The Worst Motorcycle Money Can Buy
- Thread starter tc9988
- Start date
Tyke
New Member
Interesting report which seems unbiased and factually based.
Donk
Well-Known Member
OK I admit it, I've owned a few Harleys in my day. In my experience they were 100% trouble free bullet proof motorcycles. In all fairness to HD they do suffer at the hands of some of the dumbest riders I've ever seen. I've only had my S10 for a couple of months but so far it has impressed me as a very solid motorcycle. Its my first Yamaha in 40 years of riding but I see why my friend swears by them. Another friend had a gen2 VMax built up to some unbelievable hp and it stayed completely reliable. Yup I'm hooked on the brand.
Seems to me the only important factor is how big a smile does any bike put on you face. Life's too short to worry about anything else.
I've owned a few H-D's, several BMW, Triumphs, Yamaha, Honda, a Vespa, and a Moto Guzzi, and ride 20-25k miles a year. I've never been left stranded at the side of the road or had a bike out of service for an extended repair. Why worry!
If the worst motorcycle gives ya the biggest smile, it's worth every penny!
::021::
Paul
I've owned a few H-D's, several BMW, Triumphs, Yamaha, Honda, a Vespa, and a Moto Guzzi, and ride 20-25k miles a year. I've never been left stranded at the side of the road or had a bike out of service for an extended repair. Why worry!
If the worst motorcycle gives ya the biggest smile, it's worth every penny!
::021::
Paul
You've got to remember that reputation was built "back in the day". 30, 40 years ago if you wanted a motorcycle that would run for high mileage with little (other than routine vavle adjustments) effort, your only choice was BMW. They were "the" long distance bikes. Not fast, not particularly "sexy", but dead stone reliable. Unfortunately, BMW has long since lost that quality and have experienced a series of issues, one after the other in the last decade. If you check the IBA records for the past few years "the" motorcycle to beat is the FJR. Go back a few years, it was BMW..... ::022::SPX said:
Tenerefeller
Member
True as Starbucks used to be fewer and further between, so bmws got higher milage!>oldbear said:
Andylaser
Member
Unfortunately, BMW stopped building the old simple & reliable Air Heads.SPX said:
Thats when their problems started.
Agree. BMW used to make a bike that was easy to service, lasted well and had good parts support. Those that chose one were typically the ones that did the big miles and needed the reliability and valued that more than the "cafe racers".oldbear said:
These days it's more of a lifestyle choice and is, along with Harley the new Cafe Racer bike of choice.
By the way the term Cafe Racer in the Early seventies where I lived, and apparently elsewhere, was equivalent to the term "Starbucks Cruiser".
Sound Familiar?
They must be doing some kind of new math in this article. A BMW problem rate of 30% vs. Yamaha's 11% equals about three times more reliable, not six times.elwood said:
And as others have said, a bike that isn't as reliable as another may be reliable-enough. Even for the most unreliable bike in the survey (BMW), more than 2/3'rds of owners reported no serious problems in four years of ownership.
- Mark
Donk
Well-Known Member
You could be describing our beloved S10oldbear said:
Yep looks like a Typo. They do admit they are motley fools though, so you have to give them that.markjenn said:
Trouble is in my world, and that's just me of course, I do expect at least equal or less risk for my extra 40% price than that. If I paid 40% more and things were equal then fair enough I suppose, but then there is three times the chance of something being a pain. Six times the chance that there will be no dealers around to look after it where I am, and probably 6 times the cost to get it transported etc.markjenn said:
That's Ok if it was a "day bike" so I wouldn't be that bothered if it was just a hour or so from home. Different "weighting" depending on use.
Except the difference isn't 40% anymore as BMW has lowered the price over the years while Yamaha has raised theirs. Base MSRP price on a R1200GS is $16.1K vs. $15.1K for the S10. That's a 6% hike, not 40%. Now to be fair, you may get hit for the destination charge on the BMW more than a F&S for the Yamaha and there might be a couple other little things, but even a very careful analysis done a while back only showed about a $2K difference. And you get a std 3-yr warranty. Yamaha's price advantage has been seriously eroded.GrahamD said:
- Mark
In My world base BMW GS price is 22K EXCEPT you can't get them unless you wait 6 months and the specs on those are V-Strom specs.markjenn said:
OTD starting price for the versions bought in is $25-26K and very little competition so that's what you pay, because there are plenty lined up as well. YAMAHA OTD on the ES is around 21K and 18-19K for the Non ES. So 18K->25K is....+38% and 21K->25K which is fairer I suppose is +20%.
When I was looking that was the difference. Yes it's changed a bit now the ES is a reality.
Now we could talk about a GSA. That's topping over $31K fully optioned here last I heard. Same thing quote a base price and inform the buyer that they never bring them in.
The "bargainest" BMW is the base S1000. That's very competitive in price and as far as I can determine, reliability, which, as a "day bike", would be the one I was least worried about reliability. Not my cup of tea though. Probably prefer Aprilia.
And BMW's problems just continue. Read the other day about the "No Ride" order issued by BMW on the new R1200RT. Seems the rear suspension could "collapse". BMW is offering a buy back at full price and several other options. Frankly, I cannot imagine how PO'd I'd be to drop 20+ large on a new machine and then be told I couldn't ride it because it was unsafe..... Sounds like the number crunchers are controlling things instead of the Engineers. I remember back in the old AMF days the standard joke about HD's was that they were the safest bike you could ride 'cause you couldn't keep 'em running long enough to get hurt on one. It was the same deal BMW's dealing with today, the bean counters were more worried about $$ coming in than delivering a quality product. Eventually HD pulled out of it once Willie G and the folks took over. Hope BMW does as well with a comeback...
This is very old news and there is another thread on this forum as well as a huge thread on advrider. While the situation is unfortunate, BMW caught the problem (with a vendor's part) before a single accident occurred. And given the options BMW is providing customers (total refund, free loaner, $2500 compensation), customers are generally being covered pretty well.oldbear said:
- Mark
I agree that BMW's response to their customers was pretty good, however my point was that this sort of thing simply should not have happened in the first place, and that this is only the latest of QC issues that BMW has faced in recent years. Not enough time/resources are spent on Quality to insure that this sort of thing does not happen. 20 Years ago BMW would never have permitted this situation to exist..now....markjenn said:
+1oldbear said:
I'm hoping BMW now "gets it" and will strengthen their QC efforts and return to the days of providing a premium product, not just premium pricing. I'm encouraged by their response to the RT issue, the 12 year extended warranty they recently announced on fuel strips, and the recall of 81k units for a fuel pump/flange issue.
Paul
Well, our beloved S10's have had a number of problems that "should not have happened in the first place" too. And I'm not a believer that BMWs are suffering a reliability decline..... they've always required more TLC and repairs than Japanese products. Some of the 80's and 90's K bikes have had a myriad of issues and the old airheads can be very probelmatic beasts. They're loved by their owners who heap all sorts of repairs and updates to keep them on the road, but I'd take a CB750 over a R75/5 any day of the week and twice on Sundays. The good old days weren't that good.oldbear said:
- Mark