You think Dave? really?

Mezo.

A 3D printer will solve that for you, in the very near future.

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Dave

Think I'll stick with my rebuilt Honda AT and just admire the pretty GS's from afar ...


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Riding is better than driving which is better than cycling which is better than walking. In short, if I could ride to the bathroom in the morning I would!

Would never buy a BMW simply due to the weight. I didn't know of all of this structural failure until now. That's just plain scary.

While many BMW twins are on the heavy side, their latest in-line four sport bikes are some of the lightest in the liter class. Compare BMW's 1000SS to CBR1000, GSXR1000, R-1 or ZX-10. BMW is one of the lightest and one of the most powerful in that group. Do some research ... and, as mentioned above, check results from Isle of Man TT.

The R1200 GS's are a bit heavy, yes, but not so bad when compared to other Adventure bikes in the 1000 to 1200cc twins class: (Yamaha Tenere, Aprilia Caponord, Suzuki V-Strom 1000, Ducati Multistrada and perhaps one or two others)

BMW's 800 twins are over weight IMO, but so are Triumph's 800XC.

BMW's singles (F and G series) have always been 40 to 50 lbs. heavier than Japanese and Euro competition in 450 to 650cc class.

I see your point. When you look at the offerings from the manufacturers, some are lighter for their "category." But, just because it's lightest in its category, still doesn't negate the fact that it's a 500+lb motorcycle. My Honda 250cc Tornado was just over 300lbs. I came back to the States and got on my 465lb Triumph. It's just too heavy. I'm prepping a bike now and hope that it stays close to 300lbs fully kitted. We shall see.

What Triumph do you have? Tiger 800XC? It's actually over 500 lbs. wet., even more once loaded up for travel.
What bike are you prepping now? Must be one of the new 250's ... which are ALL awesome.
My DR650 in stock form is 367 lbs. wet. Mine, loaded with full luggage, 5 gal. of fuel, about 460 lbs. (measured) No feather weight but does OK on the rough in Baja and even deep sand. But older (and weaker) I get, a nice 250 looks better and better.
I've not followed problems on the SS BMW's. Are you going to sell it? What's next up for you? I'm looking hard at the
Yamaha FJ-09 (Tracer) to replace my Tiger 1050.

Consumer Reports' first motorcycle reliability report finds Japanese brands ahead

That also potential buyers should know, some statistics in reliability.

It's true. The BMW S1000RR is light and very, very fast. Not, in my hands anyway, reliable. 10 hours of repairs and recall work in 10 000 miles (under warranty) didn't fill me with confidence.

And yes, I know, a series of one may not be representative.

Would I recommend a BMW? No. I have owned new or nearly new bikes from all the Japanese manufacturers and KTM. I've only had one (minor) warranty claim before I bought the BM. And it wan't on a Japanese machine.

Are these Chinese BMWs ? Never seen bikes broken like this. I was planning a BMW but will have to opt for a KTM now my other choice.

I believe most of the BMW's shown in pics were big twins with a few 650's and 800's in the mix, yes? All the Boxers are made at Spandau, Berlin. Not sure about the P-Twin 800's, some rumors say they were Chinese but now back in
Berlin. The F650 and G650's are Chinese, as are G450 dual sport bikes.

The broken drive housings on the Boxers were, IMHO, the owner's fault. That bike was never meant to be jumped or bashed hard off road whilst carrying a load. But something Mezo isn't telling you is that many of those broken bikes were simply CRASH victims. Hit by cars, flipped or bashed an Armco barrier.

The F650 forks are Showa items, but perhaps very low spec Showa forks? (Honda own Showa). Problem is obvious ... those forks are too skinny for a 450 lb. bike. Also, it's possible Showa had a long period of bad quality assurance?

BMW got sued in Germany and paid out a few claims .... but lots of others got burned, never got paid. Funny thing is, even the new G650 use the same size forks ... and I believe they are still Showa forks.

Showa forks are usually good ... in fact .. world class gear. Never ever heard of such a problem with any other bike ever, using either KYB or Showa. But stuff happens ... Sometimes the engineers misjudge and make mistakes.
In this case I blame BMW. Should have been major recall for ALL F650's and
G650's period.

KayJay, would you buy the new KTM's made in India? The 390 Duke looks good ... would you trust it?

Maybe they don't like the MIC being taken?


As you say, the big ones are put together in Spandau by the gastarbeiten.
Hence the two year warranty on new products?

Herein "Chinese" = Taiwanese, just like Cuba = the USA. i.e. someday.
Kymco - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Dave

Kymco built the 450 dirt bikes, but Loncin in Mainland China built (still builds)
the F and G650 singles. Loncin and BMW have some sort of partnership ... may still have it? Dunno? So .... over all two Chinese connections for BMW who also build Cars there! None of this is news ... been going on a decade or more.

China: The BMW G650GS Production Country - MotorPartsCentre.Com
BMW Partners with Chongqing Loncin to Make Motorcycles
Loncin Motor and BMW hand in hand again—Loncin signed a long-term contract of new large displacement - loncin

For information, the 2007/2008 BMW G650x (Challenge/Country/Moto) with the FI twin spark 652cc Rotax motor (and finished the Dakar race with Simon Pavey on board) were built in Italy in the Aprilia factory. Hence in my 2013 RR (in sig below) I refer to it as a RBA (Rebadged Aprilia) to hide the shame of riding a Beemer

In more recent times lots of plastic G-bikes probably do come from the China. Never bothered research these as I think they look hideous, before even contemplating their apparent (or not) lack of robustness.

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TBS.com

Yep cars landed on top them causing them to flatten out.

Mezo.