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It's BMW Scooter Time!

Thanks Jim
I did look at the scooter today and yes you can see that the underside has been rubbed a few times as the dirt has been marked. How often has this happened I do not know but it will definitely been shown to the dealer next time it goes in. I do not know what they will do but yes it is a safety concerns, maybe not today but in time. Sorry the attached photo is upside down. (i tried to correct it but I am working on my phone) Jim is this what you see on your scooter.
Jeff

Mine had less dirt but the marks on the fairing were bigger and obvious - I pointed it out to the dealer and will see what they say about it when I'm back there tomorrow.

My GT also had a stalling issue that got much worse on Tuesday (stalled a dozen times that morning and I was able to reproduce it in 5 minutes in the dealer's lot with a tech watching), requiring me to take it in immediately, and after the dealer contacted BMW they are trying to diagnose but mine is not the first time they've seen the issue. BMW's first two suggestions were, I think, the sidestand kill switch and something like a kinked "idle vent hose" (now exceeding my mechanical knowledge). So if your bike bucks and surges or stalls at low speed (in particular after giving it a little gas then chopping the throttle at under 15mph), take it right in, BMW knows about it. Such is the nature of working out the kinks in a new model I suppose! Assuming they can fix the stall, I'm still totally in love with the bike.
 
I don't know if it makes any more sense to me now, Where is the brake hose???
 

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I don't know if it makes any more sense to me now, Where is the brake hose???

The brake line runs from the bottom left corner through the bracket. This picture is taken from the back end looking foreword. At the present time the brake line is not touching but when the suspension compresses it touches the plastic above. (Thanks for turning the pictures over) the knob you see almost in the center of the picture is the back end of the shock above the pivot point. Just to the right of that is the location of contact
 
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I think I understand, I thought it was the tire making contact. I see the rub mark, so it is the brakeline contacting the plastic. Is the plastic the splash shield or is that the bottom of the storage area under the seat?
 
Cooling hoses

There is another place that might cause a chafe problem. The small hoses that go to the coolant fill that is visible when you access the battery, are hard against a sharp corner that is the back side of the right hand glove box. I've put some clear plastic hose over the small hoses, held in place with wire ties. Photo is looking up the right hand fork leg.
 

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I think I understand, I thought it was the tire making contact. I see the rub mark, so it is the brakeline contacting the plastic. Is the plastic the splash shield or is that the bottom of the storage area under the seat?

This spot is directly below the riders seat (not passenger) the location is where the helmet would get stored under the seat
 
BMW Motorrad have announced a factory "low seat" option for both the C 600 Sport and C 650 GT scooters. The lower seat will be a no-cost option and available as of February 1st, 2013. It will also form part of the very extensive BMW Motorrad accessories list.

Just under 3/4" (20mm) . That is not enough to help me.
 
I sat on the 650 at the Toronto show today. Going to wait and check out the lower seat option in February.
 
Stumbling Scoot

One of the problems with our scooters is that there is a vapor recovery system, which is a canister of charcoal. If one fills the tank and then lets it set in the sun after a short ride, without using a bit of the fuel, it will expand enough to put some fuel in the canister. Fuel in the canister causes the stumbling and even stalling. This is a recurring problem with Vespas. It takes a longish ride to suck the fuel back out of the canister.
 
One of the problems with our scooters is that there is a vapor recovery system, which is a canister of charcoal. If one fills the tank and then lets it set in the sun after a short ride, without using a bit of the fuel, it will expand enough to put some fuel in the canister. Fuel in the canister causes the stumbling and even stalling. This is a recurring problem with Vespas. It takes a longish ride to suck the fuel back out of the canister.

Interesting - this hose was mis-routed on mine and they re-routed it! I will ask about this. I note though that for mine, it was still stalling easily at the tail end of a 45+ minute ride. It was also doing it even with a nearly empty fuel tank.
 
Update: I called and the tech explained that on this model, the vapor recovery canister is up high in the fairing, much higher than the gas tank, and that unlike a Vespa, this is unlikely without a tip over though not impossible, and said he would check. What's interesting here is that the hose connecting to that canister was routed very obviously wrong on my bike - as in, anyone who looked at it in any kind of assembly QC would have noticed immediately, it was totally in the way of glove box closure, squeaking and groaning, and could not be stretched to go into the clip that was placed there for it because of the misrouting. Whether this has anything to do with the bike's issues, who knows.

Of course, figuring that out requires that they actually put the bike back on the rack and work on it. {Sigh} I'm not really feeling the BMW love right now.

I've had the bike for all of 3 weeks, and it's been at the shop for a week of that at this point with a serious problem and safety issue and no apparent progress toward fixing it, and not a whole lot of apparent effort to even try - they said they asked BMW for guidance on Wednesday and BMW responded Thursday morning but on Friday they admitted that the bike had been sitting there with no more work since that time, and I went in there today to find them not working on it today either. :banghead

I had been planning to ride it to L.A. next week but obviously that's not happening.

Man, I was really happy when I got this thing and the platform has great potential but getting a new vehicle with a serious engine problem and having the dealer tell me they have basically no idea how to diagnose or fix it while it sits there for a week is leaving me a pretty unhappy and unimpressed customer. Hopefully they will get it fixed while I'm traveling and my feelings will change but right now, I'm thinking about how I will deal with a lemon situation...
 
Yeah as I commented before, I'll feel at home on one of these because the K1200GT (slant) owners were the beta-testers for the factory. Check out thread after thread of GTs being in the shop for months with shredded engines.

I can only assume that even the tech reps are still awaiting training and probably the techs too, it just came out recently and from my experience too often training follows the product, not preceeds it.

That's the problem with being the "first on the block" to get anything at all, really (except maybe a new breakfast cereal). I am still thinking the dealer is doing me a great favor by lining me up with this scooter that will be built this month and delivered in March. May have even been better to wait for the next model year, but I was offered a relaly good trade-in on my GT so thought it was a good jumping-off point.
 
Yeah as I commented before, I'll feel at home on one of these because the K1200GT (slant) owners were the beta-testers for the factory. Check out thread after thread of GTs being in the shop for months with shredded engines.

I can only assume that even the tech reps are still awaiting training and probably the techs too, it just came out recently and from my experience too often training follows the product, not preceeds it.

That's the problem with being the "first on the block" to get anything at all, really (except maybe a new breakfast cereal). I am still thinking the dealer is doing me a great favor by lining me up with this scooter that will be built this month and delivered in March. May have even been better to wait for the next model year, but I was offered a relaly good trade-in on my GT so thought it was a good jumping-off point.

All I can say is I desperately, desperately hope you are wrong - if they do not remedy this quickly I will arbitrate with the dealer or do whatever is necessary to be rid of the bike, will never buy another BMW (car, motorcycle, or BMW affiliated brand) or allow any other member of my immediate family to do so (and for avoidance of doubt, we've had 4 BMW cars between us including one current M3 and I was contemplating an M6 as my next), and will make sure as many people as possible are warned.

I'm trying my best to remain calm but frankly having difficulty and so using the forum to vent here - I absolutely love the bike if not for this issue, I have not adopted a complaining tone with anyone at the dealer yet, and new models have niggles, I accept that. These are machines, they're not perfect, and you have to give them a chance to fix things. Failing to fix seriously defective brand new bikes with all attention and speed, on the other hand, is totally unacceptable, and right now, the feeling I am getting from the dealer after the bike has sat there for three days without being looked at after hearing back from BMW NA is not at all reassuring. (More like we've got your money, BMW isn't telling us much that's useful, and we'll deal with your problem if and when we feel like it - at one point a mechanic actually seemed to suggest that there might be nothing they could do for me and I might just have to take the bike back and ride it home like this, as though I were supposed to accept the bike dying in motion constantly, and I actually had to say to him aloud that there was no way I was going to ride a bike home that was manifestly unsafe. I am frankly still in shock at the suggestion and that I was actually put in the position of having to tell this to someone.)
 
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Jim,
Did you bring the brake line rubbing to your dealers attention, is so what was their explanation
Thx
 
Jim,
Did you bring the brake line rubbing to your dealers attention, is so what was their explanation
Thx

I did, and they didn't have a good one (or really have one at all) - in fact, I asked what they would do about it and the person I was speaking to said he didn't think there was anything that could be done, it was a problem with the design. I was thinking I would try something myself I guess. (This didn't help my confidence with the situation either though.)
 
I did, and they didn't have a good one (or really have one at all) - in fact, I asked what they would do about it and the person I was speaking to said he didn't think there was anything that could be done, it was a problem with the design. I was thinking I would try something myself I guess. (This didn't help my confidence with the situation either though.)

As for the brake line issue and maybe the stalling issue is there anyway that it could be brought to the attention of the government group I think it is the NHTSA and maybe they could make the items a recall issue because they are safety issues. They are the group that would force BMW to come up with a solution

In the states do they not have a Lemon or does it only apply to cars?
 
As for the brake line issue and maybe the stalling issue is there anyway that it could be brought to the attention of the government group I think it is the NHTSA and maybe they could make the items a recall issue because they are safety issues. They are the group that would force BMW to come up with a solution

In the states do they not have a Lemon or does it only apply to cars?

In CA I believe there are parts of the Lemon Law that apply to bikes but many of the parts you hear about only apply to new cars if I read correctly, though I can't think of a logical reason for this distinction (at least as applied to highway-legal bikes sold by CA franchise licensing major OEMs) other than lobbying dollars against it.

I agree an NHTSA report is justified here - it's too early to call if the brake line thing is more than cosmetic or may be fixed before it could likely be a problem, but the stalling issue is 100% certainly the kind of defect that will actually kill you. (Mine has already died when I was lane splitting, and also when I was making a turn - short of failing brakes, an engine which dies in motion is about as serious as it gets.) Unfortunately this is unlikely to result in any change before I would be rid of the bike if it's not fixed soon. Perhaps I am overreacting, but I am surprised that they have not already issued a recall, TSB or other communication even without that actually - BMW is aware of the issue (aware enough to tell my dealer they've seen it before, assuming my dealer informs me correctly, and recommend things to check, when they've only been sold here what, a month?) and seemingly waiting for people to either bring their bikes in on their own or get killed...
 
In CA I believe there are parts of the Lemon Law that apply to bikes but many of the parts you hear about only apply to new cars if I read correctly, though I can't think of a logical reason for this distinction (at least as applied to highway-legal bikes sold by CA franchise licensing major OEMs) other than lobbying dollars against it.

I agree an NHTSA report is justified here - it's too early to call if the brake line thing is more than cosmetic or may be fixed before it could likely be a problem, but the stalling issue is 100% certainly the kind of defect that will actually kill you. (Mine has already died when I was lane splitting, and also when I was making a turn - short of failing brakes, an engine which dies in motion is about as serious as it gets.) Unfortunately this is unlikely to result in any change before I would be rid of the bike if it's not fixed soon. Perhaps I am overreacting, but I am surprised that they have not already issued a recall, TSB or other communication even without that actually - BMW is aware of the issue (aware enough to tell my dealer they've seen it before, assuming my dealer informs me correctly, and recommend things to check, when they've only been sold here what, a month?) and seemingly waiting for people to either bring their bikes in on their own or get killed...

I am sorry to hear about the stalling issue. I am not sure how many people have the issue. As for my scooter the only thing that I have on my scooter under warranty to be fixed is the rear drive with seeping oil, not enough to drip but enough to be noticed when dirty. As I posted a picture earlier. I hope I do not have a stalling issue as time goes. I have about 700 miles on my scooter but it is pretty well away for the winter. Maybe 1 or 2 rides left. Just to get gas and fuel stabilizer in it.

Snow will be here soon
 
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