Tl* the contact owns a 2009 bmw r 1200 rt. The contact stated that while parked in the garage, a odor of fuel was present. The motorcycle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the fuel tank had cracked. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the fuel tank was previously replaced under the federal safety agency campaign number: 13v617000 (fuel system) in 2014. The motorcycle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 30,000.
2009 BMW R1200 RT fuel system complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 20 of 20, newest first, as owners wrote them.
When shifting into second gear, the engine speed dropped to idle and I lost all power and the ability to control engine speed. I coasted to the shoulder and had to call for a tow as the bike would only idle. Upon further inspection after I got the bike home, I discovered that the plastic pulleys on the throttle bodies had sheared off. This requires replacement of the throttle bodies. I was shocked to find out the pulleys are plastic. Previous models were metal and most cars/bikes use metal, which would be more resistant to failure. To quote another complaint: "if or when the plastic fails, there is no throttle and the engine goes to idle, thus creating an extreme safety hazard if one is driving in traffic and unable to maintain speed or accelerate. In this circumstance the rider could be forthrightly in harm's way and endangered. This should be an urgent recall issue for replacement of the plastic part with a solid cable pulley which will not break. Previous models used metal cable pulleys which did not fail." this is a potential danger. If someone had been accelerating behind me, I could have been rear ended. Bmws intransigence is mind boggling.
Bmw model r1200rt years 2005 - 2013 may be subject to throttle cable assembly failure. The throttle body system on the 2009 year model is assembled by bing power in nuremberg, germany and utilized by bmw in motorcycles with the 1170 cc boxer motor. (bing is a longstanding company which in general manufactures first-rate products.)the primary throttle cable extends from the handle bar to a splitter from which two separate throttle cables extend to left and right hand throttle bodies which house the fuel injection system. Those two cables are routed over and anchored to a cable pulley made of molded plastic. This entire assembly is attached to the throttle body. If or when the plastic fails, there is no throttle and the engine goes to idle, thus creating an extreme safety hazard if one is driving in traffic and unable to maintain speed or accelerate. In this circumstance the rider could be forthrightly in harm's way and endangered. This should be an urgent recall issue for replacement of the plastic part with a solid cable pulley which will not break. Previous models used metal cable pulleys which did not fail. (see this blog for discussion posted by another rider, among many, with the same failure issue: http://www.asvrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=967780&page=3 ) bmw does not make the plastic part available for replacement. Thus, a plastic part costing but a few dollars results in the rider having to replace both the left and right complete throttle body assemblies at a cost of more than $1,000. The under-designed plastic cable pulley is nothing less than a hazard and creates a risk to one's life. A police motorcycle cop riding his patrol r1200rt looked at the failed part I showed him and his first words were, "that could get you killed." I have made bing and bmw of north america aware of my experience via email but I continue to wait for their reply.
Fuel strip failed, going from approximately 150 miles to empty to --- miles to empty immediately. Fuel strip was replaced 5 times in total before I sold the motorcycle 6/15/13 with ~7,500 miles on the bike.
After starting the motorcyle and allowing for a brief period of warming up, I headed to the gas station to fuel up in preparation for a long ride the next day. As a force of habit I checked my range and odometer readings and found the range was noticeably lower than it should be displaying for the miles used on the tank. As I rode the couple of miles to the gas station the range continued to drop precipitously, 5-20 miles at a time every few seconds until it reached zero and displayed "---" for a range to empty after riding just over one mile. After filling the tank fully, the gauge did not reset or change in any way. I took the motorcycle to the dealer and they diagnosed the problem as a fuel strip, aka fuel level sensor, gone bad. I am now awaiting the part to arrive so my 3rd fuel strip replacement can go ahead. (my second occurred in february 2012, the third in august 2013.) my motorcycle has just 24,000 miles and is less than 5 years old (by 3 months). I find it almost unfathomable that such an essential part as the fuel gauge can cease to function for no apparent reason, with no warning on a modern vehicle. Add in the denials from the manufacturer that a problem even exists and it gets totally maddening.
Motorcycle ran out of fuel due to fuel sensor failure. Both analog and digital gauges showed 40+ miles remaining in the fuel tank. Vehicle was in fast lane of interstate highway and my emergency stop required state patrol assistance do to the location of the stop.
Riding on the interstate with traffic, the fuel gauge began acting erratically, showing more fuel, then less fuel for a few miles before the motorcycle ran out of fuel, almost causing a crash as the engine quit. Was able to change lanes and get to the shoulder without a crash. I feel this is a significant safety issue. If the fuel gauge (which is fed data from a faulty fuel strip) reads more fuel than the vehicle actually has, if the engine runs out of fuel and stops, this could be very dangerous in places with high traffic counts and speed.
At the top of the fuel pump, where the fuel line quick disconnect is threaded into the housing, multiple cracks have developed in the fuel pump housing.
The fuel level sensor has failed (twice) and has been replaced by the bmw motorcycle dealership. The latest fuel level sensor is not working properly either and will eventually be replaced again before the warranty expires in feb 2013.
The digital strip fuel gauge simply froze in the full position, it no longer registers nor does the miles remaining digital readout.
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