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Requesting Your MOA Help Locating A BMW Contact For Assistance with my K1600GT Parts!

No - more like standard operating procedure. I heard of this with the G450X enduro as well. Enduro bikes get crashed and plastics get broken - nature of the beast. Unfortunately, BMW didn't stock the plastics for a while and since it was a new bike, no aftermarket parts were available. Guys were having to wire the bodywork back together to keep riding.

I can maybe see you calling the expansion tank and obscure part, but the muffler had an even longer lead time. Are mufflers obscure?

Hello rcxrider, next time you are standing in front of a K1600, take a long hard look at the radiator expansion tank, it is on the left as you are looking at the headlight/fairing.

Any rock or brick bouncing off of a work truck, or cement mixer can destroy this very fragile tank. I absolutely view this exp. tank as a normal maintenance replaceable item!

I have a "wait list" order at BeemerBoneYard right now for this part and even though my bike is coming back with this tank, I am definitely going to have a spare available.

In addition, I intend to build a "catcher's mask" around this tank, tank is very vulnerable!

http://www.i-bmw.com/showthread.php?t=36468&highlight=alternator Gentleman from WI also had his BMW stuck in SLC for 3 months. Waiting for a K1300S alternator, alternator absolutely is not just a "obscure" part, BMW Parts really need to get their act together!

We Stanley Boys have been without "Gisele" for 5 months now, of course we're indignant!

My Son Seth (15) gets out of Junior High School on June 5 and we head off to Alaska for a month on "Gisele", stopping at a www.fjrforum.com rally on the way. I am going to post to the K1600 Forum in May and see what other vulnerable parts I may want to stockpile.

http://nafo.fjrrally.com/ Lucky for Seth and I we had "Lucy Liu" FJR to ride for the past 5 months.

I am a Union Pipefitter (now retired) and I worked five straight years in Alaska in the Eighties, riding either my BMW R80RT or my Harley-Davidson Shovelhead up to Pump Station #4 just North of the Atigun Pass. Might be smart to have necessary parts ready to ship.
 
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Guys, here's a photo of AZ Beemer Members Daniel on the left and Steve on the right. They are standing with "TecMan" B's new K1600GTL of our AZB Club #89.

Just to the right of Daniel's knees is the radiator expansion tank, where any road debris kicking up off of the roadway can smash it. I'll place a screen in front of it.

It would just be Seth and my luck to hole another tank on The Haul Road to Prudhoe Bay, AK!
 
so neither part is obscured from view - not sure which version of obscure lkchris was aiming for - point is that BMW doesn't do a good job of having parts available for new models.

To take a long term advocate and turn him into an unhappy customer because current production parts aren't available for service seems like bad business. Hopefully, VP Blesse will see value in not only selling new bikes, but also in keeping the ones already sold on the road.
 
so neither part is obscured from view - not sure which version of obscure lkchris was aiming for - point is that BMW doesn't do a good job of having parts available for new models.

To take a long term advocate and turn him into an unhappy customer because current production parts aren't available for service seems like bad business. Hopefully, VP Blesse will see value in not only selling new bikes, but also in keeping the ones already sold on the road.

rxcrider, My Son and I are actually in a really good mood since our baby "Gisele" is returning to us Friday. We plan to put 600 miles on her this weekend.

I am so happy about her return, here is some comic relief! "A BMW Parts Epic Fail Analysis":

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"Lean Manufacturing" - No Spare Parts

Don,

It's Friday morning and I hope Gisele is back in your garage today.

This might slightly veer off topic but probably is relevant to your situation. Over the last 10 years, and especially the last five, I have noticed that the availability of spare parts for anything has dropped dramatically, or evaporated completely at the local level. Instrumentation, electrical parts, motors, valves, plastic parts, machined parts, etc... are difficult to find. Standard lead times are now 6-12 weeks or longer; before these parts were in stock or would take 1-2 weeks to get. Several weeks ago an electrician I work with needed a standard EMT conduit box. The local electrical distributor did not have it, and my friend had to go to Home Depot to get it.

The question I have is: If the lead times BMW (dealer, NA, whomever...) were quoting you were that long, does that mean they had new 1600s sitting at the plant waiting for these parts? What I am finding is that many of these parts (that I require, not necessarily from BMW) are coming from China and part of the lead time issue is attributable to shipping times; probably six weeks dock-to-dock. Again, companies only want to build what they have orders for. Sometimes when companies count the beans to save money, they lose sight of the bigger picture.

Enjoy your ride this weekend.
 
Staying a little off topic

Don,

It's Friday morning and I hope Gisele is back in your garage today.

This might slightly veer off topic but probably is relevant to your situation. Over the last 10 years, and especially the last five, I have noticed that the availability of spare parts for anything has dropped dramatically, or evaporated completely at the local level. Instrumentation, electrical parts, motors, valves, plastic parts, machined parts, etc... are difficult to find. Standard lead times are now 6-12 weeks or longer; before these parts were in stock or would take 1-2 weeks to get. Several weeks ago an electrician I work with needed a standard EMT conduit box. The local electrical distributor did not have it, and my friend had to go to Home Depot to get it.

The question I have is: If the lead times BMW (dealer, NA, whomever...) were quoting you were that long, does that mean they had new 1600s sitting at the plant waiting for these parts? What I am finding is that many of these parts (that I require, not necessarily from BMW) are coming from China and part of the lead time issue is attributable to shipping times; probably six weeks dock-to-dock. Again, companies only want to build what they have orders for. Sometimes when companies count the beans to save money, they lose sight of the bigger picture.

Enjoy your ride this weekend.

My brother has a body shop and the lack of quickly available parts is driving him up the wall. He has to wait on almost everything he needs and many of the parts were formerly stocked parts by local businesses. He keeps running into parts that are on "national backorder" because common parts for Chevrolets, Fords or other vehicles are made in cycles and when they are out they are out until they decide to make more. It hurts when the customer does not have a vehicle to drive and my brother has several thousand dollars invested in the rest of the parts.
 
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Mein Beautiful Fraulein Gisele is back home to me, after five months later. But, she's finally home!

I believe in providing Credit where Credit is Due! First, I'd like to thank Mr. Dean Lear; Dean is a Mover and Shaker in the World of BMW and he used his many contacts to expedite my bike's return.

Dean was the Founder of BMW Motorcycles of San Jose, California; Dean actively raced BMW motos and he's basically Lived the Life BMW for the last 4 decades. Thanks so very much, My Friend Dean.

Dean's a very active Member of BMW Riders Association and "On The Level" magazine contributor.

Second, I'd like to immensely thank Mr. Cavanaugh, BMW of North America Motorrad Team Leader.

I feel that Anthony did everything he possibly could do, under the structure of BMW NA, to get my K16 returned to me as soon as he was able to.

Anthony Cavanaugh was the Man who "Thought Outside of the BMW Box" to come up with the idea to take the expansion tank off of a demo bike.

Third, I'd like to thank BMW Roadside Assistance folks, they were so courteous and helpful to us.

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Now let me lastly mention BMW Motorcycles of Salt Lake City, Utah. On the morning of the deer strike, my Son Seth and his DaddyDon had given our "Gisele" a thorough washing. We always stay at The Torrey Inn and if we travel with a group, they set up a wash station for us: Garden hose, soap, rags, towels and brushes. I highly recommend that your Utah moto visit includes The Torrey Inn.

$6,400 was spent at BMW SLC to repair "Gisele". As we unloaded her off of the truck 1 hour ago, there was still deer pee, saliva specks, and blood on my bike. They never even washed my Gisele.

Can you imagine spending that kind of $$$ and not even getting your bike back clean from a shop!!!
 
Beemerdons,

Nice to see you've got your bike back. Now that the saga has ended...go and get yourself a better camera. Those pics were making me dizzy trying to focus!

Just kidding, of course. Have a great time riding your "new" mount.
 
Beemerdons,

Nice to see you've got your bike back. Now that the saga has ended...go and get yourself a better camera. Those pics were making me dizzy trying to focus!

Just kidding, of course. Have a great time riding your "new" mount.

Ha, ha; I am 63 years old, thanks to daily heart attack medications my hands are shaky!

I am going to invest in a better camera before Seth and I ride to Alaska this coming June.

I've been looking at the auto stabilization cameras, won't shoot a photo unless its' steady!
 
Back in 1984 my new r100rs puked the diode board,I recall the front of the fairing was closed off from free flowing air and the engine got real hot in that summer. Mischlers bmw took a diode board off of a showroom new rs. If they did this for me back then ,why would'nt a dealer do that for you now? I think your dealer who had your bike to repare were not very good at all,I will avoid them in the future for sure.I speak with my wallet!:banghead

Right you are Scottie, I'll never spend a single nickel ever again with Salt Lake City BMW!!

With the Beauty of Monday Morning Quarterbacking and Twenty-Twenty Hindsight, last Thanksgiving I should have procured a vehicle and trailer necessary to haul Gisele back from Utah. We have outstanding BMW Motorcycle Dealers here in the State of Arizona: Victory BMW in Chandler, GoAz BMW in Scottsdale and Iron Horse BMW in Tucson.

There's not a doubt in my mind that a "real-true" BMW shop would have found a way to work around this situation and have gotten Gisele back on the road many, many months ago!
 
Mischlers bmw took a diode board off of a showroom new rs. If they did this for me back then ,why would'nt a dealer do that for you now? I think your dealer who had your bike to repare were not very good at all,I will avoid them in the future for sure.I speak with my wallet!:banghead
We're on the same page.

Over the many years I've been riding, BMW dealers I've dealt with have all had one primary goal - keep the customer riding. There have been several cases where that meant scavenging a needed part from wherever they could to get the riding customer back on the road. BMW of Salt Lake used to be one of those kinds of dealerships. Not so any more from what I'm seeing - and not just in this thread. I know the dealership has changed hands from when I was doing some business with them and it continues to amaze me they haven't gotten the message that their customer support is seriously lacking. The very first thing I noticed in the pictures is - after all this time, they didn't care enough about the work they were doing or customer satisfaction to even take time to wash the bike. Are you kidding me?

Don, I disagree with you offering kudos to Cavanaugh. He's a top dog at BMW NA. He knows - or has access to information - where every new BMW in NA is located. BMW has continued to manufacture new bikes from day one that you crashed. He could have - should have - from the very outset of this coming to BMW's attention - DEMANDED BMW provide you that needed part even if it meant pulling one from the manufacturing line if the part wasn't available otherwise. He had the ability to get that part off any one of the new bikes coming in. He didn't do so.

Three months waiting for a BMW part is totally unacceptable and BMW offering a modest extension of warranty time for the time the bike wasn't available for your use means nothing when they can't service it now.

As leadership in BMW has been changing over the years, I have noticed a significant decline in customer service that is disturbing at best. There used to be a reasonable balance in make the sales and supporting the customer. In the 70's, BMW had the best customer support and longest warranty in the business, now they have neither and the new business model is creating more and more dissatisfied customers everyday.

BMW has also reined in more control over how they work with dealerships - making it harder for the good dealers to remain good dealers to the customer, and easier for bad dealers to remain bad dealers - and just blame it on BMW.

This is just one more example of how bad it can be when a bad dealer doesn't go to bat for the customer and BMW NA leadership doesn't care enough to challenge BMW DE to get the customer supported the way they should be. Frustrating at best.
 
We're on the same page.

Over the many years I've been riding, BMW dealers I've dealt with have all had one primary goal - keep the customer riding. There have been several cases where that meant scavenging a needed part from wherever they could to get the riding customer back on the road. BMW of Salt Lake used to be one of those kinds of dealerships. Not so any more from what I'm seeing - and not just in this thread. I know the dealership has changed hands from when I was doing some business with them and it continues to amaze me they haven't gotten the message that their customer support is seriously lacking. The very first thing I noticed in the pictures is - after all this time, they didn't care enough about the work they were doing or customer satisfaction to even take time to wash the bike. Are you kidding me?

Don, I disagree with you offering kudos to Cavanaugh. He's a top dog at BMW NA. He knows - or has access to information - where every new BMW in NA is located. BMW has continued to manufacture new bikes from day one that you crashed. He could have - should have - from the very outset of this coming to BMW's attention - DEMANDED BMW provide you that needed part even if it meant pulling one from the manufacturing line if the part wasn't available otherwise. He had the ability to get that part off any one of the new bikes coming in. He didn't do so.

Three months waiting for a BMW part is totally unacceptable and BMW offering a modest extension of warranty time for the time the bike wasn't available for your use means nothing when they can't service it now.

As leadership in BMW has been changing over the years, I have noticed a significant decline in customer service that is disturbing at best. There used to be a reasonable balance in make the sales and supporting the customer. In the 70's, BMW had the best customer support and longest warranty in the business, now they have neither and the new business model is creating more and more dissatisfied customers everyday.

BMW has also reined in more control over how they work with dealerships - making it harder for the good dealers to remain good dealers to the customer, and easier for bad dealers to remain bad dealers - and just blame it on BMW.

This is just one more example of how bad it can be when a bad dealer doesn't go to bat for the customer and BMW NA leadership doesn't care enough to challenge BMW DE to get the customer supported the way they should be. Frustrating at best.

Many thanks to you Steve for this highly informed posting, you know your BMW's!

I held back on revealing something I discovered 2 months ago, because I didn't want to embarass Mr. Cavanaugh, or BMWNA for that matter; I love our BMW brand!

On January 2 a Member of this Forum sent me a private e-mail: There was a BMW K1600 sitting in a crate in the back room of BMW Motorcycles of Salt Lake City, UT.

This Gentleman said he saw it over Thanksgiving because the front of the crate was removed and he could see it sitting there, the coolant expansion tank and all.

I received another private e-mail a week ago from this concerned fellow BMW MOA Member that this K1600 was still sitting there, 10' away from my downed BMW!

By the way, BMW Motorrad AG and BMW North America turned down my request to extend my warranty for five months. Basically, I just lost 5 months of my warranty!
 
BMW continues to display this kind of outrageous behavior Don. I thought I read somewhere that they offered to extend the warranty 3 months for you.

Personally, BMW lost me as a new motorcycle buyer a number of years ago. I love the bikes and will continue to ride and support them but I've owned my last new BMW motorcycle - and as a side note, it is highly unlikely I'll buy a new BMW automobile. I bought Oldwhatshername a 2008 328i M-Sport [certified car] over last Thanksgiving. BMW of Tucson is the worst dealer experience I've ever had and it won't be repeated. It took over three months to get the title here to get it registered and she had to drive it on an expired temp plate far too long.

I have to wonder if the poor service between BMW NA on the motorcycle side has anything to do with the automobile group.

Then again - we have dealers like Iron Horse BMW - also in Tucson - that I have the highest regard for. I live 600 miles from Tucson. Iron Horse is my dealer.

Unfortunately - BMW has stopped listening to their customer base and it's costing them sales.
 
They never even washed my Gisele.

Can you imagine spending that kind of $$$ and not even getting your bike back clean from a shop!!!

Not trying to comment one way or the other regarding SLC BMW, but around in my neck of the woods it's not legal for local dealers to wash vehicles on site. When I bring my BMW (car that is) to the repair shop, I get a coupon for the local car wash instead of a nice clean car like at the dealer.

It might have been SOP not to wash bikes, and they didn't think twice about. However, given the five months and reason for the repair work, I think they should have found a way.

Any way, glad you got your bike back.
 
Parts are more than plentiful for my '73 /5 not that it ever breaks down. You might get one for a backup...
:usa
 
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