fatal flaw or sour grapes

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Chasbmw
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by Chasbmw »

nathanthepostman wrote:There's a picture on the advrider thread abut the subject of the front wheel that had about a foot long flat spot from an impact prior to the forks giving in.

I think severe off road use is causing it. Though that's not to deny a 'problem'. Maybe it's the inevitably of asking a bike to be all things to all men.

Currently on mine heading to Iceland so its made me wary, but realistically I know I shouldn't be.

And don't expect any magazine to investigate it. They'll never bite the hand that feeds them.
Give credit to Bike who reported extensively on the test trip to South Africa when Kevin Ash was killed.
Bike said that their tester had lock to lock wobbles on their bike, without any warning.

Funnily enough, didn't BMW fit a steering damper on next years model and there was no BMW advertising in the following edition of Bike.
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bowber
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by bowber »

As far as I've seen it is only relevant to the LC 1200 so that would be a design or manufacturing flaw, the previous 1200's don't seem to have the problem.
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nathanthepostman
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by nathanthepostman »

Chasbmw wrote:
nathanthepostman wrote:There's a picture on the advrider thread abut the subject of the front wheel that had about a foot long flat spot from an impact prior to the forks giving in.

I think severe off road use is causing it. Though that's not to deny a 'problem'. Maybe it's the inevitably of asking a bike to be all things to all men.

Currently on mine heading to Iceland so its made me wary, but realistically I know I shouldn't be.

And don't expect any magazine to investigate it. They'll never bite the hand that feeds them.
Give credit to Bike who reported extensively on the test trip to South Africa when Kevin Ash was killed.
Bike said that their tester had lock to lock wobbles on their bike, without any warning.

Funnily enough, didn't BMW fit a steering damper on next years model and there was no BMW advertising in the following edition of Bike.
I heard about their coverage of it at the time but nothing further was said in the press, possibly because nothing was conclusive. Only visor down chased the scent.

I think it'd be naivety to assume magazines have the financial security these days to take to task the failings of the products made by the people who pay the advertising that keeps the magazines in business. Let's see. Maybe the big titles will run something on this. I somehow doubt it, though at the same time, this one feels like a storm whipped up in a social media tea cup.
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WIBO
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by WIBO »

Crossrutted wrote:let's face facts, it's a heavy road bike being sold as an off road bike.

Nobody would be surprised if a Hardly Rideable or Pan European failed under that use, why be surprised about the GS?

The BMW marketing machine has a lot to answer for IMO.

I concur


:)
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Nigel
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by Nigel »

WIBO wrote:
Crossrutted wrote:let's face facts, it's a heavy road bike being sold as an off road bike.

Nobody would be surprised if a Hardly Rideable or Pan European failed under that use, why be surprised about the GS?

The BMW marketing machine has a lot to answer for IMO.

I concur
From BMW website :side:
bmw.jpg
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Redmurty
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by Redmurty »

anything will break if yow give it enuff ommer as they say around here,
or things will break if you stress they past their design parameter
cheers Spud ;)
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SteveW
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by SteveW »

A CCM GP450 would have dealt with that terrain at that speed and faster without bother.
Having had a couple of GS1200's I think they do a fantastic job of smoothing out that kind of terrain, but the suspension and frame are working incredibly hard to give the illusion that all's well. Like the swan smoothly gliding along, whilst bellow the water it's paddling like mad.
As previously stated you can cover all kinds of terrain on a GS1200......but take it very steady.
Moorso
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by Moorso »

I have to agree with some of the sentiments on here that bikes like the 1200 GS and my Explorer when fully loaded are adventure styled road going bikes.

I would take my Explorer up a gravel track to a campsite, but would never use it for serious off-roading, especially not on the terrain doing the rounds in some of the pictures. Yes, there are Triumph 'promo videos' of a test rider (can't remember who) hooning a Triumph Explorer through a welsh forest, but I daresay the bike wasn't exactly showroom afterwards! :blink: The same goes for BMW.

Let's put it this way....I don't drive a Landy Defender, if I drove my car across that sort of terrain, I would expect something to go wrong!

What is the mantra....for offroad, lightness is everything??

Would anyone (and this is a genuine question) take a fully loaded heavy, large 1200cc bike on complete off-road, exceptionally rough terrain?
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nathanthepostman
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by nathanthepostman »

I think anyone who's been on the bmw off road skills course will attest they're very capable machines, or more so than most people give them credit for. But as you say, everything has a limit, and fully loaded and ridden hard there's bound to be issues eventually. But good point earlier about the brand's marketing. Kinda built a rod for their own back
steve172
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Re: fatal flaw or sour grapes

Post by steve172 »

The complainant here hasn't really offered enough information on the incident to allow anyone to draw their own conclusion.
How fast was he going?
What was the mileage on the bike?
How heavy was it loaded?
How much experience did he have of that kind of riding?
Was the bike suitably looked after/serviced?
Had it previously taken another big hit earlier in its life?
Had the stanchions been removed previously and incorrectly re-fitted?
Had the bike been returned to a dealer for recall work prior to the failure?
It's a shame he has had such an accident and is making a recovery, and hope he gets it all sorted out, whatever the outcome.
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