No Honda ST1300 in Iron Butt. Hmm.

[DDHR1150RT]

On another note, I just thought that this was rather peculiar.

Did anyone ever notice that the new Honda ST1300 was NOT represented in this years Iron Butt run? Check the roster, I saw none listed.

Look out BMW and Honda, Yamaha is getting some recognition in sport touring bikes, FJR is nipping at your heels! Two of the top ten finishers.

[kbasa]

Originally posted by DDHR1150RT
Look out BMW and Honda, Yamaha is getting some recognition in sport touring bikes, FJR is nipping at your heels! Two of the top ten finishers.

A VFR finished in the top 5 too. The folks with the LT that blew a final drive bought a Wing to replace their busted ride.

[widebmw]

I just looked at the IB site and saw, finished 5-ST1100's
2-ST1300's

[DDHR1150RT]

Originally posted by widebmw
I just looked at the IB site and saw, finished 5-ST1100's
2-ST1300's

As noted above, I stand corrected, there is two Honda ST1300's listed on the Iron Butt rally roster. My eyes are going buggy!


Oh well, are there any reports of the Honda St's or the Yamaha FJR1300's breaking down? Needless to say BMW didn't fare too well in the Iron Butt, mechanically speaking mind you.

(50% of the starting grid and 90% of mechanical failures)

[kbasa]

Here's the number we're looking for: What percentage of BMWs failed?

[DDHR1150RT]

Originally posted by KBasa
Here's the number we're looking for: What percentage of BMWs failed?

A good point is made here but, the reality of alternator belt failures and rear end failures amongst BMW motorcycles in the Iron Butt rally is just too darn incidental to be dismissed. And, of course, many more BMW motorcycle owners may have experienced these same mechanical failures, and or other mechanical or electrical failures that BMW NA fails to acknowledge as problems. Most Oilhead owners will no doubt acknowledge the existence of surging among the oilhead bikes and yet BMW fails to give these owners a simple statement of acknowledgment of a problem. The K series bikes have their own quirks (especially the weak rearends) and the airhead owners often complain of numerous electrical and mechanical faults.

These motorcycles are touted as the best engineered and built motorcycles in the world and I for one am beginning to question this claim. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely devoted to BMW. I have owned competeing brands and I believe that no other manufacturer produces a cutting edge product as BMW does but, reading the results of the Iron Butt rally in regards to the mechanical failures among makes should raise the red flag to BMW as a purveyor of premium motorcycles. Yes, my own experiences with my newest BMW motorcycle has left me in question of reliability issues so I may just be a little more biased than most. It will be interseting to see if BMW motorcycles will finally take some notice of their engineering mistakes and offer their customers a bit of reprieve instead of mockery.

[dizave]

Originally posted by DDHR1150RT
It will be interseting to see if BMW motorcycles will finally take some notice of their engineering mistakes and offer their customers a bit of reprieve instead of mockery.

Actually, they're trying a new strategy where the bikes spontaneously combust, taking their owners out in the process.

I have to admit, every time I take the bike out for a multiday trip I wonder if that will be the trip where the final drive fails.

[bikerfish1100]

"I'm not a statistics expert, but I can copy and paste a table into Excel and then do some intelligent math. Here's what I found:

brand: started - DNF = survival rate
All: 117 - 23 = 80%
BMW: 54 - 11 = 80%
Honda: 31 - 6 = 81%
Yamaha: 14 - 3 = 79%
Other: 11 - 1 = 91%
Harley-Davidson: 7 - 2 = 71%

'Other' is Kawasaki, Triumph, Buell, and Aprilia.

BMW's failure rate was nothing special. To be fair, H-D's rate from these results is based on too small a sample to be meaningful."

And 60% of the top ten were beemers, including top male and top female.

Wear items like alternator belts and bearings should not automatically be looked at as "machine failure", prior to consideration given to the possibility of "rider failure", based on their failure of following proper maintenace schedules (tho maybe not, as premature destruction can/does happen). Also, the issue of how many miles did these accumulated "failed" beemers have on them vs. miles on the other brands comes into play. Just more points to consider before we throw our babies out with the bath water.

[dizave]

Wear items like alternator belts and bearings should not automatically be looked at as "machine failure", prior to consideration given to the possibility of "rider failure", based on their failure of following proper maintenace schedules (tho maybe not, as premature destruction can/does happen).

I'd certainly be willing to give these guys the benefit of the doubt on maintenance. It's not really an event that you go into without having done big miles before, and you don't do big miles without learning about maintenance.

My trip last month I carried two spare alternator belts.

[tel]

Originally posted by bikerfish1100
"I'm not a statistics expert, but I can copy and paste a table into Excel and then do some intelligent math. Here's what I found:

brand: started - DNF = survival rate
All: 117 - 23 = 80%
BMW: 54 - 11 = 80%
Honda: 31 - 6 = 81%
Yamaha: 14 - 3 = 79%
Other: 11 - 1 = 91%
Harley-Davidson: 7 - 2 = 71%

'Other' is Kawasaki, Triumph, Buell, and Aprilia.

BMW's failure rate was nothing special. To be fair, H-D's rate from these results is based on too small a sample to be meaningful."

And 60% of the top ten were beemers, including top male and top female.

I think that your math is a little simplistic. Some of the the DNF's were not related to bike breakdowns.