BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

So sad to have to make this post, but I guess I just need to vent. After 49 years of riding Japanese motorcycles and finally deciding to invest in the uber reliable BMW brand I am sad to say my relationship with the new bike is off to a bad start. Purchased a brand new 2016 R1200RT, rode it home from the dealership(approx. 30 miles) On my very next ride the bike shutdown on me on the highway, totally dead, stuck , stranded. Now with less than 50 miles on the odometer the bike has had to rides on the back of a tow truck. It is now in the shop and the shop says the battery is fried. Sometime next week the battery should be in and then they will be able to check the charging system to evaluate if there are any issues there. My question to myself is how long will it be before I get to ride this $20,000.00 Plus motorcycle and or will it ever be the same. I will keep you posted. Meanwhile be watching the adds on cycle trader, you may soon see a really good deal on a very slightly used R1200RT. Thanks for the opportunity to vent, and may your BMW experiences be better than mine! Oh yea Happy New Year!

Sorry to hear of your unusually bad new bike experience ! Don't you have legislation stateside to protect the consumer with duff motor vehicles, ie lemon laws, or does that vary state to state?
Last October, here in the UK, there was quite a pronounced change in the Consumer Protection Act:-
The biggest change to consumer law for decades has come into force today (October 1) as car buyers and owners are given more power to hand their cars back if they’re not happy.
The Consumer Rights Act passed through Parliament earlier this year and gives consumers more powers to reject cars and fight for refunds.
The new areas of the law encapsulated in the Consumer Rights Act include the right to reject a vehicle within 30 days if there’s a fault and giving consumers the ability to take action for rejection, refund or replacement after just one failed repair attempt. That’s been shortened from the three attempts that’s currently accepted as an unwritten rule in the industry.

However, where one stands re new motorbike rejections remains to be tested!!

Cheer up! They will change it under warranty and you have a very good chance that your bike will serve you without any more trouble.  Batteries do that sometimes.
I had a 2008 GS that just done the same to me at less then 1000 miles in the ODO, then I had it for an other 50000 without any issues

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It must be a very small or remote dealership if they don't hold a stock of batteries. Incidentally  is the bike totally stock or have they fitted any electrical accessories for you.

Your post is understandable as is your frustration mate. However, to put it in perspective, this is not a widely reported of common fault so it's likely as has been suggested to be an isolated battery or charging circuit fault. BMW don't make the battery's they only fit them and I believe the same is true for some of the major elements in the charging circuit such as the alternator. So console yourself with the fact the same fault could have happened on a Honda, Yamaha or Suzuki etc had those items been supplied to those manufacturers instead. Likewise, if your RT had been supplied through one of the hundreds of BMW dealers who do carry a good stock of parts then it would have been repaired the same day, easing the frustration greatly.
Hopefully, post repair you will have many many miles and years of reliable use fron your RT and will look back on this with a completely different view.

iRider wrote: Your post is understandable as is your frustration mate. However, to put it in perspective, this is not a widely reported of common fault so it's likely as has been suggested to be an isolated battery or charging circuit fault. BMW don't make the battery's they only fit them and I believe the same is true for some of the major elements in the charging circuit such as the alternator. So console yourself with the fact the same fault could have happened on a Honda, Yamaha or Suzuki etc had those items been supplied to those manufacturers instead. Likewise, if your RT had been supplied through one of the hundreds of BMW dealers who do carry a good stock of parts then it would have been repaired the same day, easing the frustration greatly.
Hopefully, post repair you will have many many miles and years of reliable use fron your RT and will look back on this with a completely different view.

I certainly hope you are correct although it has certainly dampened my spirits about this particular bike. I did research for several months and finally decided on this one. Wondering if I should have possibly gone a different direction. Also I had no real option on where to take the bike. When BMW roadside assistance gets involved they will only carry it to the nearest dealer, otherwise you pay for the tow. I had already payed for one tow the day before and was out $130.00.

Steve F wrote: Sorry to hear of your unusually bad new bike experience ! Don't you have legislation stateside to protect the consumer with duff motor vehicles, ie lemon laws, or does that vary state to state?
Last October, here in the UK, there was quite a pronounced change in the Consumer Protection Act:-
The biggest change to consumer law for decades has come into force today (October 1) as car buyers and owners are given more power to hand their cars back if they’re not happy.
The Consumer Rights Act passed through Parliament earlier this year and gives consumers more powers to reject cars and fight for refunds.
The new areas of the law encapsulated in the Consumer Rights Act include the right to reject a vehicle within 30 days if there’s a fault and giving consumers the ability to take action for rejection, refund or replacement after just one failed repair attempt. That’s been shortened from the three attempts that’s currently accepted as an unwritten rule in the industry.
However, where one stands re new motorbike rejections remains to be tested!!

Our lemon law is state by state, and it has to go back for the same repair 3 times for it to kick in.

USTourer wrote: Cheer up! They will change it under warranty and you have a very good chance that your bike will serve you without any more trouble. Batteries do that sometimes.
I had a 2008 GS that just done the same to me at less then 1000 miles in the ODO, then I had it for an other 50000 without any issues
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I hope you are right otherwise it will be on to one of the half dozen other bikes I considerd.

RTman10 wrote: It must be a very small or remote dealership if they don't hold a stock of batteries. Incidentally is the bike totally stock or have they fitted any electrical accessories for you.

The bike is totally stock and has less than 50 miles on it, the dealer is the one that BMW roadside assistance took the bike to. They will only take it to the nearest dealer and not to the dealer you bought it from even if it is in the same town.

Different rules over here.  We had one that the owner said had a clutch problem while touring in France.  Local dealer there couldn't find anything wrong and BMW shipped it 500 miles back to his own dealer, and gave him a replacement vehicle for the time it was missing.  The vast majority of parts should be available at dealers within 24 hours.But not having a battery in stock is amazing when it's the same battery fitted to. most models. Let's hope you soon get it back. They are great bikes.

Lubedude
Where are you located
My dealer here in socal
Long beach Bmw would have picked up the extra towing charges and given me a loaner till it was fixed. FYI on my new 15 battery needed to be charged before installing in bike, to great of charging amps may have fried it, in which case it was dealers fault

T6pilot wrote: Lubedude
Where are you located
My dealer here in socal
Long beach Bmw would have picked up the extra towing charges and given me a loaner till it was fixed. FYI on my new 15 battery needed to be charged before installing in bike, to great of charging amps may have fried it, in which case it was dealers fault

The dealer that has the bike now seems to think it was not prepped properly.

Lubedude wrote: The dealer that has the bike now seems to think it was not prepped properly.

Let's hope that's all it is.  It will still be really infuriating but at least it will be down to simple human error and not a dodgy bike.

If that's confirmed it wouldn't do any harm to let the world know where you got it from.

Lubedude wrote: The dealer that has the bike now seems to think it was not prepped properly.

Time to push for a goodwill gesture once the bike is back and sorted.......??