Major Failure Poll

Topics related to the ownership, maintenance, equipping, operation, and riding of the R1150R.

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Major Failure Poll

Final Drive Failure
5
6%
Spline Failure
9
11%
Other Major Failure (Please explain in comment)
8
10%
No Major Failures
61
73%
 
Total votes: 83

ColumbiaBMW
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Major Failure Poll

Post by ColumbiaBMW »

I've had my '03 R1150R for several almost problem free years (it stranded me once on a highway because a spark plug wire came disconnected under the gas tank), but other than that I've enjoyed the hell out of my bike. It's got 30,000 miles on it now, and I've been trying to stay off the internet websites about BMW's lately, because if I believed everything I read on the internet it would seem that I am 110% guaranteed to have a spline failure or a final drive failure in the next few miles. I know this topic has been beaten to death here on this site, and I have read almost all the posts about splines or final drives on here so I apoligize for bringing it up again. But, there's been a lot of numbers thrown out about how many bikes have been affected, or what percent of bikes is believed to have had failures. So I'm interested in getting as many votes as possible as to how many have actually had failures of their splines, or their final drive. I would really appreciate it if you could vote for either spline failure, final drive failure, or no failure of either of those parts. I'm hoping the number for no failures greatly outnumbers the others. I'm planning for a weeklong ride to the Colorado area soon, and now that my bike has hit 30,000 miles (and I've given in a couple of times and read the internet forums) I'm starting to get a little nervous. I know....I know....just ride it and enjoy it, which I do for the most part, but I can't help but wonder what happens if my splines or final drive give out 1,000 miles from home. Also, my wife will be going to nursing school soon so we'll down to just my income while she does that, so if a major problem came up with my bike, it would be sitting in the garage for a couple of years until we're back to two incomes! Back to the poll though, if you are one of the unfortunate people that had a failure, could I ask also what mileage your bike was at when it happened? Thanks again everyone! I've appreciated all the advice I've got on here, and hopefully will never have to get a Suzuki Bandit (which is the next bike in my sights if I ever have my bike completely breakdown.) [-o<
Last edited by ColumbiaBMW on Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Bryan
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Giraffemom
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by Giraffemom »

Others can help more than I, but from what I've read here and what my mechanic told me when I put the same question to him, the failures generally occur at higher mileage, somewhere in the 80K range. No doubt there will be more well informed posts, but I just wanted to put your mind at ease a little early. :D
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hank
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by hank »

I honestly can't tick no major failures as I have had the servo ABS die on me at 36,000 miles, a replacement unit plus labour would have cost just over half what the bike is worth. I solved the problem by removing the ABS and running with normal brakes. My bike is now easier to service as the brake fluid change is a much easier job. Only time the ABS triggered was when I deliberately tested it in the car park after fluid changes. I don't miss the dangerously sharp low speed braking that the servo's provided, but I wish I still had the anti lock facility.
I'm a rollin stone all alone and lost...............
ColumbiaBMW
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by ColumbiaBMW »

Giraffemom wrote:I just wanted to put your mind at ease a little early.
I appreciate that Giraffemom, and I know it's stupid to worry about it, but I do need to call AAA and renew my membership....just in case. ;)
hank wrote: honestly can't tick no major failures as I have had the servo ABS die on me at 36,000 miles, a replacement unit plus labour would have cost just over half what the bike is worth.
Thats why I chose to chose to go with a non-ABS bike, the ease of maintenance and less chance of something going wrong with the brakes. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that someday the back end of a car doesn't show me why I made the wrong choice.
Bryan
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by ColumbiaBMW »

Hank I tried to edit the poll to add another option of "Other Major Failure" so you could vote for that, I didn't realize though that it would wipe out all the votes I already had, but if you want to go ahead and vote for that option you should have another vote available to you now. Sorry to the other 4 people that had already voted, didn't mean to wipe out your votes. I would be curious to hear from the 1 person that had already voted for a Final Drive Failure though.
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by aja1739 »

Man, I hope I'm not jinxing this... but I've had no major failures to date. My bike is an '04 with about 18.5K on it. I've had it for about a year and 3.5K. The electrical wire wraps have cracked, and just last night I re-wrapped what I could with Magic Wrap. Have changed the oil on it twice; did the transmission and FD fluids just recently; and just completed a brake and clutch bleed. I've decided to let the dealer do the valve adjustment and tb sync - got an estimate of about $250 +/- for that.

So... knock on wood, things have been OK so far. This board can kind of spook you, but I think the membership and postings here probably overly represent those with questions or problems, since it's such a good resource for that kind of stuff. Maybe I'm wrong on that though.

Anyway, best of luck and stay safe.

Andrew
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by me&mybmw »

I'm in cold country, an 02 1150RT, 74000km (45000mi). Regular maintenance. Fuel,oil,drive and enjoy. Aftermarket, electronics for surge, and Ztechnics exhaust. =D>
No were not stopping at Timmy's
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hank
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by hank »

Columbia03BMW wrote:Hank I tried to edit the poll to add another option of "Other Major Failure" so you could vote for that, I didn't realize though that it would wipe out all the votes I already had, but if you want to go ahead and vote for that option you should have another vote available to you now. Sorry to the other 4 people that had already voted, didn't mean to wipe out your votes. I would be curious to hear from the 1 person that had already voted for a Final Drive Failure though.
Cheers man, I just voted in the other major failures box. Don't get me wrong, I still love this bike as it does everything I need a bike to do, from weekend rides, all year round commuting to work, some light off roading and fully loaded two up trips through Europe. I have used this bike in all weathers in temperatures from14f to 100f and never had any other breakdowns apart from the ABS failure and a couple of punctures.
If I had to replace it, I would probably look for an early R1150GS with non servo ABS.
I'm a rollin stone all alone and lost...............
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by NoRRmad »

I had the final drive failure, at 32K miles. :( I rode 400 miles with noises from the back increasing steadily, without anything actually coming apart, and replaced the unit with a used one I got from Beemer Boneyard. Now I have about 45K with no further problems.
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by Hottech »

No problems at all 2004 R1150R with 25,000 miles. Do all my own maintenance plan on doing a complete brake fluid ABS flush next week. Ordered a complete set of magnetic drain plugs for oil, transmission, and final drive hoping to keep an eye on any future metal filings coming off the final drive.
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by Sunbeemer »

No Major Failure on my 2002 with 40666 Smiles :D
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by ColumbiaBMW »

NoRRmad wrote:I had the final drive failure, at 32K miles. I rode 400 miles with noises from the back increasing steadily, without anything actually coming apart, and replaced the unit with a used one I got from Beemer Boneyard. Now I have about 45K with no further problems.
Well that sucks, but thankfully BB had a used for you, that probably saved you quite a bit of money. Also, it's a good thing you had some early warning signs so you weren't completely stranded hundreds of miles away from home!
Sunbeemer wrote:No Major Failure on my 2002 with 40666 Smiles
Thats really good to hear, and even though we only have a VERY small sample so far, the numbers from this poll are very encouraging.
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by CycleRob »

Final drive bearings wore out around 62,000 miles. That happened in spite of fanatical cleanliness during servicing, premium (Mobil-1) full synthetic oils and no heavy loads or sustained high speeds. The handling started to get wiggy just going straight, felt loose and wobbly transitioning from a L-2-R or R-2-L turn. Grabbing the rear wheel by hand and forcing it side-2-side gave an obvious feeling of thumping the limits of considerable wear. There were no noises at all when riding. An approximate .040" play at the tire where there should be absolutely zero play. Taking it apart confirmed it was the FD mainshaft bearings and not the swingarm pivot or FD pivot bearings. I fixed it on the cheap by ordering the 2 bearings from Chicago BMW and having BMW Atlanta R&R the bearings on my carried-in FD assembly after the appointment. They were very reasonable and less than I expected on the price, adding 2 bearing shims to the bill. It was less than a 1.5 hr wait and I took it home. \:D/

After that episode and about 8 years of ownership, I decided it was time for a new bike, with a more modern engine design. I literally stumbled upon the F800ST at the BMW open house and test rode it on a whim. I ended up going a longer time and further than the route they described, making up my mind "this was it" very soon after. After 21 trouble free months and just under 12,000 miles, considering all the other bikes of every brand I might have chosen, it not only was a lucky break, it was a smart move. :smt045

.
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by jm1515 »

I had the FD big bearing replaced @39,300miles to fix gear oil leaking into the rear hub. I caught this impending 'major failure' during a tire change. No big deal...That was 10,100miles ago.

3 weeks ago at a hair under 49,400miles my Roadsta ate it's clutch splines.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22361
Absolutely no warning signs....
Tranny is out for re-build and I'm doing the clutch...everything from the housing on back.
This adventure in mechanical repair is going to set me back ~2grand... :mrgreen:
Bottom line is, the R is/has been such a great bike that I'm going to fix it, ride on and not worry about it....this time.
Oh..but I would make sure you have Roadside Assistance..... 8-[
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by RBrider »

Roughly 25,000 on my '04 Rockster. Been used mostly for sport touring, both solo and two up. I do change the FD lube with every oil change, just to keep it clean and inspect it for any signs of abnormal wear. No problems to amount to anything with this bike. I wouldn't hesitate to do your Colorado tour, if I were you. Especially since you have AAA :)

RB
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by AndyRR »

Replaced splines at around 40k. They hadn't stranded me cause I inspected them during the off-season. Hard to say how much longer the clutch was going to last. Other than that, my bike has been very reliable. I have 55k now. If it fails me on a long trip far from home, I'm leaving it on the side of the road and calling Enterprise to pick me up. :lol:
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by ColumbiaBMW »

CycleRob wrote:Final drive bearings wore out around 62,000 miles. That happened in spite of fanatical cleanliness during servicing, premium (Mobil-1) full synthetic oils and no heavy loads or sustained high speeds.
When you say "sustained high speeds" you're not talking about interstate/freeway speeds are you?? Or are you talking more about going like 100mph? I checked the rear wheel a few nights ago and it spun without making any noises at all, and there was absolutely no free play at all, so I'll just check for metal shavings next time it's time to change the final drive oil. As of now though it's looking pretty good so far (although I'm only at half the miles you had on your RR).

PS. If anyone starts having any doubts about the build quality of these bikes like I was, go over to advrider.com and read the thread on the GS forum about the guy that just hit 100,000 miles with his 1150GS. It has several pages of other people also stating the same thing, and I know that doesn't happen for everyone but it sure made me feel just a little bit better about keeping the R1150R.
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by Dr. Strangelove »

Giraffemom wrote:Others can help more than I, but from what I've read here and what my mechanic told me when I put the same question to him, the failures generally occur at higher mileage, somewhere in the 80K range. No doubt there will be more well informed posts, but I just wanted to put your mind at ease a little early. :D
Was this a BMW shop mechanic saying this? Or a general mechanic saying that in general motorcycles fail at higher mileages? The conventional wisdom on this board, and this is a topic that appears and reappears with some regularity is that, at least for the clutch splines, failures are about 3% or less of production, that are more common in the 02s -> 04s, especially in the RT line, typically occur by 40-50K miles (though a member reported his going out at 62k?) and that if you get past this rite of passage, you're probably ok on the clutch spline issue.

Final drive is another story, but as CR described, checking for play in the rear wheel is easily done, and that is side to side play.

Giraffemom, your statement concerns me because my Stella! will be turning 72k shortly, and she has been a beauty of a bike, all red and stuff. I know all bikes are mortal, but I want her to have another few long solo rides in her.

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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by ColumbiaBMW »

Dr. Strangelove wrote:my Stella! will be turning 72k shortly, and she has been a beauty of a bike, all red and stuff.
That's awesome, 72k!!! I'm really hoping to get to 100k someday with this bike, and the more I read on this website the better I feel about my bikes chances of getting there. Plus, it's always good to know if anything does ever happen I've got all the expert advice I can handle on this site.
Bryan
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Re: Major Failure Poll

Post by blacklav »

R1150R 2002 low mileage.
Hi all. I had an unbelievable moment dodging the trucks at a junction when my abs/servo decided not to play. There was no warning ,just shear panic.
Ive removed all offending parts now and ride with no nagging doubts as to whether the brakes will work or not.
I plead with all R1150 r owners with the iabs to get it removed .
It may kill you.
:-k
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