Looking at a new bike and wanted to know if anyone had any bad experiences with the BMW ? Ive heard of engines blowing up quite regular but thats off my local kawasaki dealer so it could be a bit one sided there I wouldnt be looking at new more like the 2012 onwards.
I'd try & get as new a model as you can afford. We had the 2011 & quite a bit went wrong with it...electrics wise & the odd cheap bit pinging off it. I understand the later ones are much better.
I,ve had two 15 S1RR's 1st one needed a new engine the 2nd one has started to vibrate like the first so that's going back to BM to looked at. They eat fork seals. Been on the forum for about 18mths and there are numerous people with new engines fitted. long story but they had a batch of cams that hadn't been hardened so the lobes disappear after a couple of thousand miles ! they don't know which bikes had them fitted and are not doing a recall as most owners only do 2000 miles in 3yrs, so if it goes within two years they replace the engine, after 2 yrs you pay the labour after 4 yrs the £8k for the new engine is down to you !!! from the mouth of a top BM mechanic who wants to be nameless
Had a 2010 that ended up with the switch gear being replaced twice, sump had an issue and then the engine started to rattle so got shot of it. The issue with the cams is not just on the RR, the XR and R seem to be in the same boat.
The difference is the service you get from BMW dealers is usually second to none. Had some issues with my 2011 but all sorted under warranty with excellent dealer service.
Looks like I'm not buying one of them then. I wanted one for endurance racing and by the sounds of it general Road use kills that engine so I'll stay clear. The craziest thing is the likes of the rsv4 seems to be a lot more reliable. I heard rumors that they blow up all the time but I thought it could just be haters but clearly not. Oh well I'll just stick to jap not sure if I want another zx10r tho really fancied a change
@Carlo I had a 2010 S1000RR most unreliable bike I've ever owned. 18 months of Ownership (30,000 miles) and 7k in servicing and repairs and then the engine went. I couldn't face chucking another 3k for replacement engine so walked away. BMW UK were not interested. The list of issues I had was endless. I think the newer ones are meant to be ok but I would never get another. They're great to ride but not that great. If you only do a 1000 miles a year and a few track days then maybe but if you want to ride it I'd choose something else.
a friend of mine bought his new in 2013. after 2 years and 15000kms (roughly 10k miles) he blew his engine to bits. rod bearing fail wich caussed the rod to snap. his was (just) in warranty still so it got repaired but he traded it in after he got it back....lost trust in it i guess....
I was also thinking of getting an S1000rr when part exchanging my previous bike. Found the best place for bike reviews is on the owners forums. I am now a Very Happy owner of a blade, If I get any problems with the ABS, I will bin the system.
same here....i aint too keen on the abs but never had the choice to buy without. i do have the choice to rip it off if problems arrise especially since we dont have an mot for bikes here luckely to be fair tho sofar the system worked flawless for me and i do know of a guy here who now done 40+k miles on his 2012 abs blade without any brake problems....still doesnt mean i am a fan tho....
How does the second gen BM stack up against the later blade then? I know the early 1st gens had a few issues!
wow i'm shocked - this is the only positive line for the BM. Most of the others were negative. I was also looking at S1000RR (2014 onwards) but i'd heard they were iffy in terms of build and quality. This just goes to confirm it. I think i'll stick to Honda, well I've had 6 of them now and never had a serious issue with any. Actually come to think of it the only issue i've ever had is battery related when left for long time (which happens to every bike).
What forums do you s1000rr owners use ? I only found the one co.uk forum and the common complaint was sprocket cush drives on 2012 models. Supposed to be fixed on the 2013 on.
