What about the rest of the owners?

[hoodoodrum]

It's kinda interesting, each time I "have" to go to any dealer, I poll the mechanics, service mgrs, and sales people about the common LT issues we write about on this board. Sometimes I even get a chance to look around the service bays for LT's. I very rarely see any LT's in service areas and those I talk to don't indicate many problems with em.

Are we just a small exagerated sampling of the worldwide LT owners with certain issues OR are there others not on this board encountering the same but not heard from?

[Oisin]

Are we just a small exagerated sampling (...)

Yes! Most owners will not experience the problems discussed here on this forum.

[Florian]

Well, this is my .02 but, it seems that problems are more prevalent than praise when it comes to comments/threads on the internet. Id suggest that there are plenty of happy LT owners out there...myself included.


F

[info]

http://www.partyinkingston.com/help/complaints.jpg

I think all web sites for enthusiasts are the places that complaints are found, regardless of the vehicle.

500 miles and no problems yet! :bmw:

[juggler]

You never hear on the evening news: "Ten thousand airplane flights landed safely and uneventfully today..."

You only hear about the one that didn't.

I'm just glad this forum exists so I know what kinds of problems to watch for, how to deal with them if they happen, and even better, how to prevent them in the first place... Tether those mirrors, tighten and lube the shift linkage, denatured alcohol on the LCD screen, canisterectomy, etc. etc. etc.

[SilverBuffalo]

Occasionally I'll see an LT in a gas station or restaurant parking lot and strike up a conversation.
One of the things asked is, ever had any trouble with it?
The answer is almost always the same
and pretty much what I say when people ask me how I like the LT.
Best motorcycle I've ever owned!

[strsout]

I agree with the comment that here is a place to complain... 99% of the time.

Too bad it :( but some times I got my self complaining too :(

2 LT's, almost 100K miles few minors problems and only one rear drive failure.
So far so good. :)

[tomandrosie]

If nothing else, our reported problems allow us to spot trends in time to take corrective action. Some of the more problematic issues get a lot of ink, like:

1. shifter linkage
2. throttle cables
3. noisy rear brake
4. top box latch failure

These all come to mind, because I experienced all of them within 3 months of ownership ('02 LT). Since then, after about 80K of hard riding, there have been no other problems, however, I just changed out the clutch slave cylinder; something I would not have done without the forewarning provided by this list. The cylinder was leaking, and I'm sure would have eventually done-in the clutch; not exactly something I want to contend with this August.

There will always be "Chicken Littles" on a list like this; after a while you can sort out the little chickens from the big roosters. Cock a doodle doo, Mr. Shealey!!

-tom

[hschisler]

I think you read about a lot of problems, and about a lot of the same problems, on this site because that is one of its primary raisons d'etres -- we have a forum (pun intended) for getting help with trouble spots, doing research in advance of a major purchase, etc.

I also think as long as we remind ourselves -- like this thread -- from time to time that this is happening, we'll be OK. :bmw:

[rusmckay]

Its kinda hard to complain about a motorcycle, that every month since I bought it, I've put at least 2,000 miles on it. Gotta go, sun's comin' up and the LT is whining about not being ridden enough. Yes, I've had some problems, can we talk about them when I get back?


Rusty
2002 LTe

[rkirker]

It's kinda interesting, each time I "have" to go to any dealer, I poll the mechanics, service mgrs, and sales people about the common LT issues we write about on this board. Sometimes I even get a chance to look around the service bays for LT's. I very rarely see any LT's in service areas and those I talk to don't indicate many problems with em.

Are we just a small exagerated sampling of the worldwide LT owners with certain issues OR are there others not on this board encountering the same but not heard from?

Most people like to vent and complain very rarely does anyone take the time to complement someone or something( Me included) just human nature.
So me thinks the board leans more toward the negative side (for Maintainance issues) good thing is you can learn a lot and know what to look for and get the preventative maintainance done before you have a major issue.

[harrowbmw]

Greetings all.

OK here it is. Yesterday I returned home after a two day trip to Mt. Gambier here in South Australia. All went brilliantly with no problems...except for the bugs. Good thing I jammed some flywire in front of the radiators before I left home. My '99 LT "Bismarck" went perfectly even for the short time I took her up to 140kph.

See, they can behave themselves sometimes. I had a great trip.

Kindest regards to all.

Paul Harrington
AU

corcaigh@internode.on.net

[SMGray]

I think that you will find that this discussion group is no different than any other group of its type. I have been on discussion groups for Triumph, Moto Guzzi, and also a Honda Accord site. In all of these sites, we discuss our bikes (of cars) and usually highlight problem areas.

We all have heard how great the Honda Accord is as far as quaility goes but you would never know it if you visited this website! All kinds of problems with the cars are discussed by people who are as interested is their Accords as we are interested in our LTs.

The VAST MAJORITY of LTs on the road are trouble-free motorcycles. But, like every machine man has ever built, there will be a few that don't work as advertised. We expect our machines to work as advertised and say nothing when they do. However, when they don't work we scream like hell !

[hoodoodrum]

I think that you will find that this discussion group is no different than any other group of its type. I have been on discussion groups for Triumph, Moto Guzzi, and also a Honda Accord site. However, when they don't work we scream like hell !

Yep, kinda like the Guzzi hydraulic valve issues on their late model bikes. I never had an issue with mine, but dumped my Stone because their dealer network was shrinking like mad. This I fear with BMW!!