The All New LIQUID COOLED R1200GS threadfest

Amen.

In the Porsche world I was recently reminded of how poor the day to day drivability was of the 1969-era Porsche 911's. Today's cars must have something like triple the horsepower and your trophy wife can drive them to go shopping. Or drive them down to the yacht club when she meets with her young boyfriend


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+1

While I wasn't around in the 60's I can't imagine the bikes of the 60's and 70's being reliable enough to trek thousands of miles at a time. Hey, maybe they were...I am still all for the electronic stuff on a bike....sure, my TPM might blow someday but it isn't going to let me sit. And if my uber expensive to repair ESA dies, well, it still isn't something to let me stranded.

At the end of the day, if these things are too expensive or too glitchy for you to entertain thoughts of having on a motorcycle, then don't buy them or don't stray off the super-slab highway. Reality is, you better get used to technology and just embrace the inevitability.....or slink into the cracks of old curmudgeon-ness.

That has to be the worst English I've ever read. I gave up after the second paragraph

Same. It's gobbledygook

Sir,
Where were your cars designed and built?
Not by BMW in Europe, I guess. I have more miles than that on my bike, with no problems what so ever.
The bike, by the way, was designed and built by BMW in Europe..

ABS not lasting more than 100K miles - ignorant or stupid.

[TaSK]

Odd, my 2000 328i had over 120,000 miles on the odometer when I sold it. ABS system never had an issue. The only real problem was the @#$@#$ window lifts which thankfully I don't have to worry about on a motorcycle, unless they use one for the RTs screen.

Funny you should mention that. That's where the myth of BMW reliability started. A /2 built in the 60s could easily do 50 - 100K miles. That wasn't true of most of the british and japanese bikes of the time where they were often ready for the junk pile at 20K miles.

Today there is no real difference between BMW and any other bike built. All have strengths and weaknesses. All will take you more miles than most will put on the bike before they replace it for something new. Most replacements will be because of "I want" not "I need".

If I like the new bike after a test ride I'll probably order one. Not because I need it. My '05 only has 75K miles on the odo; it is still running strong.

Unless you can back that with real numbers from actual facts and not your gut feeling about electronics I call BS. I have owned several cars with more than 100k miles and never ever had trouble with ABS. One of the most reliable systems I have had in car. Hell, windshield wiper motors were failing more often ...

Again, I think that's not true. Can you point out actual electronic problems you're referring to?

I know about a lot of small and large issues here and there with BMWs and other manufacturers and pretty much all of them are actually mechanical (or chemical (comical?) in the case of the fuel strip).

So, what problems have you seen with the electronic parts of more sophisticated systems?

He misses his kick starter

Excellent point - and I should realize that after looking over a beautiful 1961 BMW at my dealer a couple weeks ago...they did a full restore job on it and it runs like new. Even cooler is the fact the parts are still available.

I agree with the lack of differences between BMW and everyone else in this regard. The design and electronic engineering that goes into an ECU on a BMW is probably no different than my old Aprilia...might even be from the same manufacturer like Siemens or Bosch or Magnetti Marelli. The differences begin at the application level...hardware level? Very similar.

Does make you wonder if BMW has higher standards when it comes to noise, vib, harshness...especially for the enduro class machines.

Thank you.

I knew an inmate would turn my hearsay into fact.

This concept of water rather than air/oil cooling a GS seems to be really taking off

If you drive a car aggressively, or in challenging condition you would quickly see why ABS is a real benefit for cars and pickups. to my knowledge...I believe all new cars and pickup come with some type of abs. some are simple abs and others are quite sophisticated stability control.


the abs on my bike kept me from locking my front wheel on a tar snake...which without it would have put me down in a 6 lane intersection. I will never buy a new bike without ABS

Looks like almost like a trans-Atlantic water crossing....nice!

Jim

Bystander: "idiot"

:)


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Maybe ...

But try to use the same abs in Winter ... It will stabilise those who do not know how to. And you will brake in a much longer distance ... For some people, it may be ok, but personnaly, I pulled the ABS fuse years ago.

Paul Jr

If they have double the amount of wheels that could lock up, wouldn't hey need ABS twice as much?

A report from S.A.
http://canadamotoguide.com/2013/01/28/launch-bmw-r1200gs/

Could be 205.

For that type of condition, I like the handlebar switch on the BMW rather than having to pull a fuse and put it in again when conditions change.

They tell me that on the new LC GS they have the different ride modes operated fron a handlebar switch except for the electronics bypass (the equivalent of "Slick" mode on the S1000RR). This was deliberate as they want the rider to pull a fuse and be fully aware that she/he has chosen to deactivate all the electronic aides (and I guess take full responsibility for any consequences).