08-26-2014, 12:27 AM
I've mentioned ( or maybe ranted ) before about how I left BMW after owning 8 or 10 of them due to the fact of increasing complexity and high cost to maintain. BMW motorcycles have become like their cars and some other brands ( Mercedes ) where they are great to own, but you don't want to own one after the warranty expires.
To be clear, I'm not lamenting the safety improvements like ABS brakes and traction control, but other increased technology seemingly installed just for the sake of being able to claim technological supremacy of their brand. Do we really need a front shock absorber that talks through the onboard computer to the rear shock, telling it that it just went over a bump and to get ready for it? And what happens when something goes wrong? How does an owner trouble shoot that, to determine just where the problem lies? Answer is, he can't. Back to the dealer it goes and probably waits three weeks for parts from Germany. Are the shocks going to cost $2,000 each to replace, along with a $4,000 computer? Their clutch jobs already cost $4,000, and final drives over $2,000.
To be clear, I'm not lamenting the safety improvements like ABS brakes and traction control, but other increased technology seemingly installed just for the sake of being able to claim technological supremacy of their brand. Do we really need a front shock absorber that talks through the onboard computer to the rear shock, telling it that it just went over a bump and to get ready for it? And what happens when something goes wrong? How does an owner trouble shoot that, to determine just where the problem lies? Answer is, he can't. Back to the dealer it goes and probably waits three weeks for parts from Germany. Are the shocks going to cost $2,000 each to replace, along with a $4,000 computer? Their clutch jobs already cost $4,000, and final drives over $2,000.