Any camshaft issues with the Shift Cam bikes?

My 2018 R1200GS has been quite a bit of trouble in the 7,500 miles and 2.5 years that I have owned it. The spokes on the rear wheel loosened up while I was in Italy and by the time I was back in the USA a spoke was gone and there was 8 mm of free play in the rear wheel. I learned to ignore the noisy camshafts until last year when BMW replaced them under warranty.

So while I love the bike for the adventure ride around Europe that it provided me, I have made up my mind to sell the bike as I no longer trust it for the future. The 2014 and newer bikes have had plenty of camshaft failures and even more are very likely to have the problem them just haven’t been taken to the dealer yet or are getting turned away like happened to me several times before I was able to get the noise addressed. I am glad I did or I would have had a $2,000 repair bill if out of warranty.

So the million dollar question is . . . Which bike to buy next? BMW doesn’t deserve any money out of me for the troubles they have caused me but maybe the shift cam engine has NOT had any camshaft failures. I haven’t seen any reports yet but many of those bikes have not seen much mileage yet.

Has anyone heard of camshaft failures on the new shift cam camshaft? I know it is up to the suppliers to build them properly as opposed to whether it is shift cam or not but maybe they got it sorted out for the new generation bikes.

NC

I saw one post where an owner claimed that said they'd seen on a shiftcam bike. I called this person out and said to show us evidence. You know, pictures. All I got was crickets. I do my own maintenance and when I did the 12k on my '19 1250RT the cams looked and felt perfect. Clearances at TDC were also perfect. I yet to see actually evidence that it's happening on shiftcam bikes.

You wont get any answers from us ‘21 RT owners, we’re too confused/frustrated by the TFT system to notice anything else.

cruisincruzan said:

You wont get any answers from us ‘21 RT owners, we’re too confused/frustrated by the TFT system to notice anything else.

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The marketing department have dictated that tech trumps reliability when it comes to the BMW brand.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

Anyone else?

It is Spring and I intend to buy either a Goldwing or R1250RT and the cam matter still has me going back and forth?

NC

numbercruncher said:

BMW doesn’t deserve any money out of me for the troubles they have caused me

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numbercruncher said:

Anyone else? It is Spring and I intend to buy either a Goldwing or R1250RT and the cam matter still has me going back and forth?

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Seems to me you answered your own question.

numbercruncher said:

Anyone else?

It is Spring and I intend to buy either a Goldwing or R1250RT and the cam matter still has me going back and forth?

NC

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There is a world of difference in layout and focus between those two bikes. A better comparison would be between the GW and the K1600GT or GTL. I’ve not heard of cam issues, or any other show stopping issues on the K1600s.

Best,
DeVern

Honda never has problems…we’ll maybe a few now and then: V-65 soft cams, Gold Wing frames and….

BMW figured out the cam issue years ago as they put out a Tech Bulletin. They have a new rocker arm they have been using. View attachment Rocker Arm MC-10165251-9999.pdf

If you want features, buy the BMW.
If you want reliability, buy the Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, or Suzuki.

I have stuck with a trouble-prone 1200GS simply because it is more fun to ride than the GL1800 that preceded it. I have nothing but good things to say about Honda engineering and customer support, however. Honda has PROACTIVELY fixed a number of potential problems on several of my new bike purchases over the years, while BMW has not. And, it’s not just Honda. You can do your own research to learn what Suzuki’s response was to their cam follower issues on the DL650’s, or what they did about POTENTIAL stator failure on those same bikes.

BMW sells interesting machines with often unique features that are not available elsewhere. Plus, the BMW community is unique and worth belonging to. Those are two very good reasons to stay with the brand and deal with frustrating and potentially expensive issues on your own nickel.

mikegalbicka said:

Seems to me you answered your own question.

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Well not quite. If I knew an R1250RT would be reliable then that is what I would buy as the bike is cheaper, lighter and has a gallon greater fuel capacity.

Sometimes having too many good choices makes life harder; albeit it is a good problem to have.

NC

numbercruncher said:

Well not quite. If I knew an R1250RT would be reliable then that is what I would buy as the bike is cheaper, lighter and has a gallon greater fuel capacity.

Sometimes having too many good choices makes life harder; albeit it is a good problem to have.

NC

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Since that is the bike you want the answer is clear, in my mind at least. Buy the R1250RT and at the same time get the best Extended Warranty you can. Then happily ride the bike for the next 7 or 8 years, knowing that any major expense for repairs is covered. Sure, the extended warranty is a few hundred bucks but the peace of mind is well worth the cost.

I don't know why you are upset with your bike. The spoke issue is on you, any bike with spoked wheels can develop a loose spoke at any time, if you noticed it was loose you could have stopped at any dealer in Europe and got it replaced or tightened ,especially where there multiple BMW dealers. If BMW replaced the worn cam under warranty your good to go. When members where talking almost daily about worn cams I called my dealer Max BMW and they told me that they only had a handful in the bikes they sold and all where replaced by BMW. I have a 2016 RT with shift cam and absolutely no noise. You have a well build machine ,but all machines need to be cared for and maintained, when you ride side by side with mother nature.

Shift cam issues

I'm on my 5th RT since 2007. This one is a 2020 R1250 RT I bought used w/ low miles (13500). At the Great Falls rally and at previous BMW get togethers I asked owners about problems w/ shift cam and heard no problems. And I haven't read about a bunch or problems w/ shift cam like we did w/ the final drive problems in 05-06 or so. BMW has been using this technology in cars since the early 2000's as I understand, so they should have it figured out. They make a lot more cars than motos, but the technology should be very similar if not the same.

Anyway I decided not to worry about shift cam and just ride and maintain it. And yes I'll buy the extended warranty in 23. Computer stuff is seriously expensive and that's the issue-not the mechanics. My opinion only.

300,000 mi. here we come.

crows123 said:

I have a 2016 RT with shift cam and absolutely no noise. You have a well build machine ,but all machines need to be cared for and maintained, when you ride side by side with mother nature.

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Unless you've replaced your 1200 with the 1250 power plant you don't have the shift cam.