Who makes the most reliable motorcycles

[raesewell]

A bit of a quiz from Visor Down
http://www.visordown.com/features/who-makes-most-reliable-motorcycles.

Interesting!

[Expo]

I can see why you posted this little quiz for us Rae  .
Thanks for sharing  .

[JackSnipe]

Interesting but not really surprising apart from the American brand higher up the performance chain than Triumph. I did not expect the British bike to be at or very near the top but down there with Duke and BM is poor. As far as BM goes : KAK

I would be interested to see the knock on effect of the new MT range on Yams performance, clearly some of the participants will have had MT's but I suspect not a massive amount (?) as Yam  they have cut some major corners on that range in the quality stakes, including very budget suspension.

It does not take Einstein to work this table out merely being interested and listening to a mix of bikers and those working in the after market side of the trade would give you a massive big clue.

[raesewell]

I can see why you posted this little quiz for us Rae  .
Thanks for sharing  .

I didn't share it to gloat, just to share it. We all make our own choices.

[Phmode]

To be fair( ) most BM's are fairly sophisticated which often equates with unreliability! The ESA alone must knock the rankings more than a little.

[drumwrecker]

It appears to me that BMW have made a virtue out of failing bikes by repairing and putting them right without much of a song and dance making clients happy they have been dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Of course there is always the exceptions.

[JackSnipe]

Drumwrecker, Bagsy borrow your specs as the world must look better through them 

[gibbo]

An interesting article that Rae, but I think that most of us have known that fact for a number of years now.

When I started biking in the early seventies the British bike was slowly being replaced by these Jap things. But it soon dawned on most that the Jap bike was better in terms of reliability/build quality etc. I owned both British and Japanese at the time and can say that whilst most of my British owned bikes spent a lot of time on the workbench being repaired for major work, the Jap bikes just kept going and going, hence their popularity/quality and keenness on price.

I bought my very first BMW K bike on the marques past reliability and quality aspect only to find disappointment at the end of ownership. I expected more for my bucks. Whether I'll ever buy another BMW is doubtful. As for anything remotely Italian, forget it. Beautiful to look at but dire in the reliability stakes. I once owned an Alfa Spider which is another story. That's life isn't it. 

[raesewell]

I just want a bike to do what it is supposed to do, start, go, stop without complaint. So far the FJR has done just that, The K1200GT had a lot of the normal issues, clutch x 2, ball joints x 3, hot start, stalling on throttling off, cam chain assembly etc etc. the fact that these are considered "normal" is alarming and I voted with my feet and my wallet.

[richtea]

I just want a bike to do what it is supposed to do, start, go, stop without complaint. So far the FJR has done just that, The K1200GT had a lot of the normal issues, clutch x 2, ball joints x 3, hot start, stalling on throttling off, cam chain assembly etc etc. the fact that these are considered "normal" is alarming and I voted with my feet and my wallet.

On the other hand, my K is well-behaved (just like in your first line), and I've had none of those horrors - so maybe you were just unlucky, Rae?

[raesewell]

In which case there are a lot of others that are just as unlucky as I am. Have a chat with Steve Parry his GT is like Triggs broom.

[richtea]

In which case there are a lot of others that are just as unlucky as I am. Have a chat with Steve Parry his GT is like Triggs broom.

Well, we are a self-selecting bunch, don't forget. When your bike is misbehaving, the first point of call is often the best internet forum for thre marque/model, i.e. here.
If a K is running sweetly, the average rider may just go riding instead of surfing.

And there quite a few K's out there:
https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?page=1&q=BMW+K


However, I agree that doesn't change the survery, or the few(?) problem bikes here.

Maybe my 20 years of Italian bike ownership biases me to think Ks are just fine 

[drumwrecker]

Drumwrecker, Bagsy borrow your specs as the world must look better through them 

Not rose tinted at all, I thought I was being a bit sarcastic.
 

[Ned1]

In which case there are a lot of others that are just as unlucky as I am. Have a chat with Steve Parry his GT is like Triggs broom.

and me, two sets of ball joints in 8000 miles from new, switch gear, hot start and that's just off the top of my head, 

   

[Belco100]

So Jap bikes still come out on top of reliability. Not really surprised by that. Of my bikes over the last few years, I have been quite lucky with very few problems other than normal wear and tear. Only Triumph have really pissed me off by selling me a bike and then not helping when the shock went. I ended up buying my own replacement shock from Nitron:

• Loads of older stuff, GT250/380s, GS550/750/1000s etc.
• 2 x GSXR1100
• T595 - Gear box exploded; Fixed under warranty.
• 2 x Tiger 955i
• Sprint 1050
• Tiger 1050 - Back shock collapsed in South France and ruined my holiday. Was told I overloaded the bike and they wouldn't help. had to buy a new shock myself.
• K1300GT - Info switch occasionally didn't work, but only when it was really hot. Never fixed but never a major problem.
• K1200R Sport
• K1300S
• 4 x K1600GT - Latest one had a very small vibration and had the engine replaced at the 600 mile service.

And BMW have also issued several thousand recalls