Beware: F800gs Rims Are Junk!

[YetiGS]

Pull the sprocket off the rear wheel. No sense in paying for it to fly to Colorado when it won't take pictures or send you a post card.

[craftycoder]

Have him check your bearing crush while he has them. It's a good time to have that problem repaired (if you are so afflicted). I think some 2010 bikes still have the problem.

[fred flintstone]

Originally Posted by Dirsuper

According to my trusty (I assume, I have three and they were all the same +/- 1.5 degrees) tire pressure gauge, the front is right between 35-36 and the rear is at 38. The manual recommends: Front 31.9, one-up at 68 degrees. 36.3 two-up or load. Rear, 36.3 one up at 68 degrees. 42.1 two-up or load. It is 73 degrees here, and I am at 1470 ft. above sea level. I weigh ~200 pounds.

Well then I guess they weren't underinflated...for whatever reason what you were doing with the bike relative to the surface you were doing it on was too much for the stock rims.

[Edgy Drifter]

That's strange, I've beat the hell out of mine, rocks, ruts, roots, some jumping, and I haven't bent my rims, and I'm a fat bastard. but then I haven't had any of the other problems reported on various threads on ADV, bad ABS, bad bearings, rough starting/idling. My German Vonderbikken is working out fine so far. 8500 miles in approximately 7 months of riding, just saying. Now that I've jinxed my bike I'll go back to lurking...

[kkug]

With those air pressure the rims should have held up. Try to pick a better line threw the rocks.

I had a 04 KTM 950 and a lot of people bent rims. I instaled stifer springs and fixed the forks almost right away. I sold it with 35K on it and never had any bent rims.

But I lowered the air one time on my 800 and glanced off a rock and have a dent like yours. But I don,t go lower anymore ( 23 PSI ) and haven,t gotten any new dents. Never got a dent on the rear.

But I might put on a new wheel for a summer trip . (TAT )

Now that you have the wheels off is a good time to stifen up the springs. !!!

[NHRedleg]

My dealer at the time of purchase offered tire & wheel insurance @ $450 for 5 years coverage. I declined, haven’t had any issues yet (though haven’t yet taken it off road more than logging roads really), though I did start seconded guessing that decision after reading about rim woes here. Might take them up on it though when we buy an F650GS for the wife.

[fred flintstone]

Another Q: Where have you (OP) set up the rear suspension for preload and rebound?

edit: as far as I can tell front is not adjsutabe, right? If I am wrong on that same Q for front.

[Levert]

It took awhile to go through all this.

I'm thinking a bad batch of rims or improperly tightened spokes.

I help BMW with their offroad demo program and we beat the crap out of these bikes and no failures.We run lower pressures because we have new riders and want the best traction and I can say we have whacked some fairly large rocks at speed with no damage.
In 30 plus years of off road riding I've bent a few rims but no where near as bad as those photos, thats some bad damage.

I have bent rims on my R1100S though.

I would think BMW would step up to the plate on this, shite happens.

[Dirsuper]

Originally Posted by fred flintstone

Another Q: Where have you (OP) set up the rear suspension for preload and rebound?

edit: as far as I can tell front is not adjsutabe, right? If I am wrong on that same Q for front.

It is just a knob that you turn in or out. It is about in the middle, same way it was when I left dealership. I have not really worried about it, because, again, I was not riding on anything hardcore. Also, to clarify for those that have asked/indicated otherwise.....we did the Tecate border crossing to the Campo bailout, NOT the Otay to 94 route which I would consider fairly hardcore. The Tecate-Campo run is just a dirt road. You could drive two SUVs shoulder-to-shoulder down the entire road (at least the part we did).

Wheels are in the mail. Gonna take the Harley to San Francisco this weekend.....oh well, gotta stay on the road.....kinda like if I were riding the F800GS with stock rims!

[Dirsuper]

Originally Posted by Levert

I'm thinking a bad batch of rims or improperly tightened spokes. I help BMW with their offroad demo program and we beat the crap out of these bikes and no failures. I would think BMW would step up to the plate on this

Damn bro, that is interesting. If only I had the mental energy to engage the lawyers in my family/friends group. I thought about it, but you know how it is......do I want to bug them with my trivial (relatively speaking) bs? Not really.....Just like the line from that movie, "You know what I am going to do..........NOTHING, because......." Bend over, take one from BMW, never spend a penny on that product again.........and spread the story to every mofo I can........Already one person who was ready to pull the trigger on same product (after hearing story/seeing rims) said, "FU$K that!!" Also, I had quite the little interest group formed at the shipping place today as I shared the whole story........I am a dude who has no problem laying it out............... If that is how the company wants to be perceived, so be it, I am more than happy to help them achieve that objective!

[SaTaNaX]

Picture of my rimm after 3k kms in Marroco

[Drunk_Uncle]

Okay off topic, but sorta. I noticed you are funning Scorpion Trails. How do you like them offroad? I have those ordered for my bike and will be installing them as soon as I am back in the same area code as the bikes. They were delivered to my parents house Wednesday. I am sorry about the rim issues. The big three were similiar with warranty claims on their 4x4's. Take the 4wd truck offroad and void warranty, wtf!!! It is made for that. Hope everything works out for you.

[YetiGS]

Is Woody going to send your BMW rims back to you? If so, you may want to take them to the dealer and talk to them about what happened. The guys there are very helpful, sometimes you just need to talk to them in person. Someone else on here actually got BMW to pay for Woody to redo their wheels under warranty.

[Dirsuper]

Originally Posted by Drunk_Uncle

Okay off topic, but sorta. I noticed you are funning Scorpion Trails. How do you like them offroad? I have those ordered for my bike and will be installing them as soon as I am back in the same area code as the bikes. They were delivered to my parents house Wednesday. I am sorry about the rim issues. The big three were similiar with warranty claims on their 4x4's. Take the 4wd truck offroad and void warranty, wtf!!! It is made for that. Hope everything works out for you.

Love both your screen name (or whatever it is) and your quote! Sorry man, can't really talk to the performance of those tires off-road, as I have not really been off-road with that bike yet. After I get the Woody's rims, I WILL be going off-road and will let you know then. A buddy with a Strom told me that his bike came with the same tires, but I don't think he has really done any off-roading, he has only done mild dirt roads.....kinda like what I was doing when I bent BOTH rims on my one-week old F800GS!

[Dirsuper]

Originally Posted by YetiGS

Is Woody going to send your BMW rims back to you? If so, you may want to take them to the dealer and talk to them about what happened. The guys there are very helpful, sometimes you just need to talk to them in person. Someone else on here actually got BMW to pay for Woody to redo their wheels under warranty.

Good idea man, I will ask them to send them back to me - thanks. Hell, if nothing else they will be a CONSTANT reminder and 'conversation piece!' (que diabolical laugh.....)