jepordize its so well earned reputation by trying to copy the Japanese line of vehicles?
Vanity ?...

There must be some kind of melt-down in Münch...
Remember the cast wheels back in the 70:ties... the sprockets broke... especially on the 19" front-wheel... then BMW toppled this with the 3-spocket cast wheels to the K1100... that were so weak that they went skewed by minor pottholes...
:thumbdown:



I am sorry for you, that your bike is called back,
but hey:
- you bought a German "Japanese"... so what can you expect?...:(


Only my, :smartass:, opinion of cause -;)

Too right. See:

R1100R/GS shock corrosion
F650 stalling and surging
R1150 brake servo's
Moto Guzzi FI
R1200 security key antenna...

And so on and so on.

I'll hold my hands up and admitt I'll let others do my research. I too used to have more money than sense, but after a while you trade one for the other.

The other rule IMHO is to look for the manufacturer who had a poor reputation for quality and made a huge effort to improve rather than the one trading in past glory. I find my Triumph and my dads Guzzi way better built than any BMW I ever owned (Carbed F650's and R1100's) and hear post 2006 Urals are close to BM airhead indestructability. Time for BMW to get off their pedastal and start working at it again IMHO.

Andy

Unfortunately I must agree with you all. BMW is trying to copy Japanese styled bikes. The new bikes dont look like it suits the BMW badge. I dont like them at all. They are slowly moving away from building traditional BMW bikes.
It is a move they might regret in the future.

I like my 1150GS, although not perfect, its a bit more 'traditional' and less plastic.

Johan

If thats what the majority of people like , thats what they will build. Im all for the looks. I guess its an age thing, cause I think the older style of bmw bike were ugly. I never took a second look at one. I guess its all about vanity

The new Beemers are too complex
 

That is why I ride an airhead!

My K1200RS is a very well screwed together piece of kit. I think they have shifted their focus onto mainstream bikes, and are trying to have some of that market for themselves. And why not?

The new K1300 has rave reviews too...

ME TOO !

Reason is the same . . .

No surprises there then...

The whole GS series (bar the airheads) are sold on marketing !

Buy Jap....

Complexity is only one part of the issue. It you have that level of design you need top quality materials and a full development and test programme and support available. Use cheap materials and cut the test programme you get problems. If you have to use cheap materials you should use a design that'll stand it and give the support it needs (airhead).

Marketing is always about stressing the good bits (the design) and down playing the not so good stuff (consumer does the testing, gets told where to go when it fails due to cheap materials etc). IMHO the consumer needs to get used to modern marketing techniques and not still think at the "We make a good bike and put our badge on it" level.

Andy

And your Jap bikes aren't sold on marketng? Do Japanese companies make money and living out of thin air then? I'd say wake up and :welcome: to the marketing world mate. If BMW makes marketing better than Japs in big trailies and tourers sector, doesn't mean much. Japs make lightyears better marketing in scooters, sportsbikes and cruisers for ages to sell crap loads of bikes into the market. It's called pure marketing, and IMHO in overall picture Japanese do better marketing than BMW ever did (hence the overall sales numbers).

The only non-marketing bikes (or close to it) are self hand-built bikes built speciefically for the owners themselves, not for other people. Anything involved in the factory production made for loads of people is a pure marketing nowadays. Period.

OT Marketing
 

Different OEM's have different strategies. Some are more dangerous than others. Claims of speed and fun are relative, style be it Italian curves or Harley chrome is subjective. BMW's claims of premium brand status and allusions to longevity and reliability can be disproven by a few (perhaps spurious) figures. Their lack of marketing skill at one level brings in a consumer but can then dash their hopes.

BTW, I don't think we should turn this into a BMW bashing thread.:offtopic:

So, what oil should I use.......:nono: :rolleyes2:

Andy

I love my '02 dakar - My old-er bike could be likened to a mature Woman or red wine- gone are the smooth lines and all the bling, helloooo curves, trust, comfort, reliability and enjoyment ! or is it just me then? a few dents, scratches and wrinkles just shows 'lived-in' character :biggrin3:

p.s Andy you little :devil2:....you know snake oil is best :wink3:

But they are the best kind :innocent:

I note that four out of the five topics are the electronics that people keep saying makes bikes more reliable ?? so what gives?. If all goes well I shall soon be the owner of an Enfield. Thankfully the entire electronic ignition system ( black box and sender unit) cost £45, so I shall be able to afford to carry a spare system.

A BMW bashing thread that has been up for two months and we haven't heard from Mollydog? You're slipping Dog :innocent:

I have ridden airheads since forever and I really want to like a new BMW. They are great performing bikes, but I can't get around the fact that I can have two reliable Japanese bikes for the same price.

And there is no argument any more... :clap:

Enfield, Triumph and Yamaha have all introduced FI systems I know where the software has been right straight out of the box and I've never heard of a failure. New Guzzi's have been fine since they sorted the California and every car made since about 2005 has been electronic FI and a lot more to boot. I've also stopped hearing about both early Guzzi and F650 FI issues, so the upgrades might be late but they worked.

My engineering background is in truck brakes. It was always a lot easier to plug a lap top into a new truck than start messing about with gauges and leak finder on some ancient thing. The old trucks had more issues, it was just that the operators were used to that and didn't get hot under the collar. Having some idiot with a multimeter spend weeks unable to find the blown fuse did wind them up. Now every truck dealer in the country has the software you won't find many that'll buy the old systems. It's a transition phase that IMHO should now almost be over with bike FI.

It's simply better to let someone else try and tell the OEM they got it wrong when they do.

I picked the examples I did more to demonstrate why I won't buy a new model rather than anything to do with the technology.

Andy

Isn't he banned?
Almost all his posts are edited...

Not banned, but currently a "Moderated user". This means a moderator has to ok this user's posts before they go live. Incidently, I didn't put him into this group, nor do I get to read these posts first, before okaying them or not.

Over past few weeks, I've also enjoyed my time on the HUBB much more because all I do now is positively contribute, read for pleasure, research for trips and race other moderators to be the first to ban new spammers.
cheers
Chris

Yep, it's true.

Recently had mine serviced and local BMW crew knew about it. Problem is only with certain batches, presumably from specific assembly/manufacturing plants and they replace with no charge to owner.

Other minor issues too, but they get sorted out as you have the bike serviced...

It's a fun bike, friends! To the mountains of Lesotho is two weeks!

Point is they 'HAVE' to use FI in order to comply with emissions regulations. ( carbs are open to the air so when parked 'can/might' emit vapour). Nothing to do with costs, reliability or performance.. Certainly not there for the riders convenience. Now I admit, many, probably most would prefer to have the high tech option fitted, but not everyone. I just want it to work, and if it does not work I want to be able to fix it with the bikes original toolkit. Maybe with a few augmentations to the toolkit and spares box. BUT, the tools and spares 'HAVE' to be affordable to carry.

F800/f650
 

Tim, I wonder why you say this when yo have a 2008 F650 you bought when they came out?? Please correct me if I am missing something.

BMW and KTM are realistically the only companies pushing the boundaries of bike technology with most of the others falling behind, particularly in the big trailies. yeah we all know they aint real dirt bikes but we all know that 90% on here barely leave tarmac.

im no expert on ktms and japs but they all have their issues. japs for instance wear out parts, as opposed to fail, a lot faster. based on my experience my 800gs went through all manner of sh1te road conditions, rivers, sand for over 12000 miles and bar a rad pipe being replaced never squeeked, and i dropped it numerous time on hard and soft.

just my input, probly b0ll0cks but hey! Interesting topic though.

I think Tim was saying that because he bought one and had some hassle with it. So he has learned from experience.

S

had my f800gs for 1 year and only managed 2000 miles, in that time its been back to the dealers 3 times for recalls, was going to ride to kazakhstan on it, not so sure now im loosing confidence in it