heard a rummer of BMW releasing service manuals, for our bikes Again?

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Unless someone filed a Right To Repair lawsuit, I am sure this is not true. No reason for them to do so unless the "Law" gets involved.

BMW dealers have us right where they want us. No information so what are you going to do on a brand new bike?

I love my 17.5 GS and I will die with it.

I lusted after a R 18 and man are they cheap but I don't want to try and work on a new engine with no information on it. The 1250 I would love to have but cant justifie the money. The next one who knows? Probably a 1300 and a refinement of the the Shift Cam Tech. Still would not look at one unless they have a Repair DVD.

I just can not afford a dealer serviced bike. At 120 HR labor and parts prices just could not afford it. And that is just not BMW, all motorcycle service is expensive at a dealer.

I guess it will come down to a guy hanging on to a bike he can work on and have information, or supporting a dealer and paying those prices for the latest and greatest.

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Steve Aikens

· #4 · 19 d ago

My health issues prevent me from doing even minor service on my bikes. However, there is zero chance of me buying a new bike from a company that doesn't even provide basic service information for that bike. Where I personally cannot do the work, I have skilled friends that can.

BMW is making a huge mistake in withholding service information from owners.

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60Aviator

· #5 · 19 d ago

chatrider3 said:
any one heard this?

Where did you hear this?

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FL_RedWing

· #6 · 19 d ago

60Aviator said:
Where did you hear this?

Two bucks says "Facebook."

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Scott9999

· #7 · 18 d ago

LAF said:
Unless someone filed a Right To Repair lawsuit, I am sure this is not true. No reason for them to do so unless the "Law" gets involved.

Well, ya never know. Maybe somewhere between the CEO, COO, marketing, and operations, someone figured out that there's something in common with ALL of these BMW enthusiast sites, like BMWMOA, this one, others .... something that even crosses motorcycle brands, that unites a large portion of the motorcycle riding community. Which is:

We like OUR bikes. We like to tinker and farkle up OUR bikes. When we can't because of direct action by the manufacturer, it no longer feels like OUR bike.
It feels like THEIR bike, and they can keep ALL of THEIR own bikes, and ride 'em on into hell, without us.

I mean, I know the German culture. I know a little bit about how these guys think, so that thought above isn't a natural one for them to come up with. Maybe a BMW NA executive had a little talk back in Berlin, and it sunk in.

(Yeah, probably not.) 🙄

LAF said:
I just can not afford a dealer serviced bike. At 120 HR labor and parts prices just could not afford it. And that is just not BMW, all motorcycle service is expensive at a dealer.

Lol!! My Ford dealer was charging $170 an hour up here in Northern Idaho ... uhhh .... back before I became a FORMER Ford customer. Those service rates and a few other Ford policy decisions I won't mention so as not to become "political", have pretty much made me a "never Ford" owner, after three trucks, a couple of mini-vans, and my current Ford Edge, having bought more Fords than any other brand. It took a concerted effort by Ford to do that, too. But, I digress ...

No idea what BMW locally charges for it's service rates, but same for me, that's not in my riding budget. It's a non-issue for other folks not in my income bracket, and more power to y'all. Not jealous, but I'm living with MY own means. When I used to make > $100+ an hour, I pretty much bled every hour of those information tech contracts. It was high profile work, $millions to $Billions on the line, long hours, and many tough problems to solve. I'm not paying $120 or $170 for a wrench to change oil and tune up a bike.

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Audi403

· #8 · 18 d ago

Buy a Goldwing if you want a service manual. Might be my move if I ever get rid of the 1250RT.

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Scott9999

· #9 · 17 d ago

Audi403 said:
Buy a Goldwing if you want a service manual. Might be my move if I ever get rid of the 1250RT.

I dunno, but my next bike is likely to be something like a KTM or other adventure bike lacking the letters "BMW" on it.

If I'm still riding. It'll definitely be something lighter than the RT, and WITH an available service manual. Guaranteed, on that last part.

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beech

· #10 · 17 d ago

Right now, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez is sponsoring a Right to Repair bill in Congress. I plan on finding her email address and also my local representatives and sending a few positive emails.
The official title is: Right to Equitable, Repair Act.

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wspollack

· #11 · 17 d ago

Scott9999 said:
I dunno, but my next bike is likely to be something like a KTM or other adventure bike lacking the letters "BMW" on it.

If I'm still riding. It'll definitely be something lighter than the RT, and WITH an available service manual. Guaranteed, on that last part.

I agree with most (everyone?) here, regarding the dastardly nature of BMW's keeping the shop manuals to themselves. In my case, shortly after I bought a new C 400 GT last summer I bought a thumb drive, with a PDF of the shop manual, from a seller on eBay.

Just a note about KTM, though. You might also be displeased about one of their recent marketing practices: you might not, er, um, "own" the cruise control and riding modes that come with one of their new bikes. Check out this article, for instance:

KTM's demo mode divides opinions: Giving consumers options or ripping them off? - RevZilla

The 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R comes with all the options. But you don't get to keep them forever unless you pay extra.

www.revzilla.com

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Steve Aikens

· #12 · 17 d ago

I hope she succeeds in getting it passed. If BMW doesn't re-start offering service manuals, they've lost me forever.

BMW service on both cars and bikes are incredibly expensive and outside my limit on what I'll pay for poor service.

Services on my bikes at Sandia BMW in Albq has gone from really good to piss-poor, and having dealt with them for close to 30 years, they're losing me.

I was informed not long ago that BMW requires only ONE BMW certified tech in a dealership, and just your average wrenches that service our bikes that actually may know less about the bike than we, the owners, have learned over the years. That's unacceptable to me. I can't verify that but if it's accurate - I'm gone.

I recently made a 4K+ round trip to have a full service done by Brad Smith, from Clovis, NM to Rhode Island. The last couple services by Sandia were so bad that it made to trip well worthwhile. Once Brad finished with my 15 RT, I can honestly tell you that it has NEVER run this well. Super smooth, very little vibration, plenty of power is back that it had lost due to Sandia, and Brad's suggestion on tires was spot on. Handling is also greatly improved.

Here's a link to some of what he does that is posted on BMWSPORTTOURING. There are links to some of his YouTube vids there as well.

Here's a hint for BMW; when service documentation isn't available to customers, and your so-called BMW Service centers aren't providing good service, you will lose lifelong customers. I know, I am one of those lifelong BMW customers.

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Scott9999

· #13 · 17 d ago

wspollack said:
I agree with most (everyone?) here, regarding the dastardly nature of BMW's keeping the shop manuals to themselves. In my case, shortly after I bought a new C 400 GT last summer I bought a thumb drive, with a PDF of the shop manual, from a seller on eBay.

Just a note about KTM, though. You might also be displeased about one of their recent marketing practices: you might not, er, um, "own" the cruise control and riding modes that come with one of their new bikes. Check out this article, for instance:

KTM's demo mode divides opinions: Giving consumers options or ripping them off? - RevZilla

The 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R comes with all the options. But you don't get to keep them forever unless you pay extra.

www.revzilla.com

yeah, well, I'm old, so maybe I'll just be riding older bikes in my future ...
Not putting up with this kind of ... nevermind.

I just used KTM as one illustration.

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chatrider3

Discussion Starter · #14 · 13 d ago

60Aviator said:
Where did you hear this?

from a reliable source that is very close to BMW manufacturing, they feel that they are losing too many customers.

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motorhead1977

· #15 · 13 d ago

wspollack said:
I agree with most (everyone?) here, regarding the dastardly nature of BMW's keeping the shop manuals to themselves. In my case, shortly after I bought a new C 400 GT last summer I bought a thumb drive, with a PDF of the shop manual, from a seller on eBay.

Just a note about KTM, though. You might also be displeased about one of their recent marketing practices: you might not, er, um, "own" the cruise control and riding modes that come with one of their new bikes. Check out this article, for instance:

KTM's demo mode divides opinions: Giving consumers options or ripping them off? - RevZilla

The 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R comes with all the options. But you don't get to keep them forever unless you pay extra.

www.revzilla.com

@wspollack I agree with your thoughts. I finally "got" a copy of the factory shop/repair manual for my bike from an "acquaintance" and can now perform what service I want to on my own. And yes, I've seen Brad do his service on various boxer models and he's exacting, meticulous and extremely knowledgeable and spends the kind of time doing maintenance that you can be sure doesn't happen at your local dealer.

Also, since we're down the road from each other we should introduce ourselves. I'll send you a PM.

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chatrider3

Discussion Starter · #16 · 10 d ago

60Aviator said:
Where did you hear this?

from a reliable source that is very close to BMW manufacturing, they feel that they are losing too many customers.

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RTDragon

· #17 · 9 d ago

chatrider3 said:
from a reliable source that is very close to BMW manufacturing, they feel that they are losing too many customers.

I hope so, would just like to learn more about my bike. Have a haynes manual but prefer more details.

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Alexol

· #18 · 6 d ago

Guys, you can usually find maintenance manuals online in various places, some of which may be illicit copies (fine by me) or the original item for a substantial fee - you just have to be proactive in searching online.

I have complete manuals for my 1250RS (K54) & 1200RT (K52), found relatively easily.

I have NO idea whether these sites are reliable or not, all found within three minutes with Google:

BMW R1200RT LC workshop service repair manual DVD (2014 - 2017)

BMW Motorrad repair & owner's manual PDF

BMW R 1250 RS K54 11 Workshop Service Manual - Inspire Uplift

BMW Motorcycle

BMW R 1250 RS K54 11 Workshop Service Manual - Etsy

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Audi403

· #19 · 6 d ago

Alexol said:
Guys, you can usually find maintenance manuals online in various places, some of which may be illicit copies (fine by me) or the original item for a substantial fee - you just have to be proactive in searching online.

I have complete manuals for my 1250RS (K54) & 1200RT (K52), found relatively easily.

I have NO idea whether these sites are reliable or not, all found within three minutes with Google:

BMW R1200RT LC workshop service repair manual DVD (2014 - 2017)

BMW Motorrad repair & owner's manual PDF

BMW R 1250 RS K54 11 Workshop Service Manual - Inspire Uplift

BMW Motorcycle

BMW R 1250 RS K54 11 Workshop Service Manual - Etsy

eBay for me. The one that doesn't seem available anywhere though is the R1250RT. I use a combination of R1200RT and R1250GS service manuals for mine.

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chatrider3

Discussion Starter · #20 · 6 d ago

Alexol said:
Guys, you can usually find maintenance manuals online in various places, some of which may be illicit copies (fine by me) or the original item for a substantial fee - you just have to be proactive in searching online.

I have complete manuals for my 1250RS (K54) & 1200RT (K52), found relatively easily.

I have NO idea whether these sites are reliable or not, all found within three minutes with Google:

BMW R1200RT LC workshop service repair manual DVD (2014 - 2017)

BMW Motorrad repair & owner's manual PDF

BMW R 1250 RS K54 11 Workshop Service Manual - Inspire Uplift

BMW Motorcycle

BMW R 1250 RS K54 11 Workshop Service Manual - Etsy

Nothing for 2021-23 1250rt

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