Why you can buy the perfect world travel motorcycle and still not get far (from the perspective of a BMW rider).
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How much can you read in various reports, articles, forums etc. about what makes the perfect world tour motorcycle and why it can't be a different motorcycle. We don't want to get into this discussion in this article, as you can travel the world on virtually any motorcycle. Countless people have proven this impressively. Whether you're traveling on a 50cc scooter, an R1 (like Sjaak Lucassen) or any other motorcycle.
But one point, which we and many other travelers have had to experience painfully, unfortunately gets lost in all these discussions. What do you do with a motorcycle if there is a "problem"?
And sooner or later, every traveler will run into problems of varying degrees. Unfortunately, this is where the problem with the perfect world travel motorcycle starts, or rather, with the manufacturer of it. Where do I get the right spare parts and - if necessary - where do I find a mechanic who knows my motorcycle?
Of course, this thought had already occurred to us before the trip and we looked at where there were official BMW motorcycle mechanics and BMW service centers. As you know, BMW is a brand that is represented worldwide and has an excellent reputation. There are quite a few such places on our roughly planned route. So everything should actually be fine - at least that's what we thought at the time. Unfortunately, as it turned out, we were making a big mistake.
But let's start from the beginning (all the events took place in official BMW workshops, some of which we have already described in other posts):
When we bought our two motorcycles from a well-known BMW dealer in Vienna, the problem with BMW had already begun. With a problem that BMW would of course take care of under warranty: However, only if we had arrived on time. We did, but the workshop was supposedly unable to find the fault. A year later, the fault was found, but then all the entries in the system mysteriously disappeared. When changing gear, the gearbox sometimes hangs between 3rd and 4th gear. According to BMW, however, this is normal.
We had the fork oil seals on the F800GS changed at a BMW workshop in Alaska because we had lost fork oil. Unfortunately, only 600 km later they were leaking again. The workshop was unable to replace or repair them. After various excuses, we were fobbed off with the remark that I had "moved" the bike - "What else are you supposed to do with a motorcycle apart from ride it?" - was fobbed off. Unfortunately, the only option in this situation as a traveler is to sit on the entire damage. A letter to BMW North America remained unanswered.
Ordering a fork tube in the USA: Firstly, the spare part costs twice as much as in Germany and secondly, the delivery time for a part in stock in Germany is 2-8 weeks. As a traveler, you don't get exact delivery information. "You don't know exactly when it will arrive until it arrives!" If something like this happens to you at the beginning of the season in some areas, the season is already over before you have even made a single trip. For us as travelers, this delivery time posed another problem: a delivery time of around 2 months towards the end of the visa! Considering that most people only get a 3-month visa, this can be very tight! We were lucky and were able to order it to a friend of friends who took it with him to the USA. Otherwise we would have ordered it for our family and had it delivered to the USA by DHL. It doesn't take much longer than 7 working days, depending on the rate, and it's not much more expensive. By the way, express delivery directly to a BMW workshop was not possible - this option was blocked by BMW Germany.
The installation of the slide tube at BMW in San Francisco was carried out quickly and properly. At least that's how it seemed at first. Unfortunately, a short time later we realized that the nice gentlemen had forgotten to retighten all the screws. Fortunately, we recognized the problem in good time and nothing happened, because they forgot to tighten the bolts of the fork itself!
While we were still in the USA, we wanted to buy a screw that fixes the engine to the frame. This was probably lost due to the vibrations. As our accommodation in San Diego was right next to the official BMW dealer, we asked there. Answer: 3-4 weeks delivery time. Reason: the screw has to be ordered in Germany. The same screw is available at Home Depot for a few cents. Only with an Allen head instead of a Torx head. The fact that BMW does not even have screws in stock is not a problem in Europe or the USA (DIY stores also stock metric screws). In Central and South America it is a little more difficult, as BMW motorcycles are fitted with screws with metric threads and in Central and South America you can normally only get screws with imperial threads. Other screws often take a long time to find and the choice is limited.
If you are traveling with tubular tires, you should also take a spare tube with you in addition to the repair kit. And if you are already at a BMW dealer or drive past one, you can ask whether they also have tubes for tires in stock. At least that's what we thought. Unfortunately, from California to Guatemala, none of the official BMW garages had even one tube in stock (we asked 5 garages).
Having tires balanced is not so common in many parts of the world. So we thought we'd visit the big BMW workshop in Mérida (Yucatán, Mexico) (we've been told many times), they'll probably be able to do it. After all, they sell motorcycles for a whopping USD 26,000 and more. However, when we asked about balancing, we were stared at with wide eyes. No, they can't do that and why would we even want to do that? We later found out from another F800 GS rider that this workshop was also unable to change a fork seal. Incidentally, the mechanics were really happy when this nice gentleman showed them how to do it. If a doctor of business administration with no background in mechanics "trains" a certified BMW mechanic, then you should be worried about your motorcycle in this workshop.
Buying oil filters from BMW in Guatemala. What a surprise: there are no oil filters in stock and they have to be ordered. But good news this time: only a delivery time of about 3 weeks (without delivery guarantee, of course). But we could just buy another oil filter that is currently in stock and fit it. No thanks! - This one has a different part number for a good reason - because it simply doesn't fit.
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When our first problem arose with an official BMW workshop, we thought we had got a rotten lemon and that you can just have a bit of bad luck. But so many problems can hardly be a coincidence.
And now our motorcycles don't even have a lot of electronics or are complicated. We don't even want to imagine what would happen to us if we turned up at such workshops with a 1250GS.
There is one point that unfortunately doesn't make BMW look any better, but we have to be fair here. Other brands are no better in their service either. All the other travelers we have met so far have had similar problems on different motorcycles and brands. But BMW doesn't seem to have much interest in changing this, as our inquiries to BMW on the subject have all been ignored.
After more than 50,000 km on our world tour, we are still happy with our BMW motorcycles. However, if we were to rely purely on BMW and its service - whether spare parts or workshops - our journey would have ended a long time ago.
So our conclusion is: BMW builds great motorcycles. However, as soon as you leave the showroom with them, you are left alone by BMW.
What are your experiences with motorcycle brands or workshops?