Is There A Reason No One Rides A BMW Sertao?

[Graham Smith]

At the moment I am thinking of changing a bike. I took a deep breath and went to a BMW dealer a couple of weeks ago. No 650's in the showroom and the salesman dismissed the bike and effectively said to avoid. Funnily he really only was interested in flogging what he had in the showroom.... Popped into another dealer a week later they ignored them as well. They tried really hard to convince me that the GS700 was "identical" to the 800 in every way except seat height which is not the case. They had several 700's in the showroom but only an 800 Adventure (which is way too tall for me)............

Maybe the lack of the 650's around has less to do with the bike, it's abilities and quality and more to do with salespersons choosing to try to pass off what they want us to have. Alternatively perhaps it is beyond their ability to order in what we want? Sorry BMW but if you don't want to sell us the bike don't waste our time showing us them on the website. Also we can work out that the 700 is not a 800 with just a low seat.

I walked away very disappointed.

I used to teach on a 2005 GS 650. Really practical tool if a little vibey

Rant over. Sorry

[Freeloadeur]

Oh, yes, BMW dealers are a strange thing. I requested a Sertao brochure from the BOW website. I ticked the boxes to say I didn't want communication by telephone only email and written, but it wouldn't let me progress unless I put a phone number in. So I put my old mobile number in as the last thing I want right now is sales calls.

6 days later I received a very snotty email from the Sales Manager at Vines Guildford to say he'd tried calling on several occasions and had left messages to discuss my requirements. I emailed back to say that my current requirement was a nice brochure so I could read more about the Sertao's specifications. Within minutes of me sending he replied saying that they were not in the habit of sending paper brochures to people who lived that far away from them (I live in London) and that I was welcome to call in and pick one up and to see the other bikes in range because they don't have a Sertao there.

Well I'm sorry, I don't know why BMW Motorrad UK decided that Vines was my nearest dealer when there's one in Park Lane, but how about passing my details onto them Mr Vines instead of inviting me to ride down to a showroom that doesn't have the bike I want anyway? And how about taking notice of the "not by phone" checkbox?

So nice bike, bad sales team. I won't be buying from them.

Will and Kate are selling her G650GS non-Sertao though if anyone's interested.

[Multirider]

I have a 650GS (not Sertao) - had a bit of a run on Sunday and ended up doing 630 miles without a problem. Returned about 70mpg and in relative comfort (different seat fitted as the original is pants)

I think it is a very underrated bike, extremely capable.

The Round Britain Rally however is a bug that when gets right under your skin!

[Gino]

My wife and I have G650's did an Argentina to Alaska then across to Boston and shipped home from Miami, 30,000 miles. Bought the two of them very low mileage (the original owners thought they were too slow and bought 1000cc Kwasakis!) for £7500. We did a shakedown trip to the Ukraine then shipped them to Buenos Aires. Best year of my life!
The bikes caused some problems but now that I know what I know it would'nt be an issue in the future. Both water pumps failed, both fans failed, wiring problem caused by a F*ckwit BMW dealer in Chile trying to sort the hot start issue. Changed both batteries before we left for Motobatt's, they both failed en route but I think the lead acids would have packed in earlier. Suspension a bit harsh (but still working after 42000 miles)Tyre wear (Tourance) brake pad wear and fuel consumption exceptional.
I'm a big guy and it does feel a tad small but on the ripio (gravel) its big enough. Comfort is terrible but I think now i know how to modify the seats to make them better.
I'd use them again, hankering after a xc800 but not sure I'd have been any happier on the big trip with one.
If you can get over the "mines is bigger than yours" then its a good bike AND the alloys on the non Seratoa stand up well, no dents after a pretty hard ride in South and Central America.
One other thing I just remember it needs a half inch plate welded on the foot of the sidestand to improve the lean angle when loaded.

[Gino]

Here's a picture of it in the North of the Atacama desert

[rlkat]

Is There A Reason No One Rides A BMW Sertao?

There are too many examples of things like this happening to BMWs, both large and small. It's potentially life-threatening and inexcusable. hmy:

In 40 years of biking I've never had failures like these.

ooops_1.jpg (46.46 KiB) Viewed 2103 times

ooops_2.jpg (428.24 KiB) Viewed 2103 times

[Philiptigerrice]

How old are those pictures?


Thats not a G650GS.... is it? It looks spectacularly different to mine!

Almost like it's been over built to do stuff it perhaps wasn't designed for?




Anyways - I still reckon that BMW failures are as common as other manafacturers as a ration of number of disasters to bikes produced - and looking at this bike - its clearly being hammered to fuckery. For every 1 pic of a knackered Beemer, there's 5000 pics of bikes all over the planet in weird and wonderful places - so I don't buy into all this BMW's break stuff.

No excuse perhaps - but if you need a rally bike - buy a rally bike eh...

[johnnyboxer]

ooops_2.jpg

The guy admitted he broke the shock and continued riding the bike over the limit and fractured the swingarm

A very rare (only one I have seen) fault caused by the owner, who pushed a bike too far with a broken shock

Did he sell the bike, nope?

He bought a Wilbers shock and fitted a new swingarm and has continued to ride and own the bike

So, what does your pic prove?

Nothing?

[rlkat]

How old are those pictures?


Thats not a G650GS.... is it? It looks spectacularly different to mine!

Almost like it's been over built to do stuff it perhaps wasn't designed for?




Anyways - I still reckon that BMW failures are as common as other manafacturers as a ration of number of disasters to bikes produced - and looking at this bike - its clearly being hammered to fuckery. For every 1 pic of a knackered Beemer, there's 5000 pics of bikes all over the planet in weird and wonderful places - so I don't buy into all this BMW's break stuff.

No excuse perhaps - but if you need a rally bike - buy a rally bike eh...

I didn't say it was a GS650.
I was just highlighting that there have been serious issues with vital parts of BMWs that really shouldn't be snapping. Just Google 'BMW650 fork failures' or 'BMW GS swinging arm failure'.

I'm not saying all their stuff breaks but I think that the two elements that connect the wheels to a motorcycle frame should be over engineered to prevent things like this occurring.

[rlkat]

ooops_2.jpg

The guy admitted he broke the shock and continued riding the bike over the limit and fractured the swingarm

A very rare (only one I have seen) fault caused by the owner, who pushed a bike too far with a broken shock

Did he sell the bike, nope?

He bought a Wilbers shock and fitted a new swingarm and has continued to ride and own the bike

So, what does your pic prove?

Nothing?

I wasn't trying to 'prove' anything. I was just highlighting some serious failures of components that really shouldn't be failing and that's why I won't be riding a BMW.
I'm sure the majority of BMW bikes out there which will happily continue to give their owners years of service. I always do plenty of research when buying a new bike and these failures are stepping over a safety line which shouldn't be crossed.