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Little things that piss me off

12K views 158 replies 41 participants last post by  Harbinger 
#1 · (Edited)
About 900 km on the new rig and about ready for the break in service on Wednesday. Like alway I look at the first 1000 km as a shake down ride to identify potential issues and there are a few I don't expect or will tolerate:

  1. slight left pull
  2. windshield not correctly aligned with dash
  3. implausible next service date on the info screen
  4. Several growing oil stains on the rhs heat shield

    Item 2 and 3 indicate sloppy set up inspection at the dealer, 1 and 4 are likely in the responsibility of the factory. Need the bike in good working order by Friday for a 2 weeks trip and don't like particularly item 4 on a brand new bike.
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#2 ·
deleted double post
 
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#4 ·
That’s right up there with the “Heartbreak of Psoriasis”. It’s a darn shame your new bike has disappointed you thus far. All of us hope for a speedy resolution to its problems.

Happy motoring isn’t too far away sir, hang in there!
 
#3 ·
that nearside screen lift wasn't due to catching on crash helmet was it ?
 
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#6 ·
No interference between helmet and screen, have a bad habit of hanging the helmet on the handle bar
 
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#5 ·
Yep. All of those are annoyance-worthy, @ViennaK.

You might appreciate these lyrics from one of my favorite artists, Robert Earl Keen, “It’s the Little Things (That Piss Me Off)”:

 
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#7 ·
My only concern is the oil loss. Rear tires and oil loss of unpredictable amount don't go well together; all else gonna be fixed eventually,
 
#20 ·
Especially on your autobahns. Really fond memories of the years I lived there...was driving Saab turbos at the time though.
 
#8 ·
@ViennaK, agree with all of your observations on these problems 110%. Very disappointing.

I hope you get enemy #1, oil issue, resolved before your trip and all this does not change your plan. Keep us posted!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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#9 ·
Frankly, it baffles me that dealerships for premium manufacturers don’t have a better understanding of quality. Having said that, my experience is that The Mothership in the case of BMW have an at best tenuous grasp of the concept, so perhaps I shouldn’t be so confused.

Every one of those issues would attract a complaint from me.
 
#16 ·
Nope was clean when I took the bike and I didn’t touch the dipstick
 
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#14 ·
Implausible service date? Unless you have a time machine, it's closer to impossible, I'd say. That's the least of your issues but I know you know that. Sorry for your disappointment and good luck on speedy and lasting resolutions to the problems.
 
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#15 ·
Kilometer wise, isn't the normal maintenance interval every 10K? (6000 miles for us American folks) with the 900 on the clock that would put it at the 10,000KM mark for your next service. Maybe you were looking for the actual 10,901 km on the clock? I have always seen the dealers set the reminder at the 10,000KM/6000 mile mark after the break in service, but I don't figure they all do it exactly the same. Not to mention that it isn't unheard of to do another oil change at 5000 km/3000 miles and at the 10,000km/6000 mile mark just to keep the oil from getting too contaminated from the break in of the internals.

As far as the oil on the heat shields, I would be cleaning it up to see if it reappears. Techs don't seem to care about where they put their hands and it could be greasy handprints from them completing your service. Brake cleaner should do the trick, just don't let it sit too long. and check and make sure your fasteners are all dry, including your oil filter. it happens, but still sloppy work if it was after the service.

I hope your wind screen or mount is warped or bent, that is quite a bit off.
 
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#17 ·
Kilometer wise, isn't the normal maintenance interval every 10K? (6000 miles for us American folks) with the 900 on the clock that would put it at the 10,000KM mark for your next service. Maybe you were looking for the actual 10,901 km on the clock? I have always seen the dealers set the reminder at the 10,000KM/6000 mile mark after the break in service, but I don't figure they all do it exactly the same. Not to mention that it isn't unheard of to do another oil change at 5000 km/3000 miles and at the 10,000km/6000 mile mark just to keep the oil from getting too contaminated from the break in of the internals.

As far as the oil on the heat shields, I would be cleaning it up to see if it reappears. Techs don't seem to care about where they put their hands and it could be greasy handprints from them completing your service. Brake cleaner should do the trick, just don't let it sit too long. and check and make sure your fasteners are all dry, including your oil filter. it happens, but still sloppy work if it was after the service.

I hope your wind screen or mount is warped or bent, that is quite a bit off.
It is about the date, 01-01-2006 would require a time machine, which even the BigK isn‘t capable of:)
 
#18 · (Edited)
I feel your pain Vienna. My Left Pull was significant. HQ fitted a new frame and much else besides which, has all but cured the issue. Which just shows it can be done despite endless and various amounts of BS from Dealers and HQ for many of our members? Yes, its liveable, but NO it is absolutely unacceptable. Was the bike designed to do this...of course not. Then fix the furking thing, became my attitude.

Ditto for Oil consumption. Mine was drinking 1 liter/1,000kms. Again endless BS from the usual suspects. Was it designed to do that, NO? Then FTFT.

My new/eng/gearbox combo fitted 3,000kms ago is not rattling loudly and getting worse. My poor old dealer tells me its probably a Clutch Spring issue. The bike goes in next week for yet more down time, after 8 months fixing the previous issues.

In what way are any of these issues acceptable, especially for the 'Premier' manufacturer of 'Quality' motorcycles at 'Quality' prices?.

Just came back from a quick 500 km day ride with the boss. What a machine, gobbled up 400 kms of freeway then ripped through the twisties frightening the local canines as it 'rattled' through the villages. If I have to cancel my trip to the Furka Pass and through Switzerland in 3 weeks there is going to be absolute murders....namely me by the boss, who's looking forward to some Fondue :D

Good luck Vienna. I strongly recommend you play merry h*ll about all your issues, and don't take prisoner !! ;)
 
#22 ·
I feel your pain Vienna. My Left Pull was significant. HQ fitted a new frame and much else besides which, has all but cured the issue. Which just shows it can be done despite endless and various amounts of BS from Dealers and HQ for many of our members? Yes, its liveable, but NO it is absolutely unacceptable. Was the bike designed to do this...of course not. Then fix the furking thing, became my attitude.

Ditto for Oil consumption. Mine was drinking 1 liter/1,000kms. Again endless BS from the usual suspects. Was it designed to do that, NO? Then FTFT.

My new/eng/gearbox combo fitted 3,000kms ago is not rattling loudly and getting worse. My poor old dealer tells me its probably a Clutch Spring issue. The bike goes in next week for yet more down time, after 8 months fixing the previous issues.

In what way are any of these issues acceptable, especially for the 'Premier' manufacturer of 'Quality' motorcycles at 'Quality' prices?.

Just came back from a quick 500 km day ride with the boss. What a machine, gobbled up 400 kms of freeway then ripped through the twisties frightening the local canines as it 'rattled' through the villages. If I have to cancel my trip to the Furka Pass and through Switzerland in 3 weeks there is going to be absolute murders....namely me by the boss, who's looking forward to some Fondue :D

Good luck Vienna. I strongly recommend you play merry h*ll about all your issues, and don't take prisoner !! ;)
Been through some issues with my up to now 4 K1600s, but with a good dealer and constructive discussion I have been able to sort things out. Short incomplete history of problems

2014 K1600 GTL
3 water pumps
1.5 sets of handle bar control switches
one complete Xenon headlight (mirror / lens fogged)
complete new drive train (hot start problems) at 41000 km
Sold in 2017 at 46.000 km

2018 GTL
Entire new drive train at 11.000 km (bad cold idle rattle)
Failure of shift assist, multiple attempts by dealer and BMW engineers to fix it, one year with 27.000 km and 2-3 month down time in the riding season and I had enough of it
Worked with the dealer and BMW to avoid lawyers and received a 2018 demo K1600 GT for a very reasonable amount.

2018 GT
Minor issue with the SA, in the meantime BMW had a fix that was applied.
Bike traded in at 26.000 km in very good condition

2020 GT
oil leak
minor left pull
set up issues a
Windshield crooked

So yes not exactly a stellar display of BMW performance, but again I have to say that BMW dealer and mother-ship tried to make things right and I continue to rely on that attitude.
 
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#21 ·
Speaking of Autobahn, I lived in Mainz Finthen for couple of years, while working a gov contract for the Army, at the Mainz Finthen Army Airfield back in 90-92. I went out and bought a HD, and was extremely upset when I realized I could only get it to just around 98-100 mph on the Autobahan ! Could not take advantage of the speed freedom within certain areas, crap ! Shoulda bought a BMW instead ! Ended up trading that HD a few years later on a BMW back in the states.
144695
 
#23 ·
You were a brave man going more than 100 mph with that thing..........but come to think of it the FXR was the best handling bike in the line up back then.
 
#26 ·
My bike ('18 GT) had the same issue of oil collecting on the heat shield when I first picked it up. It was mainly/all on the left side. I noticed this after the first ride home I even had oil splatter on the rear wheel. I immediately called this out to the dealer. Once I cleaned it up it never reappeared. The dealer couldn't find any leaks and speculated that the engine has a coating on it that could've been burning off. Not sure if that is true. Hopefully the issue goes away like it did for me.
 
#27 ·
Left pull. I’ve heard about this here on the forum before. Are you saying it pulls left all the time? Or do you “detect” the left pull if you take hands off the bars? I cannot detect any left pull tendency no matter how lightly I hold the bars, but it is there with no hands...a very slight left motion that I can counter with leaning to the right. I have this exact same effect with my VTX. Both the Honda and K1600 have shaft drive units. I can’t say I’ve ever read where anyone considered (on this forum) the asymmetry left/right of the COG because of the heavy shaft drive unit on the left. Anyone? If we assume the bike is laterally symmetrical in every other way, then the drive system is certainly the non-symmetrical element here. Since I can easily counter the “left pull” by leaning right, this conclusion is at least valid if not absolutely correct. If the engineers were to jig build a “fix” to cure this weight asymmetry, I suspect that more harm to the handling would be the result. My suspicion is that shaft drive system on the left side is a significant percentage of the K1600B’s 741 pounds.
 
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#32 ·
I don't dare going there and I am not gonna bite
 
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#28 ·
That wet spot on the heat shield might be anti=freeze. According to my BMW mechanic the water pumps need a few thousand miles on them before they o-rings will seal. I had the same leak on my 2019 GT but it has stopped. I have 14K miles on it now.
 
#29 ·
The pump has a little rubber hose tube that leads downwards into a hole in the heat shield. Looks like it is designed to direct the seepage under the heatshield.
 
#31 ·
Or I could turn off TC and do a burnout before I go on the road. Very much to the enjoyment of my neighbors
 
#34 ·
Yep, that was the technology back then even though it already had a waste gate to blow off excess pressure which civilized it a fair bit compared to the other early stage turbos like the BMW 2002 turbo from 1973 as one the worst examples of digital reaction to throttle input before the advent of digital controls in cars. Very few are still around which is no miracle given the small production numbers and their viscous character traits. Remember the reverse text on the front? Totally politically incorrect today...........
 
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#36 ·
The Left Pull is well documented here ad infinitum. Mine, IMHO, was severe and would have required a plank extended out to the right side for me to sit on and balance it out.o_O. The gotcha and proof of the pudding is that by replacing the frame and axles etc it has been 95% fixed, and can now be corrected with a small amount of body english/weight transfer. I always load the bags a tad heavier now on the right side.

I could feel mine through the bars which, if released, even for a moment meant the bike charged off to the left, which off course no vehicle is designed to do?
 
#37 ·
Wow, that is some list. My dealer is also exemplary. The fly in the ointment appears to be BMW HQ, I can understand their reasoning to a point but balk and push back at their apparent ineptitude and frankly, sheer lack of care when dealing directly with a customer.,

Not one word of apology or even sympathy for an 8 month loss of use (in the first 20 months from new) and now, just to rub it in, the 'new' gearbox replacement requires further downtime to fix an as yet unknown problem.......
 
#39 ·
@afhorsley Water injection was extremely rare, I believe only a couple of hundreds were produced which makes it extremely desirable for Saab fan. But there is help if you still in love with this car and you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night and your SO inquiring which strange name you were screaming out loud in your dreams.
There are specialized car hunters out there that make a business out of the emotional attachment that some guys (and I mean guys) have to some past cars by trying to find the car, have it rebuilt and sell it to you for a small markup (you wish). Find one, submit as much documentation that you can pull together and maybe one fine day the old love shows up on your doorstep. Some of them looked way better back then I can tell from non-automotive experience. So be warned.
 
#40 ·
I have felt your pain VineaK and wish you the best in getting your issues sorted. I hope it doesn't take the gloss off your new steed too much.

My biking career started on the 4th October 1971, it was my 16th birthday and I rode my brand new Honda CB175 to school that day. From 1971 until 2005 I never had a single issue with my motorcycles, they were all Japanese bikes, perhaps I was just lucky.

I purchased my first BMW R1200 RT in 2005 and remember being astonished when I got my first warning light on the dash, it had blew a bulb. Little did I know the pain ahead of me, both physical and emotional. I have left a lot of skin on the inside of R1200's replacing bulbs.

We could all contribute to a list of issues including switch gear, suspension, left pull, overheating,water leaks, oil leaks, transmission etc. etc. Most of us have experienced some, or all of this.

My conclusion is that BMW have no competitors in the luxury touring market, Honda have the goldwing, but that is about it, so quality control and customer satisfaction is not high on BMW's priority list.

I have to say I cringe when I hear of BMW referred to as the "Mother Ship" who lives in the "Fatherland" or some other endearing way of describing them.

They are a multinational company, driven by profits and we, as customers, deserve better.
 
#42 · (Edited)
So quick update:
Oil leak: No smoking gun even after intensive search. Still clean after 300 km in high heat and spirited riding. Looks like some oil left somewhere in the nooks and crannies which dissipated.
Wind shield: Looks like the actuator itself is out of spec. Since it is not mission critical, it will be fixed during the next service at 10.000 km
Service date: Now reads correctly August 12 2021 at 10.000 km
Left pull: inconclusive (no surprise), we agreed to look at it again at the 10.000 km service with a different set of tires

New issue from this morning: starter occasionally not engaging, will watch it and hope it doesn't become mission critical.


That's all for now folks
 
#45 ·
Hello ViennaK
As both of us have new 2020 K16GT tuned for the European market I read your comments with great interest.
The left pull: I have it as well: Not much but clearly noticeable. And so did my 2013 GT. Guess I am used to it.
Starter not engaging: Exactly as my bike. One out of ~15 starting attempt the starter does not catch the engine. The problem has developed so now the reverse does not work. This problem is permanent.
I have agreed with my dealer that he will take care of the problem after the riding season.

On the plus side I have noted that the bike is now (4500km on the odometer) much more responsive to the throttle. The engine is slowly but surely cloosing up (performancevice) with my old bike's engine.
 
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