Show Me Your Welds, Please?!

At the risk of revealing my sometimes obsessive OCD nature, I ask this community to comment -- and to possibly display your own evidence -- upon the quality of various frame welds on their bikes.

I have to say, I LOVE my brand-new 2021 R1250RT Sport (Racing Blue Metallic, the fastest color)! Yes, I have a myriad of issues with the TFT display's lack of cooperation with my iPhone, but those problems will be exorcised in a different sub forum on a different day.

My only true disappointment with this new machine are the quality of the (most visible) welds on the main frame assembly.

I am attaching a few pictures showing what I have... and I must say, having owned a lot of motorcycles over the years, I have never seen such cobby-looking, "gloopy" welds on any other high-end Moto. True, this is my first BMW, so I might be overreacting to something that is commonly accepted as "normal" within the community. Yet, on a $27,000.-plus "state-of-the-art" motorcycle, this level of work seems way out of place.

I have shared these images and concerns with BMW, and they have been responsive, polite, and protective in their comments. It has been suggested that I take the issue to my Dealer, which I have casually done, but what can they do about this? The Dealer did not build the bike. BMW builds the machines, and it is their Quality Assurance that lets this work leave the factory floor.

So, am I being an OCD wonk, or is this really something worth getting worked up over? What do your welds look like? Should I press for a "fix" (whatever that might be -- I really can not imagine how to correct this?)... of should I just shut up and ride?

Show me those welds!! . THANKS!

Prof.,

Are you a welder?

Is your concern with the strength of the welds or the cosmetics of the welds?

Welcome to the world of robotics. Of those pictured I saw one weld, pictured three times, I thought was awful visually. The rest seem normal to me.

Is the one frame member you show the most steel or aluminum?
On our R1200RS bikes it's steel and the weld looks nicer.

To ease your mind, go have a look at other bikes and compare. I don’t see anything wrong structure wise. You will probably find most of the welds are done through an automated welding process.
OM

Depends what day your bike was built- Monday and Friday welds are the worst, Wednesday and Thursday are the strongest but Tuesday Welds are the best looking.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001839/mediaviewer/rm1484134400/

98lee said:

Prof.,

Are you a welder?

Is your concern with the strength of the welds or the cosmetics of the welds?

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I am not a welder, but I have welded.
My concerns are aesthetic.
Every other aspect of the bike’s fit and finish is dang near-perfect.
Thx.

rick601 said:

Depends what day your bike was built- Monday and Friday welds are the worst, Wednesday and Thursday are the strongest but Tuesday Welds are the best looking.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001839/mediaviewer/rm1484134400/

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Ha! So mine was done on a Saturday night…?

Omega Man said:

To ease your mind, go have a look at other bikes and compare. I don’t see anything wrong structure wise. You will probably find most of the welds are done through an automated welding process.
OM

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Thanks… I did look at a few others, not what one would consider a statistically significant sample… mine seems to be a bit of an outlier.
So far the short consensus suggests few in The Wonderful World of Wetheads are bothered by this stuff.
I do obsess about aesthetics and visuals — decades of being an architect, designer, illustrator and educator make me this way.
I thought the robots were supposed to be better than us? Score one for humanity!

professorb said:

My concerns are aesthetic.
Every other aspect of the bike’s fit and finish is dang near-perfect.
Thx.

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No functional vehicle is designed to be appreciated from that close. Stand back 3 ft. and soak in the overall feeling. Or better yet, get on it, go for a ride and appreciate it how it was meant to be appreciated. You can’t see those welds when you’re enjoying a nice ride!

Yes, your OCD is showing.

BMW or not, it's a production vehicle, not a show piece. You want flush ground welds, you'll pay significantly more than what you paid. Little extra weld reinforcement sure beats welds cracking 10 years from now.

Years ago I was a Nondistructive Testing Inspector for weldments in a factory. Welds can be deceiving on appearance. But I would bet that every weld has some sort of NDT inspection done prior to any paint or assembly.

I look back at my 70's vintage CB750 Hondas and look at the welds they looked like worms were laid on top the base metal, and those welds are still holding up, maybe.

Visually looking at a weld there are two obvious defects that can be identified. Undercuts and star cracks at the ending point of the weld. Both are rejectable defects. Granted there is paint/powdercoat covering the welds in the photos so a true visual assessment is not really possible but they look okay.

Because the majority of the welds are most likely done by robots I would look at other similar bikes and see what those welds look like. Also has the NTSB issued any recalls for bad welds?

I'm by no means a professional welder, but I have taken enough training to understand that not all strong welds are pretty and not all pretty welds are strong.

Hey prof ! You need to go for a ride.

I was checking out the frame welds on the front end of my brother's 80 Chevy wagon. They were awful. Undercutting, porosity, wandering. Find a "bad welds" chart in a textbook, this car covered it. I can only suspect they used a flux core wire feed weld torch with manual operation. I should have taken photos, because it was all open and cleaned off.

grabcon said:

Years ago I was a Nondistructive Testing Inspector for weldments in a factory. Welds can be deceiving on appearance. But I would bet that every weld has some sort of NDT inspection done prior to any paint or assembly.

I look back at my 70's vintage CB750 Hondas and look at the welds they looked like worms were laid on top the base metal, and those welds are still holding up, maybe.

Visually looking at a weld there are two obvious defects that can be identified. Undercuts and star cracks at the ending point of the weld. Both are rejectable defects. Granted there is paint/powdercoat covering the welds in the photos so a true visual assessment is not really possible but they look okay.

Because the majority of the welds are most likely done by robots I would look at other similar bikes and see what those welds look like. Also has the NTSB issued any recalls for bad welds?

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jandhumphreyme said:

Yes, your OCD is showing.

BMW or not, it's a production vehicle, not a show piece. You want flush ground welds, you'll pay significantly more than what you paid. Little extra weld reinforcement sure beats welds cracking 10 years from now.

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mcmxcivrs said:

I'm by no means a professional welder, but I have taken enough training to understand that not all strong welds are pretty and not all pretty welds are strong.

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BC1100S said:

Hey prof ! You need to go for a ride.

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The tribe has spoken!

I went for a nice ride this morning... before it got up to 90° F. and equally humid. Always puts life in perspective! Always good advice, and appreciated.

I'll stop looking at the friggin' welds!

And in case it wasn't clear, I LOVE THIS NEW BIKE!

Thanks to all... ride safe, stay safe, live happy. Rinse and repeat...

For $112,000 dollars US, myself and Boxflyer will make that frame look like it was poured in a mold.
OM

professorb said:

I went for a nice ride this morning... before it got up to 90° F. and equally humid. Always puts life in perspective! ...

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Omega Man said:

For $112,000 dollars US, myself and Boxflyer will make that frame look like it was poured in a mold.
OM

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Thanks for the thoughtful and reasonable offer… think I’ll try wrapping with Gorilla Tape first…!

professorb said:

Thanks for the thoughtful and reasonable offer… think I’ll try wrapping with Gorilla Tape first…!

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Gorilla tape is black and only appropriate for Kbikes.

The approved frame tape for GSs is silver Nashua duct tape. (Do not exceed three layers, as it will over stiffen the frame and confuse the ESA and render the bike unrideable.)