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!

Yes, I do, but that's just because of the road that this thread has taken: it's up to those who contribute and, so far, it consists in the main of photos that have been doing the rounds on the internet since year dot about BMWs.

No matter, someone has moved the thread into "which bike", so over to those who want to expand the thread into something other than BMW related.


Yes, but a lot of "things" added to bikes nowadays are there because of legislation somewhere in the world: e.g. BMW have to toe the line along with all the others who want to sell new bikes in the EU = ABS is all but compulsory (I can't remember exactly when it does become so, but the manufs know what is coming to them and they get ahead of the legislation).


Flying brick or plain "brick" that engine is enormously reliable as both a 750cc and in the 1000cc and bigger versions.

Yep, the inline 4 did a good job at the 2014 TT races, bringing in the German marque in first place since a hell of a long time (since 1939 ironically).

I've just got around to looking at the links that were the start of the post about fuel tanks; I didn't bother to read much in there - the posts in the links are 5-6 years old and they just dribble away into no resolution of the discussions; one of them is killed stone dead by starting a poll.

Maybe these tanks, or a batch of these tanks, were prone to being effected by ethanol; many plastic tanks have had an issue with that fuel, irrespective of the tank manufacturer.

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Dave

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.

The thread has not been moved as far as im aware? its always been in "Which Bike"

Ive already stated i like the old school BMW`s so its not a case of bashing BMW.

The pictures are not from the year dot, just the last decade when BMW`s quality control was neglected in favour of the almighty dollar.

Out of interest Dave, what bike do you own?

Mezo.

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.

Yes, basic motors were OK, apart from that irritating cloud of oil smoke emitted upon start up. Also, the early K100 were some of the first uses of ABS from BMW. Lots of problems. But... the very WORST part of those bikes was the poor handling. They were SO heavy there really was not much to be done. I rode them both on track and plenty on the road.

I preferred the K75 as a road bike. Later generations were much better but none compare with the inline four based on the GSXR and the subsequent spin off models off the SS sports bike.

yes, we get the IOM races here on TV. Great stuff. Good for BMW but very sad they pulled out of World Superbike a couple years back. They should have hung in and supported the series and kept at it. Oh well.

A key reason the Japanese became so dominant for SO Long was racing. Sure, they got laughed at early on at the IOM, Catalina Island Scrambles and Euro dominated Moto Cross.(early 60's)

But they just smiled, bowed and went back and made their bikes better, more reliable, spent more on R&D, hired better riders ... and won.

They've never stopped racing, winning and learning. Racing is the way forward not only for reliability but for R&D of new technology ... whether we need it or not ... that's another argument !

BMW 800 tanks did in fact split. Quite common and something BMW addressed. LOTS of other serious issues with the 800 twins. Huge forever threads over on ADV Rider on several cases.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ropean-80333-4


You probably know why they do "the smoke on start up" while parked on the side stand: in that position the engine head is lower than the rest of the engine, hence a smidgen of oil runs into that area.
Sure, BMW were very early into the development of ABS fitted to motorcycles and paid a price in reliability; now all EU bikes have to fit it.

In recent past there was some kind of announcement (press, or whatever) to the effect that BMW are changing the whole direction of their marketing, and advertising therefore.
Watch out for how that goes.

Split tanks: I never heard about it - living and working overseas for some years.
I have little doubt that it is a "dead issue" if only on account of the ethos that BMW apply to their warranty.

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Dave

Yea, I know why ... and a lot of other "why's" due to two good riding buddies who both worked at the local BMW dealer for years. Learned everything about BMW from the inside ...

I'm not sure it's actual law :confused1: ... certainly not here in USA ... But kudos for BMW for risking capital and lawsuits to move things forward. Early ABS was not great and had issues ... for about a decade.

But modern ABS is invisible and FANTASTIC. My '07 Tiger has it and I love it. But I HATE the complexity and cost of parts:
IE: The ABS "accumulator" gizmo is $700 usd!

This has already happened. In fact it's happened a couple times in the last 7 or 8 years. The latest, 3 years ago with the ouster of CEO Kunheim, a certified idiot. But it wasn't just Kunheim, everyone top to bottom was shuffled out. New crew brought in.

The new crew are MUCH better (IMHO), more forthright about problems, lots of truly new designs. The adverts will be what they will be ... like most all ads. Lots of BS hyperbole. But the bikes are better and BMW are making measurable steps forward and without Kunheim, a loose cannon who constantly embarrassed the whole company. (saying things like the competition in WSB are trivial and BMW would soon dominate, said the same
about Moto Cross and World Enduro )

Remember BMW 15 years ago repeatedly said they did not want to build "sports bike" like the Japanese, they claimed they appealed to a "different" sort of rider. Also had "no interest" in racing, as their customer base had "no interest" in racing. Oh my how things change!

Those days are long gone. My biggest worry regards BMW now is their penchant for heaping money into scooters that don't sell and lack of major factory racing efforts. (IOM teams all privateer)

I couldn't quite remember where the legalities had got to but it is due in 2016 for the EU so it is being fitted now for new bikes - probably on the basis that the customers will become used to paying the extra costs and the factories can buy in the ABS systems in bulk.
Motorcycle ABS compulsory from 2016 - Motorcycle news : General news - Visordown

Anyway, in the absence of discussing anything but BMW, there is one thing that all new bike purchasers can look forward to when in the EU anyway - as per the thread title.

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Dave

just to clarify this thread is not about bmw bikes, they're not that good to talk about them - it's about more and more cost cutting measures companies undergo, all brands not just bmw. Unfortunately bmw started saving money on frames and forks so defects are more spectacular. Some other brands started more gently. They introduced cheaper, smaller plastic fenders, removed rear racks, center stands, decreased size of the tanks, soft ignition keys etc etc. Not good but not as dangerous as our leader in cost cutting does.

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.

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.

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.

Im saying nothing

Mezo.