Sam, There are apparently some asshats on here. They apparently have no clue how much cost, build-up and planning goes into an IBR run. Your write-up of the experience is good and I support whatever you can accomplish with BMW. The FACT is that BMW motorcycles are FAR less reliable than they once were. The electronics mean that a rally rider can no longer take along a decent tool kit and do most repairs roadside. Please people, the entry fee alone to run an IBR is $1,975 ($2350 two-up). When a bike leaves you stranded two days in, you cannot imagine the frustration.
Those of you who fault Sam for not riding a lot on this bike before the rally are off base. First he, did ride it and set it up. The issue that he has experienced is a computer issue. It could happen at ANY time, and no matter how much prep and break-in riding he had done, it still would/could have happened.
I was a finisher in the 2011 IBR, rode a low-key ride to be a finisher, am no big dog by a wide margin compared to Sam and Meese, but like Sam, did ride a bike with about 2,000 run-in miles (a 2011 GSA). While I had no warranty problems in the IBR, it is simply amazing how many key ring failures, fuel pump issues, rear drive failures, switchgear snafus, water pump problems, overheating conditions, drive lash, suspension squeak issues and other problems there are with BMWs. The folks on this thread saying things like "every bike breaks down" and accusing the OP of being a troll, and then defending BMW, are clueless and need to take a reality pill. When you say "my friend's Lamborghini broke down too," you show just how clueless you are. One is a bespoke high performance product that needs constant attention. The other is a frigging production motorcycle, sold for reliability and endurance. Saying such things impeaches credibility.
To you who are saying breakdowns are part of the deal - yeah we get that - for tires, wear items, etc. But those of us with a lot of experience on recent BMW's know the marque is going downhill - BMW has simply become unreliable. I am on my eighth new BMW since 2004, including a 2004 CLC, 2005 K1200LT, 2009 F800GS, 2011 R1200GSA, 2012 K1600GTL, 2014 K1600GTL Exclusive, 2014 R1200 GSA, and 2015 R9T. My wife also had a 2009 F650GS. Every one of those nine bikes except the R9T (which has only 500 miles) has left us stranded by the side of the road with electronic issues, not user serviceable, at least twice each. We ride a lot of miles, and including BMW rental bikes, we have been stranded over 20 times in the past nine years. You'd say we are crazy for keeping on with this marque, but there's no other choice in many of the places we ride. The worst situation was a broken rear swingarm suspension attachment point on a GSA in Tanzania, where a routine pothole sheared off the suspension, bringing our two-up Africa adventure to a literal screeching halt, and we had to proceed on a spare low-low 650GS because the nearest service was 5,000 miles away in Cape Town.
We all prepare to the level we think appropriate - and Sam, I think you prepared just fine. There is nothing more you could have done, and certainly nothing at all that would have revealed this fault. These machines are not boats, which do need to be run in because every boat is a custom deal. There are many, many adjustments to make on boats (I currently own seven with motors, including two oyster farm workboats, an offshore fishing boat, two blue water sailboats, and a couple jet skis). Motorcycles are not the same thing. We are constantly testing and tweaking the boats. However, anyone should be able to get on a stock motorcycle and have it run reliably, with scheduled maintenance, for many thousands of miles with NO warranty service. Warranty service should be an exception. Every one of the 20+ failures on our BMW rides in the past nine years have been under warranty and every one has been hundreds or thousands of miles from the nearest BMW dealer, and most required diagnosis and parts to be ordered. This IS unacceptable and your sentiments are perfectly correct. You have every right to be pissed.
I am friendly with the owners of several well-known BMW dealers. There isn't a single dealer in the US who is happy with BMW design and engineering in recent years. They have constant hassles dealing with the mother ship, and universally believe these bikes are over-engineered and under-tested. Those of us with K1600's since 2012 (I had a pre-order bike) KNOW this to be a fact. I believe, but cannot prove, that there isn't a single K1600 with significant miles that has avoided at least a switch replacement. I have had several switches replaced, including disabling starting issues, and others. Some issues, like the water pump leaking, have been less fatal to ongoing rides, but drive the dealerships crazy, and were unnecessary if proper factory testing were done.
To put this in context, we find that the complexity of BMW motorcycles is now to the point that it is nearly impossible to be ready for all eventualities. In June I shipped our 2014 R1200GSA to Riga, Latvia from the port of New York. It arrived there last week, and my wife and I will soon join it to ride the Ayres Adventures Epic Adventure from Riga, through Estonia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Mongolia, China, ending in Hong Kong in October. In the side cases were stashed a spare final drive and a complete fuel pump assembly with related floats, electronics and seals. The cases also hold a spare key ring, spark plugs, and a bunch of other small items like brake and clutch handles. This was well over $5,000 of spares for our upcoming adventure. That is in addition to standard spares like oil, filters, tires and brake pads. Even with all that, I lose sleep, envisioning a cold rainy dirt mountain pass in Mongolia, and an ECU failure. We are not taking a spare ECU, or many other electronics like ABS units, because they require dealer activation and software implementation - there are many things that can go wrong on this trip that would end in a shuttle ride to the nearest airport and an aborted trip - because it has become virtually impossible to ride a BMW and maintain it ourselves given the admittedly wonderful electronics on these bikes - wonderful when they work. A broken wheel or smashed light I can understand. A failed ECU, I cannot.
I hope my wife does not read this thread because I have been telling her how prepared we are for this trip, but will say here that the more I think about it, the less confidence I have. This thread, and Sam's experience caused me to inventory the motorcycle breakdowns that we've experienced, and then consider how remote this trip will be at times, and I conclude it borders on irresponsible. Sam had a dealer nearly right there on the spot, and yet even THEY could not get him back on the road in a day or two. The only saving grace in our plan is that we will have a support van and a bail-out strategy that includes a way to transport broken bikes, but there will be no spare bikes for the 13 BMW's that are going on this trip. I will be truly shocked if BMW engineering does not fail at least one couple or rider on this trip in a catastrophic (ride-ending) fashion. Every one of the bikes that await us in Riga is a late model (2012-2015) GS of some sort (F800, F700, R1200, GSA). I hope that I am wrong, but the issues we have experienced in recent years, and those being reported here and elsewhere by riders like Sam are about BMW engineering, not about being prepared.
We depend on these bikes and deserve better. They may be expensive toys, but some of us use them as intended - to go to far away places. They have to be more reliable. Instead, they are becoming less so. Sam, I understand why you feel crushed. Those of you who chose to jump in here and thrash Sam should be ashamed, and owe him an apology.
Dave