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This is the motorcycle equivalent of a British or Italian sports car from the 1960s: it's an absolute joy when it runs. The operative word is "when." In less than two years of ownership, mine has spent over a month in the shop and piled up many thousands of dollars of warranty work. I cannot recommend it.

I be interested in knowing what's gone wrong with it. My wife has a '09 F650GS twin, which is basically the same engine.

jstark47 wrote:I be interested in knowing what's gone wrong with it. My wife has a '09 F650GS twin, which is basically the same engine.

+1

I would be interested to hear about it too as I have not heard much complaint about the reliability of this bike.

jstark47 wrote:I be interested in knowing what's gone wrong with it. My wife has a '09 F650GS twin, which is basically the same engine.

For the last two weeks, it's been sitting in the shop waiting for a stator and generator to be shipped from Germany. Let's see if I can remember some of the other stuff: sudden battery death, leaking front fork seals, bad rear bearings, wobbly mirrors, clogged vacuum hoses, something in the security system.

RockBottom wrote:

jstark47 wrote:I be interested in knowing what's gone wrong with it. My wife has a '09 F650GS twin, which is basically the same engine.

For the last two weeks, it's been sitting in the shop waiting for a stator and generator to be shipped from Germany. Let's see if I can remember some of the other stuff: sudden battery death, leaking front fork seals, bad rear bearings, wobbly mirrors, clogged vacuum hoses, something in the security system.

Wow sorry to hear that.

Has this turned you off to the BMW brand?

HYPERR wrote: Has this turned you off to the BMW brand?

I was so miffed that I went and looked at Harleys yesterday. Sat on one for a minute and knew there no way. When it comes to BMW, I think I have the equivalent of battered wife syndrome.

I would seriously look at Triumphs but the Triumph dealer is 30 miles away and the BMW dealer is 5. If I had a Triumph, every time I put it in the shop there would be 180 miles of driving between someone picking me up after I dropped it off, then taking me back when it was finished. The same with the Duck dealer which is also 30 miles away.

RockBottom wrote:

HYPERR wrote: Has this turned you off to the BMW brand?

I was so miffed that I went and looked at Harleys yesterday. Sat on one for a minute and knew there no way. When it comes to BMW, I think I have the equivalent of battered wife syndrome.

I would seriously look at Triumphs but the Triumph dealer is 30 miles away and the BMW dealer is 5. If I had a Triumph, every time I put it in the shop there would be 180 miles of driving between someone picking me up after I dropped it off, then taking me back when it was finished. The same with the Duck dealer which is also 30 miles away.

There used to be a BMW dealer about 5 miles from my house and a Duc dealer abour 8 miles from my house but they both went out of business. The new Duc dealer and the BMW dealer is now the same franchisee and I think it's about 30 miles from my house. Not too bad as I do my own work anyways.

I've owned two BMWs(K75 & R150R) and they have both been extremely reliable. From what you have been hearing, is the lack of reliability of your F800 more the rule or the exception? Either way, I can totally understand how you can be totally turned off to the brand if the factory/dealer support is indifferent to your woes.

If all else fails, get a Honda.

To continue this story, I'd reached a point where I just didn't trust the F800ST and was prepared to simply sell it and stop riding all together. But after a month of complaining, BMW of North America knocked $1800 of the price of an R1200R with a touring package, so I traded. I'll write a review comparing it to the F800ST when I get a chance.

RockBottom wrote:

Ok, now there's a Beemer I could see myself on. Nice choice!

Sounds like a lot of the problems with the F800ST were electrical or electronics related. My wife just got a recall on her F650GS, but it's for the chain, one of the parts it doesn't share with the F800ST.

Belated congrats on your R1200R, rockbottom. It looks sweet. Friend of mine at work has an '04 (?) R1150R, she parked next to me today as a matter of fact. I sneaked a peek at her odometer: 4,900 miles. Bike's hardly broken in. She's happy with it, though.