Reliability

[the Ferret]

I know that BMW motorcycles are far from being bullet-proof. They have good year bad year, good model bad model. The first years of the K1200S were not great from what I heard from owners.

I wonder whether Consumer Reports study took into account the annual mileage that respective owners ride.

Many Harley riders I know have barely have 12,000+ miles on the odo for 13+ years of ownership of the bikes. So less than 1000 miles per year. Another one I know bought a 11 year-old Fat Boy with less than 500 miles on the odo.

I don't know the mileage that most Japanese motorcycles riders do annually, so I can't tell. If I base on Japanese bikes riders who are my friends, then they ride less than 7,000 miles per year. Among them, those with sport bikes ride much less than that, 5000 miles per year at best.

However, I observe that BMW riders tend to use their bikes much more than the average riders. I ride about 22,000-24,000 miles per year, splitted between my BMW F800GT and my CB1100. And my mileage is nothing compared to the mileage that other BMW riders do.

So my point is, if the bike is less used, it will sure have less problems.

I would like to read a study where bikes are used in the same conditions, same mileage per year, then we will have a better idea.

I've heard this argument before and truth is no matter the brand there are some guys who ride a lot and some guys who ride very little. I've seen Harley's with big miles and Beemer's with virtually no miles. When I was considering a BMW R1200R it was no problem finding low mileage 2010-2014 garage queens, under 10,000 miles fully decked out. Same goes for Honda CB 1100's. Seen them advertised here with less than 1,000 miles. Seen pics of CB 1100 odometers with 60,000 miles. Same model, same year. I think the average mileage for motorcyclists in the U.S. is about 2,500 miles per year. Like you, my bikes are ridden. Both bikes are Japanese. My ST is approaching 107,000 miles and my CB just crested 37,000 miles. But not everyone has the time or particularly, the inclination, to ride as much as we do...and there are guys who ride a lot more than we do. My 25,000 miles a year usually finishes about 10th on the ST (Japanese bike) forum and the leader is usually around 50-60,000 miles a year. Right now I am sitting in 10th with 3300 miles while the leader is sitting at 8250 miles, and it's only mid March. Here's a screen shot from last years mileage tracker. I finished 8th with nearly 30K while the leader had nearly 63K.

(Click to enlarge and click on box in upper rh corner to make full size)



We often paint with a broad brush, but truth is when it comes to motorcyclists and motorcycle brands, and mileage, there is no one brush that covers us all. Regardless of brand, some guys are riders, some guys are just owners, and then there are guys that are in between those two groups.