Hello Kitty wrote:dcgsrider wrote:I know this topic has been beat to death elsewhere, but it NHTSA lowers the boom, what remedy are we expecting from Motorrad? A massive recall and replacement of the rear drive over multiple model years?At what point has the company met its obligations to provide a safe and reliable product? Not arguing, just asking.
That's a good question, Paul. And I suppose it's a tough one to answer. You are probably right that a complete and total recall is a bit extreme. But what? Lifetime warranty?
I think the real (IMO, legitimate) beef people have with this is the very long range of model years that have this common problem. If it were one, two, heck even three model years that had this and BMW realized there was a flaw somewhere and did something to correct the problem, then it would be more acceptable. To me, anyway. But for the length of time that this has gone on... Wow. I don't really follow BMW 'stuff' much anymore, but I've heard rumblings that the FD failure continues on the latest models as well. I have no evidence to back that up, just saying "I heard" May or may not be true. I do know it was true for me as well as several other people I know personally. Not all were LD types, so let's not try to blame people who ride their motorcycles.
I was fortunate that I was able to get home and to a local shop for a repair. I wasn'ts stranded somewhere needing a tow for hundreds of miles or anything crazy like needing to fly home, etc. But other folks have. They don't get reimbursed for that. We all take a certain amount of risk and need to accept it before hoping on our bikes for a long trip. But, when the manufacturer has a known defect and ignores it for years and years and years? That's a different story IMO.
Just my thoughts on this - no real answer to your question I know. Wonder what others think would be a reasonable way to handle it.
To dig in a little deeper, if there's a safety claim being asserted--safety claims are more likely to get NHTSA's attention and warrant an investigation--then the remedy requested needs to be commensurate to the claimed defect. If the failures are a safety hazard, rather than merely a costly inconvenience (stranding), then asking for BMW to replace them only when they fail--or offer a "lifetime warranty"--seems a little inconsistent to me. I've heard that a failure *can* result in a sudden rear wheel lockup with no warning. A definite hazard. If that's the case, and there's adequate documentation of same, why are we not asking BMW to replace them en masse? Waiting for them to fail improves no one's safety.
I had a similar issue with my GS, which has "gone through" two stock rear shocks. Both lost their seals and failed at 18k and 12k miles respectively. I was a little surprised to learn there was not one report on the NHTSA web site, despite the fact this topic is endlessly talked about on various forums and is regarded of a common failure point on both the 1200 GS and GSA. Of course, you rarely hear from people who don't experience failures. People who complain are a self-selected sample. My conclusion--shock failures are an annoyance, but not a safety-related item and shocks are "wear item" that I fully expect to service/replace over the life of my motorcycle. My Paralever final drive: service yes, replace no.
