Let's make a list of big $ repairs

[scottybooj]

Ok guys, some of our rides are getting a little long in the tooth, as per nuevo BMW build quality is concerned.

What are some significant repairs done to bikes AFTER 25K miles and what was your total cost? If you did the work yourself, please mention labor-hours.

Some of us need to evaluate potential costs in the future and decide whether or not it would be worth the 'risk'.

Thanks.

Scott

[rdsmith3]

Are you talking about "disasters" only (e.g., final drive) or do you also want to include routine maintenance, such as shocks?

[bikermeow]

ABS failure. Potentially at least US$2,500 for the ABS unit itself.

My fix? Pre-emptively removing the ABS unit, removed the (subjectively) hated servos. Total cost: non-ABS switches about US$78, then a set of braided hoses, about US$100. Elbow grease.

[Daryl.Stamp]

Replacement shocks @ 34K miles were around $1400.
I'm currently @ 40K and don't regret getting them.
If something too big comes up it will be time for something else.

DLS

[challey]

Replacement of a shorted wire harness could be as much as $3,500 (Parts ~ $1,500, Labor ~ $2,000).

Can be prevented by regular inspection of the harness with particular attention paid to 2 places: The top of the harness under the fuel tank (requires tank removal but well worth the trouble) and the rear section of the harness near the cut-out on the left corner of the battery tray. Extra insulation applied over the harness at these points is highly recommended.

Based on my admitedly unscientific research, It seems that there are significantly more harness failures than would normally be expected (the rate should be vanishingly low, close to zero). The good news is that frequent inspection and the addition of some well-placed extra insulation will virtually eliminate the possibility of this failure.

As an aside, it looks to me that the headlight circuit wires that run through the harness and are relatively light gauge and unfused, are prime candidates for future failure. It may be worthwhile to replace this poor design with a direct, high capacity connection to the battery via relays and fused circuits - which is what BMW should have done at the factory. There are a number of aftermarket suppliers of kits for this purpose such as this one from Eastern Beaver: http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Produ ... _kits.html

The cost is modest (~$50) and the install is not difficult. An added benefit is that you will now be able to safely use a higher wattage bulb if desired. I will be incorporating this modification into my bike as I replace the harness.

Charlie

[rdsmith3]

As an aside, it looks to me that the headlight circuit wires that run through the harness and are relatively light gauge and unfused, are prime candidates for future failure. It may be worthwhile to replace this poor design with a direct, high capacity connection to the battery via relays and fused circuits - which is what BMW should have done at the factory. There are a number of aftermarket suppliers of kits for this purpose such as this one from Eastern Beaver: http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Produ ... _kits.html

The cost is modest (~$50) and the install is not difficult. An added benefit is that you will now be able to safely use a higher wattage bulb if desired. I will be incorporating this modification into my bike as I replace the harness.

Charlie

+1 on that

I did that modification.

[ebincia]

ABS failure. Estimated cost to repair was $3,000 . R1150R 2004 26K miles was worth about $5,500 at the time of failure. I disconnected ABS and rode on. Paralever bearings at 30K and rear drive at 34K I fixed myself at about $1,000 worth of parts. The bike does not make economic sense , but it is fun to ride.

[CycleRob]

1--Clutch slave (throwout bearing) failed ~61,000 miles. $128 with -10% dealer discount.
2--Rear wheel shaft bearings (big ball and small tapered roller) worn out causing wheel play that was degrading handling. Both bearings (-20% discount) from ChicBMW + Atlanta BMW shimming/installing new bearings $268 total.

Both cases the labor to R&R the slave and FD assembly was free (mine). Slave failure was not performance related, it worked normally, but THIS is what it looked like. My solution was THIS and THIS.

For the FD, the hardest part was removing the swingarm pivot bolts. Thirty five minutes of an 1,100 degF heat gun around each pivot bolt to soften the red Loctite, then a big breaker bar and a prayer to loosen them.

Those unexpected failures on my 8 year old German engineered bike, it's vulnerability to overheating and an unscheduled Dealer Open House test ride prompted it's trade-in on the very high tech (by comparison) F800ST. It is a technological quantum leap over the Boxer twins . . . all of them. The same riding style now gains an additional 14 MPG (48 ---> 62) still using Regular gas (permitted in the manual) with a narrower profile, simpler less frequent servicing and ~65 lbs less weight. I'm a new believer in the masterful CAN-bus BMS-K system, fast warm-up water cooling, DOHC power and efficient belt drive. I'll never go back.

BTW, I gotta change my icon !!
.

[AndyRR]

Input shaft and clutch.
input shaft - 250
clutch - 150
input shaft bearings - 60
transmission seals - 70
around $530, but I'm probably forgetting something.
My labor:
I spent a lot of time obsessing about fixing the alignment and improving the OEM parts. Fixing the alignment required some fabrication.
To just swap out the parts above, I would estimate 10-12 hours if you are doing it the first time, but have everything you need.
Fixing the alignment was tedious - another 8 hours or so.

[toolinalong]

I was just thinking the same thing yesterday....

Just as a point of reference, I purchased the bike in March of 2002. I figured that I would be putting 10-15 thousand miles per riding season on it, and that I wanted to keep it at least ten years. It now has 88035 miles on it. Call it 7.5 riding seasons so far, so 11k+ average.

I wanted to keep track of how much I was spending on my hobby, so I have kept very complete records on cost of ownership, including purchase price, maintenance/repairs, farkles, riding gear, insurance, gasoline cost estimates, license & registration, etc. That total so far is $45,972.

This number does not include the cost of meals, lodging, etc. for my annual summer trips, which would probably bring the total to the far side of $60k.

I keep a separate spreadsheet that includes normal maintenance stuff (including tires) and repairs. Before one month ago that spreadsheet totaled a bit shy of $11,000. Of that amount there were no big repairs needed. The biggest expense was to replace both shocks at 50,000 miles.

In the last month I have spent an additional $3700 and the current total is $14,489.

$2400 was the bill to get me back on the road after the wiring harness failure, and much of the labor to replace that was my own.
$1276 is the bill from the dealer to replace both throttle bodies this week.

I agree, it has not been cheap. The next thing to do is to decide whether to try to hit 100k miles with it, or to buy a Honda and start over. Any suggestions?

[Twempie]

Shocks
Used OEMs (11,000 miles on 'em), $95 each from parted out bike, free shipping from Denver to Seattle
Labor. Installed by local indie-wrench (including a few other little maintenance tasks) $200
Total: $390 - A bargain which frees up money for new tyres.

[bikermeow]

I agree, it has not been cheap. The next thing to do is to decide whether to try to hit 100k miles with it, or to buy a Honda and start over. Any suggestions?

I'm just thinking .. perhaps you have sorted out most of the Gremlins and spending wise the curve will level off? Just my thoughts.

[Twempie]

I agree, it has not been cheap. The next thing to do is to decide whether to try to hit 100k miles with it, or to buy a Honda and start over. Any suggestions?

FWIW, if I'd spent so much money on my bike I'd have to keep it. But seriously, with all respect, I wouldn't have spent that much in the first place.

I recently replaced my shocks and almost schiit my pants when I saw the price of replacements (luckily I quickly found some used OEMs instead). I don't think I would spend $2000 on a bike that has a resale value of $6000. I love my R, but I know that one day I'm going to have to take it behind the barn...

[llahbocaj]

The next thing to do is to decide whether to try to hit 100k miles with it, or to buy a Honda and start over. Any suggestions

I'd have a hard time putting $3700 into my 2004 with 25k let alone 88k. I'm on my 3rd FD seal, can't wait to see how that unfolds with everyone's FD's failing at 20k-something. If you haven't already listed it for sale I'd say that you have to hit 100k just for the sake of having done it. I've put 19k on mine in 1.5 years but $4k is 1/2 what I paid for it...repairs that costly are hard to swallow.

If the ABS fails I'll pull the pump and replumb the brakes. Stick coils? I'll replace them. If the FD or something else major fails? Hard to say. I've done a lot of the maintenance on the bike but I don't know if I could do the FD myself. I love the bike and all but for a $4k repair bill I think I'd look at putting the stock shocks and exhaust back on and selling it back to the dealer at a total loss, walking away with what I could get for it and selling the goodies here.

For the sake of argument, let's say the ABS pump fails and I re-do the brakes. If anything else costly fails I don't see how I can drop the $3k to replace the FD/whatever because how am I going to go about selling a 2004 ABS bike with no ABS, 25k+ miles, and the nicks/bangs/dents/scratches that go along with a bike of that age? With the used motorcycle market being what it is right now there's just no way you'll ever see your money back from a repair like that.

The R is great and all but if I want a money pit I'll pull the cover off my /5 and get it running again.

[Remow2112]

Wow,

I read these threads and my low mile (13500) 2004 r1150r starts making me nervous. I love the bike, but dang. I have put 1k on it and I don't ride any where near as much as most of you do. (3k a year maybe.) I am mechanically inclined and have turned a wrench on cars since I was 12. I have had no issues with my bike and I am getting ready for my first brake bleed. But some of what is described and the fact the the rear main seal (the one that can dump oil on clutch) appears to have started a little leak (A little dry black gunk at the tranny to engine seam) makes me wonder if I should sell and get something else?

I went to this from 2000 Suzuki Bandit (If you like power and I mean REALLY like power). Dropped the Bandit for a couple reasons.

1. No desire to play with carbs other then on my race car.
2. The seat did not work for my girlfriend. (She has a bad hip.)
3. The vibration in your hands after a long ride! (30 minutes or more)

How many of you have read these threads and considered getting something different or Japanese?

[gaijin]

Guys,
YOU ARE MAKING ME NERVOUS, talking of big repair cost on our beloved "R". I have just paid Yen16,000 (approximately $175) on my 2002's FD (25,000 km), replacing crown bearing, oil seal. Is it a fair price? What would be the cost in US?

If the abs, clutch and other high price tags came up. Oh well. I will have to do some serious thinking, keep it or leave it. We know what kind of messes could occur with the "R". I just hate to think about it.

I owned several foreign bikes and cars in the early '70; they were cheap to fix then. Unless you can repair it yourself, it will be expensive.

[toolinalong]

Charlie says: Can be prevented by regular inspection of the harness with particular attention paid to 2 places: The top of the harness under the fuel tank (requires tank removal but well worth the trouble) and the rear section of the harness near the cut-out on the left corner of the battery tray. Extra insulation applied over the harness at these points is highly recommended.

Yep. I am pretty sure that I could have avoided my melt down had I (or any of the mechanics who have done PM on the bike) payed closer attention to the battery tray area. My failure was a dead short of the battery + and - cables coming together in an unholy fashion where they go into the main harness.

But overall my reason for including all my expenses for the entire life of the bike is to put things in perspective. By far most of those expenses are ones that everyone is going to have no matter what.
The $1200 or so I spend every year on tires, oil filters, and other PM stuff, and the occasional small repair bill, seems reasonable to me. Also, I have never thought of the bike in terms of it's resale value. I knew that I was going to forfeit any claim to maintaining that when I decided to ride it a lot as opposed to polishing it in the garage.

Now I have not had the clutch spline, slave cylinder, or final drive bearing issues that others have had. But I also did not expect that the throttle bodies (and stick coils, and ???) would turn out to be "wear" items like clutches. Oh well.

I am thinking there has to be more then a few R's, RT's and RS's out there with much higher mileage then mine, yes? I'm looking for those, I will let you know when I find them.

Meanwhile, I can't help but wonder if a Honda ST1300 or an Interceptor, or maybe even an FJR would have these types of engineering issues. Or whether I could expect them to go the distance like I thought my R would when I bought it. I fully expected to be able to go to 200k and never having to replace any big ticket items other then maybe a clutch. And maybe I still will. But I don't know, stay tuned.

Last summer I ran into a Goldwinger up in Idaho who had 240,000 miles on his ride with no major issues. Then I have read stories of how expensive even small repairs can be on a Wing. So who knows?
It's not like we are in the realm of aircraft engineering where a failure can mean people die, are we? And we don't pay all that much money, as flyers do, in the first place, do we?


I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center.
Kurt Vonnegut

[sweatmark]

Meanwhile, I can't help but wonder if a Honda ST1300 or an Interceptor, or maybe even an FJR would have these types of engineering issues. Or whether I could expect them to go the distance like I thought my R would when I bought it. I fully expected to be able to go to 200k and never having to replace any big ticket items other then maybe a clutch. And maybe I still will. But I don't know, stay tuned.

Well said. That's the very definition of what I expected from a BMW motorcycle, and the justification for price premium despite performance disadvantages via low power and high weight. But our 200k mile expectation does not match the BMW R1150 reality... and that seems to be true for any R/RT/GS/RS variant.

I'm hoping that the R1200 bikes fulfill the BMW longevity promise, even if they don't appeal to me personally.

[bikermeow]

I reckon that the bottomline is that there is a premium for owning a beemer, and labour is not cheap mostly. However, the BMW bike parts availability is something that I view with great wonderment, much better than other makes. It helps if the owner wrench and takes pre-emptive steps, and honestly this forum has been a great help with preventing and solving issues. I do not think that my running and repair cost is anywhere high, and if so, is unreasonably so. I see part of the money price that I am paying to be for riding a BMW, and hence the premium is for that.

The other thing is it may be more meaningful to compare the running cost of a BMW with another continental brand rather than a Jap bike. It's like cars, that is what I mean. A Jap car would be more reliable and cheaper to run, compared to a VW or a Porsche? Why are there such cars in the first place?

Of course if the rider's priority is just to move on two wheels and cheaply, then I will recommend Jap anytime. Can't go wrong much with a Yamaha FZ600 or a Honda Cub, 20 million users worldwide can't be wrong

As always, YMMV.

[iowabeakster]

Well there are only 2 things that I fear in the big $ repair category, (that have happend to others with any sort of frequency):

1. Clutch spline/input shaft
2. ABS failure

Since I have the option of removing the ABS in event of failure, there is only 1 issue that I fear.

FD bearings and seals are not big $ repairs (in my opinion). Do people get bent out of shape at replacing a belt or chain and sprockets? They are not that expensive. Although one could get screwed if one is on the road. One may forced into having a dealership do all the work plus towing and lodging or alternative transportation. That possibility does worry me some.

Shocks (suspensions) are wear items. They will need to be replaced/rebuilt no matter what make you ride.

Any and all bikes will suffer expensive failures at some low rate. I don't expect 100% of people to have a problem free experience.

the very definition of what I expected from a BMW motorcycle

...is that I wouldn't have to deal with things like a clutch hub stripping out. That is why I was drawn to the brand. I am also taken back by BMW's policy of denial on this problem. I don't think I would buy their products in the future knowing that is their attitude towards customers who suffer problems due to poor design and assembly.

That being said, it is still a small percentage of people who have suffered this failure. I plan on inspecting mine. My future with this bike is solely determined by that inspection. If my alignment looks good, I'm riding this thing for at least 5 more years...maybe more. Then, I'll be happy with the deal I got...but I'm already fully aware of the deal some other BMW owners got.