2012 R1200GS Rallye Edtion - 1000 Road Miles and Fork Seals are Leaking

[Undermoose]

Originally Posted by The Evil Twin

Gotcha. Thanks, I haven't quite fully gotten to understand my little moose yet. Sounds like a tube was not true if new seals leaked, or they were damaged on install. I've done that Happy you now have your ride back!

It's hard to say seeing as my dealer only told me they replaced the forks and not specifically what the problem was.

I'm a little concerned as the first words out of their mouth when I picked it up was they replaced the tubes only, and then corrected themslves and the entire fork was replaced. I saw the slider outside my old fork lying on the lift while waiting for parts, so now I suspect I'm not being given the entire story. It doesn't matter as long as it's fixed, but the dealer hasn't provided up repair paperwork yet. I got the "you're all set", and "no paper work needed" when I picked up the bike. It was a very busy Saturday morning as dealerships usually are, so I chalked it up to that... Really has me uneasy when the thing isn't documented properly though.

So, a couple hundred miles today, no oil beads at the seal but I do see an oil film on the forks again... Uh oh...

[Izzy3]

Mine gets film, but it doesn't pool. The dealer fixed my fork seal, no questions asked. 2K more miles and still fine.

[Undermoose]

Originally Posted by Izzy3

Mine gets film, but it doesn't pool. The dealer fixed my fork seal, no questions asked. 2K more miles and still fine.

So they fixed it when you saw a film?

[Izzy3]

No, it started as a wet film and then started pooling on top of the shock. I kept dabbing it up but after a few rides that got old and I took it in with a nice display pool up on top. Then they fixed it. Sorry for the delayed response.

[Undermoose]

Originally Posted by Izzy3

No, it started as a wet film and then started pooling on top of the shock. I kept dabbing it up but after a few rides that got old and I took it in with a nice display pool up on top. Then they fixed it. Sorry for the delayed response.

They said they replaced my entire fork, but film started immediately again. No pooling all this fall, but took a ride in December after the bike sitting a couple of weeks, it was 40 degrees out so not freezing, but at the end I noticed two small dots of oil at the seal along with some film.

I'm going to wait until spring, but looks like I may have a lemon on my hands...

[Undermoose]

It's happening again, noticeable oil at top of seal again...

Went back dealer and was informed it's out of their hands now and BMW has to decide how to handle it. I can understand the dealer perspective, they've tried to repair it multiple times, and said they ate the expense of a fork replacement last September. Now it's happening again and told I can't even get the seals replaced without BMW's direct involvement.

My dealer didn't produce a repair report when they swapped the forks last September, and when I asked for paper work at picked I was told there is none as it's a warranty repair... I'm not getting a warm fuzzy from this...

I have looked at every R1200GS that is on the lot for service when I'm at the dealer and have never seen another one with the issue, but did see it on a used R1200R for sale at a dealer once. Why am I so lucky?

$20k vehicle and can't fix a leaking fork seal , this issue started after about 1,000 miles on a brand new bike... I simply have to pursue this to resolution...

[cjack]

You probably know this but there is required paper work for BMW warranty repairs.

[Undermoose]

Originally Posted by cjack

You probably know this but there is required paper work for BMW warranty repairs.

Apparently the dealer filling out paper work for BMW warranty doesn't mean they have to produce the paper work for me. I find it entirely adversarial to not provide me with a copy of the repair receipt even if no cost to me. Record keeping, anyone heard of it? I probably should not have picked up the bike without it, but the owner wasn't there that day so figured I'd get it later, no dice. Good thing I recorded the event with BMW customer service.

The dealership is a good one though, but doesn't mean there isn't a thorn in their side they'd just assume go away since best effort repairs aren't working.

I'm in lemon law territory now, four times for the same issue in under a year & the law says under two years... What a headache for a minor issue, but it's a $20,000 vehicle...

[cjack]

After retiring, I part timed at a dealer and actually never considered whether we actually had to give the customer a warranty receipt. However it would seem riduculus and maybe even not according to statute not to. The warranty receipt was a standard part of the multiple copies of the finished work order and the customer's receipt did not show costs, but did show repair details...parts and what was done.
Made sense to me.

[Undermoose]

Originally Posted by cjack

After retiring, I part timed at a dealer and actually never considered whether we actually had to give the customer a warranty receipt. However it would seem riduculus and maybe even not according to statute not to. The warranty receipt was a standard part of the multiple copies of the finished work order and the customer's receipt did not show costs, but did show repair details...parts and what was done.
Made sense to me.

Yup, I'm adversarial not receiving that paper work, but they're in defensive because I contacted BMW customer service after not having my bike for 3 weeks waiting on parts mid-August to September after buying it in June and having it in their shop for the 3rd time.

They did give me a loaner, but it ruined vacation plans... not happy here, but love the motorcycle. I'd like to put this leaking fork seal issue behind me, at least for a reasonable amount of use, we're talking week 1 here of ownership when it started. Sheesh.

[Undermoose]

At this point BMW has apparently backed off not warranty replacing the seals again.

The dealer claims to have eaten the cost of the fork replacement last year after multiple attempts to fix the problem. They say BMW denied the claim on the forks so they just ate the cost and did it. Unfortunately the seals are leaking again for the fourth time...

At this point however BMW reportedly has agreed to replace the seals as often as needed because of the dealer taking that step. BMW just said "replace the seals as often as needed" under warranty.

I don't know what to think now. This is my first BMW motorcycle and the seals started leaking after 1000 miles... 8500 miles now...