rangerreece
RangerReece
we stored the bikes, bought a car,
Dude, you and Voni truely are rock stars.
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we stored the bikes, bought a car,
I bought a 12 year old F650 Dakar with 30K or so miles on it. I rode it a couple of years without incident. Then one day, for no apparent reason while I was riding it at roughly idle speed and about 3 or 4 miles per hour approaching to load it on a trailer it coughed once, died, and thenceforth had a locked-up engine. I still haven't had the inclination to tear it down to find the cause.
In theory I could blame BMW. No engine should ever do that. Maybe it was objecting to a trailer ride. I don't yet have a clue why/what happened.
But it is a bike out of warranty even though low mileage and is thus my probblem. Life is like that sometimes. Meanwhile it is still in the garage.
Paul, you and Voni are famous for riding K75's and early oilhead bikes and putting serious mileage on them. Would you say that they are less likely to have serious roadside failures than the earlier airheads or later BMW models? <snip>
Would you feel more confident on a 20 year old low mileage K75 than an 8 year old lower mileage R1200 for a cross continent trip?
I still haven't had the inclination to tear it down to find the cause.
Buy a Honda.
You're writing about a nine year old bike - right? One you didn't purchase new and one that's been out of warranty for 6 years? Sorry, while I feel for ya regarding the inconvenience of having a valve go (the fuel issue was addressed at no charge), I'd consider your plight as part and parcel of buying used 9 year old machines. And I'm not sure a valve letting go qualifies as "technical wizardry" on BMW's part. Blaming BMW for not stepping up seems out of line IMHO. Might be more inline having prior owner participate in the repair cost, since he/she may have been more the culprit in this mix, than not.
Buy a Honda. New, if you can swing it, but used is OK since they pretty dang reliable. (OK, here comes twelve posts from folks who had a Honda that broke its widget spring or something) Just my opinion.
I like the newer bikes. I'd much rather that Annie ride a modern bike with all the improved features that entails. I too prefer to ride a bike that can stop very rapidly while making controlled directional changes. We have 4 BMWs and a FJR that range from 2007 to 2014. We ride them moderate distances each year 17-20K miles and have yet to have mechanical issue on the road that required anything more than a screw driver, wrench or jumper cables to fix. I sold my last airhead last spring. 1993 GSPD with less than 14,000 miles. A great bike, but I found it unsettling to ride a bike with such poor braking, comfort and performance. I bought and rode it in Alaska and it served me well, but I'm not a bike collector, so if we don't ride it then I sell it. Now the GSPD is in the hands of a person who will ride it and be happy. While I like new bikes, I am leery of some of BMW's offerings. I wanted a sport tourer. I looked at the new RTW and saw much to like, but went with the FJR. $8000 less than the RTW including an additional 4 year extended Yamaha warranty. So far the FJR has been a joy to ride and easy to maintain; no recalls, no down time due to malfunctions and dealers aplenty. But when we bought Annie a new bike last fall, she went with the F800GS. We looked at others, but BMW seems to be the best option in that market. Lighter than most, great performance and a fantastic reliability record. But like I said earlier, I like newer bikes. That's what makes this a great club and country. We have options and we can ride what we like and can afford and still appreciate the other guy's and gal's choices.
I had a 1991 Honda CBR 600 that had a lower fairing panel screw come out, and when I took it in for the 600 mile service, the dealer replaced it and charged me $2 for it. Wouldn't cover it under warranty. I'll never buy another Honda.
The snow up there must be gettin' to you.
I truly hope that those of you who think I had nothing to gripe about never have a similar experience.
I want to clarify something. This was not an age-related problem. There is no modern vehicle, not even a Vega, whose engines can't make it to 50,000 miles without the kind of damage that mine had. BMW should have helped out because it was a manufacturing defect, not because something randomly went wrong.