BMW R1100S frame failure and repairs

As some of you may recall (and if you're still interested) on a ride
back from Merimbula through to Orbost in February, a mate on his BMW
R1100S ran wide through a right hander and ended up kissing the
embankment.

He wasn't hurt, just annoyed. However, when we checked the bike over, we
couldn't find a scratch on it, except for slight damage to the left side
rocker cover which caused an oil leak.

It was when he sat on the bike that he discovered that the sub-frame
that supports the seat, rear cowl, etc. was broken. It had snapped at
its mounting points on the main frame.

It was jerry rigged with wire rope and gaffer tape to allow him to ride
to a mate's place, 3 hours away in Gippsland (the fellow lives near
Shepparton). They trailered it to the BMW dealer in MEL (dunno which
one).

BMW refused to acknowledge that it was a design problem and therefore
wouldn't look at it under any sort of warranty. BMW said that it
probably broke due to the crash.

Anyway, his insurer picked up the tab.

The dealer did what it could to help out. But it needed BMW to come to
the party, which it didn't.

We don't know whether he went into the corner too hot (unlikely, given
the guy's skill - he's an ex-250cc Proddy racer), or whether the frame
failed as he was entering the corner and that forced him wide or to lose
control. Thing is, the lads following didn't think that he was going
that hard at the time.

Whatever, the impact against the dirt bank was slight. The fairings,
etc. had no damage to them whatsoever. Only thing was the left rocker
cover, where it furrowed through the dirt.

The mate's not too happy about this, but at this stage he's not sure
whether it's worth it to pursue it further - at the very least get BMW
to refund his insurance excess.

It's a remarkable case. I thought that BMW prided itself on its
engineering excellence. If it (the R1100S) can't handle the weight of
the rider and his luggage (around 110 kilos, probably), or worse, him
and a pillion and their combined luggage, then it speaks volumes of the
quality of build for this particular model.

http://home.austarnet.com.au/mtaylor/r1100s.jpg is a pic of the bike
with the seat removed. As you can see, the darn thing looks unscratched
and that's the side that would've hit the bank.

 

Damn that sounds like a terrible story.
Your mate crashed and walked away from it whilst the bike suffered damage
from the crash.

Live with it.

justAL

 

Googling R100s frame faults brings up the fact its not the first to
break like that

 

hey, an early contender for fuckwit of the year

 

It broke and although it's a fault that has occurred on the 1100s', unless
some past history can be found that would lead to the current failure. I
can't see how any company would allow this particular instance a warranty
claim.

Was there anything that seemed out of placed with the handling, seating,
anything before and into the corner?

justAL

 

Using "The Long Way Round" as a reference these BMWs are good for a few
welds

JasonW

 

The long way round subframe failure was caused by severe overloading.

My 1999 R1100S served me well for 4 years loaded within design specs and I
never had a problem with the subframe attachment welds, although I am aware
of 2 that failed during accidents.

Boxer

 

Ha! The company has been run by marketing people for a long time now. I'm reminded of a mate
who split a snowflake wheel on his R100RS (yes, just like mine) crossing a cattle grid on the
Victoria Hwy, during a BMW Australia ad campaign which featured that very model perched on a
clifftop at Arkaroola. And of course there was the eary R1100GS model, which was notorious for
breaking frame mounts off the gearbox. I know two people who had this happen, one twice. BMW
wasn't the slightest bit interested, declaring that all these examples (and many others) were
used "beyond design criteria". So I'd say without some serious legal muscle, your mate doesn't
have a snowball's chance of a satisactory outcome.

Gary (who buys his Beemers pre-buggered)

 

take it up with bmw germany perhaps armed with as much info as possible

 

And pictures on a website with a story.

Careful about libel but don't aviod the facts.

Send them the URL and also post it on half a dozen BMW forums

 

Design specs can be low

Did you know that the maximum load for a Ventura pack rack is 9 kg
Most people use them (quite reasonabley) with double or triple this.
Gives Ventura an easy way out of warranty claims tho.

Exactly what is the design spec (loading) for this model and is it
reasonable.

 

As I said earlier, they're not sure. The fellow can't recall whether the
overshooting the corner resulted from say, brain fade or if the frame
broke causing him to lose control as it happened so quickly.

If it did, it's a scary thing. The impact wasn't that hard, otherwise
the bike would've copped more damage. Fairing was untouched.

The excursion was a typical, run off the road, into the drainage ditch
and running along it as left rocker cover furrows through dirt.

He would've been lucky to be doing any more than 40 kays at the time.

So's he. Well, himself and his gearsack, which isn't all that much of a
load.

 

The insurer must've thought so too, as it covered the bike repairs
without any mention of "discussing" it with BMW.

Anyway, the bike's back on the road. He just hopes that it won't happen
again. If it does, well, there may be further repercussions. He does
have a cheap avenue of redress via the Victorian Civil and
Administrative Tribunal (small claims tribunal).

Actually, if you're into that sort of thing, A Current Affair has a
segment on such tribunals this week. Might be on tonight. (I happened to
hear about it during the Mighty Pies thrashing of Hawthorn...)

 

If you'd read what I said, you'd see that it's unclear. One instance
he's negotiating the corner, the next thing he's running along the ditch
fighting to control the bike.

That the question of whether the frame broke going into the corner and
contributing to the loss of control, or whether he had a brain fade and
the bumps etc. of running off the road broke it is subject to
conjecture.

Quite simply, they don't know. And whichever way it went down, the fact
remains that the subframe design is being questioned as to its
robustness. And that BMW refused to address the problem at whatever
level is somewhat disappointing.

 

Was funny to see them unload those heavy metal panniers after the failure
hit a 2nd time... man they had some shit in there !!!
JasonBW

 

Do you think maybe it was broken before he went into the corner ?

*** Only kidding !

Seriously, given the slight damage to the rest of the bike, I reckon
you'd stand a good chance of getting BMW to refund the excess, at the
very least.

Unfortunately, I can't offer any real suggestions on how to progress,
other than directly to BMW themselves, not via a dealer.

 

Better yet, park the bike outside the dealer on the footpath with a sign on
it that says "this bike is a lemon".
They will pay more attention and probably contact the owner within 24 hours
after they are informed by the police there is nothing they can do.

 

That works , I did similar with a wholesale computer parts dealer , 45
minutes I had a refund .

 

you forget I was only runner up to you and didnt get a title

 

They should investigate a hell of a lot more then they did.

If it was me I would give BMW some free publicity by getting some low life
outfit like Current Affair to do a story on it