BMW service campaign for over 400,000 bikes

[Cormanus]

There must be a reason chains are the most common final drive on motorcycles.

[pekingduck]

It's terrible for BMW that it affects 400,000 bikes.

It's great for BMW that they had sold that many of a very expensive model.

[the Ferret]

There must be a reason chains are the most common final drive on motorcycles.

Yeah, they are cheap, and few motorcyclists are penalized by having one since they rarely ride. Average chain with any maintenance at all will go 20,000 miles. Average motorcyclist rides about 2,500 miles a year and rarely puts more than 10,000 miles on a motorcycle before trading it in.

There must be a reason you dont find any chain driven cars.

[Cormanus]

Honda used to make a chain driven car!

[the Ferret]

Yes they did, S600 I believe

[peterbaron]

Yes they did, S600 I believe

Yeah, and these are not cheep!

[GoldOxide_imp]

There must be a reason chains are the most common final drive on motorcycles.

Because they are cheap and light.

Sounds like good business sense - right?

[Olyrider]

I bought a 1200GS new in 2005. At 3,000 odo miles, the alternator belt seized in Mexico one mile from the U.S. border (Douglas, AZ). Towed to Tuscon, the dealer took one off a bike on the floor so I could continue home to Seattle. I soon learned that GS 1200 riders actually travelled with a spare final drive, considering it a “necessity”. Which is why all of us GS riders always had very big, and very expensive, hard luggage. Full of tools and parts. The next worry became the “antenna” around the ignition key hole that read the key. They put it on with security bolts. And charged almost $300 for it. After numerous fails in very remote places on the globe, BMW, claiming it was “not” a faulty part, reduced the price to about $30. Many of us bought a new antenna, and replaced the old one in the comfort of a warm garage. Since BMW didn’t fix the problem, we put the new one on knowing the original one was in working order. This was a new world for me, coming from Honda and Triumph. I eventually soured on the brand.

[GoldOxide_imp]

... I guess if I had any urge to ever acquire a BMW, reasons like this probably squashed that ambition once and for all.

[Tev62]

My buddy just took his 2018 R1200GS for a fix to his "SOS" button today. He purchased it 5 months ago as the 2nd owner through the local BMW dealer. The previous owner had only put 1800km on it in 3 years (what a waste). Not only did they fix the SOS button they replaced his entire shaft drive under warranty even though he was having no problems at all. They just said BMW paid for it with no explanation as to the problem???

Final shaft problems in the year of our Loard 2022 ??

Man, that is some crappy engineering.

Man.

Considering how long they have been making this bike it is a poor reflection on their quality processes yes.