BMW R1200 GS loss of power problems

Filed Nov 29, 2024 · Fuel system · MD

While attempting to pass a car on the highway, the engine suddenly lost power, forcing me into a perilous maneuver to reach the breakdown lane at highway speed. Following vehicle recovery and upon further inspection, I discovered that both plastic throttle body cam pulleys had broken in half, completely disabling throttle control. There were no warning lights or symptoms indicating this failure was imminent. In my research to fix the issue, I found that this problem is more common than I realized and poses a serious safety risk.

Filed Sep 2, 2024 · Acceleration · CA

Throttle cable pulleys made of plastic have cracks. Catastrophic failure will eventually occur with zero warning, causing total loss of power. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Sep 20, 2022 · Transmission · AZ

Rear drive shaft universal joint failed causing the motorcycle to lose power to the rear wheel. If I had been in a turn when the motorcycle lost power, I could have lost control of the vehicle, and my passenger and myself may have crashed and been harmed or died. Per BMW: There have been a mounting number of instances where condensation within the hollow swingarm unit has caused corrosion to accumulate on the drive shaft and/o rear u-joint, creating issues that can include loss of power to the rear wheel. BMW has now a Service Action SA 0033130000, to correct the condensation. No inspection other than by me mechanic. No warning lamps or messages prior to the failure. Symptoms prior to the failure were a strange vibrating sensation and hum emitting from the rear of the bike. This began 2 days prior to the joint failure. I believe condensation in the swing arm caused the corrosion that led to the failure of the drive shaft rear universal joint.

Filed May 25, 2022 · Acceleration, Fuel system · MT

There is a small plastic cam on the throttle body that gets pulled by the throttle cable to control the butterfly valve. They break easily and cause a loss of power and engine control. I have seen many others posting on line with same issue

Filed May 5, 2022 · Engine · DC

The motorcycle has a known flaw in the design of the cam and decompression mechanism in the right hand cylinder. The part has been redesigned, and BMW has in certain cases replaced the part for vehicles in and out of warranty. The BMW internal report designation associated with this flaw is INFO 772590. When riding my motorcyle, the flawed cam/decompression mechanism causes the engine to stumble and lose power at random. As a result, the engine loses power, increasing the risk of an accident and injury. I have asked that BMW replace the part. BMW NA referred me to the dealership. The dealership has refused to cover replacement.

Filed Oct 7, 2020 · Engine · 10,000 miles · UT

Several times the bike threw an error message about "engine controller fault" and lost power, going into "limp-home" mode. All occurrences were while the bike was being operated at highway speeds, sometimes in the middle of a corner. The bike was unrideable in limp-home mode so was navigated out of traffic and shut down at roadside. After a brief wait the bike was started again and ran normally.the issue was reported to the dealer at the 12k service and an updated flash was applied to the ecu, but the bike has since not been ridden so I do not know if the issue has been resolved. I am uploading with this filing a pdf file containing the results of an obd scan I ran on the vehicle before taking it in for the 12k service, and you can see in that pdf the error codes that were reported at each occurrence.

Filed Jul 7, 2017 · Fuel system · 28,650 miles · CA

I was accelerating on the on-ramp to merge in to the slow lane with heavy traffic on the 80 north bound heading home. I had just shifted the motorcycle in to 3rd gear when it lost all power and started slowing down. The next exit was not available to reach safely and my only option was to coast into the side emergency lane. As I was investigating the issue a small plastic pulley form the left side throttle-body fell to the ground. I'm currently contacting bmw motorcycles as this was a serious safety issue that put me in harms way. This plastic piece is under constant tension and in my opinion should never have been make of plastic.

Filed Dec 29, 2016 · Engine · 7,275 miles · VA

Engine warning light and loss of engine power on 6 incidences. 2 incidents - in motion on I-81 highway 1 incident ' stationary on I-81 highway 1 incident - in motion tn-68 highway 1 incident ' stationary tn-68 highway 1 incident ' in motion va-55

Filed Aug 27, 2015 · Engine, Transmission · 226,000 miles · WA · 1 injury

I was travelling safely in the middle lane at speed limit in heavy interstate traffic. I changed lanes into the fast lane under slight acceleration and the engine lost power completely. I could not restart the bike and so tried to get into the slow lane as there was no room on the inside shoulder. In trying to move saftely to the shoulder I was nearly struck by three different vehicles, one semi trailer and two passenger cars that were travelling at nearly twice my rate of speed due to my loss of power. After pulling to the side, I strained myself trying to come to a safe stop prior to the entrance to a highway exit lane, worried that I may be struck. I called the dealer for the vehicle and with minimal troubleshooting it was determined that the fuel strip (gauge) for the fuel level had failed and was falsely displaying a 185 mile range. In fact the tank was empty. This gauge had already been replaced for being faulty by the dealer and they saw this in their records which immediately LED them to the failure. This is a known failure amoung many bmw enthusiasts on several bmw motorcyle models. Bmw claims there ar enot emough complaints to warrant a recall. I would be happy to supply a large number of complaints in hard copy to counter their misconception and or lack of accountability. This is similar to recalls on vehicles with defective camshaft sensors causing engine power fail and should be valued as the same on a two wheeled vehicle with far less protection in such instances. Upon inquiry bmw mottorad has made no effort in responding to any progress they have made in rectifying the issue other than quietly acknowleding it by going back to mechanical fuel gauges with nearly nil failure rates. Do we have to wait until someone dies or will the federal safety agency take action ? I hope it is not one of your family members!

Filed Jul 5, 2014 · Fuel system · 22,520 miles · IL

Fuel gauge suddenly failed and gave inaccurate reading. I have had the fuel gauge replaced 4 times, most recently less than one month ago, always by a bmw dealer. That most recent gauge, installed 6/7/2014 by the dealer, failed completely, without warning, on 7/3/14 after less than 250 miles. The fuel gauge failure can lead to sudden unexpected loss of power, if the gauge indicates fuel remaining, while in fact the tank is empty. I am astonished the government has not ordered bmw to find a reliable fix this. Anecdotal indications are thousands of gauges have failed, over approximately a five model year period the defective design was used.