Spun by my dealer today to get the pair of brake lines replaced that are part of the recall campaign. Was told by them that there is a total of about 23K bikes being recalled averaging almost 180 bikes per dealer if they all come in eventually.
So far my dealer has done about 70 bikes.
They can sell you the parts if you want to do it yourself (about $50) but by letting them do it, its free for me and I get to play with the demo bikes- this time the GS650 and GS800. Really liked the GS 650 as an around town play bike that also has enough punch to run the roads at any normal speeds- the low gearing of both is a revelation after the long gearing of my RT. The techs like the 800 as a base for mods- apparently it can make more power than its 80 hp fairly easily and of course comes with a more serious off road suspension than the 650 which is softer and lower. One is thinking about doing the supermoto route with the 800 and using it in th NC twisties on road tires.
Noticed the new recall brake lines have bluish nuts at the junction block by the steering head so it is easy to tell at a glance what bikes have the recall done. The lines have added reinforcing near the flanges to stop vibration cracks that have apparently happened first on some cop bikes. I can't imagine actually cracking the brake lines on my RT- the originals were robust and pretty well laid out- but apparently there have been harmonic vibration cracks in a few cases . BMW is being really really conservative with this recall, IMO.
I also got a lesson in how fast good techs really are. I do my own service at my own pace and would have taken an afternoon at a leisurely pace to change the lines-They did it in 1 hr 18 min for a pair of lines that run under the gas tank. I know how to do this swap without even looking at a manual but I can't imagine me doing it in a little over an hour- that would be way too much like real work! BMW allows dealerships 1 1/3 hrs at shop rate to do the work.
Anyway, my RT now works as before with two new lines with cute bluish nuts on them.
While I was there I also turned in a dead BMW Zumo for a fix or replace. Made it almost two years before it stopped responding to screen input. The dealer says all the ones with bad bubbled screens like mine that he had returned (they go to Garmin) had very close serial numbers so may have originated in a single bad run- his personal one is much older and more abused and still problem free with a non-bubbled screen..
So far my dealer has done about 70 bikes.
They can sell you the parts if you want to do it yourself (about $50) but by letting them do it, its free for me and I get to play with the demo bikes- this time the GS650 and GS800. Really liked the GS 650 as an around town play bike that also has enough punch to run the roads at any normal speeds- the low gearing of both is a revelation after the long gearing of my RT. The techs like the 800 as a base for mods- apparently it can make more power than its 80 hp fairly easily and of course comes with a more serious off road suspension than the 650 which is softer and lower. One is thinking about doing the supermoto route with the 800 and using it in th NC twisties on road tires.
Noticed the new recall brake lines have bluish nuts at the junction block by the steering head so it is easy to tell at a glance what bikes have the recall done. The lines have added reinforcing near the flanges to stop vibration cracks that have apparently happened first on some cop bikes. I can't imagine actually cracking the brake lines on my RT- the originals were robust and pretty well laid out- but apparently there have been harmonic vibration cracks in a few cases . BMW is being really really conservative with this recall, IMO.
I also got a lesson in how fast good techs really are. I do my own service at my own pace and would have taken an afternoon at a leisurely pace to change the lines-They did it in 1 hr 18 min for a pair of lines that run under the gas tank. I know how to do this swap without even looking at a manual but I can't imagine me doing it in a little over an hour- that would be way too much like real work! BMW allows dealerships 1 1/3 hrs at shop rate to do the work.
Anyway, my RT now works as before with two new lines with cute bluish nuts on them.
While I was there I also turned in a dead BMW Zumo for a fix or replace. Made it almost two years before it stopped responding to screen input. The dealer says all the ones with bad bubbled screens like mine that he had returned (they go to Garmin) had very close serial numbers so may have originated in a single bad run- his personal one is much older and more abused and still problem free with a non-bubbled screen..
