BMW K1600 Forum banner

Class action lawsuit for gearshift indacator??

8K views 57 replies 30 participants last post by  TouringTim 
#1 ·
#2 ·
So now the new world of riders requires a light to tell them what gear they're in? Thats right, as I grow older I see the younger folks need to be told what to do as they can't/won't think for themselves.
Prerequisite to learn how to ride/drive, is take away speedos, tachs, and gear indicator lights and first master the machine by feel. Then one can add all the bells and whistles til their hearts content.
 
#3 ·
Only time I ever look at it is when I want to be sure that I am in neutral. I guess that could pose a safety issue if it said it was in neutral but was actually not but I always have had the habit of letting the clutch out slowly just to be sure - old habits from my dirt bike days when we didn't have gear indicators.
 
#5 ·
This is the first I’ve heard of this issue, even though the article mentions K series bikes. I never noticed a problem with mine, but this is the first bike I’ve had with one, and I pretty much only used the indicator to make sure the bike is in 6th on the highway for the first month or so. This motor is so smooth that I used to catch myself cruising in lower gears all the time, now that I know the bike better I rarely look at it. That said, I think if they’re gonna provide one it should work, and I guess I could see a safety issue if it’s reading neutral while the bike is in gear or something. I guess it’ll be up to the judge
 
#7 ·
A lifetime of riding motorcycles and this is the first gear indicator I've ever had. I do glance at it occasionally to verify what I'm already thinking about the current gear.

I would more likely sue the entire automotive and motorcycle industries for conspiring to erode our skills as drivers and riders. (I hope I don't have to explain this sentence is dripping with sarcasm.) :smile:

Mr. Casey needs to learn how to ride a motorcycle.
 
#8 ·
I would more likely sue the entire automotive and motorcycle industries for conspiring to erode our skills as drivers and riders. (I hope I don't have to explain this sentence is dripping with sarcasm.) :smile:
And sue the makers of cell phones too (and I am surprised that this already hasn't been done). And sue Garmin for sending you somewhere that was dangerous (road, city, bridge, etc.). This list is endless. We are a sue happy nation. I remember when I thought it was ridiculous that the lady that was burned by a cup of hot coffee from Micky D's sued and won. That was a looong time ago.
 
#9 ·
Now I know what really made me uncomfortable riding my Harleys. The hidden danger of having no gear indicator at all. I consider myself lucky that I am still alive after six Harleys in a row................


Maybe the guy was just sufficiently pissed off with BMW's way of handling his obviously defective bike and he laywererd and ended up with one of those almost frivolous lawsuits. Anyway, I dont was my precious time on stuff like that.
 
#18 ·
Pretty harsh on the guy - sounds like his bike has a defective indicator and BMW is not fixing it.

I mean, come on, we had a multi-page thread about the fuel indicator not filling the top bar! People were ready to burn the dealership down.
Actually, the way I remember it was that only 1 person was upset that the fuel gauge on his 2018 was not at all accurate. Most (maybe all?) 2018's were affected and most members here said "meh, not a big deal if its 1 or 2 bars out of accurate" and basically told the OP to let it go. WHY??? Why should we let something go?? Fuel gauges have been around since the 1930's and BMW can't make one accurate in 2018??? When he complained enough and got a PUMA opened and BMW finally issued a software update to correct this, all the naysayers were happy to get the update and have an accurate fuel gauge. Lots of people here think BMW can do no wrong and seem willing to put up with deficiencies on their $25K bike. I'm not sure why. I have a 2012 and my gauge is accurate. If I bought a 2018 and it was off by 2 bars, I'd be pissed too.
 
#11 ·
Guy buys bike with a feature

Feature doesn’t work

Guy wants it fixed

BMW doesn’t fix it

Guy sues

Guys on internet talk smack about guy.lol.

If you pay 25k for something,it’s pretty reasonable to want everything to work. The fact that people have a problem with that is amazing. Please explain...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#16 ·
I just clicked back on the link to see how may people besides this one guy filed a class action suit. I scrolled through the comments on that article, and compared to what we have said here I can say with certainty we will be inducted into a monastery way before any of those commentators. LOL
 
#23 ·
My K was so different than my other bikes that I truly liked it when I got it and used it until I got the feel and sounds down. My wife's 1200RT has it and she loves having it still. It should work and they should fix it if it don't work. Someone told me once to never "trust" it though....so I still let my left hand out slow.

A friend of mine who bought, roasted and brewed coffee and considered anything coffee a passion said that coffee temp needs to be brewed at 200 degrees and proper drinking temp is 180 degrees (give or take a couple of degrees) for that perfect hot cup of coffee. Anywhere from 145 -150 degrees could cause a third degree burn on sensitive skin...but that coffee is being sent back because it is too cold by probably half the coffee fanatics...at least in the Northeast.

I want my "N" to work and continue not trusting it and I want my coffee 180 degrees....please!
 
#28 ·
coffee temp needs to be brewed at 200 degrees and proper drinking temp is 180 degrees
Has your friend caused third degree burns or paid out 700+ lawsuits and settlements?

If you ask me what’s the perfect temp to brew or drink coffee, I honestly couldn’t tell you. I’ve had exactly two cups of coffee in my life and they both sucked, so I simply stopped drinking the stuff. I couldn’t even tell you how to make a pot... :)
 
#25 ·
hope the sucker looses and has to pay all the costs, ridiculous reason to sue. Why would the GS911 allow you to relearn the positions :)
 
#26 ·
BMW changed my grey Hills start assist indicator to green without notifying me at least three month in advance to help prepare for the change. After that I have been in numerous situations where I could not figure out whether the hill assist was engaged or not because my attention was trained to notice a grey light. Sorting out the situation in heavy city traffic caused serious stress related symptoms which over time made me start drinking vodka to relax.
I think I am going to sue BMW for endangering my liver or paying the lifetime vodka bill. Ambulance chasers, do you hear me?
 
#31 ·
There is really no excuse for a gear indicator light not to work. Not really understanding those of you who act as if the guys a cry baby. You mean to tell me if you came to a stop, put the bike in neutral and relying on that neutral light you release the clutch the bike lurches forward unexpected, and you drop the bike causing I don't know 1000 dollar of damage. You wouldn't be pissed off?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Maico Guy
#32 ·
Filing a class action suit is easy, check the box on the form. Getting past that is really hard. The legal firm he has hired are specialists in the area. This guy casey must have money because pursuing a class action suit is not cheap. Maybe he hopes that BMW will react just on the face of being hit with the filing.

Hyperbole in lawsuits is the norm, not the exception. The issue that the lawyers will raise is the example provided in the complaint of the bike moving on its own. Jury's don't like vehicles that do unexpected things. Not saying its valid, everyone here has rocked their bike back and forth to make sure it is in neutral. The problem is, how manypeople on the jury will know understand this. The complaint lists potentially thousands of cases (class action members). That is what the lawyers will be interested in.. thousands * damages = something. In any case (see what I did there) its going to be tough to prove willful neglect on the part of BMW or its dealerships, and after throwing out all of the obvious nonsense in the suit it will probably come down to whether or not the gear shift indicator has been designed intentionally as part of a safety system (an intended use) or as a convenience. If it is part of a safety system then it could raise the profile significantly. If it is convenience (as it is for most everyone here) then even the courts will probably not be impressed.

I was part of a lawsuit once where it was alleged that we violated someones patent. The patent was filed in the mid 90's and granted. The patent contained a description of a circuit that was supposed to be the secret sauce of how all of the products in the same category worked worldwide, we were just the second company that they were going after in a long list of companies. The problem was that the products and product category existed going back to the 70s --- AND ---- the circuit did nothing. It literally sent its output to ground in the patent drawings so it could never have been effectively used. The problem was that another prominent consumer company had already successfully settled with them so the whole court was confused as to why there had been an effective settlement if we were right and the circuit did nothing. Turns out some companies just pay out rather then go through the cost of defending. We ended up winning, not because we were right but because the other lawyers made a clerical error in the filing process. It cost us millions to defend. The moral of the story is that the whole thing was about very technical arguments that the jury did not understand, the judge and the jury were swayed heavily by the previous settlement. The lawyers on the other side used emotions very well while we were constantly confounded by the obviousness of the issue (the circuit could never work). Engineers vs very good lawyers. We should have hired a better law firm but we thought this was open/shut. I hope Casey has a lot of money he isn't very attached to as this case is going to add up quickly in costs (whether he is right or wrong).
 
#38 ·
Which is why the jury also assigned a portion of the blame to the plaintiff, and the judge reduced the jury's recommended settlement award.

And in this specific instance, McDonald's had a known history of acknowledging the danger and specifically chose to do nothing about it despite hundreds of prior cases.

So the message was sent: if a company knowingly creates a dangerous situation and consciously chooses to ignore it, then they can be held financially liable.

It really is just that simple.
 
#36 ·
Lawyers, no matter what type of lawyers, always consider themselves ethical with high morals. Some are lying without knowing they lie and others are lying and completely believe their lies. same outcome.
If you are the only one believing your lies and think you have ethics and morals, everyone but you know what you are.
 
#40 ·
The irony is that if they DO win the class-action suit, they will probably NOT get enough money from the settlement to fix the gear indicator. Let's say they win and BMW loses, my first guess is that any punitive damages will be tossed out. So they will figure out how much it will cost to fix the problem. Let's say it involves replacing maybe $200 in parts and the labor comes to $100 per motorcycle (just making up numbers, I have no idea what the real costs could be). So the plaintiffs are going to assume they'll get the $300 and go get their bikes fixed. Not so fast.... The scum-sucking douchebags err, sorry, lawyers, will take their cut (somewhere between 30-40%) which will leave at most maybe $210 for the repairs. Now these guys might try to get BMW to fix it anyway. BMW will tell them to go pound sand because they've already been paid for the problem ("made whole" in legal jargon). So anybody that signed up for the lawsuit will get the money and most likely NO chance of BMW fixing their problem under warranty.

Just look at the recent Equifax thing. All these folks signed up thinking they're going to get $125. Except they aren't... The bottom-feeding sharks, err, sorry, again.. lawyers will still get their full payout. The plaintiffs will just have to fight over what's left.

Another (probably better) example was when Chevrolet re-introduced the Impala SS back in 1994 which was really just an option package on the Chevy Caprice. It was advertised as including a full-sized spare tire. Well, since the car came with 17" aluminum wheels, some people assumed the spare should be the same wheel and tire. What they got was the standard Caprice spare which was a 15" steel wheel with a full-sized tire. The spare tire was the same outside diameter as the 17" tire.

Well, some customers weren't happy and found some lawyer who filed a class-action suite and won. All these folks figured that they were going to get a shiny new 17" aluminum wheel with a new BF Goodrich tire on it. Nope! The new wheel was around $425 and the tire was maybe $150. What the plaintiffs got was a check for $250! So not even half of what it would cost to get what they really wanted. Of course the blood-sucking leeches, ****... lawyers got paid!
 
#42 ·
Provided warnings that hot coffee is hot enough to cause burns (yeah, I know it's obvious) and reduced the temperature of their coffee.

Which is exactly what they did in the end.

And maybe if they'd simply covered that lady's medical bills in the first place, and not tried to use the "so a few hundred people got burned" defense then they wouldn't have been handed such a scathing defeat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sbennett53
#43 ·
I know I'm shooting from the hip, but if you order hot coffee and spill it ( don't ever place hot coffee between your legs !) expect to get burned.

Winning a lawsuit because you were stupid is crazy, but what seems to be our new normal..

Back to the gear indicator, it's nice to have, but I rarely look at it. Trust but verify...

Lawsuit, another stupid.... Can't BMW just fix it ?
 
#44 ·
Not sure how this became a discussion about coffee, but what the hay. If you buy hot coffee should you expect it to be hot? No doubt, of course you should. Should you expect to need skin grafts if you spill some on you? I’d have to say probably not on that. Let’s be realistic, everyone has spilled coffee at some point, I had a waitress dump it all over my arm once, and yes, it definitely hurt like ****, but some quick thinking by my SO with a glass of ice water and I was fine. I would’ve been somewhat less than pleased if I had to go to a hospital or needed surgery for it though. Especially because I think coffee sucks and never drink it >:)
 
#45 ·
Today, on my way to work, I decided to stop to adjust my earbuds. I pulled off onto a wide shoulder and shifted into Neutral, I thought. But, as I was about to let the clutch lever out, I looked down at my K1600’s display and, luckily saw that I was actually in 1st. My life flashed before my eyes. I thought I was a goner, and well I would have been but for some pretty quick thinking. I don’t know how I came up with the idea, but somehow, with no time to debate what to do, I kept my fingers tight around the clutch lever and pushed my left toe up a half-lunch. Miraculously, the bike clicked int Neutral and I was saved! I can’t remember ever having such a close call.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top