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BMW Motorrad Advisory: Stop Riding Your 2014 R1200RT

MikeBoom

New member
Calls are going out, advising owners of ESA-equipped 2014 RTs (water-cooled) to immediately cease riding. Information is scant, but this is apparently the BMW statement:

"We regret to inform you that with immediate effect all 2014 R 1200 RT with Dynamic ESA must not be ridden. At this moment, we cannot guarantee that the plunger rod assembly for the rear suspension unit will not fail.
"Customers of affected machines will be contacted by their dealer immediately and asked not to ride their motorcycle. Whilst this is extremely disappointing for our customers their safety is BMW Motorrad's priority."

More info: http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=888214#Post888214
 
Apparently this applies to all ESA-equipped RTs, regardless of country. The first notifications of this originated in Europe and the U.K.
 
05.06.2014 - Comunicazione Ufficiale BMW Motorrad

BMW Motorrad provides owners of the model BMW R 1200 RT with precautionary information concerning a potential defect in the rear spring strut.

Munich.As of today, BMW Motorrad is notifying all owners of the current R 1200 RT, model year 2014, fitted with the Dynamic ESA option that there is a potential defect in the rear spring strut. At the present time it cannot be ruled out that the piston rod of the rear spring strut in connection with the Dynamic ESA option could potentially break. For this reason, customers are requested not to ride their motorcycle until further notice. This is a precautionary measure which BMW Motorrad is taking in the interests of customer safety based on a supplier report. To date there have been no injuries related to this issue. Approximately 8,000 vehicles are affected by this measure worldwide.

A technical campaign is in preparation to replace the part in question. BMW Motorrad regrets any inconvenience caused to customers affected by this precautionary measure.
 
Interesting there is nothing on BMW's site about this.

Follow up call ...

Seals leak when internal strut fails leading to a fluid dump on rear tire followed up with ... unusual handling dynamics and an unplanned possible personal grim reaper visitation.
 
Follow up call ...

Seals leak when internal strut fails leading to a fluid dump on rear tire followed up with ... unusual handling dynamics and an unplanned possible personal grim reaper visitation.

I was going to pick up a new Rt Friday and the dealer called with the bad news....
Already have insurance and not sure how long this will take.
8000 is a lot of shocks to replace so it could be a while.
Hopefully this is not the future of my relationship with BMW
 
Jeebus, BMW Motorrad has had a terrible time over the past several years with parts made by vendors not being of sound design or construction. WTF is going on there? Water pumps, switch clusters, and now ESA shocks. Are they not doing full stress testing on these parts before they're shipped to customers?
 
Jeebus, BMW Motorrad has had a terrible time over the past several years with parts made by vendors not being of sound design or construction. WTF is going on there? Water pumps, switch clusters, and now ESA shocks. Are they not doing full stress testing on these parts before they're shipped to customers?

The apparent answer is: NO
 
My head may explode over this. Took delivery on a new RT last Saturday, have run in service scheduled for tomorrow. And, more importantly, had a 2000 mile trip including the classic western NC roads scheduled for next week. Haven't gotten a call though.

No call from my dealer either...glad I view the internet.
 
No call from my dealer either...glad I view the internet.

Guys, this is not for all 2014 RTs... there is a specific VIN range and my dealer just confirmed that my Feb 22 delivery date RT (with ESA) is NOT affected. I am good. So for some us, we can ride on. For others, it has got to bite. Sorry guys.

Ignore above... just got a call back... yep, am affected too... they say the list of VINs are all over the place and hard to sort out... but it is every one so far with an RT.
 
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Just got the call from my dealer - and I was having so much fun! Oh, well, I'll ride it home from work and park it. I was looking forward to the 600 mile check up next week, but I guess I'll just have to ride the rusty but trusty R60/6.
 
And some people ask why you need more than one bike HA! Backups are a must in my book. I just got the TankSlapper protection film, looks like I?ll have some free time to install. I just put my 02RT1150RT up for sale maybe this will help me get a good price. Ok I'm looking for all the positives I can find.

Jay
 
It's 10 PM in Germany right now...think they're pulling an overnight-er to figure this out? Wonder what led to this, a bunch injured and/or killed...or final tested the shock and it imploded on the workbench?
 
I guess this moves back my delivery date. :banghead I've been tracking mine and it's in the mid-Atlantic now with a scheduled arrival of next Wednesday. I was hoping to pick it up in early July after I got back from business travel but looks like August is more realistic (less unrealistic?). I really wanted to take it on my September trip but may be stuck doing it with my GTL.
 
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