BMW motorcycles reliable????

Please don't take my question wrong as I have long wanted a r1200gs from when they first came out however, beemers have always been respected for their longevity and as I was looking over the ones for sale I noticed a common threat: they are seem totally redone with the exception of the engine. I mean suspension, windshield, seat, exhaust, and even foot pegs and more. My question is if beemers are so good why are almost all the parts being replaced? Thanks and again, not meant to offend.

do the math.

Mine was done to personalize to fit me and what I like.
I think my DRZ has more stuff changed to suit me then my GS.

How many miles are on the bikes you are looking at?

The BMW rider tends to Farkle out their stuff (many owners ebay or still have their OEM stuff laying around).

High numbers of miles mean lots of adventure. And related scars.

I've owned 5 12GS's/over 115k miles and no problems. On a 10k trip right now.
You want to keep the stock seat/windscreen and silencer/no sweat. I did till I got a sweet deal on a sargent seat after 60k on the stocker. None of these changes have anything to do with reliability.

BMW owners tend to be people who are willing to invest in their bikes. You will notice 2 things on BMW's for sale:

1. people tend to fix ergonomic touches that BMW does a poor job with (bars, screens, seats, pegs, etc)

2. they rarely mess with an incredible engine and frame.

None of this is to imply that they are reliable, that's different than desireable.

I would agree with everything said and just add that I think BMW made one of the most amazing motrcycles ever, well almost. They screwed up on a few things, such as the seat, bashguard, and worst of all, IMHO, the crappy suspesion. On a bike that expensive it drives me crazy to have only preload and rebound adjustment. I think that's why people upgrade their bike so much. Then again if you look at any motorcycle you will find a large number of owners upgrade certain parts.

So far my GSA has been great to me. It has forced me to learn to do all wrenching myself though, as it's relatively easy and, far more importantly, it's a hellovalot cheaper!

Cheers!

some peopple just like to throw money around. i've just bought a 1100gs bone stock and plan on leaving it that way. it has 24000 miles and i concider it new. my other bike is a r75/5 with 130,000 miles and still running strong.

the dirty secret of beemers is they do replace parts when they fail. and they will. but unlike other bikes that are worn out and thrown away a beemer is built strong enough that a few new parts here and there and you got a new bike again.

beemers DO fail but are worth fixing and putting back on the road.

I think that the guts n' gear of the R series bikes are reliable; but it's the little things that suck. EWS just being one example. The bike is a great design mechanically but they fail terribly on the little things. Unfortunately, it's oftentimes the little things that can leave you stranded and are difficult to fix on the side of the road.

Other than final drive failure (whole nuther conversation!) they are tough bikes - just wish they would stop overengineering the little things!

Have you read a sport-bike forum lately? New exhaust, suspensions, windscreens, rearsets, seats, etc... are the norm.

Cruisers aren't performance machines but most change the seat and spend thousands on chrome. Exhaust is almost always the first thing to go. Windshields usually are not included and have to be added.

BMW riders also tend to put a lot more miles on their machines than other brands. I put 17k miles on my VTX in 6yrs. I just hit 16k on my GS and I've owned it for a bit over two (and I'm at the low-end of high-mileage riders.)

Enthusiasts love to upgrade their machines. Even my snowmobile is probably getting a new front and rear suspension this year.

Some folks just can't leave shit alone, and let's face it, if you can afford a $17K MC, a few hundred more to personalize it doesn't seem like much.

I'm a gadget freak/gear whore and love to farkle my bike to make it exactly how I want it. It's impossible to make something that's perfect for anyone, much less everyone since we all come in all different shapes, sizes and tolerances. The stock seat works great for some, not so great for others, just one example, wind screen is another.

Probably new parts put on because the miles tend to be greater than average. With that said, parts needed depends on the bike. My '05 F650 needed a new oil pump at 15k miles. My '03 115GS needed nothing to 101k miles currently. All I do on all of my BMWs is 6,000 mile services with 3,000 mile oil changes to boot.

They are reliable...

That's it..that's the fact..next

3 beemers, over 120K miles, none ever left me stranded......yet
I know that eventually something mechanical will break, it is the law of averages and some folks find out sooner than later. BMW uses better materials than the rest of the industy. Just look at switch gear, plastics etc. The reason you hear more about break downs is because BMW owners tend to ride more miles with their bikes than let's say Honda or Kawi owners, with some exceptions of course. How many beemers have 100K miles or more vs the rest???
Beemers are not without fault, but show me one perfect bike and I'll show you 10 not so perfect ones. Just some pennies..YMMV

No matter how much you pay for a fine suit, the tailor will still make adjustments so it fits you. If you pay a lot for a fine machine, and plan to spend hours in the saddle, you want it to fit you. Thus the lowered pegs, bar backs, taller windshield, etc., all designed to maximize your enjoyment and comfort while riding it.

More comfort = longer and safer rides

I always wondered about these three year old bikes for sale with less than 1000 miles on them. What's wrong with the bike? Or is it the rider?

Two BMWs and both fried a final drive at about 18k miles. Both bikes left me stranded on more than one occasion. My KLR was much more reliable. I made 55k miles without being stranded at 1/4 the cost of a BMW.

Thanks for all the comments. I guess reliable was not a good word to use. Maybe design would have been a better one. I realize people customize bikes to their own look and comfort/safety level with seats, windshields, pipes, horns, but for some reason I just thought the rush to replace a suspension on a pricey dual sport is just a little over the top. When you buy a klr it seems like the real bike junkies replace almost everything but the engine going so far as to replace the bolts in the frame. I can understand that more since the bike is about $5-6k new and not $15-19k new. I hope that clears up my thoughts on the subject. I also don't feel the mileage think is an issue because most newer bikes should do 50-100k miles without any major engine issues. Thanks again.

I'm to the point now where it's not about the motorcycle. I have no brand loyalty. It's about the journey. What bike will allow me to go where most men don't dare go? At the moment, the DR650 is the tool for that job.

Amen to that.