Looking for some good Karma

[Ctrod]

We've all hear all the horror stories out there. Lets change it up a little.
How many riders out there have never had a problem with their bike? And self inflicted problems don't count.
2006 RT1200RT: 27000 miles and counting. :thumb

[RTs4me]

Yup, I agree. The various forums (fora?) contain many grumbles and horror stories. People tend to report or ask about bad experiences, but don't seem to report satisfaction as readily.

For the record, I'm on my 2nd R1200RT. 3000 miles so far, trouble-free. No final drive, EWS or FPC problems. My previous bike was a 2006 R1200RT. That did 24000 miles, all trouble-free. One recall for front ABS sensor cable re-route.

Prior to the 1200s, I had two R1150RTs. Yup, you guessed it, both trouble free over 60000 combined miles. Should I buy a lottery ticket!;)

[gossamerjohn]

Not a hexhead but, I'm driving a 1976 R60/6. No problems and I don't anticipate any.

Take care of them, they'll take care of you.

[deilenberger]

'07 R1200R, 24,000 miles, no problems.

Works for me..

[47512]

I seem to get along with motorcycles with minium issues. Curent ride 08 R1200R 6000 miles no probblems. 06 Ducati Multistrada, 13,000 miles, no probblems. 90 K100RS 46,000 miles, fuel level sender. 83 Yamaha Vision, 44,000 miles, 1 generator failure. 75 R75/6, 168,000 miles, top end, and a clutch and still going. 75 Norton Commando 60,000 miles. minor stuff. And still going. None of these motorcycles ever left me stranded. I bought them new, and still own them all except the KRS. IT seems the only time I take my tools out is to fix somebody elces motorcycle. Maintaince, maintance, maintance, take proper care of your motorcycle, replace parts when it needs them, don't go looking for the cheepest possable replacement, use the factory parts. New motorcycles and their electronics do make it alittle more difficult for road side repairs and those are quite rare now. If I see someone stopped along side the road it is genneraly because they are out of fuel, have a flat, or are lost. If you pay attention to all the complaining on verious motorcycle web sites one might get the impression that you would not want to ride any of them very far because of comfort, of reliability issues.

Ken G.

[porterjet]

3 Harley's in 4 years, no problems. No problems with my RT either. Course I haven't taken delivery yet :scratch but I'm off to a good start.

[darrylm]

08 R1200RT. 8K miles. Never missed a beat. Love it. EWS replaced with no events. Getting ready to go from Florida to San Diego and have no reservations about it.

[AKBeemer]

07 RT, no problems. More motorcycle than I deserve.:brad

[leadfoot]

Loving mine. 7 months and 7K miles. No problems. I absolutely enjoy the Sport feel as well as the Touring capability. As a matter of fact, I think I am going to have to prove to a co-worker that I think my RT will out accelerate his Suzuki Bandit. If not, I think it will be close.

No complaints here.........great thread idea!!:dance

[Professor]

07 R1200RT - Only 15 months old - no problems at all and I'm not expecting any.

[E_Page]

Bought my '02 RT in July with 41,000 on it. About 1000 miles later, I had the ABS pump go out. 9000 miles since and no real issues.

I've been really pleased with this bike. It feels just broke in at a little over 50,000 miles. My previous Yamaha was pretty much done well before that.

[Rpbump]

2001 HD Sportster ( 6,000) miles and a 2004 CLC (11,000) miles and no problems over the last 2 years. I now have a 1996 Sportster that I service myself and the CLC that is dealer serviced. After Oct 09 when my warrantee expires on the CLC I will do the fluid changes and valve adjustments.
Ride Safe :usa :usa

[rglassma]

Yep.. '05 RT - 25K. 13K in the last year.. No problems. In for service for standard maintenance and tires. Love it..

[Bird Man]

My 05 GS has went 27000+ with out any problems. Wifes o6 RT is now at 18000+ also without any problems at all. I have ridden for 40 years and these are the best and most trouble free bikes I have owned by far. They are soooo much fun!

[joelaw]

I have been riding motorcycles for 50+ years and have accumulated more than 500k miles (400K+ on BMWs). I have never been stranded beside the road, except when I hit a van that pulled out in front of me and the Harley I managed to ride over the side of a mountain road, can't say either of those situations were caused by the motorcycles involved.

Currently the stable has a 1991 K100LT, 107,000+ trouble free miles. 1978 R100/7 with a side car, 70,000 trouble free miles. 2005 R1200RT 22,000 trouble free miles.

Other BMW's have been: 2002 R1150RT 70,000 miles; 1998 R1100RT 20,000 miles; 1996 R100RT (hit van) 27,000 miles; 1985 K100RT 88,000 miles; 1980 R100RT 17,000 miles and a 1976 R90/6 46,000 miles.

These motorcycles were/are daily riders. One of them was a Three Flags participant, another was a Four Coners participant. All received regular maintnenace, but nothing special. Except for the 2005 R1200RT, which so far has been serviced with BMW lubricants, all the others were/are serviced with off shelf name brand (Castrol, etc) lubricants.

[TGA57589]

I just like the idea that you guys want to hear something good. What a nice sound in anything, GOOD.

You know on another note, I wish I could not only use this message board for BMW related issues but other things where some sense was needed. It's pretty nice when you can sit here read a little bit and possibly come to a conclusion with information you read. You know like we're all in this together not like the every man for themselves world like when you step out the front door?

[liv2ryd]

About 16k miles on the GS and no problems, took me to Alaska and back to Denver in '07 and didn't miss a beat, and got no worse than 42 mpg pretty heavily loaded and running fast on the AK Highway. It also has tackled some fairly challenging Colorado back roads, too. 09s are too new to report on but I expect the same.

[Andy VH]

Not a Hexhead, but my 94 R1100RS is approaching 140,000 miles with no failures after BMW ponied up and gave me a new transmission at 60,000 miles! That was well out of the warranty range, but they knew certain early oilheads had tranny issues and I had the records to prove it.

The ABS modulator did fail at about 55,000 miles, which "may" have been caused by numerous low-battery voltage cold-morning starts, Not sure. I replaced it myself with a salvaged part for $250.

Since then, and actually aside from that tranny issue, this bike has been reliable as a rock. Now I am doing maintenance related to the wear of mileage, not due to component issues or failures. I expect to ride it to 200,000 miles at least.

[OHBobH]

2007 R1200RT, owned since Oct '07. Put about 23k miles on her last year, currently has just shy of 33k miles, with no items of any significance. Reliable, dependable, economical and fast, when compared with my H-D. This is my 4th RT, and all but the 1997 gave me no problems. The '97 dropped a clutch, but fortunately in my back yard.

I'm on my 4th Harley dresser, and only had a problem with my '02- cam chain tentioner at 40k miles. The bike ran OK, just a little noisy.

[bogthebasher]

Two RTs - both with about 15K Kms with zero problems.

:dance

:ca

[rspennachio]

2007 R 1200 RT bought new in Feb 08. It has just under 7000 miles.

I have two modifications.

1. Replaced the single "meep meep" horn with the dual tone horns from the 2005-2006 era.
2. Kisan trailBlazer decelerating brake lamps.


All trouble free.:rocker

[r11rs94]

3 BMW's R-80/7 with 33,000 miles only failed to get me home once and it was my fault. 94 R-1100-RS 77,000 miles and never failed to get me home. 04 R-1150-RT with 40,000, never failed to get me home. No major problems. I must live a charmed life.

[cookie]

Been riding over 30 years all kinds of bikes. Best bike yet is my 08 R1200RT by far. I have never had a problem with the late model bikes. I do agree we see a lot of the same old complaints, however I think alot of us stay tuned for new issues, products, rides etc.

[LoneRanger]

I haven't had one problem yet with my 08 RT. Of course I have only put about 30 miles on it so far. :laugh My 07 Moto Guzzi Norge was problem free for 6,500 miles. Oh wait - I do have a problem with my RT. I can not figure out how to set stations on the radio. I have sat on the bike with the manual and pushed all the buttons like it says and when I push the manual button to set the chosen station the radio goes dead. When it gets a little warmer than 30 degrees I will try it again. Also, my battery could be low too......:laugh

[dlowry]

In 35+ years on motorbikes of all descriptions, the only mechanical failure I had was my second bike, a Honda SL70. I was 12 years old, hadn't paid attention to the chain adjustment as I should have, and while bounding through a mud bog the chain came off and lodged itself around the primary sprocket causing the transmission to halt suddenly and the engine turned over a few more times before stalling out. Lost most of the teeth in the tranny.

Current ride, an 05 R12RT has over 50,000kms on it and no issues, none. I've added the bigger wind screen, still running the BMW windshield struts, added my own fuse block triggered by the canbus, no problems, used up a set of tires a season, but that's about it. The wife's R12CL is just fine as well, as were all of her bikes before that.

If I paid any attention to all of the doom'n'gloom around here I would have sold the BMW's off and hid in the cellar.

My cars on the other hand . . .

[_RockZ_]

Nice to hear Just picked up My 2005 rt 1200 today,

excited about the spring had the 2007 r for about 10000 miles and need some more luxury so they traded me:dance :dance :dance

[ojhengen]

I have 26K on my '07 RT. No problems so far. Wonderful long-distance touring machine.

[mistercindy]

2005 R1200GS with 52,000 miles. Pretty much normal maintenance. Religious observance of 6,000 mile services, numerous bulbs, numerous tires, couple of batteries, etc... Exceptions:

Cluster replaced under warranty at 13,181 miles because the clock was bad.
Small part on gas line resulted in a very slight gasoline leak which smelled a lot worse than it was. Part plus labor to replace it was $42.