• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Who makes the most reliable motorcycle?

If I recall correctly, it was done with a very small sample and was based on owner reports of having a single instance of a major fault during the first year of ownership. Still a poor showing, but hey, at least BMW was rated higher than Harley.
 
Saw this on BR&TMR today. A Consumer Reports study from 2015 data ranked BMW 9 out of 10.

The results are factual but somewhat a joke. When "my bluetooth failed to pair" counts as one defect and "my cam chain broke" counts equally as one defect it is possible to get very interesting results. With this methadology, the more technology one has on a bike the more unreliable it will be rated. So, read the fine print if you are a subscriber, not just the headline.
 
If I recall correctly, it was done with a very small sample and was based on owner reports of having a single instance of a major fault during the first year of ownership. Still a poor showing, but hey, at least BMW was rated higher than Harley.

Not exactly, it was ranked from worst to first.
 
It is certainly NOT BMW!

I love mine, but if my only criteria for a motorcycle it would not be BMW!
 
Wow!

That's it, I'm giving both of my BMW's away. On second thought, after 250K miles all I've had to replace tires and batteries. Guess mine have been ok.
I do get a kick out of silly stuff like this.:dance
 
I do get a kick out of silly stuff like this.:dance

Might seem silly and you can dispute the methodology of the review, the sample size, whatever else. Still, to show up next to last out of 10 manufacturers in a Consumer Reports ranking can not be considered a good thing IMHO.
 
Imagine perceived lack of quality control, by many BMW buyers, given motorcycle's premium cost is one basis for this ranking. Either by being mislead or uninformed many buyers anticipate a well sorted machine for their $20,000 - $30,000. You know, the Ultimate...but when common (simple) long time used technology fails, they respond quickly...to anyone who'll listen. Items such as antenna rings, water pumps, fuel level sensors, final drives, wheel hubs, fuel connectors, gear switch assemblies, rear struts and on. Maybe the guy/gal who paid $6,000 or $12,000 doesn't have the same level of expectation or is as quick to voice a complaint? They are machines, they break, they get fixed....but as the asking price rises so do expectations. After all BMW spends quite a bit of money and time telling the customer exactly that...their expectations should be higher....because it's a BMW.
 
The Survey is what it is, a snapshot in time of 10 manufacturers product. Being near the bottom is not a good thing no matter how you slice it.
 
I like BMWs, I really do. There are three in the shop now and there may be another one in there soon..... but, I also own two Yamahas (2013 FJR and 2012 Super Tenere). My experience with both bikes has been great (no problems), but is anecdotal and irrelevant. What I do think is enlightening is the content and tone of the three Yamaha forums I visit. It is my observation that there are far fewer posts regarding problems with the bikes and particularly posts regarding deadlining problems, but more telling to me is the tone of the posts. The posters seldom see the need to defend the bikes or dismiss criticism of the brand. Certainly there are critical comments about one aspect or another of the bikes and how corporate Yamaha handles issues, but the complaints are not deemed silly, inflated or just the rider having unreasonable expectations. (Yamaha was the best rated brand in the cited survey) To dismiss the reports of systemic problems with BMW motorcycles is denying the obvious. They may have been overstated and some riders may not have had any problems in many miles, but it is in my opinion irrefutable that BMW motorcycles have had more issues than is reasonable to expect of a motorcyle of any cost.
 
This, of course, is old news. That said, it's somewhat comparable to the overall poor reliability ratings that German car manufacturers have been getting in CR's reliability surveys over the last number of years. In fact, there was a special article in CR a couple of years ago, examining why that might be, especially since many of their cars are "premium" brands.
 
Might seem silly and you can dispute the methodology of the review, the sample size, whatever else. Still, to show up next to last out of 10 manufacturers in a Consumer Reports ranking can not be considered a good thing IMHO.

Never been a fan of Consumer Reports. Personally never found their reviews accurate nor reliable for any product I was interested in buying. Been ignoring their noise for a long time.

I've owned bikes from Yamaha, Triumph and now BMW. I have found them all well made. I have many clients who ride. The only manufacturer I consistently hear about issues from is the HD crowd. Does not mean HD is not reliable. Does make me question it based on personal experience.

Perhaps the question that should have been asked is how reliable are motorcycles in general? I think we will find very high. If true, then we're talking about small fractions of all bikes having issues, with each one having a very small piece of a tiny pie.
 
:ha

I enjoy finding these types of articles. I know they will make for fun conversations.

All brands have become more reliable and that is important in so many ways, but who cares? I want to know the reliability statistics for things like pacemakers, parachutes or other things like that if I were to use them. Bikes, I expect them to be reliable to a point but my main question remains: Is it fun?

A 441 BSA thumper is a great example of what I mean. You road it only if your right leg and and the TDC release were in sync. If not you would find yourself drenched in sweat and suffering leg cramps. During a ride you felt like a James Bond martini, shaken not stirred. That ride would last from point A to point B or until the Prince of Darkness electrics would take time off. The constant shaking ment you were constantly putting it back together using a combination of BSW spanners, SAE wrenches and adjustable metric hammers in a pinch. It was horrid is so many ways that explain why the company went out of business.

Still, I wish I had never let it go. It had one of the biggest smile ratings of any bike I have ever ridden. Reliable - NO. Fun - by the ton and isn't that what we really want?

OK, both in our dream bike but it must have a fun factor.
 
What precisely is BR&TMR, brother and the mister or something else? Is that English or some other language?

I personally do not like the shorthand. Yup I do use the simple and obvious ones from time to time, but some folks string sentences together with it and it becomes indecipherable. So I don't know the answer to your question.
 
I like BMWs, I really do. There are three in the shop now and there may be another one in there soon..... but, I also own two Yamahas (2013 FJR and 2012 Super Tenere). My experience with both bikes has been great (no problems), but is anecdotal and irrelevant. What I do think is enlightening is the content and tone of the three Yamaha forums I visit. It is my observation that there are far fewer posts regarding problems with the bikes and particularly posts regarding deadlining problems, but more telling to me is the tone of the posts. The posters seldom see the need to defend the bikes or dismiss criticism of the brand. Certainly there are critical comments about one aspect or another of the bikes and how corporate Yamaha handles issues, but the complaints are not deemed silly, inflated or just the rider having unreasonable expectations. (Yamaha was the best rated brand in the cited survey) To dismiss the reports of systemic problems with BMW motorcycles is denying the obvious. They may have been overstated and some riders may not have had any problems in many miles, but it is in my opinion irrefutable that BMW motorcycles have had more issues than is reasonable to expect of a motorcyle of any cost.
Well said. Thank you.

Chris
 
The Survey is what it is, a snapshot in time of 10 manufacturers product. Being near the bottom is not a good thing no matter how you slice it.

That's true, but you'll get no objective sympathy on this forum.

11,000 is not a "small sampling," and a 40% failure rate after 4 years of ownership for BMW is quite believable.

BMW sales is still cashing in on a reputation it had decades ago, but today is rather questionable. My hope is that someone comes on board soon, high enough in the corporate structure to right the ship.

You can ignore the results, rationalize away the competition or simply swirl the Kool-Aid in one's mouth and reminisce about a bygone era of reliability, but the survey is what it is - an interesting snapshot of owner satisfaction in the motorcycle industry. :deal
 
Back
Top