Why I won't buy another modern BMW...

KBasa said:

Tina's got me on a temporary vehicle moratorium.

She seems to think I need to get the R100 fixed, put my CB750 back together and finish paying for the RT.

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Yeah, I'm hip - "we" have decided that we only need one motorcycle - If I have to choose, it'll be the R90s -
Besides, if you started riding a Harley, you'd have to wear a 1/2 helmet - it's a rule.
Imagine the encounter with the brown Toyota wearing a peanut shell. -- YIKES!



There is a feeling that you get riding a Harley that you simply don't get riding any other brand. I don't know why. Some other makes have attempted to re-create it, but it's not the same. Maybe an Indian would do it. It's too bad there is so much image attached to HD. I try to separate myself from that group. Why would an orthodontist, or accountant or engineer try to look like an outlaw on a weekend ride? - - reliability aside, the Roadking is the most comfortable bike I have ever ridden - - In many ways I wish I could keep it.

Daver90s said:

Yeah, I'm hip - "we" have decided that we only need one motorcycle - If I have to choose, it'll be the R90s -

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I feel your pain. "We" decided the same thing twice (so far) and somehow, the airhead always wins. However, for some reason half of the "we" forgets and a K bike or an oilhead somehow appears in the garage.

"Hardly a Davidson

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I've had three Hardly Davidsons and after my experiences, it would have been a pleasure to have a spline problem. Don't believe all the rhetoric Hardly Davidson tells you about their belt. That belt will split like a banana when a small rock is thrown between the belt and sprocket. I've seen it many times. Hardlys are probably the most mass produced bike on the planet and as a result poor in the area of reliability. Ask yourself why they give you a two year warranty and not three. They only recently went to a two year warranty. For years it was a one year warranty. They don't even offer ABS unless you get a police bike. I wish Hardly all the luck in the world, but their bikes are a casualty waiting to happen. Go ahead sell the BMWs and quit BMWMOA. You'll be back in a few years.

Easy"

I've had four Harley's and still have two of them (95" Fatboy and 07' Ultra). The Fatboy has been to Sturgis ten times without a problem other than rider induced and the Ultra is a dream on highway long hauls. I recently bought a new 07' R1200GSA and hope it's as reliable as the Hogs have been.

I'm tired of all this cross brand bashing. Maybe some of you die hard brand loyals should realized that all brands have their problems, liabilities, and limitations. Then you could pick the right bike for the type of riding you do and enjoy it.

It's not what you ride, it's THAT you ride!

i have an rt/p that i didn't pay for .the moa did.i was the lucky winner at the national in west Virginia.
I shouldn't really bash the bike since it didn't cost me anything but to believe that these bikes had superior service performed on them must be a joke.
mostly all transmissions shift like crap because the cops kick the sh..t out of them and likely were never shown how to shift a bmw trans.
my tranny took 4 oil changes before i got all the junk out of it and the drain plug magnet was completely covered with metal shavings.still is a tricky one to shift.(some day it will come apart and get fixed)
While washing the bike i noticed a lot of axial play in the rear wheel and found that the final drive taper bearings needed attention.only 3/16" side to side measured on the rim play.
on a long trip,mostly in the rain,i noticed a clicking sound coming from the front end.Almost sounded like the loose bobbins in the disc doing it.i keep driving till i got home to get out of the weather and to my surprise found a disintegrated right outer wheel bearing.i guess the rainwater getting in there kept it cool.
i have not had spline failure yet but thats probably next.
to summon things up,i would never buy one of these bikes from the police force.brand new yes.
my motor was an x chips unit with only 42k on it and had all its service performed by BMW of Hollywood,shame on them!

Well I am on my first BMW and it only has 12,500 miles on it, but everything so far has been good for me. BUT what I can say is my brother in law works at a dealership that has all four Japanese brands and he tells me that every one of the brands has soomething that has been a problem. Goldwings have welds (I think the swing arms) that were breaking and were recalled. Those are 25k bikes and he says guys didn't want them back after the recall because they didn't trust them. Kawasaki's also had a weld problem and on those bikes rewelding them ruined the paint in a visable area and so they had to try and fix it, but couldn't match the original quality since it was a three step process and baked on. Then on Yamahas they have bikes that a bearing in the trans has not been installed deep enough in the housing and they have to take them apart and fix them before they put them on the floor. All I am saying is every brand will have some problems, so perhaps jumping ship is a little premature.

Motor31 said:

Look at the authors avatar and handle. See the harley connection? I suppose in a lot of Eastern areas the harley has been the typical Police bike. In the area I worked it wasn't. A few Officers in other Departments that could buy their own bike and lease it back to the Dept. got a harley and some got a wing.

Where I worked we went to an effort to insure harley was not selected as long as there was the kawasaki in spite of the offer by harley to severely discount the bikes to undercut kawasaki. We needed to do this as the bean counters would choose based on price alone. Other than the fact that the kaw went faster, lasted longer, stopped quicker, cost less, turned tighter and required a fraction of the maintenance the harley did, the harley compared pretty favorably in the 80's and 90's.

That won't sit well with a harley fan but that doesn't change the situation. Now that the kaw has been discontinued the department is switching to the harley since it can be obtained cheaper than the bmw and they feel for municipal duty the harley performs a bit better. I'm sure the bmw guys here won't like that either but it's the way the city and Department made their choice.

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Mike,
One of the biggest reasons they went with the Harley is the Chief. He felt that the Honda and the BMW were WAY too fast. Ya' just can't fix stupid.
I think they're gonna hate them in the summer.