Wanted to take a demo ride on an 800...

[jpooch00]

Originally Posted by Hamilton Felix

Now that is refreshingly different! I hear so much about Hardly Ableson UNreliability, that this is really interesting. Come to think of it, a buddy who rode the 1999 Ironbutt told of a friend who rented a new Harley from a dealership that rented by the day, not the mile. He returned it 11 days later, with over 11,000 miles on the odometer. They about choked -- then realized their bike had finished the Ironbutt, so they used it like crazy in their advertising.

I've had good reliability with my 2007 DL650, after TWO fuel pump failures and warranty repairs in the first 10K miles -- I think they messed up the first repair, because the fuel gauge was screwed at that time, too.

I'm a bit bigoted, because I commute on a road that to most folks is a "scenic highway," so I tend to view H-D tourers as "noisy things, like motorcycles, only slower." If I was the sightseeing tourist, instead of being at home, maybe folks might think that about me. Gotta admit a big H-D would be nice for interstate touring.

I've been interested in this little F800GS saga because I think it tells something about the support and service, not just the machine. Some of those Beemers look really nice, but I want it to work and be easy to maintain. How can any dealership afford NOT to move Heaven and Earth to make sure its demo bikes are PERFECT?!

I assume that you've been over on the Beast forum? Lots of info over there! Judge for yourself whether the positives outweigh the negatives.

I completely and totally agree with you 100% regarding the noisy Harleys that piss everybody off (including me). Both of my H-D's, I also have a sweet little '82 Superglide, have factory stock exhausts - in fact they're both completely stock down to the nuts, bolts & washers - that's why they're so damn dependable. I just don't need to make a lotta noise and try to be the center of attention to have a great time ridin'.

Yeah, the Harleys were maintenance pigs except for a 1994 thru 1998 window, and then the '99 thru '06 twin cams were sh!t on a stick, then the '07's had the tranny issues, the '08's had throttle by wire glitches along with a bunch of other stuff on the tourers. The '09's & '10's appear to be the best, most durable bikes that they've ever built other than the '94's thru '98's.

[Hamilton Felix]

Beast forum? I tried to google that, and the first hit was a Bestiality Forum. Maybe you'd better point the way...

[Wildman]

You're in it!

[jpooch00]

Originally Posted by Hamilton Felix

Beast forum? I tried to google that, and the first hit was a Bestiality Forum. Maybe you'd better point the way...

Oops! Sorry, my mistake. I thought I was in the GSpot forum. (Google that & see what ya come up with)!!

[Hamilton Felix]

I thought I was in the GSpot forum. (Google that & see what ya come up with)!!

LOL! I don't dare! I'm at work.

Yeah, this part of advrider (Beasts) is the only "beast" forum I know about -- or WANT to know about.

[Hamilton Felix]

So what's the latest? Did the dealer ever fix the demo bike?
Did that test ride ever happen?
Inquiring minds want to know.

[CDL13]

Come to the dark side!

[jpooch00]

Originally Posted by Hamilton Felix

So what's the latest? Did the dealer ever fix the demo bike?
Did that test ride ever happen?
Inquiring minds want to know.

When I checked with the sales guy on Saturday the 22nd, it was still sitting in the back of the shop.

I'm pretty sure that this is one of the 800's with the "mystery problem" that nobody seems to be able to diagnose or fix. When I asked him why they weren't able to get the parts to fix it, he finally said that he didn't think that they knew what parts they NEEDED to fix it - so, in effect, I guess that when he originally said that they weren't able to get the parts to fix it, he was telling the truth.

Hafta give the guy an A for honesty. I'd hate to be in his position and I'd be pretty pissed at BMW for designing a bike that put me there.

Pretty sad state of affairs!

[JemezMtns]

Regarding Dealers:
Sandia BMW in Albuquerque won't sell you an F800GS unless you ride the demo first. They are one of the top sellers of the GS bikes in North America. I bought my 800 last December from them. When I went back a couple of weeks later for the 600 mile check up (plus some farkles I had ordered from them) I brought along some new tires and they were happy to mount them up while doing the servicing.

Luck for us we have two good dealers in New Mexico; Santa Fe BMW gives good service too.

Regarding fuel pumps:
Several thousand miles later and mine is still pumping. I know from past experience that Sandia will take a part off of a bike in stock and give it to a customer and replace it with the one on order when it comes in. They wait, you don't.

It's called service.

Unfortunately we've all either heard stories or experienced the other end of the service spectrum, as related by some of the other FFs posting here.

Another service this forum provides is all of us being able to share this information so we know which dealers to avoid, and which ones we can expect good service from.